My First Stop - Adelaide

After I had booked my tickets through Malaysian Airline, I got a mail stating that we might get upgraded to Business Class based on the amount we bid and we would get to know only 48 hours before departure. Bidding was done and my son & mother-in-law got upgraded. 

Feb 11th - Flight departed from Chennai at 11:45 am and we reached Adelaide on Feb 12th 8:15 am (local time). Hubby travelled in business class on behalf of my son, since he refused to sit there without me. The flight journey was brilliant. The crew from Chennai to Kuala Lumpur took very good care of my son. They were constantly smiling and trying to satisfy all our needs. The crew from Kuala Lumpur to Adelaide were less friendly when compared to the previous flight. But my hubby said, the staff at Business Class were extremely attentive and took very good care. I had requested for Hindu Veg Meal and the food option was quite good. My son preferred my veg meal to his child meal.

Feb 12th - We took the big taxi from airport. The taxi driver was an Indian and he was making fun of our luggage (Yes, I don't travel light). Actually in my defence, I was carrying a 30 kg suitcase, for my son & me!!! That's not bad. We were staying at Istay Precinct (also knows as Oaks Precinct). I got a fabulous deal from makemytrip, which was a 2 bedroom apartment, for 4 nights and it costed about Rs.36,000. I just couldn't resist the offer and I booked it. The only problem was there was no housekeeping service and it had a single bathroom. Since we reached the apartment by 10:00 am, they couldn't offer us the apartment immediately. But upon seeing my child, they gave us the apartment.

The apartment was decent sized and had all the basic amenities. The only problem was the 2nd bedroom, didn't have an air-conditioner. It was quite stuffy for the people, who were sleeping in the bedroom. We freshened up and set out to see the Gleng Beach. The tram station was about 10 minute walk from the apartment. The food around the place is just brilliant and the beach was nice as well.

Feb 13th - I had booked my Barossa Valley Tour through Taste the Barossa. Honestly I don't drink wine, but we were doing it just for my husband and neighbour, who wanted to do wine tasting. The guide was very informative and showed us everything that we knew on our way. I saw apple, pear and grapes on the way. I just wanted to pluck the apples and eat it, but I was just behaving myself. We first stopped at the Whispering Wall. When you whisper something on one end of the Wall, you can hear it crystal clear on the other side. All the vineyards were fantastic to look at. I did eat the grapes at the vineyards and they were super yummy. We stopped at about 5 vineyards and they had a good time drinking.

Feb 14th - I had booked my Zoo tickets online, since I thought it might be crowded because of the World Cup. But actually, it was not necessary. It was very hot day. We were able to see all the animals,which was nice. There is no point in taking a stroller for the kid, since they can't see anything from it. They anyways have to be carried. The zoo was nice, but I wasn't really excited by it. Probably it you have a kid, otherwise you can skip the zoo here. There were so many festivals happening. After zoo, we went to do some shopping. The whole place was just buzzing with music, skits and dance. The atmosphere was just electrifying. We did a mini shopping spree, before we headed back to our apartment. Here, all shopping places shut by 5:00 pm.

At night, we went to experience nightlife and casino. The place was filled with Indians & Pakistani. There were these cheers coming from all around, each one supporting their team. Fantastic time to be there.

Feb 15th - I was super excited about India - Pakistan match. I don't know what exactly it is, but something just kicks in. The weather was initially hot, but soon enough it started cooling. My 2 year old son just enjoyed himself to the core. I was super thrilled about the result. I rushed back to my apartment an hour earlier than the match was to end, since my son was getting super hungry. Sad thing was the television in the apartment was not working. Was upset that I couldn't see the final wickets falling, but I knew the result while I was leaving.

The experience of watching the match live was just FANTASTIC. We packed our bags and were good to leave the next day early morning to Tasmania. The Indian Taxi driver had shared his number. So he picked us up and dropped us to the airport.

My Big Aussie Holiday

I recently came back from a 2 week Aussie trip. I have been planning this trip for almost a year. It all started when hubby said he wanted to go for Australia for 2015 World Cup. We managed to get the tickets for India-SA at Melbourne and India-Pakistan at Adelaide. We were initially to do this trip with friends, but due to various changes, we did it with MIL and neighbour.

Australia is huge and we wanted to do just a 2 week holiday. The number of places to visit at Australia are too many but we had less time. I certainly didn't want to go about visiting all the places, without really exploring it. The main places that I wanted to visit was Adelaide (because of the match), Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Brisbane and Great Barrier Reef. With a toddler, I knew it would be difficult to do the activities at Gold Coast and Great Barrier Reef. 

My travel agent, then told me about Tasmania. After reading about it, I felt I had to visit the place. I then narrowed down my list to Adelaide, Tasmania and Melbourne. Everyone were surprised that I left Sydney and Gold Coast. I just thought this itinerary would do justice to the number of days that I had. I roughly saw the places of interest in each place and I had calculated 3 nights at Adelaide, 5 nights at Tasmania and 5 nights at Melbourne. I then saw a deal on makemytrip for Adelaide hotel and I got an extra night free for the same price. So I was finally doing 4 nights at Adelaide, 5 nights at Tasmania and 5 nights at Melbourne.

Around August, we wanted to start booking our flight ticket. Malaysian Airline had put up a sale, with each ticket costing us Rs. 45,000 return. Now that was super cheap, when compared to Singapore Airline that I was getting at Rs. 65,000 return. By this time, we had decided to leave the little one with my parents. I was not confident about my decision, but I thought it would be better for the little one, considering the amount of travelling to do. And I really didn't book his ticket as well!!! 

Around last week of October, I booked my internal flight from Adelaide to Hobart in Qantas Airline. The ticket was charged Rs. 12,500 per person. Around the same time, I booked my flight from Launceston to Melbourne in Virgin Australia Airline. The ticket was Rs. 4500 per person. After a month passed, my son tells me that he will not stay with my parents and he would also travel with us. I called each airline and booked his ticket as well. Luckily for internal flight, it was almost the same price. But his ticket at Malaysian Airline costed Rs. 62,000 return. Now for a child, that was super expensive!! I was almost paying what I was paying for myself with internal flights!!

The next post will have details of all my bookings and what I did at Adelaide.