The Travel diary is now getting harder to make as we are getting very tired…little did we know our 8 hour Buenos Aries layover was going to bring us fresh challenges.
Expert Travel Planner Nilla shares her feelings after a long 12 hour flight on Qantas from Sydney to Buenos Aries where we had another 8 hours before catching a flight to Lima.
Or so we thought…
Stay tuned to learn what happens 7 hours later and how we cope with this situation.
Sometimes the getting to your destination can be a little trying but really it is minor
when we consider what so many other people have to put up every day.
Don’t you hate it when you get off a long flight and then you find yourself waiting around to leave the airport?
If you are travelling to Sydney then this is a high probability as you will see in my short video.
I took this video rather quickly after our limo driver told us that on some days you find yourself waiting 2 or more hours in ques.
Sam the limo driver said that early morning before 10 am and evenings from 5 to 8 pm were the worst times as that is when a lot of flights arrive and depart.
In the past I have paid $55 for the Airport to Darling Harbour taxi ride. The limo service cost between $65 and $75. Interesting that it is much quicker than a taxis too.
You can probably speculate why!!!
The thing to remember is that a limo service must be booked in advance…the bonus is they will always have a nice luxury late model car and be very professional.
I have travelled in taxis all over the world and believe me my personal experiences have not always seen me at ease with some local taxis drivers where as I am yet to have
anything but a good experiences with limo services.
Now it would wrong of me not to mention you can also catch a the shuttle bus which is only $15.
You will have to wait your turn to be dropped off as the shuttle services a number of hotels.
And finally there is the train which I have caught once and then had to drag my bags around the streets as it did not stop near my Hotel.
Well that covers more than what I intended…hope it helps the next time you go to Sydney.
This day was particularly difficult and very tiring for 2 reasons:
We had only had 3.5 hours sleep before driving the 5 hours to Perth.
Secondly, we were on day 4 of a vegetarian diet in preparation for our Peru experience.
Imagine being a keen meat eater and then going to a food and wine show unable to partake in the abundance of food and wine on offer.
I still wonder how I got through that!!!
Now in case you are asking what was I doing there in the first place if I could not enjoy the many wonderful delights on offer. That’s a fair question and the answer is that we had booked this long before we had booked our trip to Peru.
Tonight we are on a Qantas flight to Brisbane and then onto Sydney where we will stay for 2 days before connecting onto Lima via Buenos Aires.
Stay tuned especially if you would to see the Sydney harbour bridge from the bottom up.
In 2006, Brett and I embarked on what was to be a journey of a lifetime.
Geared up for the Cold!
We flew from Perth to Buenos Aires in Argentina, South America, and wow what a flight; It’s such a long way. After a few nights to Enjoy the colorful La Boca, Argentinean Tango and the food we were off to the very tip of South America to a place called Ushuaia.
Ushuaia is a quaint city, where you will definitely need your thermals. A great place to visit the Terre Del Fuego National park, and to stock up with that Fantastic Argentinean Wine, before embarking on your expedition.
We set sail one afternoon leaving the Beagle channel to enter the infamous Drake Passage. This is the moment I has been dreading since booking the journey many months before. I had such a fear about the ocean and being stuck under the water so I was scared about the journey down to the Antarctic Peninsula.
As they say there are two ways you can encounter the Drake Passage, the Drake Lake or the Drake Shake! On the way down we had the Drake Lake. Not so much a Lake like that you have in your mind but more a big rolling swell. It was enough to put in bed for a couple of days. Brett on the other hand was up and about, going to Lectures on the Antarctic wildlife that we would encounter, lectures on the geology and History and even Photography lectures.
After the 2 day crossing we were there! I was in Antarctica. Wow. It truly was beautiful. For the next 8 days we visited so many places including the Volcanic Deception Island and the UK and Russian Antarctic stations (if any of you have my business cards, this is where I posted the letters home from, expensive process…but heaps of fun !)
Stunning Icebergs!
We were off the ship every day either going whale watching and following Orca’s, Minke’s or Southern Right Whales, going ashore and being amused by the Gentoo Penguins (they are so inquisitive!) We even got close one afternoon in a bay to a Leopard Seal hunting for its food, needless to say that penguins were flying through the air!
We had the most amazing food onboard the ship. Every afternoon or morning when we got back from being on the Zodiacs, we always had fresh Tea, Coffee, Hot Chocolate and Cookies to come back to. Not to mention the 3 courses for lunch and dinner every day! We had an ongoing joke about the ship pulling into bakeries along the way because the rolls and the break were to die for!
Our Journey back was a sad one, not only because for me it meant another 2 days in bed but our experience in the Antarctic was coming to and end. Oh and by the way, you know how I mentioned about the Drake Passage…we had the Drake Shake coming back. 10 Meter swells and waves crashing left right and centre over the ship. I was glad to get back to the Beagle Channel.
I could talk for hours about my journey and experience but you are probably not all going to sit there and read the whole thing! So if you have any ideas about visiting this amazing destination and need some help please don’t hesitate to contact me.
New Zealand is just such a great country to visit.
And to some people especially the confident freewheeling traveller there is no better way to explore the “Land Of The Long White Cloud” than in a motor home.
Motor Homes are easy drive and inexpensive. What most people do not appreciate is that if you hire a category or two larger than you first thought you will be much happy thanks to the extra room and storage area in the larger model.
If you are a couple a 2 berth seems to make sense on first assumption. Caution:Don’t be too taken just by the price. A lot of 2 berth motor homes are not as economical as the larger 4 or 6 berth which in part is false economy.
Secondly the smaller models are not as high off the road limiting your view of the majestic New Zealand countryside. This alone is enough for me to suggest you give serious consideration to upgrading.
Please check out what else you can learn from my short video below…it could be the difference that sets your next trip to New Zealand as your best ever!!!
Now if you have any interest in South America and it is in the top 10 travel destinations then you will want to check back in shortly as Nilla and I reveal details of our trip to Peru commencing this Saturday.
Nilla is on her 4th trip to this wonderful detination and will start sharing some in her words awesome photo’s taken from our 2004 adventure. So be sure to check in each day between now and when we leave.
And remember if you want to be happy…just be it!!! Happy that is.
I just had a interesting link skyped to me from a friend in America.
Frankly it is not something I could see myself using…but once I played around with it I was impressed enough to feel it worth sharing in case you might find it handy.
Now this map is a really cool map if you are trying to get some idea of what flights are available from say your home airport in dollar terms.
Basically it shows you how far you can fly for a set dollar amount which you can tweak and control to whatever amount you want.
It is incredible to think that airlines lost or miss handled 25 million pieces of luggage between them last year.
The good news is that was 23.8% less than the previous year…or if your math’s is not so good that is a huge 7.8 million less lost or mishandled bags.
What a relief!!!
Now if it is not bad enough losing or mishandling your luggage consider this…
…the cost to the industry was a whopping $2.5 billion dollars.
Yip and guess who pays…You and me…the traveller.
So what can you do to prevent your luggage from being delayed or lost?
Well not much really as it is out of your hands…you could though make sure that your luggage has nothing of value in it. Hopefully any lose or delay will not be too devastating.
Secondly I urge anything of value purchased on your travel’s to be sent home by either a courier service or registered post. That way it is much more likely to arrive and in the condition you expect.
Warning…don’t think it won’t happen to you, because it is not a matter of if… but rather of when!!!
A spare set of underwear is a good inclusion in hand luggage. Everything else can usually be purchased at your destination.
That’s it for today.
Please feel free to share your comments or travel tips so all our friend scan benefit.
PS. Have you checked out my pick pocket video yet? This is a MUST see to give you piece of mind when travelling and in my eyes is pretty much 100% guaranteed to work.
And I just had to share some of what I learnt just in case you are part of the 35,000 plus Australians who can now say they have enjoyed a river cruise in Europe.
Of course it is much more than just a craze where people rushing off to Europe to be on one of these cruises.
Rather it seems to me that it is the style and freedom River Cruises like Avalon Waterways offer which is what is catching on.
Check out my short summary of the presentation in the video below and then in a day or so check in when I share what I am thinking will be about a 6 to 8 minute detailed highlights including some pictures of what you can expect from river cruises in Europe.
I think you will be very surprised by what you discover…I certainly was.
Feel free to ask me any questions or post a comment.
My last travel tip warned on locking your car doors when traveling…if you missed it check it out
Please understand these tips are not meant to be negative, just what I call good common travel sense which some people simple don’t have due to lack of travel experience.
This simple very inexpensive way to prevent your valuables from becoming the booty of a smart pick pocket is very very effective…almost pick pocket proof and certainly easy to implement. That way you get to enjoy the surrounds not stressing about becoming a victim.
Let me share my story of how I learnt the hard way about this technique.
While in Puno in Peru back in 2004 a group of us were walking through the very busy market.
There were thousands of people mostly shoulder to shoulder jostling between the stalls.
Next thing my wife called out yuck John that guy just spat on your back. Well my jacket actually. I turned in shock to see what sort of person would stoop to such a low act.
By the time we realised what had happened some member of the group had nudged up against me and deftly removed a $100 note from my jackets inside pocket.
It was all over in a spit sorry split second.
Don’t let this happen to you…
learn the simple steps you can take to protect your valuables no matter what distracting trick might be pulled on you. I reveal it in the video below with a demonstration of what I think is the most anti pick pocket protection going.
The good news you can get these ( you will learn in the video) in most markets in any city in the work for only a couple of dollars.
Personally I never travel without mine…and neither should you!!!
If you have any travel tips you would like to share then post them here for others to benefit.
Protect you and your family for up to 12 months including your dependent children under 21 who are covered for FREE with SureSave travel insurance. Underwritten by certain Underwriters at Lloyd's.
There are many tours planned with the first being to my homeland Italy in May 2010, this journey encompasses all of my passions which I would love to share with you, walking, cooking, culture, people, scenery and history.
We commence this Gourmet Walking journey in Florence staying in a villa just outside of San Gimigiano, walk amongst the vineyards and olive groves, learn how to cook a Tuscan feast, then we walk the Amalfi coast and attend a cooking school in Sorrento for 6 days where we will learn how to make Limoncello...
If you would like to know more about this trip to Italy, visit here
