Bikeguy

The other thing I really missed this trip was my smart phone for using Urbanspoon and Yelp to help me find good restaurants. I tried using the internet in the room to search their sites for good restaurants, but I couldn’t get Sydney to come up using either site. I had to settle on TripAdvisor, which I now believe to be somewhat suspect. The first restaurant we tried was Lucetta. My wife’s chicken wrapped in prosciutto was dry, but she was hungry and didn’t want to wait for them to recook it. I had the gnocchi with red sauce and bacon, and it was pretty tasty, but not as tasty as my typical restaurant recommendations from US or Yelp. The Verizon smart phone I carry in the US is issued by my work, so I couldn’t throw the $25 for 100Mb data on it as I would a personal phone.
The next day we took the ferry to Manly, which in my mind is a must do, if only to get a feel of how extensive the harbor is.



Quite impressive. And $7 each way per person. We got to the beach and there were a HUGE amount of people dressed in costumes.



I asked whether this was normal, and was told this is an every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday thing. Then the guys I was talking to came clean and admitted they had paid $25 to be in a charity costumed raft race. People were riding waves with little school buses and on bed mattresses! They were having so much fun! I really enjoyed the spirit of the event.
We went back to the room for a break and then took a tour of the Sydney Opera House. Got to see the 2 major halls and the playhouse underneath and hear the tale of the competition and the results. The Opera house tiles are a lot more yellow with patterns in them than I’d thought. I thought they were just a really white white.

Bikeguy

That evening we again tried a TripAdvisor restaurant which was more to our liking. It is called Spice I Am and is near the Central Station. We got there just before the lines started to build heavily. They are known for authentic Thai food, including the spice levels you’d find in Thailand. I ordered Pad Thai.



My wife ordered Mussaman.



When I said I wanted mine medium, the waiter said we don’t do that here, we make it the way it comes in Thailand. So, if you go, you need to research which dish comes in the heat level you like, as no one there spoke very good English and figuring this out was difficult. Both of us were happy with our meals, and they tasted as good as they looked!

Bikeguy

The breakfast at the Park Hyatt Sydney was wonderful. I got the French toast with carmalized bananas, and you are allowed to order off the a la carte menu and get the buffet as well for the Diamond breakfast. Possibly the best breakfast I have ever had!

Bikeguy

Before we headed to the airport, I walked the Sydney bridge and took this photo. Thought the photo did a good job of showing the location of the Park Hyatt Sydney to the bridge ad the Opera House.



Caught the train back to the airport and enjoyed the Air New Zealand lounge.







We had 2 seats together in the middle with a 3rd person next to us. I tried to get 2 on the side, but they were all taken. The 3 in the middle really aren’t bad, as they install a divider for sleeping if you are not all together. And the arm rests are raised out of the way if you are together.





Really enjoyed the meal again. King prawns with sweet corn and basil salsa, smoked paprika dressing for starters.



Followed by Prawn, calamari, mussel paella with fine herbs



Finished with a delicious Fig and brown sugar bread and butter pudding with poached rhubarb and ginger.



The other thing I thought was over the top on VA is the towels in the bathroom. I couldn't find a place to put them after I dried my hands and asked one of the FAs where they went. He said in the garbage.





I thought it was fine and I can be pretty picky. Another great VA flight and crew.

Bikeguy

I was surprised by how nice the Delta lounge was in LAX. Used the showers and took some pictures, as I was so impressed.



The 767 from LAX to MSP was a let down, compared to how nice all the VA flights were and the Delta on the way to LAX, for that matter. Here's the ghetto interior I described above. Every seat in F was like this.



The AVOD first wouldn’t work and then wanted you to swipe a credit card to watch shows that should have been free in F. This forced a system reboot. The flight attendant was working really hard to make a good impression, but it’s hard to make up for the general neglect of the plane. My encyclopedic friend says the 767s will stay in service for another 2 or 3 years. Delta really needs to redo these worn out interiors if that is the case. The meal was a steak hoagie, which I really liked.



Final flight from MSP to DTW had a few electrical problems, and they were checked out before we left. Other than that uneventful and fine.

Bikeguy

I would absolutely recommend this trip and hotels to anyone considering a trip like this. My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and you should see the wonderful birthday card I got a week after we came home!
Please don't believe the criticisms above reflect that either of us didn't really enjoy this trip immensely and would do it again in a heartbeat. I believe in pointing out the good and the bad, so others won't have false expectations or hopefully, understand our philosophy and can make adjustments if they make this trip, based on our experience.
I always try to think what I would have done differently, which I’ve mainly covered in the above text. We both wished we would have spent more time in New Zealand. I actually would recommend flying into the North Island and taking the train the entire length of New Zealand. As it is, this desire just gives me a reason to go back.

HansGolden

Awesome report! I can't wait to sit down and read every word in more detail. My mom and dad have been wanting to do a similar trip (including the VA biz as they've got lots of DL) for a VERY long time. Dad enjoyed meeting you at the ORD Seminars, so will appreciate a report from someone he knows.

UA_Flyer

I agree 100% that breakfast at Park Hyatt @ Sydney may have the best breakfast I ever had^

All the breakfast entrees were prepared with high quality ingredients and they all taste so good.

I took my wife and two kids there for a week-stay, and we tried every single breakfast entree on the menue and they are all delicious!

mtkeller

Thanks for the great TR (and alerting in the DL thread where we've discussed VA to NZ). I'm glad I switched my LAX-ICN-AKL to LAX-BNE-WLG, now, since it looks like a nice way to get there. I have about two weeks in NZ (and did a lot in Oz last December, so no compulsion to spend any time on that side this trip), so I should probably start figuring out my plans.

Your scenery photographs have me looking forward to this trip even more than I already was!

Do I understand correctly that you got assigned row 5 at LAX? I still need to call in for seat assignments. DL doesn't seem able to find the VA PNR. Did you get it from DL or just by calling up with name/date/flight?

austgap

Thanks for writing up this TR! Really enjoyed reading it.

Bikeguy

The scenery photos were taken with a point and shoot small camera, a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS42, to be exact. NZ is way more beautiful in person, IMHO.

Our original seats were both aisles in the middle 3, like rows 2 and 3. We were preassigned row 5 before we got to LAX, however. I say this because when we got there, I asked if we could sit together, and the desk agent stated we had been moved to row 5. I assume someone at VA saw we were apart before the desk opened. We were checked in by the trainer of the desk agents and I'm sure he would have volunteered he had switched us if he did. I was told over the phone when calling VA about a month before the flight (which I gave flight numbers and name, date, along with DL PNR, not sure what they needed, but that got them to find us in their system), that row 2 and 5 are blocked and only assigned at the desk, but in both LAX and SYD, I was told by both desk agents they had never heard of that and all seats were already assigned. I actually called VA twice, because we switched flights, and both times was told 2 and 5 are blocked.

I had read row 5 is normally reserved for VA elite, and on the other side of 5, a guy had both seats to himself. The middle 3 were a family with a small baby, and they may have been assigned those seats in case the baby cried. That is speculation.

Askartus

Hi Bikeguy,

nice tr.

I have been a frequent but silent reader of the trip reports, but reading this got me to answer:

This is a thing that I
- highly recommand and
- just did during my visit in NZ, but the other way round.

We landed in AKL, drove all the way from there to CHC and returned the car there.
Then we got onto the TranzAlpine to Arthur´s Seat for some nice hikes, the next day we went to Wellington using the Coastal Pacific and Air Sounds and for the last step there was the Overlander (now named "Northern Explorer" and using new carriages). A very memorable journey, which I covered in my travelblog, but only in German.

Best wishes,
Askartus

bostonbali

Great Trip Report Bike Guy!
Glad you enjoyed NZ and AUS. We were there in April, and stayed at many of the same hotels you did (Queensland Hilton - got the same upgrade to a "relaxation suite" that you got). Also had a great experience at the PH Sydney.

Looks like you ended up with a very good DL redemption - nice work!

Bostonbali

Bikeguy

Glad you enjoyed it. Your suggestions are useful and I need to look into them more. We both want to go back. Thanks for sharing.

Bikeguy

I think my wife loves me more because of this vacation and it's deluxe feel.