Ty Vil

I have a new M4 as well - but you're giving me travel envy!

farbster

Very nice trip report. Don't worry about the delay. Let those that complain pound sand.

Were any other itineraries considered? Had you been to Australia before?

Liked the FT luggage tag. I always have mine on my carry on, but have never been noticed by anyone.

thom1033

Thanks. I've been to Australia a number of times but usually to Melbourne as my dad lived there for the past 15 years before he died in late 2014. Australia was mainly because it got me the miles necessary flying a OW airline in F to make EXP.

thom1033

So for the few hangers on who found some interest in my TR I apologize for the significant delay. I've just today received my new laptop (needed to buy one for my consulting side business anyway) and can now knock out the rest without having to flip flop between two devices to grab pictures.

Sydney:
The process to get from the plane, through immigration, collect bags and through customs was incredibly smooth. I love SYD's automated passport control system and have found that if you go to one of the first kiosks you see, before the immigration area, there's usually few people in line. A quick processing, through the subway style gate with no line and my bag was waiting for me with a priority tag on it. Awesome. Got out and found my Chauffeur Drive driver waiting for me. I found myself at the hotel in no time.

As mentioned, I decided to stay at the Four Seasons given its excellent location. I was a little weary given some of the reviews of the hotel on here but I was completely satisfied with the experience.

I went to check in hoping that luck might be on my side and they'd find a way to get me into a room sometime prior to check in time given it was 7:30 a.m. and I could use a bit of a rest. They were extremely courteous and said while they didn't immediately have a room available they would call me as soon as they did and it shouldn't take more than two hours or so. Excellent.

I decided to wander while I waited down around the Circular Quay. Given my body was messed up given all of the timezone changes I found myself hungry. I found a great cafe just a block or two down from the hotel and got a sidewalk table and enjoyed a breakfast of one of my favorite Aussie foods:



Meat pie! Nothin but class and fine dining here.

Soon enough I got the call a little before 9:30 with the very pleasant notice they had a room ready for me. Pics:














And the view!



Fridge contents:




A tip for the newbies like me out there. See all those drinks? Yeah. Not free, lol. I checked the hotel guide in the room and looked all over and found nothing about charges for the drinks in the room. I felt stupid calling down and asking if they charged for it. As you're quickly figuring out, I'm more of a Hampton Inn guy than nice hotels. I figured they must be complimentary for such sophisticated clientele. Nope! Drank a lot of the water and juices which were refreshed twice a day. Turns out they run about $8 AUD each. Whoops.

I decided to catch a couple hour nap and when I turned back the covers, this is what I saw:



I didn't think much of it. I'm not super picky about such things. But when I pulled the covers back further I found this:



Nearest I could tell it was burns from an iron or something. I thought that was a bit much so called down to the front desk and said though I very much appreciated them getting me in a room so early, it appeared my sheet was stained or soiled. She said she'd have someone right up.

Man, she wasn't kidding. Within two minutes (not embellishing) two people showed up. Nearest I could tell was the man was a housekeeping supervisor and the woman was his boss I showed them both the sheet and they were DEVASTATED. The look of abject horror on their faces made it exceedingly clear this was something they didn't often encounter. The woman said she'd be right back to resolve the situation, and they both left.

Another two minutes after that, the woman returned with a housekeeper. She showed the housekeeper the issue and the two of them proceeded to very quickly strip down the bed and replace all of the bedding, taking turns approximately every 10 seconds to turn to me an apologize profusely. I really wasn't bothered at all about it as these things happen and I felt so fortunate to not have to wait 5 more hours to get a room at check in time. I tried to explain it was no problem as I was afraid the management woman was going to commit ritual suicide in front of me to regain the honor of her hotel.

Soon enough they were finished and I crashed for a couple of hours. Up next, wandering Sydney.

thom1033

After a few hours of rest I decided to get some food, which brings me to one of the other reasons I came to Sydney: Dumplings. Yeah. Love em and don't get much of them in Arkansas. I had read about the popularity of Din Tai Fung and after a little research found out they had a couple of restaurants in Sydney. I made my way down to the restaurant for a late lunch. I had read about the communal seating and how they bring the food out as it's prepared, both of which worked perfectly fine for me given I was travelling alone and I don't like long, lingering meals anyway.













Sorry for the crappy pics. The place was pretty crowded and I felt a bit foolish snapping pictures of my food when sharing a table with two other people. The food was wonderful. I had their famous soup dumplings, pork buns and the green beans with pork. Funny enough, the green beans stole the show. Truly incredible. Fresh, well cooked but still crunchy. Awesome. After the gluttony my fat ... needed some serious walking around, which I did. Back to the Circular Quay with some random pics around the area and from one of the hop on hop off ferries.



I didn't take a lot of pics as I was enjoying just being away, anonymous, and with no agenda. I did walk to find dinner at one of my favorite chain restaurants that I became hooked on in Melbourne in 2014. My dad was in the hospital for weeks before he died and I was there with him for about 10 days and I'd walk down to have lunch and frequently go to Nandos. Fantastic food with great flavor. So back in Australia I made sure I ate there at least once:



When I returned to my hotel that evening I found this on the desk along with a handwritten apology note about the sheets:



I was half expecting the housekeeping manager to leave one of her severed fingers or something given how upset she was over the situation.

thom1033

I really had only one thing planned for sure in Sydney. I have learned to enjoy fishing thanks to an infinitely patient buddy of mine who has a passion for bass fishing. He and I have gone a number of times and while I spend more time with my lure snagged on something than in a fish's mouth, I've come to enjoy it. I did a little research and there are a number of outfits in and around Sydney that offer charter fishing. I found that most of them cater to large groups and a number of them I emailed never bothered to respond to my inquiry. I did find one outfit, www.sydneysportfishing.com.au and he was very quick to respond. His service is a little different in that he doesn't do deep sea fishing, but he has a smaller boat that is perfect for fishing in the harbor. Dan was absolutely fantastic. Great communicator, very accommodating and fishing with him was just like fishing with a friend of mine. He's patient, extremely knowledgeable, funny and passionate about what he does. We caught a lot of fish and had amazing views during our time on the water. It was truly a novel way to experience Sydney Harbour.







I have a few pics of me holding fish up but I hate pictures of myself so they'll stay on my phone.

After my time fishing I went back to the hotel and cleaned up and spent the rest of the day wandering.

My last full day in Sydney I started out by taking a ferry to Manley beach to have a look around. While the weather was threatening rain I lucked out and didn't get rained on at all while out there.









I took a ferry back to Circular Quay by which time it was sunny and warm. Upon arrival I had no big plans so I grabbed a table at a pub right by the Opera House and had a beer, enjoyed the weather and people watched.





I watched people sign up for the jet boat rides, and after another beer or two thought that looked like fun.



It was an absolute blast but two things to know:
1) Even though they give you ponchos to wear, you're going to get wet.
2) Don't do this immediately after a couple of beers. Damn.

It was a blast with him taking us out and bouncing of the wakes of large boats, doing spins, etc. I did feel the beer foaming back up in my stomach and combined with the saltwater in the face I was a little worried about accidentally putting on my own show, but fortunately I was able to sack up, keep the contents down and enjoy the boat ride.

All in all a wonderful, brief visit to Sydney. Next up: The trip home. Including the SYD QF F lounge.

thom1033

The following morning I checked out of the hotel and my Chauffeur Drive driver showed up spot on time. The ride back to the airport this morning was a newer Audi A8. Very comfortable all the way around. I got to use the QF F class check in which was a very pleasant experience and then made my way to the much vaunted QF F lounge. That lounge is absolutely all it's hyped up to be. The space, the views, the service and the food in the restaurant were all fantastic. My lunch in the restaurant was probably the best meal I had all trip. Pics:

















I had a call to make so the lounge host gave me one of the private rooms:







The rest of the lounge:

Library:








Restaurant:









Not long after lunch it was time for my complimentary back/shoulder massage that the lunge host had called to offer and schedule two days prior. The room:




The massage was amazing. I was concerned that 15 minutes really would't provide much comfort but the therapist was incredible. She was funny, attentive and made it feel like I was there much longer than 15 minutes. I was sorely tempted to offer her to be the next future recipient of alimony from me but I thought that was probably frowned upon behavior in the lounge.

Far too soon it was time to board my flight back to LHR, this time in seat 1K.

dat4life

It's amazing how much healing power 425 horses can offer

Anyhow, great report! Reminded me of much I miss Australia and QF F.

thom1033

Indeed. And as was pointed out earlier in the thread, looks a lot better with the windows tinted.



Final TR posts coming tomorrow!

Flavio1990

So glad you did something unique in Sydney like fishing. As a local I cringe when I see where some people go, not that its their fault just its what is heavily promoted ie Darling Harbour.
For me a ferry trip to Manly, Bus to Palm Beach and climb the lighthouse (A long day) or get a cab to Freshwater beach, Bridge Climb if you have the budget or do the south Pylon instead, Opera House backstage tour, Dumplings in Chinatown, Tour of the Rocks, Golf at Long Reef but thats a start

CHOPCHOP767

Looks like a great trip, Four Seasons SYD is an excellent choice and the Conrad looked decent as well. I have to say, the AA J seat looked absolutely disgusting. Stains not only on the seat, but all around the seat? The plane is brand new! I hope you had bleach wipes. At any rate, it's worth an email to AA; would be interested to know if they actually responded.

Thanks for sharing.

LANDJ999

Those sheets were GROSS. I would have called the health dept. .....or
CSI Forensics.

I think they just pulled the Spread back over and called it good

stevie

What a great TR and I really miss Sydney, what a great city. Can't wait to get back down there.

OldFruity

Good en yer for posting...All Good!!

Looking forward to the last bit.

OF^

Bretteee

You are young for a Colonoscopy.

I had my first at 50.

I can't believe the bed sheets at the Four Seasons.