Around the world in 17 days, Part 3

Hello readers! Thanks for sticking with me. This last post is for our journey through Australia, Los Angeles, Miami, and back home. It's a much shorter one, don't worry :)

Day in Melbourne

After happily arriving in MEL, Andrew and I proceeded to recheck our bags at the Qantas check-in. Unfortunately, we found that it would not be as simple as we had thought. The agent told us that the airport operates under Australian law, which prohibits the taking of bags more than a few hours before check-in. A second agent told us the same, so we paid to store our bags and made our way to the city instead by public transport (a mere A$18 per person each way--oh Australia, you and your high minimum wage).

View from the bus

The city itself has a cool and vibrant composure, with plenty of colorful buildings jazzing up its architectural footprint. The university campus was bustling and exciting as well, although being ranked only #44 in the world (despite being #1 in Australia) made me think that they could shoot for much higher.

Andrew is interested in potentially schooling there for a master's, so we did our rounds and he asked questions of the campus and student life, and off we went from there to explore the city.

Melbourne's finest, obviously

The city itself boasts of some nice attractions, although selection was certainly more selective in the wintertime. Still, we decided to hop on the trams within the Free Tram Zone (awesome idea, by the way!) and then walk a bit to arrive at the Shrine of Remembrance. This beautiful shrine contains an important piece of history overlooked by many--the Australian military contributions to wars fought throughout the world--from WWI to Afghanistan and Iraq, along with stabilization forces around the area in the Pacific. Both of us thought that they did a wonderful job with the museum. 

Nice gardening throughout the area

The Shrine from Afar

With that, we made our way back to the airport.

Preflight: The Qantas Melbourne Domestic Lounge

The check-in lady was rude, plain and simple. She would not check our bags through to Christchurch (overnight connection), period, and would you please have a nice day the end. So we checked in to our next flight and proceeded to the lounge.

Compared to an AA Admirals Club, these lounges certainly had more to offer in terms of food and drink. There was a lounge for Qantas Club members, followed by an interior lounge for business class travelers. There wasn't much of a difference in food or drink, at least from what I saw. 

While I can't say there was a full dinner buffet, there certainly were some substantial options. My friend got a chicken tandoori, while I stuck to some crackers and babaganoush, along with their drink special that was being passed around.

Some gin something...delicious, though

Our 737

The flight: QF 484

The plane, a 737, had a 2-2 configuration in business class. It was a clean and simple plane, with a decent IFE.

Domestic travel was not at all a drag, I must say, since this flight had by far the best crew we had on our entire trip (yes, including Etihad). Karl was a real charmer, cracking jokes and telling us stories. Meal service was solid. Both of us ordered the kosher meal, and (for the first time), we received different entrees. I opened mine first, and Andrew was so happy to see that it was chicken after so much fish. Guess what his was?

View over Sydney

As we were about to land, Karl came back around and asked if Andrew enjoyed his wine, because if he did, he would give him a bottle for the road. Amazing!

Selfie with Karl

                                               
We landed and proceeded to the information desk to see what method of transport we could take. We thought about a car, but financially it did not make sense, so off we were on a shuttle bus to the hotel.

Overnight in Sydney: Park Hyatt Sydney

We had the great fortune of Andrew's new Hyatt credit card to stay for free for one night at the Park Hyatt Sydney. Wow, what luxury! I'll let the pictures do the talking, but just know that we were impressed and, had we $1000+ more to burn on another night on a harbour view room, well, I'd probably donate it to charity instead haha but that's just me. But this was a spectacular experience.

What lovely views from the balcony!

Japanese-style toilet!

Woke up at sunrise for these shots--so worth it!

 

The Sydney Harbour Bridge

We had late check out until 2 P.M.. We asked if we could have until 3, since the shuttle was supposed to take us back to the airport at that point, and we wanted to see the city until then. Sadly, they needed to clean it for the next guests.

The phone rang, and the concierge asked if we needed help with our luggage. I thought it was kind, although a bit odd. Then I looked at Andrew and we realized--we had probably way overslept and overstayed our welcome. Sure enough, it was 2:15 P.M. We dressed, packed, and made our way down a bit embarrassed, then stored our luggage and took a 15 minute walk around the pier. It was no grand day in Sydney, but the sleep was sure welcome. And man, that bed was 50,000x more plush than the one in Bangkok.

The flight: QF 139

We arrived late to the airport (thanks shuttle company promising a 3 P.M. pickup, then coming at 3:30 and then proceeding to pick up others too), and we made our way to check-in. The lady was incredibly kind, working every bit of magic she could to try to get our bags connected overnight in Christchurch, NZ, so that we wouldn't need to clear security for our 6 hour connection. (To be honest, we were also on a joint Jetstar-Qantas ticket back, and we thought we would only get the 20kg of the Jetstar fare baggage for free per person, which would have been nowhere near sufficient.) But, despite her efforts and those of her supervisor, an overwrite could not be done. We rushed through security to our gate.

Our second B737

Like our last flight, this was on a similarly configured B737-800. The flight and crew came from Jetconnect, a NZ-based subsidiary of Qantas. They were also really kind and were puzzled by a lack of hot meal on the kosher option. There was lox, which Andrew quickly handed off to me and I quickly and happily scarfed down. We then got the on-board meals. Guess what Andrew ordered and what I ordered?

Sunset on departure from SYD

The blye-eye trevalla

The trevalla was okay, but man did it smell fishy. I mean, really fishy. So much so that Andrew got up and spent the next 20 minutes chatting with the flight attendant (who also hated the smell of fish). They must've gotten along very well, since Andrew came back with ice cream and her invitation to the plane's cockpit after arrival. The other attendant was also sad that we were staying in the airport overnight in Christchurch, but told us that we ought to just take the pillows (this was later vetoed by the purser, but only because they needed to turn right around in the morning without access to new ones).

Ice cream and "manna"

Our arrival was quite early, and after we waited, we met the captain and first officer, both with plenty of B737 flying experience. They were happy to show us around, entertained Andrew's questions (he worked as a mechanic for a bit in the USAF), and told us to have a good rest of our trip.

Overnight in Christchurch Airport

There was a bit of a scandal earlier this year in CHC, when staff kicked out overnighters out of the airport from 12-5. Now, however, there is a nap room to be used for NZD5 (about $3 USD). You can pay by cash or credit, and you get a wristband upon entry. The TV is on and it's not technically meant for sleeping, but that's what everyone does. The gentleman at the desk was extraordinarily witty and kind. I asked him if there was a good place to see the night sky, and he suggested an area near the golf course where I could at least see the Southern Cross (which I saw). Renting a car to go anywhere farther was just a bit too expensive.

Really pretty airport at night

Totem greeting on my night walk

After a brief nap in the nap room (Andrew slept between 2-3 hours, and I slept around 30 minutes), we made our way to check-in with Jetstar.

Preflight: Check-in and the Manaia Lounge

I was moderately concerned that, despite Qantas' allowance of 2 bags of 23kg each, Jetstar would only allow one bag of 20kg per person and nothing more than our backpacks on board. However, I clarified it with the attendant and the supervisor on the two bag policy, and they were able to add an additional bag and check all three of our bags, two of which were 23kg exactly. I'm not sure still what the exact policy is, but I was relieved to know that it was all good.

After security, we made our way to the gate and noticed an Air New Zealand lounge. I asked if my Priority Pass could get us in, but it could not. Then we saw the Manaia lounge, which had access for QF business class! That's not on the OneWorld website, but who was I to complain? We made our way inside, which was a charming little place with some breakfast foods, showers, and fresh fruit shakes!

Better than Sprite, still made by Coke

The flight: JQ 140

Sunrise over the Southern Ocean

Discount airline. Water upon request. No niceties, no blankets, as expected. But it got us from point A to point B, and with a bit more legroom than the Iberia Express flight from earlier, and that's all that mattered.

Connection and the Qantas Sydney Business Class Lounge

Our bags were checked through and Jetstar printed out QF passes, so we were able to go right into the QF lounge. It was very spacious and nice, like I would imagine an international business class lounge should be (work on it, America!).

Pretty nice shower facilities

Gelato bar!!! FREE!!! 

After the lounge, we made our way to the gate, where we boarded our delayed QF flight to LAX on the A380!!!

The flight: QF 11

I have to say, after so many flights in business class, it was hard to readjust to coach, especially for a flight as long as this. The plane is HUGE! I mean, the line to board was tremendous, but everyone fit with room to spare! Andrew and I took the upper deck, which is in a 2-4-2 (and just a few rows in economy before shifting to premium). It's like having a small private cabin, which was nice. The kosher meals were fair, although the roast beef snack sandwich was absolutely delicious! The IFE was decent (they had some episodes of Game of Thrones that Cathay Pacific didn't, although they weren't in any order, which was super confusing!). The attendants were a little rude, but it didn't bother me too much.

Business class "pods" 

Premium economy 

The breakfast kosher meal--not so great...

The rest of the trip was lovely. We had to get a reroute in LA due to some flight issues, giving us a day in LA and a day in Miami before returning to Chicago. LA was fun, since Andrew's cousin lives there. He took us around and we did lots of touristy things, then we met up with a friend of mine for dinner before heading to the airport. Check out the pictures below! 

We connected in SFO on our way to Miami, and the the agent at the airport gave us an upgrade on it (she was awesome, and Andrew was psyched to see FIRST on his boarding pass). Miami was great as well, with a friend taking us around and showing us the sites, before finally making our way back to Chicago in the evening. What an incredible trip!

Bus to Eagle flights in LAX

Admirals Club in the Eagle area--really nice and charming

Free Gin and Tonic by a great bartender! 

Nice bathrooms, too!

AA 5920, LAX-SFO

First class, baby!

AA 272, SFO-MIA, packed as per usual 

Sala VIP Lounge bathroom

Sala VIP entrance, very nice

The finest in kosher Chinese and steak and sushi, maybe?

AA 1065 back to Chicago, finally finally

What a trip, Definitely once in a lifetime, since I'm pretty sure I'd never do it again. But it was an amazing trip, and I was so grateful to have had those adventures and then happy to have been able to be back with family and friends for a few days before starting school. Stay tuned for my next adventure!