RIO de janeiro, brasil

On 17 November, we said farewell to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and made our way to the international airport to catch a Latam Airways flight to Santiago, Chile which was a stopover for us enroute to Sydney. Again, we were still full of excitement, before this trip I had never heard of Latam Airways so this was a new experience for both of us. Our flight was Latam Airways LA773 and departed at 19:10 local time. It was a four-hour trip with no time difference, so we landed in Santiago just after 11pm. Our next flight was not until the following afternoon and Rachel had booked a room overnight for us at the Holiday Hotel right on in the airport grounds, we just walked out of the Santiago Arturo Merino Benitez International airport and stepped into the Holiday Inn Santiago Hotel, it could not have more convenient. The hotel was very welcoming and nice set in very causal surroundings, and we had a spacious room. Unfortunately, no one warned us in RJ International Airport that our luggage was checked in straight through to Sydney, so on arrival in Chile, we did not have a change of clothes, just what was in our hand luggage. We were able to get some toiletries from the hotel which we used to freshen up for the next day onward journey to Sydney. We did not get to see much of Santiago, however, I recall the lady at the check in desk telling us that she would recommend a trip to Chile if we ever came back again. I made a mental note, though I have not had the opportunity to visit since then. Our onward flight was Qantas Airways QF28 departing at 13:35, I had never flown Qantas so again we were both excited. The entire tour was firsts for us, so I can honestly say we had six weeks of excitement. The flight was fourteen hours long. So far this was the longest single flight we had taken, not adding this to the 14hour stop over we had in Chile.

We landed on 19 November at Sydney, Kingsford Smith Airport at 5:45pm, with our visas in passports and eager to clear customs and immigration so that we could finally get some rest, we had been travelling for a long time without a change of clothes. I was looking forward to experiencing the Australian weather as I was aware that we were heading into their winter season. We took a taxi from the airport and drove what seemed like an age to the hotel, in reality it was only 35mins travel time. The hotel was located on the harbour waterfront, our room had the most spectacular views the Pyrmont foot bridge both at night time and during the day. 

The plan was to spend four nights in Sydney and then move on to Cairns, home of the Great Barrier Reef and then Melbourne. In total we would spend three weeks in Australia. After checking into the hotel, we did not really eat much that evening as it was too late for dinner. We were eager to get some rest and then start our exploring the city and all that it had to offer. I had heard so much about Sydney that I could not wait to see it for myself. 

As usual, we used the wonders of the internet to find tour providers and make some bookings. We bought a 48hrs “hop on hop” off bus tickets which gave us a thorough guide of the city at a pace of our choosing. These buses are open top double decker buses that tour the city with pre-recorded commentary of the places the buses travel to. It gives access to your very own guide in a multitude of major languages. We found these tickets to be invaluable and I have subsequently used the “hop on / hop off” service during my adventures in other countries, they provide good value for money. In using these buses, we preferred to take the seats in the front row on the upper decks as we realised this gives the best uninterrupted views for us to take photos.

Our first full day was on 20 November, as usual, we spent the day exploring the surrounding area, particularly as we were staying that the Darling harbour which is steeped in history and a tourist magnet. We were grateful to Rachel for accommodating us in this hotel. The hotel itself was modest, it had a breakfast room and the bedroom we had was very clean and functional albeit a bit tight to accommodate both our suitcases. I would not have rated the hotel as four star but it did the job. 

Darling Harbour is made up of large areas of recreational and pedestrian precinct that is situated on western outskirts of the Sydney central business district. There were a lot of restaurants in the area with the IMAX cinema and we didn’t find it crowded which was a bonus for us as we both do not like crowded spaces. We had our first breakfast on the harbour. We walked on the Pyrmont Bridge to Market Street and past all the shops and stores such as the David Jones Departmental Store. We had underestimated the intensity of the sun, and I recall, after breakfast we decided to take a stroll on the Pyrmont and we had to go back and seek shelter until the sun went down later in the afternoon. The temperature was over 40 deg C 

 On 23 November, we packed our bags and caught a taxi to Sydney Kingsford International Airport, saying farewell to the city we had enjoyed so much. Our flight was the Virgin Australia VA 1421 departing at 14:10.  We got there in good time. One thing about out entire trip is that we were never late to catch our flight, we were quite proud of this because constantly moving from flight to fight and with the time differences, this would have meant it would have been very easy to lose track of time and indeed forget our flight times. This is fact was an achievement for us! The flight being just over 3hrs long was a relatively short one. We arrived at Cairns Airport, with our bags in tow. As this was a domestic flight we did not have the customs to deal with, we waited for our bags and left the airport. We needed to catch a bus to the accommodation which Rachel had secured for us at the Bay Villas resort in Port Douglas. The bus trip to the villa was just under a couple of hours, the dropped of passengers before us, so the journey took a bit longer than if it was a taxi. We were in no particular hurry, the journey was mainly along the Australian eastern coastline, it was breath taking and we loved every moment of it even with part of the journey being in the dark. We arrived at the resort in the evening and the caretaker had left for the day, but we had instructions on how to access our room. We were able to get our key and access the room which was located on the first floor. On entry to the room, we were pleasantly surprised to find that it was an apartment with facilities. We were extremely grateful and happy, we had cooking facilities and a washing machine, we could wash our clothes! We were not expecting this. We were not able to do anything that night, so we went straight to bed as we were quite tired. The following morning, we showered and really walked around the small apartment and its surroundings. We were pleased to see that we also had a small balcony where we could relax. We needed to get some supplies and food so we went to see the caretaker / concierge who gave us directions to the nearest shopping centre and the town. 

Next stop was Fiji, a small island nestled in the Pacific Island north of New Zealand and east of Australia, an island population of less than 1m.

On 2 December, we left Melbourne enroute to Fiji. Our flight was at 22:50 at night so we still had time during the day to enjoy Melbourne. We had to leave the hotel room at noon and we left our luggage at the hotel and walked up the high street one last time.

Our flight was Fiji Airways FJ 930 departing 22:50, we left the hotel around 19:00 and caught a bus back to Melbourne International Airport. We arrived at the airport slightly early but we decided that was better than leaving our hotel departure till late at night especially as we were catching a bus to the airport. One thing we discovered on the trip was that every airline has different baggage allowances, so where we were used to the major international airlines with more generous allowances, some of the airlines did not have this benefit. We had packed our luggage based on the generous baggage allowances so we found out that we were overweight when checking in. Thankfully, the attendant on duty was helpful and advised that we could transfer some of the luggage into hand luggage, however, we had another problem that we did not have a big enough hand luggage bag between us. In the end, again the flight attendant came to our aid and found us a bag which we subsequently used.

Asides from that, the flight was uneventful, and we landed in Nadi International Airports in the early hours of the morning. At just around 6hrs flight time, this was one of our medium length flights. We landed at Nadi airport to a most glorious welcome from the Fijians. The airport was a vey humble building, very modest in comparison with the arrivals building of other major countries around the world. As we approached the customs desks, we were greeted with a band, singing and dancing from the Fijians dressed in traditional attires. This was a very welcome sight that I had not experienced before, it was very heart warming and we really enjoyed it. After getting through customs and immigration, we were guided to the Helipad where our helicopter was waiting to transfer us to the Matamanoa Island. This exclusive transfer had been arranged by Rachel as a present to us to celebrate our 50th. It was a very nice gift and we really appreciated it. The helicopter flight time was 12mins from the airport. On arrival at the island, we were given the red carpet treatment and met with a large beaded necklace presented to us around our necks. This is the tradition of the Fijians to show the love and appreciation, I think it is called the Salusalu. Again, we were very touched by this and we felt like royalty! Our bags were swiftly taken to our room and as we arrived at breakfast time, we were invited to have breakfast. We later found out that the guests thought Mo was Serena Williams due to the celebrity manner (helicopter plus red carpet) of which we arrived on the island, from afar I guess Mo had a similar build as Serena! 

On 15 December, once again we packed our bags and caught an Emirates Airways flight EK319 to Dubai. It was an overnight flight and we were both excited as we had never been to the Middle East before. We arrived in the early hours of the following morning and went swiftly through customs and immigration. Once we had cleared customs, we came out of the Dubai International Airport and hailed a taxi. Our initial experience was that of the female taxi drivers who were meant to pick up either families our ladies only. Being a muslim country, we were concsious of the culture and the  differences to our usual environment being in the US/UK. We flew in from Tokyo which was cold being winter into the warm weather of Dubai. This was a welcome feeling for us, we both craved some warmth. We arrived at the hotel, the JA Resorts Hotel located in the Marina in the early hours of the morning, our room was not ready but we were offered an upgraded room for an additional cost, this room was ready and we could check in straight away.  We decided to take the room because we were very tired and the prospect of sleeping on the couch in the lounge did not appeal to us. We checked into what would be our home for the next 5 nights and our last destination of the trip. 

At this stage of our journey, we had been travelling for quite some time, over 5 weeks and we were exhausted with the plane hopping and chasing the time difference. We had been living out of our single suitcase all this time and eating hotel or restaurant food. I think it would be fair to say that we had begun to crave some home cooking or maybe it was because we were getting so close to the end of our trip.

We went up to our room, frsshened up and had a quick nap before going down for breakfast. The hotel breakfast was very comprehensive with a great deal of choice including foods for non muslims. We were very impressed with the breakfast and made sure that we had a big one each morning.

Once we had finished breakfast, we took a stroll to the Marina to see what our environment was like. The Marina was a very area with access to the beach and lots of shops and restaurants.

We decided that we would explore Dubai using the Hop On Hop Off bus and and also go on one if the excursions that would take us to the old Dubai town. Of course our travels had to include a trip to the Souk markets. The concierge also told us that the hotel runs on a mini bus service to the Gold Souk at scheduled times, a drop off and pick up service which we used on a number of occasions. Having decided on how we wanted to spend our time, we decided that we would travel around Dubai using the metro system. We bought the prepaid metro silver card which we could use multiple times, the initial cost of the card was 25 AED. This included the cost of the card which is valid for 5 years.

My first impressions of Dubai was that it was a city with a lot of construction work going on. It seemed to be thriving with lots of high buildings. We enjoyed the warm sunshine

In addition to using the hop on hop off bus to see the sight in Dubai, we also booked a tour that took us into the desert to see how the people lived in the past. This was an intriquing tour where we ate traditional food and there was the opportunity to ride camels, though neither of us took up the opportunity. We went for walks in the desert and enjoyed the sun going down.