Departure day has finally come and with it the elevated level of angst for Kelly... would the flight get cancelled? Would we not make it over to get the connecting flight to Brisbane? Would they not accept our boarding passes? Will the bags make it?
Kris dropped us off at the Victoria airport and we were now officially off! ....... and... almost as expected, the flight over to Vancouver was delayed due to "Air Traffic constraints"... this is code for manpower shortages within Nav Canada and the controlled flow of arrivals into YVR. We were finally airborne at 21:18 and would easily make our connection... Kelly could now breathe!
A quick stop at the Air Canada Suites Lounge for a beverage and bite then we headed to the gate for our flight to Brisbane. Bluetooth connections confirmed our baggage was onboard as well. The plane left 15 minutes late but with favorable winds, would arrive early into BNE.
 |
| Checking the menu. |
Dinner was served after departure and we both slept from 2 a.m. onward. My rest was eventually interrupted by a small child crying "I want bacon" a couple rows over.... at first I had the same thought LOL... but after five minutes of this it was clear that sleep time was over... it was 9 am on my body clock so no big deal.
With the late night departure out of YVR, the sun didn't show itself until about 1-1/2 hours before before landing. We had a spectacular sunrise of course.
 |
| Sunrise at 41,000 feet |
 |
| Thanks for the 787 ride! |
A relatively quick transit through Customs and Immigration and we headed off to get some cell phone data and train passes in the terminal. I wanted Telstra coverage as it is supposed to be the best in the area we will be in... but no retailer at the airport sheesh... lots of others with good deals but I was looking for this particular network.
Moving onward we headed up to the train station and bought a 5 day all inclusive transit pass. This covers ferries, trains, and busses around the city and it's outskirts. Perfect for us.
 |
| Very similar to the tube in London! |
We caught the next train into the city with a transfer at Brisbane Central Station to the Springfield Line and then on to Milton Station. The only trick to this is to be sure to tap on and off at the start & end of your journey. Once at the station, we used the lifts to go up and down as we had many bags!
We hoofed it up and over the hill on Park Road, past all the small shops along the way and arrived at our accommodation at the Cosmo Apartment Hotel after about 7 minutes of walking. It is 9 am and we are really early so the plan was to store our bags and explore the area until we could get our room. As luck would have it, it was available and our check in was quickly completed by Amelia. Key cards in hand, we headed for the 4th floor corner unit.
The room is well equipped and will do nicely.... and has a great view of the city.
We partially unpacked and made a plan to get a few supplies for the next few days. There was an IGA just up the road so after a quick clothing change... into shorts as it's 26C out there, we headed off. First up was a coffee stop at Mary Ryan's Books (and coffee!) then off to the IGA. It's located along a nice little strip mall with lots of neat shops and eateries. We grabbed a few items and stopped at the liquor store as well.. Kelly's favorite Australian wine (Squealing Pig) was "On Sale" at 2 for $30 AUD!! Good thing I brought the back pack. One thing is clear to us though... it is not cheap to buy food, drink or anything else here in Australia.
Once back at the hotel, we unloaded the supplies and, using the "My Translink" app, determined the ferry times for a trip into the city. I wanted to go to the Telstra store and get our Phones set up with data using an e-sim. (No more changing sim cards in and out)
The Milton ferry dock is a stones throw from the hotel so off we went on the next leg of the adventure. We watched several ferries come & go and then boarded the Milton-North Quay one.... 6 minutes later we disembarked and walked up to the main Queen Street area. This turns into a huge pedestrian walkway lined with high end shops, bars etc... very nice area.
 |
| The Neville Bonner Bridge under construction. |
 |
| The old Treasury Building.. now a Casino & restaurant |
We found the Telstra outlet and it is set up much like any apple store with staff buzzing around but unfortunately, they could not set us up unless we had our passports (something required due to us being from another country). I took one for the team and let Kelly stay and shop (yes I know... very dangerous!) while I returned to the hotel to retrieve said passports. What a guy!
A quick retrace of my route and within 45 minutes I was back for a 2 pm appointment with a Telstra rep. It all went well and we soon had our data package ($45 AUD for 45 gb) after checking with Kris via Facetime re: e-sim setup etc. Kelly took me to a few sites that she thought interesting. We were starting to sag a bit with jet lag, excitement and many steps on the counter.
 | |
| Albert Street First United Church |
 | ||||
| City Hall |
 | |
| Some serious art deco going on here! |
A stop at the Pig & Whistle pub for a Pims & Pint of Guinness and we headed back towards the hotel. We enjoyed the ferry ride back but Kelly was complaining about the tap on feature of the ferry .. seams the card would not work for her.... well it was the hotel key card so no, they don't work as well. We had a laugh and enjoyed the ride back to Milton. We headed up Park Rd and went to the Tuk Tuk Restaurant for dinner... a very good meal in neat setting.
Back to the room and I was fading fast... a quick shower and I was lights out at 6:30pm... done! Kelly stayed up and extended herself as long as she could trying to assimilate into the time zone.
 | |
| Our evening view. |
Tomorrow's plan.... more touristy stuff :-)
