Via Canberra to Kuala Lumpur

The time has come that I return home. And because my travel insurance has paid my flight I’m flying from Canberra via Sydney and Kuala Lumpur to Amsterdam. At the moment I’m halfway this trip. And because my flight is with Business Class (I never will fly anything less :) )I don’t have any reason to complain. All the luxury you can imagine, including free internet (in the Business Lounge) which explains this message.

But first yesterday. Although Canberra is just 80km from Tumut (like the bird flies) it’s still 198km via the road and because of this we went to Canberra the day before my departure so we could have one last day together. Just before noon we arrived at the National Zoo & Aquarium and this turned out to be a very good choice as Anne was enjoying the visit to all the animals until we arrived at the Cheetahs. When we arrived there Anne was getting hungry and therefore she was getting grumpy (did she saw the cat and maybe thought, that cat looks yummie). We’ve seen loads of animals: bears, giraffes, monkeys, sharks, snakes, zebras, a Tasmanian Devil (running around in his yard), lions, Iguanas, a Koala, Penguins and even a fish so big a whole family could eat from it for about a week. That fish can get up to 400kg!!! Well we had a great time in the zoo. After the zoo we went to the Australian National Museum we there was a display of a big part of the history of Australia. Next stop was Mt. Ainslie to take a view over Canberra. Finally we went to Kingston for one last dinner close to my hostel before saying goodbye for a long time.

The next day up early to get to the airport. From Canberra I had a prop engine powered plane to Sydney. Unfortunately I didn’t have a window seat so my Sydney by sky tour was a bit dodgy, but I did see the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House (which looks small from the sky). From the domestic terminal I had a shuttle bus to Terminal 1 and this bus took us over the airfield itself. So we passed all the hangars some with a plane inside. When I arrived at T1 to collected my boarding passes and buying some last souvenirs I went to the Business Lounge for some small snack and some drinks. After chilling in my seat for a while my flight was announced so I walked to the gate to board the Boeing 747. And again I didn’t have a window seat (well seat.. call it a couch), but the luxury made up for this. When I was seated I looked outside only to realise that at the next gate there stood the new Airbus. If I knew that before I would have taken a better look at it when I was still in the departure lounge.

At the moment I arrived in Kuala Lumpur after a journey of about 8 hours (7000km) and I’m waiting for my connecting flight to Schiphol Airport Amsterdam. When I arrive there my Ozzie adventure has really come to an end (for now). Well so long from Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), the city hosting the Petronas Towers (one of worlds highest buildings) which I can’t see from the airport, or at least not from where I am at the moment.