Thursday, October 3, 2013

3rd Oct 13 leaving Sydney

Today we got up early for 7:30am take off to the airport. Breakfast was swiftly consumed by all, and not really enjoyed. 

Travel to airport went smoothly due to "Bessy" the GPS and Melissa the star navigator. Sydney airport though large is well organised and relatively easy to navigate. Our Avis car rental went well, no issues. We took photos in case any nasty extra charges turn up. 

It was interesting as we were waiting for a wheelchair for my father we were idle by an ATM and after a few minutes two police officers appeared and watch us as we were waiting for the wheelchair. When the wheelchair arrived we began dismantling the motorised scooter that my father had been using the police officers began intently watching us as I was told by the rest of the family, if I had known I would of asked them to help us. Oh well... 

Poor Jacqueline was singled out by security for looking nervous. Her reward was an additional scan by the delightful and helpful security folks.  We got to keep her :-)

Like most Australian Airports the food court charges massive charges for very ordinary foodstuffs. A bottle of 375 ml of juice cost $4.95 each. Crazy,,, Pirates,! 



Our flight home went well. The Skytrans staff are fantastic in their service. Highly recommended as a airline.

2nd Oct 13 - A day in Sydney

Today we slept in to 8am until we were waken. A quick breakfast and a trip down to Paddy's markets. The markets seem very busy though it is hard to know. The girls spent their money all the same on various teenage inspired items. 

Elessa, James and baby Lily joined us for lunch at a Chinese food place at the top floor of Paddy's. It was ok. 

Melissa took duty to watch the girls at Paddy's while my parents and I took a taxi around the CBD seeing harbour, the bridge and opera house. 

We finished our day with a nice meal of Thai from China Town.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Off to see a Lily!

Toowoomba Airport
We arrived at Toowoomba Airport by Taxi 1 hour and 10 minutes early for a 2pm flight. The airport is near home so it took only 5 minutes to get there. Check-in went quickly and smoothly. Toowoomba Airport is small in the form of single room with a check-in facility. The runway is a low tonnage field running West to East. Compared to similar cities to Toowoomba, our airport is small and primitive. Roma (a town of 5000) has airport that is much bigger as a example.

20 minutes out the check-in staff announced that our flight had been delayed in Brisbane for an hour. Joy! 







The Skytrans staff (out of their own personal supply) offered all the passengers tea and coffee. Very nice gesture by the ground staff. The "airport" has no food or drink facilities except a water bubbler. Poor primitive Toowoomba, has been taken for granted by local and state governments for decades. Hopefully the new Wagners private airport will have facilities more suited to a city of 150000+ people. 

While we wait, we are entertained by free to air TV and 6 month old baby. Finally the long wait is over at 2:50 pm when our flight landed from Brisbane. Just 50 minutes late. Fortunately the car rental people at Sydney are fairly understanding on the phone. We are scheduled to fly now at 3:20pm.

Our flight took off at 3:15pm and the flight went well. We landed at 5:15pm and was bused to the terminal. No chair for Dad but the flight crew assisted. 

Finally we arrived at Avis car rental and waited 30 minutes to find our car. 

Our trip through Sydney went well, as our GPS made our trip simple. Lack of parking is interesting in Sydney, which caused the most issues.

We all had a chane to nurse young Lily. A sweet little girl, who was a delight to all. 

After a couple hours we drove into the city to find hour hotel. Our GPS did a grand job to get us there with little issues.