It’s now Saturday, so I haven’t done a great job of doing any updates for most of the trip. In fact I’ve spend a surprisingly and refreshingly small amount of time in front of my computer. I have watched some TV shows on my iPad, but I’m pretty sure that counts as relaxation.
Let’s go back to Tuesday. Just before my flight was due to board I found an ATM and then got ripped off by the currency exchange people – I got VT6k for just under $100. By comparison the xe rate would have be at about VT8500. I guess that’s why the currency conversion place didn’t charge fees! I know the airport is a bad place to get currency (at least exchange rate wise), but the lead up to this trip was pretty rushed and I felt it would be prudent to have some cash. Anyhow, we boarded, not business this time, but I can’t complain about 4C with the whole 3 seats on my side to myself! I elected for no food and coffee. But I think I still dosed for a decent portion of the trip. I watched some of the Taylor Swift documentary but a lot of it’s a blur.
Immigration was quick and easy – Vanuatu is one of the countries that still does stamps, so I actually have a stamp in my passport now! As promised, the driver was waiting with a sign with my name on it. It was a slightly shorter drive that I thought, it took less than 15 minutes to get to the hotel. Meaning all said and done I was at the hotel pretty close to 1pm from memory. My room was ready which was nice. It gave me time to get in, get unpacked (I actually used the draws, which I almost never do) and rest for a moment before I dialled in for our Camping Ground review meeting.
The accommodation is nice. As I’m typing this, I’m sitting out on the back deck, looking over the ocean and sipping on a Pacific Island Ice Tea, I’m thankful for the blessings. I think I got the lowest quality room, in terms of view and amenities but it’s more than adequate for what I need. I liked the idea of having a kitchenette, but in hindsight I’ve used the kettle and the fridge – many hotels have these. I like the location, despite the fact that is is a bit out of Port Vila itself. I love the convenience of the Pool Bar and the food. The rooms are comfortable, albeit with too many bugs but I think that’s the climate. The internet is starlink and decently fast, even if I do get occasional instances of drop out. I digress. There are photos below.
The rest of Tuesday wasn’t much. Meeting. Nap. Dinner at the Beach Bar. Sleep. Holiday = started. Well this got long, silly me thinking I’d cover the whole holiday in one post! If you made it this far, well done – you get photos!
So I’m off again. Turns out the I do like travel, especially cheap travel! (As in travel that doesn’t cost me to much, not really low quality). I’m currently in the Brisbane International Business lounge. I was reviewing my previous posts and noticed that there are two (recent) incomplete drafts – one from my USA trip and one from my Gold Coast long weekend (June and November respectively). It’s unlikely I’ll finish them at this point – my memory of them is limited, but I might post what I have just for fun one day. Anyhow, back to this trip.
Qantas had a DSC promo going and a sale so I was looking for what was available. When I managed to find very cheap points flights to Vanuatu, in the windows for my post camping ground holiday I was sold. It was pretty cheap – only 46,000 points – got to love frequent flyer! It actually worked out to be 80,000 after I upgraded the first leg of the 4 flights to business. (excuse me I’m just going to get a class of sparkling wine. OK I’m back. Yes, it is 6.30 in the morning, but I’m on holidays and in an international lounge!) So the first leg is over – I left Perth at 10.50 last night and we landed just ahead of schedule just before 5am in Brisbane.
Red eye flights aren’t fun and that’s part of the reason I used more points to upgrade to business, but on a 737 that only helps a little. I felt like I got a bit of sleep, but maybe it was worse than I thought, my Phone is telling me I got 1 hr 22 mins but it definitely felt like more I read, ate and then we descended and the flight was over 4 hours. I took sleeping pills to help me get off but maybe it was just poor quality sleep. At any rate I’m here now and don’t feel too dead. I’ll probably need a nap when I get there but we’ll see what happens. There’s not much else to report yet, so I’ll leave this as a short post but we’ll see if I can document some of my Vanuatu adventures.
I’m currently in the Sydney business lounge, which isn’t super unusual for this blog, but what makes it strange is that I’m here after my flight (and I don’t have an ongoing connection). I’m here for the FPS finals, and domestic FPS travel generally doesn’t warrant a blog post. However, I had a new experience today so I thought I’d commemorate it here.
No issues at the airport, straight though security, lounge coffee etc. I boarded my flight and was pleased with the extra leg room seat (18C) I managed to get on the new A321. I got connected to the inflight wifi and was watching JAG. The people sitting next to me arrived and I continued watching. The captain came on and said air traffic control has given us a 9.30 departure slot (delayed by 30 mins). The guy next to me said he needed the toilet and disappeared. He was gone for quite a while and the lady with him kept looking behind her. By this time I’m watching NCIS as the connection to my server was a bit slow and JAG was lagging. The the customer service manager came to me and asked if I could bring my iPad and come up the front to talk to him, he wanted me to bring my bag too…
I was a bit confused and had no idea what was happening. We got to the front and he asked me to step off the plane onto the air bridge. There were two or three other flight attendants with him. He explained that the person next to me was concerned about what I was looking at on my iPad because they had seen a picture of fuselage and a bomb. He asked if I could explain and I said that I was watching a TV show, NCIS. He asked if I could rewind and show him the part in question. At this point a manager of some sort from Perth Airport arrived and the qantas person filled him in.
The internet was very good so we went back to the terminal which didn’t help much. I finally managed to hotspot to my phone after I took it out of my pocket and put it on the counter. I showed them the explosion scene from NCIS but that wasn’t it, apparently there was a bomb scene. I then remembered that there was a bomb in JAG so I brought that up – it was a digram of a submarine with a scene showing bomb armed. After they viewed that it was fine. They apologised but said they hoped I understood that they had to take security threats seriously and presumably I would want the same to happen. I agreed but I was still feeling a bit uneasy and confused.
As we walked back to the plane the CSM said they had a spare seat and they might move me there so I wouldn’t be hassled by the people who ‘reported’ me. I commented that I was in 18C which was extra leg room but he said that this seat was at the front of economy and I’d be very happy with it. I said I was happy to sit wherever he wanted me. I ended up in 6D which is a good seat! I didn’t have my larger carry on case but the attendant said she’d move it once the flight was underway.
Unfortunately, the saga didn’t end there. By this point it was after the allocated departure time (I think I caused that delay!) and they announced the doors were closed and it was time to turn your devices to flight mode. I reacted for my phone, but it wasn’t there. Then I remember, I took it out of my pocket to get better signal to show them the video. It was still in the terminal. I rang the call bell and frantically waved and got the attention of flight attendants. They made some calls, but then there was the announcement to arm the doors and we took off.
I can’t remember if it was just before we took off, or after but the CSM came and told be they couldn’t get my phone, there wasn’t time if we would be able to make our take off slot. He said the captain was talking to Perth and he’d give me updates. He spoke to me a couple more time and after expressing my need for my phone he ensured they would help me in Sydney. He told me I should move my bigger case from above 18C and he would help me find space if needed. He said he would get off the plane with me to take me to someone who could help out. The rest of the flight was fine, but I only had a bout 3 mouthfuls of food and didn’t really get any work done as I was still a bit frazzled and put off. The in flight wifi wasn’t great today, it was fairly patchy.
When the flight landed I got off and the CSM introduced me to a guy at the end of the airbridge who said he would look after me. He explained that my phone was on the next flight to Sydney and would be here about 6.30. Did I want to wait for it or did I want me to try and get it to me. He said that I was welcome to wait in the lounge. I said that would be good, but I would need to call the car rental company to let them know I would be late. This guy said that would be fine and then waved over a supervisor, Danielle and handed me off to her. He asked her to take me to the business lounge (yay – I thought I would end up in the Qantas club). Het met us there and they waved me in, then Danielle let me use her phone to call the car rental company. She gave me her phone number (not much use) but said the desk staff could call her if I needed anything.
So the flight lands in about 20 minutes and then in theory I can go and collect my phone from baggage services. Not ideal or a fun experience but in the end Qantas did take pretty good care of me. The coffee, champagne and panini bar helped a lot.
