Hello Possums,from lovely Sydney, Australia. We arrived at 6.30 this morning after a 9 hour flight from Bangkok.
The journey was a contrasting tale of two airports. The new airport at Bangkok is situated away from the centre and even with the lack of traffic on a Sunday lunchtime still took over half an hour in the car.We were picked up at 2 and with the plane scheduled to leave at 5.05 felt this gave us plenty of time to experience the airport and the lounge. Having checked-in online it just needed our bags dropping and boarding card printing before proceeding through passport control.Here the fun started,the queues had formed already and the process of just checking the passports and exit visas seemed to take an eternity.Having got through this hurdle we presumed that we would need our bags checking but we were straight into the duty free area.Having eventually found the lounge (we turned the wrong way and ended up at the other end of the airport!!!) we settled down to enjoy a nice cup of tea and a few sandwiches.Our flight was going to be about 30 mins late but we decided to walk to the gate early, and I’m glad we did as it was here that the bag check was completed.In most other airports I have flown from this involves an x-ray of the bags, but at Bangkok all the bags were opened prior to going through the machine.When we completed this process we went to board the plane only to have all the baggage further checked prior to getting on.Quite a palaver!!!!
The arrival at Sydney could not have been greater in contrast.Just before touch down we were handed Australian immigration forms which asked more questions than even those for the US, but they were all primarily concerned about contact with farms and animals.We were also shown a short video that stated that any one carrying any form of processed food (even the nuts from the plane) would have to declare them or face on the spot fines or WORSE!.We were therefore quite concerned that it would take some time to clear this process.Nothing could be further from the truth. We were amongst the first to leave the plane and our baggage was virtually waiting for us, a quick presentation of passport and form, through customs and we were outside picking up the first taxi from the rank.The drive to the hotel was completed before the rush hour had really started. The whole process from aircraft touching down to check-in at the hotel took 35 minutes.
We were warned that our hotel room might not be ready until 2pm and were therefore prepared to drop our luggage and hang around for the morning, but we were in luck. Our room was ready and we checked in. The hotel is not as luxurious as the one in Bangkok but what it misses in opulence it makes up for in location as the photos illustrate.
For the foodies this was our first meal in Australia.And no ,she didn’t finish it !!!!!
View looks lovely! And the food - what is in the pie?
ReplyDeleteWhen we flew from Frankfurt to HCMC we had to stop at Bangkok to refuel. This meant getting off the plane and waiting in a lounge. We got lost in the airport and never found the lounge only finding our way back to the gate just in time to board. Glad we're not the only ones.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your time in Sydney, we will be awaiting further instalments.
ReplyDeleteDon't know how long you are in Sydney but we enjoyed an excursion to the Snowy Mountains.
How did you find the flight?
what a view! and what's that interesting looking castellated building? Don't tell me it's a sewerage treatment plant!
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