Planning
This trip started in the planning stages about one year ago. I had a fistful of Aeroplan points that were coming close to expiration and either had to be used or lost. We had always wanted to go to New Zealand, but really didn’t like the idea of long hours in the back of the bus (I know, but we’ve grown to like our luxuries). This seemed like a good time to put the points to use. We decided if we were going to New Zealand we may as well see how much else we could squeeze out of the trip. Somewhere in the South Pacific was enticing. I started looking through all the permutations and combinations for travel to Auckland and the Cook Islands seemed like a logical choice as it was stopping point with Air New Zealand, and more to the point seemed to be a fantastic place to go. Choosing the right airline was critical in keeping the cost down; a number of airlines had fuel surcharges which were added to the “free fare”. Air Canada was to be avoided on International travel at all costs. United had no surcharge nor did Air New Zealand. Once we had got to NZ we had to decided how to get home, the terms of the ticket allowed us 2 stops with a third stop at the point of turn-around. So far we had used up 2 out of 3. The ticket also limited the number of miles we could fly in total, so it now became a battle to find a route home. The obvious choice was to come back along the same route, possibly stopping of in Hawaii instead of the Cook Islands, but having traveled as far as we had, a more exotic route home beckoned. At this stage everything was cast in jelly as the next major obstacle was availability in business class; this is normally restricted to two seats per flight, and we wanted both of them! One thought we had was to go home via Perth to Johannesburg to visit Lyn’s brother, however we couldn’t join all the dots in a timely manner. Next we thought of Hong Kong, but that didn’t pan out either. When it came booking the flight my homework had paid off getting to destination but I then spent the next 4 hours on the phone, from the trailer in Texas, trying to get home. We tried Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai, Peking, Turkey, Copenhagen and then finally Korea popped into the equation and there was space available! The trip was now booked. As this was a reward flight there were some obscure routings and a couple of long layovers. We had to overnight in Toronto, followed by 10 hours in LA and on the way back 14 hours in Chicago after a 13 hour flight (I am writing this on the Korea – Chicago flight, so hopefully that layover may be reduced).
Cook Islands
An absolutely wonderful place, you can switch off from everything there. We had 6 days of no radio, TV, newspapers or internet and I survived. The people were friendly and laid back, and made the Caribbean seem busy. Hiring the motor scooter was a great idea and gave us a lot more freedom than relying on the bus. The accommodation and location was perfect, right on the beach with all the amenities we needed in the cottage.
New Zealand
An unbelievably scenic place, particularly the South Island. It was like going back in time, with all the towns relying on the High Street for their shopping rather than big box malls on the outskirts. I probably made a mistake in planning this part of the trip. I forgot things are “back to front” down under, and in an effort to do the warmest part of the trip first we went to the South Island, of course we should have stayed in the North first. We decided on 3 weeks in the South and 1 in the North, in reality we could probably have done with a couple of days less in the South and a couple of days more in the North.
Sydney
Unfortunately I never “bonded” with Sydney, we arrived in the early evening in hot and humid weather. We were confronted with a continuous traffic jam for most of the trip, and when we did get to the hotel it was almost dark, so our plan of going to see the bridge and the opera house were thwarted. Unfortunately the phrase First impressions are lasting impressions holds true here for me.
Korea
A totally different culture for us. From the moment we boarded the aircraft until we left I couldn’t believe the friendliness and willingness to help of the Koreans. It seemed nothing was ever too much of a problem for them. As I said in the blog, if we asked the hotel concierge for assistance with late bus arrivals he would do his best to find an answer and keep us updated. On the trip to the airport the bus was again late, I went back into the hotel to see if there was a problem, then went back to the bus stop. The concierge came out a few minutes later and updated us. He then remained with us and didn’t return to the hotel until we were safely on the bus and it had departed. The streets are kept clean by a team of tireless path cleaners and large vacuum trucks on the road. Although in some respects they did seem to go overboard; at a railway crossing with lights and barriers, there was a crossing guard who came out to ensure everybody stopped.
Flights
All the flights to date have been fine, Air Canada was its usual unspectacular self, United was OK, but then we hit Air New Zealand who had a fantastic crew on both flights. They were pleasant and attentive and took the time to speak with you if you wanted to. Their aircraft were a little old, and had the old style seating…. no pods or lie flat seats.
Asiana
Airlines was a whole new experience, we had an older aircraft from Sydney to Korea, but the onboard service and catering was exceptional. On the Korea – Chicago flight we had their newest aircraft in the fleet which had individual pods and lie flat seats, which after having finished a sumptuous 6 course meal, I am about to take advantage of.
Accommodation
The hotel for the stopover in Toronto was surprisingly good despite its low price and gaudy purple lighting outside, hence the name Indigo I guess. The Cook Islands beach cottage was ideal for what we wanted, and I think I would rather have stayed there than a resort or hotel. In New Zealand, as I said in the blog, we teamed up with a motel chain, and after the first couple of nights it was obvious there was consistency in the product wherever we stayed. Getting 2 free nights as part of their “frequent stayer” programme was an unexpected bonus. The hotel in Sydney, despite my first impressions of the city was quite adequate, and it made a change to be in a downtown location. The Korean Hotel exceeded all expectations, I was expecting that there was a possibility of a room upgrade due to my little “fiddle” in getting a platinum membership in their hotel programme, but to get a suite comprising a living room with an L shaped sofa, bar, computer desk and wash room, together with a full sized bedroom, bathroom with tub and shower, separate toilet and separate room for makeup / hair drying was ridiculous! We also got free breakfasts each day, Lyn didn’t get charged $31 for her bagel!, plus a lounge upstairs for evening snacks (meals), together with free beer, wine and cocktails.
Conclusion
A great time was had, problem is now Lyn won’t go anywhere unless we are in the front of the bus and stay at 5* hotels.
Breaking News
We’ve just got an earlier flight, so we are happy campers!