Assalammualaikum!
Ni how ma? It’s been ages since my last post. Need to do spring cleaning, dah bersawang agaknya 😷. Bdw I'm still alive, safe and sound, just my passion in blogging is not as strong as before. But what matters now is I'm back.. And I don’t think I have any followers so I can just write anytime I like. It's like my personal diary where I can refer to walk down memory lane in future and also share my travel experiences with people out there as sharing is caring (klau ada yg sudi baca ☺☺). If any information in my post comes to be usefull on your travel plan, I'm pleased and happy that I contributed something. As I'm also always make reference on the places I wanted to go by reading other’s blog.
Ok.… I still not completed my Korea post (as ussual heheehe), but I felt like to open a new chapter about my trip to Sydney on 2014. Hahahah jgn buat2 terkejut, I know so long, last 2 years. But still want to share the experiences as this trip was quite unique to me because instead of the typical tourist attractions in Sydney City, we went for roadtrip to the outskirts of Sydney. Such a memorable trip with dear friends. This is how it begins…
Pre-Adventure
I named this group “Bulan di Pagar Bintang” which the team members are Lina & Kayrie. Originally member to watch live concert, theatre, etc then extent our activity to travel together. Early that year (2014), we received information that AA had open a new route to Maldives. As Maldives always been in the top list destinations for beach enthusiast but the transportation cost is expansive, so when the low-fare flight offered the route to this popular holiday archipelago, definitely everybody got excited. Since Kayrie is a teacher, we can only travel during school holiday which actually not advisable since the ticket fare normally would be expansive. But we had no choice right? So we targeted to travel during 1st term School holiday, 26/03 – 30/03. Everybody started to dream and made preparation.
This came to the point when God’s interference in our decision was the best for us….
During making research and planning on the itinerary, I noticed that not much xtvt we can do there as it is more suitable for those who wanted to have a laid back holiday. My concern was we have a baby with us (Lina’s son) who was just 1 year old that time. All the water’s xtvts are not suitable for baby and also quite hassle to travel by boat from one place to another. Luckily other members also thought the same so we checked AA promotion for an alternative destination and found that there was an offer for flight to Sydney at RM699 returned for the March trip. Without hesitation, we bought the tickets. It was totally a 360deg turn!!
So how did God’s interference came to as benefit to us? Well, a month after our purchasing, AA made an announcement to cancel the route to Maldives started March 2014 and returned back all the payment to customer who had bought the tickets. Imagine how gratefull we were. Well moral of the story is don’t ever hesitate or question on God’s plan to us. HE always know best!
So back to our MALDIVES became SYDNEY Trip, we started on preparation. None of us have been to Oz before so lots of thing needed to settle pre-journey. And the things are as follows :
i) FLIGHT TICKETS
Air flight will be the only mode of transportation to Sydney, unless you considered to sneak into cargo ship and cross Pacific Ocean to Sydney Harbour (ok just kidding) 😜😜
There are lots of flight to Sydney. As we already had targeted date which on end of March, we found the cheapest fare offered by AA. It was quite surprise to get a cheaper price during school holiday because the promotion price normally will not applicable during school holiday or festive holiday. However that was the trick… it was actually a low season in Sydney. We experienced shower in most of our journey! I will write on it later.
As for now, remember my dear friends…. when you find any promotion from the Airlines, check the weather forecast of the place on the date they offered as most of it actually during the off-season. On the marketing point of view, the flight will have to fly no matter the aircraft is full or not as per schedule. However with less passenger, it cannot cover the flight cost (fuel,etc) so that’s why these Airlines have to offer the cheaper price to attract more passenger. U got it right?? But not all promotions are during low season. That’s why I said, no harm to just check the weather forecast. If the weather is perfect, than it is your luck 😋😋
OK since we didn’t aware about this marketing strategy earlier, we proceed to secure the flight tickets 3 months before departure.
We took a morning flight at 9.10am and arrived in Sydney at 8.20pm. Please note that Sydney time is 2 hours ahead us and the flight duration is 8hours!! Habis “berakar” la duduk dlm flight. As the air travel took almost 1 whole day (ya kami rugi satu hari), we booked for inflight menu. Nasi lemak to Sydney and Thai Green Curry Chicken for returned. Yummieh!!! Owh ya, this was my 1st experience with Air Asia X for the long haul flight. Flight entertainment is provided but under option / additional cost. They provided tab for us to watch blockbuster movies, listening to chart topping music and playing games! Flatbed seat also provided as option. Blanket can be rented at RM10/piece 😂😂
For returned ticket, we purchased night flight at 9.40pm from Sydney, and arrived at LCCT the next day at 3.15am.
Total cost for returned flight including meals = RM657/person.
ii) Weather and What to Wear
Australia experiences temperate weather for most of the year but the climate can be vary. The northern states typically experience warm weather much of the time, with the southern states experiencing cooler winters. Australia is also one of the driest continents on earth. Like all countries in the southern hemisphere, Australia's seasons are opposite to those in the northern hemisphere. December to February is summer; March to May is autumn; June to August is winter; and September to November is spring. Speaking about winter, don’t expect the extreme cold temperature like in Northern countries. Snow is only applicable in the alpine region of Australia stretches through New South Wales and into Victoria. There is also no snow in Sydney, but it is possible in some high latitude area like in Blue Mountain.
Since we went there on March, it was Autumn so we expected pleasant ambient and atmosphere there. Sydney’s rainfall is highest between March and June so this has to be taken into consideration also. (padanla tiket murah 😞). Average temperature was around 22deg C. Down jacket, trench coat are not required unless for “melaram” purpose 😜. Sweat shirt, sweater or leather jacket are sufficient for keeping warm. Advisable also to wear covered shoes like sneakers but winter boots or any type of boots no need la… unless like I said for melaram then OK. But I still not recommend it since this travel required some long walking distance. So up to you, sayang kaki or sayang gaya? Tepuk dada tanya kaki ok…
I will continue on accommodation & itinerary in the next post. Stay tuned....
You may read other topics on preparation to Sydney and TOTAL EXPENSES here :
Preparation 2 - Itinerary & Accommodation
Preparation 3 - Car Rental
Preparation 4 – Visa / ETA (Electronic Travel Authority) & Foods Declaration
TOTAL EXPENSES
As for now, remember my dear friends…. when you find any promotion from the Airlines, check the weather forecast of the place on the date they offered as most of it actually during the off-season. On the marketing point of view, the flight will have to fly no matter the aircraft is full or not as per schedule. However with less passenger, it cannot cover the flight cost (fuel,etc) so that’s why these Airlines have to offer the cheaper price to attract more passenger. U got it right?? But not all promotions are during low season. That’s why I said, no harm to just check the weather forecast. If the weather is perfect, than it is your luck 😋😋
OK since we didn’t aware about this marketing strategy earlier, we proceed to secure the flight tickets 3 months before departure.
We took a morning flight at 9.10am and arrived in Sydney at 8.20pm. Please note that Sydney time is 2 hours ahead us and the flight duration is 8hours!! Habis “berakar” la duduk dlm flight. As the air travel took almost 1 whole day (ya kami rugi satu hari), we booked for inflight menu. Nasi lemak to Sydney and Thai Green Curry Chicken for returned. Yummieh!!! Owh ya, this was my 1st experience with Air Asia X for the long haul flight. Flight entertainment is provided but under option / additional cost. They provided tab for us to watch blockbuster movies, listening to chart topping music and playing games! Flatbed seat also provided as option. Blanket can be rented at RM10/piece 😂😂
For returned ticket, we purchased night flight at 9.40pm from Sydney, and arrived at LCCT the next day at 3.15am.
Total cost for returned flight including meals = RM657/person.
ii) Weather and What to Wear
Australia experiences temperate weather for most of the year but the climate can be vary. The northern states typically experience warm weather much of the time, with the southern states experiencing cooler winters. Australia is also one of the driest continents on earth. Like all countries in the southern hemisphere, Australia's seasons are opposite to those in the northern hemisphere. December to February is summer; March to May is autumn; June to August is winter; and September to November is spring. Speaking about winter, don’t expect the extreme cold temperature like in Northern countries. Snow is only applicable in the alpine region of Australia stretches through New South Wales and into Victoria. There is also no snow in Sydney, but it is possible in some high latitude area like in Blue Mountain.
Since we went there on March, it was Autumn so we expected pleasant ambient and atmosphere there. Sydney’s rainfall is highest between March and June so this has to be taken into consideration also. (padanla tiket murah 😞). Average temperature was around 22deg C. Down jacket, trench coat are not required unless for “melaram” purpose 😜. Sweat shirt, sweater or leather jacket are sufficient for keeping warm. Advisable also to wear covered shoes like sneakers but winter boots or any type of boots no need la… unless like I said for melaram then OK. But I still not recommend it since this travel required some long walking distance. So up to you, sayang kaki or sayang gaya? Tepuk dada tanya kaki ok…
I will continue on accommodation & itinerary in the next post. Stay tuned....
You may read other topics on preparation to Sydney and TOTAL EXPENSES here :
Preparation 2 - Itinerary & Accommodation
Preparation 3 - Car Rental
Preparation 4 – Visa / ETA (Electronic Travel Authority) & Foods Declaration
TOTAL EXPENSES
No comments:
Post a Comment