Ahoy hoy,
16 June 2013 Edit: Upon review, the spelling, grammar, and style used here have been dreadful in comparison with my normal output. This is due to writing in bed immediately after rising or immediately before bed after a long day. Neither mode is conducive to producing my best. Bear with me, as I'll be undertaking a significant revision on June 18th, as well points thereafter.
In early March, I booked a fairly unambitious Asian getaway for my inter-semester period in June/July. As I am studying in Brisbane (read: the southern hemisphere), this is analogous with winter break in the North. I mean yes, using miles, I was going in F/J (watch the eyes glaze over uni students when explaining the details). This is where those years spent since early childhood in contemplation, reading, and recently flyertalk have paid off. Of course the trade-off for writing skills and comparatively arcane knowledge is being the human equivalent of a dog which was under-socialised as a puppy, but that's another discussion.
However, it also occurred to me that I had seen a woefully small portion of Australia given the length of time spent (July-Nov 2012), (Feb 2013-present). To have seen only the western half of BNE and Toowoomba is embarrassingly inadequate! As I don't drive and see flying between Australia's CBDs as a profound waste of the countryside, I was left with two options: rail or sit at home. As a flyertalker, the decision will always default to travel. The Sunlander train between BNE and CNS appeared interesting, but limited. I then stumbled onto the
Indian Pacific and
The Ghan. The IP runs between SYD and PER via ADL, while The Ghan runs between ADL and DRW.
I booked into gold class for both trains, a service roughly equivalent with J, featuring a proper berth, restaurant-style meals, included alcohol (surprisingly, prior to April 1, 2013, gold and platinum pax paid for booze, on tickets costing between $2-6k AUD), tours at certain stops, dedicated premium lounge car, and so on. Then flights booked with BA Avios and hotels followed.
And I was still not finished. Despite having my Australian epic booked, I craved a beach holiday. Hello, Bali. J class on KLM was $500'ish US RT SIN-DPS (3hrs+3hrs=6hrs in int'l J for $500 is a bargain). Further, my AA miles booking SIN-BNE had availability some days later and AA did not charge a change fee. To say that was booked swiftly would be downplaying my haste, to say the least.
IMPORTANT: I will
NOT be reserving posts for either part. Feel free to subscribe for updates. I WILL be updating this thread. Rather than write separate stories for friends and family in a number of emails, I will refer them here. As such, don't worry about this being left orphaned and incomplete. While I have noted my tendency not to snap pictures, due to the unique nature of this itinerary (ie premium class train travel on 2 of the world's iconic routes), I will break with my established custom.
The final itinerary?
June 9: BNE-SYD QF J, B767
9-12: Mercure Sydney Central, 4*, George St.
12-15: The Indian Pacific, Gold Class to PER
15-19: The Emperor's Crown, Perth
19: PER-DRW QF J, 738
19-22: Dingo Moon Lodge, DRW
22-24: The Ghan, DRW-ADL via Katharine and Alice Springs
24-25: The InterContinental, ADL
25: ADL-BNE QF J, 738
25-27: The Royal Albert, Brisbane
END OF PART I, AUSTRALIA; PART II, ASIA WILL COMMENCE IN A NEW THREAD*
JUNE 27: CX J BNE-HKG, A333 with New J!
27-JULY 3: Harbour Grand Hong Kong, Fortress Hill, HK Island. CLUB FLOOR
3: SQ J HKG-SIN B772 feauturing new 2-2-2 medium haul J
3-8: The Fullerton Hotel, Singapore; Straits Club Room featuring daily champagne breakfast
If my liver has not given up its ghost:
8: SIN-DPS KLM J, 773
8-16: Melia Benoa Nusa Dua; Executive Suite, All Inclusive Gold Package (not normally an "all-inclusive" guy, but will explain my reasons when the time is right)
16: DPS-SIN KLM J, 773
16-17: Changi Village Hotel by Far East Hospitality, SIN
17-18: BA F SIN-SYD 773 New First
18: QF J SYD-BNE, B767
*Mods: I have chosen to do this as they are very different parts of one trip and having both in the same thread could become rather cluttered if this proves a popular journey. Further, as TRs are highly informational, having the two split would make for easier searching. If this is for some reason a problem, I will be happy to discuss this further via PM.