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Tuesday, June 5, 2012

June 5, 2012: One thing I never grow tired of is the Australia sky. Bold, vivid colors every single day. Today was no different, with a great sunrise over the city to start things off. From there, we headed south towards Wollongong, stopping off at my favorite lookout/spot in Australia. Across the Sea Cliff Bridge from there to get to work for the day.

The weather threw us a bit of a curveball today. After 2 days of work, tomorrow was supposed to be our Sydney sightseeing day before flying home. Not a chance. 70mph winds and 20-30 foot waves ruined our chances of whale watching (unless we wanted to see them from a capsized boat), and the weather in general was going to ruin most of our backup plans (Harbour Bridge, Opera House, etc.).

So….. #audible.

I cashed in some points and we hopped on a 7:30pm flight up to Cairns, just landed a bit before midnight. Going to see the Great Barrier Reef tomorrow and then head back to Sydney tomorrow night, with the goal of squeezing in some city sights before heading to the airport for our flights.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

June 4, 2012: Our 22 hours in Melbourne have come and gone! Typing this from Sydney, with a great view of the Sydney Tower from my hotel window. Rushed to catch a tram at Flinders Square and get out to Deakin, and we had a great and productive day of work, likely due to the vegemite for brekky.

Afternoon snack was LORD OF THE FRIES with parisian sauce, best fries in the world.

Had a superquickdrink with my mate Jordan before rushing back to the airport, nearly missing our flight due to a wreck on the highway. The aircraft, a Boeing 737-800, had some awesome interior lighting. Made me excited for the 787 Dreamliner.

Now we’re in Sydney, and it’s time to crash for a few hours of sleep. Next stop, Wollongong!

June 3, 2012: Timelapses from our day in NZ.

June 3, 2012: We started our day at Lake Taupo, where a beautiful sunrise filled the sky and painted the clouds in some very vivid colors. After breakfast, we headed to Huka Falls on a whim after seeing a sign for it, and we were very glad we did! It was a beautiful sight, and several rainbows appeared throughout our time there.

The next stop was Wai-O-Tapu, a ‘geothermal wonderland’ that Jen and I stopped by back in August. It did not disappoint! We also were able to see the Lady Knox Geyser go off at 10:15am, which was neat. I had never seen a geyser before.

From there, we sped across the lush, green countryside to catch the glowworms at Waitomo Caves, and rolled up exactly as the tour was departing. I called ahead and due to some wonderful customer service, they printed out our tickets and met us at the gate to get us in. Otherwise, making our flight to Australia would have been iffy. :) And I may have snuck a picture while we were waiting for the boat… :)

Landed in Melbourne around 9pm, and ready to work tomorrow. That was a great weekend!

Saturday, June 2, 2012

June 2, 2012: Tonight we checked in at the Hilton Lake Taupo, a beautiful 2-year old Hilton literally in the middle of nowhere on the north island of New Zealand. I’ve heard that it heavily serves the area’s geothermal industry.

Upon checking in, we were told “You’ve received a complimentary upgrade to our Presidential Suite. It it just the two of you? You might get lost, haha! Let us know if you need any DVD’s for the theatre.” WHAT?!?!? We were speechless when we walked in. The room has an elevator that goes up to the 5th floor, and the suite takes up THE ENTIRE 5TH FLOOR of the building.

3BR/3.5BA, heated floors, heated bathroom towel racks, amazing ceiling showerhead in the master bath, sprawling outdoor balcony, a kitchen designed by a world-renowed chef that is by far the nicest kitchen I have ever seen before… and we’re only here for 2 hours + sleep. Bummer. The pics hardly do it justice. A $1,250 room on a free upgrade? Great start to the weekend.

June 2, 2012: I landed in Sydney at 6:30am today. I found Matt coming off his flight, and after a quick shower/breakfast at the lounge, we headed to our next flight to Auckland! We didn’t really have any plans for today other than to drive the 3 hours to Lake Taupo so we could be closer to Rotorua first thing in the AM. So we hopped in the Holden Commodore and took off driving, picking our route on a whim and strolling through the countryside.

As we drove and watched the sun drop, I thought “I’d really like to get up on one of these hills and watch the sunset.” Problem… all hills are heavily fenced for livestock, with all the roads cutting through the low valleys.. So I saw a little lady gardening, and pulled in.

I said we were from the US, wanted to catch a sunset while we were here, and asked if she had any ideas on how we could get up one. She then called over her husband Bill, who said “are you ready to hike?” YES! Bill, who’s lived on this land for 35 years, hopped in the back seat and guided us over to a nearby pasture/hill he owns. He pointed out the direction to go, and away we went. And it was totally worth it. Thanks, Bill! And sorry that your cows thought we were going to feed them.

After a quick detour to WardVille, we had McD’s for a quick supper with the stipulation that you could only order items not available at home. I went with the Sydney Stack, which had beetroot, bacon, bbq sauce and pineapple on it (?!). Interesting.

And just when we thought our day was pretty great, we pulled into the Hilton Lake Taupo. But you know what? That deserves its own post.

Friday, June 1, 2012

June 1, 2012: 4,773 miles on the way from LA to Sydney, I rolled over 500,000 miles flown since 2/1/09, the start of BlueFuego. Here’s to 1 Million! Celebrated with a glass of champagne and rode on the top deck of the Boeing 747-400.

So what is 500,000 miles? That’s about 415 miles every single day. (IND-ATL).
20 times around the Earth.
To the Moon. And back.
1300 hours in the air.
54 days of flying, not counting layovers, security, or getting to/from the airport.

Of the 461 flights, 91 were international (20%).

Delta/Northwest were 62.2% of flights.
United/Continental were 13.3% of flights.

Delta/Northwest accounted for 335,079 miles (67%), with United/Continental adding 56,273 (11.2%)

41% of flights are on regional jets, with 87 flights being on Canadair’s (18.9%).

Miles?
Boeing 777: 136,298 miles (27.7%)
Boeing 747: 54,170 miles (10.8%)

Total Airports: 107
Airlines: 33
Aircraft: 35
Routes: 253
Countries: 25
Continents: 6

Aisle Seat: 275 (82%), Window (17%), and Middle (1%)

Most northern airport: Amsterdam, Netherlands (AMS)
Southern: Melbourne, Australia (MEL)
Eastern: Nadi, Fiji (NAN)
Western: Honolulu, Hawaii (HON)