So if you read my last post you will have seen that I did a 6 day trip to Sydney and Auckland. The same month I was rostered another one of these multi-sectors, this time Brisbane and Auckland!
This would be my first time visiting Brisbane, so I was excited to see a new city.
We arrived early morning after a long 14 hour flight, and I was ready to pass out! A couple of hours and a nice nap in the comfiest bed ever later, I was ready to do some exploring.
Plan for the day: koalas!!
One of my recent flights was a 6 day trip to Sydney and Auckland. It’s been a while since I’ve done a multi-sector trip (I think the last one must have been Rio – Buenos Aires back in September) so I was a bit apprehensive. The Aussie sectors are always very tiring and it’s easy to get jet-lagged.
After a 14 hour flight we arrived in beautiful sunny Sydney! My Grandparents and Aunty and Uncle live in Australia, so when I saw I would be going to Sydney I knew I had to meet up with them. My cousin flew in from Melbourne (where she is at university) and Granny and Aunty Mary were waiting for us, then we drove home to see my Grandpa as well.
It’s become a little tradition to go for afternoon tea, and seeing as it had also been Granny’s 92nd birthday a few days prior, we had something to celebrate! Unfortunately I didn’t manage to get many pictures, as I had not slept in quite a while and was feeling a little bit exhausted! Nevertheless I had a lovely day catching up with everyone and it was well worth the lack of sleep! Thanks so much for having me 🙂
The next morning we were up bright and early for the flight to Auckland. It’s only around 2,5 hours and the Auckland sectors are usually not full in business class, so it’s a nice and easy flight. I’ve only ever been to Auckland once before, so I had big plans to get out and see the city and more this time!
After we arrived at the hotel we were all starving, so a few of us went out for some dinner down by the harbour.
In January I was finally rostered a new destination – Houston!
Since I’ve upgraded to working in business class I’ve been solely on the A380, and with only around 30 destinations it’s easy to get rostered the same places each month. Houston only switched over to the 380 at the beginning of December so I was excited to be going somewhere new!
The flight is I believe the longest we have (along with Dallas) and clocks in at over 16 hours! That’s a very long time to be on a plane – not counting the hour or so before that we’re preparing everything onboard!
On most US flights the route takes us over the North Pole, and the view is always incredible. I’ll never get sick of seeing beautiful snowy peaks and sunrises and sunsets.
The flight itself was a tough one. A full cabin with lots of demanding passengers, wanting to eat everything and anything we had onboard, meant that we didn’t stop for the entire time. We do get a break in our CRC (crew rest compartment; tiny bunk beds enclosed in a tight space in the back of the economy cabin) but what with babies crying, people talking loudly and toilets flushing constantly, it’s hard to get much rest even with earplugs and eyeshades!
I always wonder just how many steps I walk on these never-ending US flights!
We landed into IAH late afternoon, and even after being awake for hours and hours, most of us managed to make it down for dinner. Luckily we didn’t have to walk too far and although it was Saturday night I was far too exhausted to stay for more than one glass of wine!
The next morning we had arranged to meet bright and early to explore NASA, which is located not too far from our hotel. By the time everyone showed up we’d been hanging around for nearly 2 hours and at a total of 10 people, were 6 more than originally planned! Nevertheless, we booked 2 big hire cars and off we went.
Barcelona is by far my favourite city in Spain (although I’ve only visited a couple) and when I saw it on my roster I was very happy! I actually lived in a town called Calella, which is around an hour from Barcelona, in 2010. I did an internship there in a hotel, and on lots of our days off we would hop on the train to Barcelona and hang out there for the day.
After a super easy flight which was less than half full, we arrived in the beautiful city!
Our hotel is just opposite a large shopping mall, and with all the January sales going on, who could pass up an opportunity to visit the home of Zara!
I’ve recently got back from an awesome two day layover to the gorgeous city of Los Angeles!
It was my second time visiting, and I had planned to hire a car and drive down to San Diego for the day. However, that didn’t end up happening, so I hung out with most of the crew from economy, who were planning on driving to the city.
We set off around 10 and our first stop was to Hollywood.
