Stez

Great TR matthandy ^

Interesting to read about the new WT+ product having done the old WT+ last week. Looks so much better.

BA304

Fantastic report as always. ^^

By the way, VS also explains how to open the doors. Perhaps it's required by the CAA?

Kgmm77

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3G: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3)

Thoughtful writing and great photos, as always a pleasure to read.

halfcape

Great report, great photos (as usual). Thanks for sharing.

amaroo

Things are changing! Can you believe the silly duffers at QF are changing the A380 cabins - reducing J, pushing PE forward to replace J & whY section now located at the rear.....no more dedicated dunny & the overall number of toilets reduced

Anyway, fantastic TR. Keep em coming^

matthandy

Thanks TravellerFrequently, detail is my middle name. Enjoy, it's a great product.

Unfortunately, not, my day job is in IT, boring

Thanks jaguarpig, the RC is fantastic, I'm looking forward to getting around to that part of it.

Hehe, glad that you are enjoying it kered.

Thanks Grand Annee. I didn't like the fact that it seemed to be full of tourists. The RC was completely different but I'm sure that has something to do with the location and height of it.

Makes sense, I've heard that before, thanks phol. Good tip about DTF. We have one of those in Sydney and it's always totally packed. I myself ended up at the Crystal Jade in the IFC Mall. It was pretty good and very cheap, not exactly Michelin starred though.

Lucky you! That actually happened to be me too, with my first WTP flight, although it was a few years ago now.

Thanks for the info with regards to the sticker. I think that I'm capable of finding the gate though

Definitely not! That's outrageous!

Thanks mike&co.

Thanks Stez. Yes, the seat is a lot better, but the service is just the same.

Interesting! Maybe it is a CAA requirement then. I don't remember hearing it on Easyjet though.

Thanks Kgmm77.

Thanks halfcape.

I've been reading with angst on the QF board, pretty crazy. Someone also posted on the BA board that QF is no longer serving Champagne in PE, is this true?

SFflyer123

Great report! I am enjoying it!

amaroo

They still advertise OZ sparkling prior to takeoff however, our last PE flight was LAX-BNE, Apr last year - No Sparkling for us!

In any case no real Champers down the back!

Petrus

Great work Matthandy. :-::-::-::-::-:

Agree about the new WT+ product. A real step up from the current version. Much better seat which does not break your bum or back after 1 hour.

Curious about how you get such light in the photos. ISO 6400 sounds extremely grainy, yet your photos are crisp. Do tell more how you get them like this, except for taking the snaps during the right time of day.

matthandy

A Few Days in Sussex

Where were we?

I made my way out into the arrivals hall after picking up some Champagne from Duty Free. I do love this country, a bottle of Dom Perignon for Ł93 versus around Ł160 in Australia.

My next task was to find the car rental desks and in particular, the Sixt desk. There were overhead signs directing me to ‘Car Rental’ but these ran out as I walked towards the other end of the terminal. Eventually I discovered that there were no desks, just bus stops. I had to walk all the way to the end to bus stop 19 and then ring up Sixt to come and pick me up. There was no courtesy phone, so I had to use my very expensive Australian mobile. To top it all off, the bus service didn’t start until 6.30am which meant a 20 minute wait in the freezing cold. Not a great welcome to the UK.

The bus arrived on time and we took the short journey to the Sixt rental area. This is located just east of the airport, very near to Hatton Cross tube station.

I ‘checked in’ with a very lovely lady who was an absolute gem. She apologised about the fact that the car I had booked was not available (an Audi A1) but that they had upgraded me to a Golf TDI. I was somewhat disappointed as I really wanted to try out the A1. In fact, when is it ever the case that a car rental company has the car that you expected? I don’t know how they get away with it. What if you booked a flight with BA to Los Angeles but when you checked in they only had availability to New York? Would that still qualify as “or similar”?

Anyway, the car was actually very good and by 7am I was on my way down to Sussex.

It seems as though I’d actually bought some sunshine with me and as I zipped along the country lanes with the sun shining down on me it certainly felt pretty good to home.
My resting place for the week was to be my Dad’s house and I arrived there at about 9am. No-one was in as both my Dad and his partner were at work. After a quick shower I jumped back in the car and headed over to my sister’s place.

As I explained at the beginning, one of the main reasons for this trip was to see my new-born niece for the first time. Actually seeing her was fantastic. She is so beautiful, and I’m not just saying that as any proud uncle would. She really is a beautiful looking baby, and she has absolutely loads of hair!

My sister took a few photos of my first awkward encounters as I got to hold, feed and burp her. She even burped up a bit of milk on me. I was in love already! I realised at that moment that it was going to be very tough to say goodbye to her in a few days time as I continued on my travels around the UK.

I also tried to say hello to my sister’s cat but she was having none of it. Frustrating animal.

As beautiful as my niece is, for privacy reasons I won’t be posting any photos of my family (except the cats). I’m sure that you can understand.



Poppy

After catching up with my sister for a good few hours (and getting used to daytime TV again) we decided to head out for lunch. There is a fantastic and very popular pub not far from my sister’s house. It sits directly on the river and it was the perfect spot to enjoy the rare English sunshine.

Browsing the menu, I decided to have something rather traditional, a baked potato with beans and cheese, yum!

The pub


The view, by the river


Yum, yum

After a lovely lunch we had to go to the hospital, as my sister had an appointment at the diabetic clinic. I quite enjoyed the ‘routineness’ of these day to day activities and also learnt a little about the logistics of travelling around with a 10 week old baby. One thing that surprised me is that her carry cot thing was bloody heavy! I have full respect for parents who drag one of those around town by hand.

In the evening my sister had offered to cook so we made a quick trip to the supermarket to pick up dinner. I realised how much I missed UK supermarkets, so much choice! I loved seeing all of the familiar products again. I’d have to find some space in my suitcase to take some of them home.

My Dad joined us for dinner and I popped open the Dom to celebrate the birth of my niece. It went down very well!

Dom Perignon 2003

The next morning I woke up at 6am, which I didn’t think was too bad, given the potential for major jet lag. I’d planned to spend the day with my sister and my niece again. I got dressed, had some breakfast and then sat and watched some Jeremy Kyle on the TV. This show just doesn’t change. It’s basically a showcase for the naďve and stupid, with ‘Sir’ Kyle abusing the various characters to rounds of rapturous applause.

At about 10am I said good bye to my Dad’s cat, Cleo and then took the short drive to my sister’s house.

Cleo

We’d agreed to go to a nearby seaside town and stroll along the beach. I also secretly wanted to have a play on the penny arcades too!

We weather was fantastic again and we both had to be careful of getting sunburnt, although it wasn’t necessary to be quite as cautious as in Australia.

We had to pop into Mothercare and I couldn’t resist buying some clothes and toys for Isla. But wow, for such tiny things, baby clothes are expensive.

We strolled along the pier and I got the chance to win a bunch of 2p coins at the penny arcades. I particularly enjoy the penny pushers! Even now, as an adult, I can’t justify the 10p machines, they are just too expensive .

The Lido


Walking along the pier


I’m going to get that fiver even if I have to put in Ł10 worth of 2p coins!


Typically English


Flags for the Jubliee


Walking along the pier

After I had lost all of my money, and my sister had lost all of the money that I’d given her too we headed to a British favourite, Pizza Express! Why on earth these don’t exist in Australia I don’t know, you can even get them in Hong Kong now.

My sister had been savvy enough to print off a discount voucher, so we got money off as well. I went for my usual Quattro Formaggi whilst she went for something a little healthier. Isla was happy just to sit there and be cooed over by practically everyone in the restaurant. One thing that I noticed whilst being out and about with Isla, everyone comes over to say hello and find out how she is etc. My sister and I joked that we needed to create an FAQ sheet to hand out to people. I must say though, it did make me feel proud of both my sister and Isla.

My two babies, Isla and my D800


Mmm, Pizza Express

After lunch we travelled back to my sister’s house and I said goodbye as I’d be seeing them later in the evening for dinner.

I then drove over to see an old school friend of mine. I’ve known him for over 20 years now and despite taking very different paths it’s like things have never changed. We decided to head down to the yacht club where his Dad has his boat, for a pint. The weather was great still, but unfortunately, the view wasn’t quite as good as it is on the harbour in Sydney!

Yacht club


The tide is out

In the evening I’d arranged to meet my Dad, his partner, my sister and her husband at a local pub for dinner. Sitting in the garden with the summer sun streaming down was surely the best that the English summer has to offer. I do miss those late night pub garden sessions.

We headed inside and had an excellent dinner before wrapping up at about 10pm.

Yummy Bulmers


The dining room

The following morning I woke up at 5am, which was way too early. It seems as though jet lag had caught up with me at last. I dozed a bit and eventually gave in so fired up the laptop to watch a bit of UK TV via BBC iPlayer.

Eventually I got up and then went to my sister again, and got to feed Isla for a second time, I’m getting better at this now.

I’d planned to meet some friends in town for lunch and then we were to head off to a local driving range to wack a few balls around. With it being mid-week, it wasn’t busy at all, so we didn’t have to suffer any embarrassment of being totally useless golfers.

I actually wasn’t too bad in the end, but it did take a lot of practice. I can’t see myself having a golf career in the future!

matthandy

The driving range


Lining it up

In the evening I went over to my friend’s parent’s house for a catch up and a couple of bottles of wine before making my way down to the local pub for the rest of the evening. I have mentioned it in previous trip reports as it’s a rather unique place with lots of historical artifacts/junk hanging up all over the place. It’s actually changed owners recently and they’ve really cleaned it all up, whilst still maintaining the character and charm of the original place.

My local

On Thursday I woke up at about 8am, so pretty good. I made my way back into town to purchase a watch for myself. As it happens my friend’s girlfriend is the manager of a local jewellery shop, so I was afforded some special treatment. I ended up walking away with a Hamilton Automatic, not a brand that I had heard of before, but I was very pleased with it.

We headed to a local pub for lunch where I had another British classic, scampi and chips. Proper chips too, not ‘fries’.

My sister had asked if I’d take some proper photos of herself, Isla and her husband so I travelled back to their house and spent a couple of hours doing my photographers bit before heading back to Dad’s and back down my local pub to meet some friends that I’d made arrangements with. It was a pretty good night as we spent most of it out in the garden.

Scampi!

The following morning I woke up at about 8am again, but with a hang over this time. Oh dear, too many ciders the previous night.

I went to visit my sister again, spending a few hours there before meeting up with a my friend again to go for a walk. We both went to the same high school and I’ve noticed that there have been some radical changes to the buildings recently and wanted to go and have a look and reminisce. There is a public footpath that runs around the outside, over some tracks and then out into the countryside. This was after school hours, so don’t worry, we weren’t up to anything ‘funny’!

It was great to wander around the countryside and enjoy the odd stinging nettle or two. The English countryside is definitely something that I miss about Australia. Ok, so I sound like an old man now.

Footpath


Watch out for trains (and stingers)


Buttercups


Left or right?

In the evening I had arranged to have a meal with some friends at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth. This was to be my last night in Sussex, so which fabulous restaurant did I choose to celebrate in? Pizza Express of course.

We arrived just as the sun was low in the sky, bathing everything in a golden light.

The meal was fantastic, and we even had a serving of the customary dough balls to go with it. It was great to catch up with everyone and I learned that a couple of my friends are planning to come over to Australia for a working holiday late this year which was great news for me.

Rather large yachts in the harbour tonight


Spinnaker Tower


Restaurants


Rather large yachts in the harbour tonight


Pizza Express

The evening ended without too many drinks being consumed which was a good idea, since I had to drive to Oxford the following day.

I woke at about 8am again, on this, the last morning down in Sussex. I went and visited some family, including my Mum who normally lives in Australia but was over in the UK sorting out some family affairs.

For lunch I’d arranged to meet my sister, Isla and her husband’s sisters at a rather posh local hotel. The hotel itself dates back only to 1927 which is a bit odd because it was built in a medieval style using elements from derelict buildings. Some of the stonework dates back to the 13th century and the woodwork is from the 15th century.

The setting was absolutely fantastic, with all of the tables laid out in the court yard. We’d printed off a voucher for a three course set menu.

To start I had blue cheese and walnut beignets. For my main I chose a dish which basically cubes of pork on a celeriac puree and for dessert I chose the cheese plate.

matthandy

The hotel


The hotel


Waiting area


Table setting


Blue cheese and walnut beignets


Pork main


Cheese plate


Strawberry shortcake


Jubilee display

Lunch was really excellent, the food was great, as well as the service, the setting and the company.
Sadly, at the end of the lunch it was time to say goodbye to everyone, including my niece. I didn’t know at this point when I would get to see her again, so it was a bit difficult.

I then jumped into the car and made my way to a friend’s place in Oxford.

Up Next

A night in London followed by a breakfast BBQ in Oxford and then a few more days in London before heading off to Newcastle for a wedding.

matthandy

Thanks SFflyer123.

Really? The wine selection is supposed to be from business class and includes pre-flight Champagne. I wonder when this changed?

Thanks Petrus. There are no tricks involved, the D800 is just able to handle 6400 really well. It is quite grainy close up, but it's clean noise that is easily dealt with in Lightroom.

Here is the original, straight out of the camera:



And a 100% crop:



This photo was taken at f2.8 1/40s 6400 ISO, in the rain, hand held! The D800 is simply an amazing camera.

And after processing:

Genius1

Excellent update from Sussex, matthandy ^

The hotel you visited at the end of the report looked really great.

I do love seeing those photos of the English countryside. Living in London now, I am lucky enough to return home to the countryside fairly regularly for a breath of fresh air (literally), but a part of me does miss having that on my doorstep.

Sussex looks like a lovely place to live, and within easy commuting distance of London too, and Heathrow for those trips away.

Looking forward to the rest!

robofski

Did you win the fiver on the 2p machine? I have to admit to also being unable to resist the lure of the 2p pusher but like you I draw the line at 10p

Great report as always, when I see matthandy as the thread starter I know I'm in for a good read!