// May 26th, 2010 // No Comments » // just cool
I have to admit, when I saw this video yesterday, I was jealous. Why? Because when in my life will I ever get to ride an Ostrich? I know when…the next time I’m in Vietnam. Sign me up! Thanks to Jeannie Mai (and her mom) for sharing this video with us!
// May 9th, 2010 // No Comments » // Uncategorized, europe, just cool, road trip
They aren’t just rocks, they are giant stones in the middle of the UK. And like so many others, I had to see them first hand. Here’s a look at my day trip to Stonehenge.
// March 8th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Uncategorized, just cool, travel tips
I flew 18 hours non-stop from Los Angeles to Bangkok, had a 2 hour layover, then flew another hour to Chiang Rai (in Northern Thailand) all to experience a Thai Massage. This wasn’t what I had in mind but was worth it!
// January 18th, 2010 // No Comments » // Uncategorized, airplanes, antarctica, frequent flyer, just cool
Recently on a flight from Melbourne to Los Angeles aboard Qantas’ A380 flagship First service, I struck up a conversation with the gentleman sitting next to me. He told me had had flown a few years back on Qantas over Antarctica. Not only that, it was to welcome in the New Year. Today, Rod Unmack shares his pictures and story with us. This is one trip I want to take!!
My wife Melinda and I were to turn 40 at around the same time … we could have thrown a big party like everyone else, but this didn’t excite us – we really wanted to do something out of the ordinary, something extra special. Melinda had heard about the flights over Antarctica, which appealed to both of us, so we investigated further.
It was January 2006, and we decided, hang the expense, we’re only doing this once, let’s do this as best we can – but we had to be quick to successfully book first class Antarctica Flight tickets for New Years Eve 2006, at a price of $5,000 each. (Prices have gone up more since we travelled, they’re now $6,299 each).
So at 5:00pm on Sun 31st Dec 2006, we took off in an Airbus380 from Sydney for Antarctica …. a 13 hour flight in total – 4 hrs there, 5 hours sightseeing and 4 hours to come home. I had thought that when over Antarctica, we’d look at the snow on top of mountain for an hour or so, get a little bored of seeing the same thing, so enjoy the party atmosphere onboard the plane, occasionally looking out the window to view a landmark which had been pointed out. How wrong I was !!
What an experience, what an atmosphere – it all started with the great food and entertainment – from the 5 piece band who were on board and moving through the cabin.
After about 4 hours of flight, we saw our first Ice Bergs … what a sight. From this time on, viewing the Antarctica scenery can only described with one word … mesmerising. Everyone was glued to their little window for all the amazing views for the entire 5 hours we were flying over Antarctica.
We were very fortunate, the weather for our trip was some of the best weather for sight-seeing over Antarctica trips, which allowed us to take over 3 hundred great photos (a selection attached). The tour operators have someone who mounts three video cameras to fully capture the event, which is available to purchase. The plane flew at approx. 10,000ft, so with some of the mountainous landscape as high as 8,000ft, we were only 2,000ft above land at times … this is obvious in the pictures. The plane flew in a figure 8 pattern all over the terrain, so everyone can see every aspect of the scenery, nobody misses anything. It’s all very well run, in the economy section they have a very regimented seat swap procedure which occurs half-way – seats 1 and 4, and 2 & 3 swap.
One Meteorologist who worked on the Davis Station, was actually on board telling everybody about all the landscape we were flying over, and the conditions that would create this type of landscape. A Senior Antarctic research scientist was also on board talking to everyone and answering any questions asked, and the plane even crossed via radio to staff on the Mawson Station, who told us all about life on the station, what they were doing, what current conditions were … all fascinating.
It was interesting of course, that there is no life to see … nothing is moving whatsoever. It was interesting to fly over the French Station, and you can only see a tiny single hut on the ground … this tiny hut is approx. 50mtrs long, which gave you a indication of the scale of everything … it was huge.
After 5 hours of viewing the breathtaking scenery, we knew it was all coming to an end … the sun was dropping, the sky was getting darker and this when we saw the first bits of low laying fog covering the ground … we knew this was a very apt ending to an amazing experience. With only 3 hours till we got back to Sydney …. we all bedded down for some much needed sleep.
Oh yes, about half way travelling over Antarctica, we did welcome in the New Year with the customary songs and drinks, but no one really took their eye off Antarctica’s awe inspiring views.
A travel experience I recommend to everyone.
