- Airlines
We were flying Lufthansa (LH) and Singapore Airlines (SIA), both Economy class.
On our way back from Brisbane I am now while writing this, sitting on a SIA A330-300. The second and third section will be with Lufthansa. Lufthansa was, on our way out 4 weeks ago, using a very old B747 between Singapore and Frankfurt. The plane has no proper Entertainment System, only central old monitors - not much to do. Last night on our way back they had a 747-400 with modern seats and entertainment - but still far away from what SIA offers. LHs service is ok, but not really good compared to SIA.
On the SIA flight everyone in Economy has his own large monitor and entertainment system. There are about 100 on demand videos, movies, music compilations available and electronic games. The kids get very good kids meals, this time they even came with a little case the kids can retain. Service and food are excellent! SIA seats are very good as well.
Both airlines offer free headphones, kids meals and small toys for the kids.
Next time I would try to only fly SIA.
- Campervan (RV)
We booked a 5berth RV with Britz and only the basic insurance. However, when I picked up the RV it was a Maui. Britz and Maui are one company now, the RVs are exaxtly the same. I decided to additionally spend mony on a better insurance, otherwise I would have had to pay a deposit of 7500 AUS$ - and they really take it off your credit card account to refund it on return. But it impacts your credit card limits. So I reduced the deposit to 2500, many people choose to reduce it to 400. But this costs you a lot extra. On return there were a few small issues with the RV, one was a crack in the windscreen. The company only charged me 50 AUS$ for the repair which I feld was fair.
The RV was ok, well equipped with everything we needed. The Mercedes engine was very good, the car was not brand new but not to old either (71000 km). We travelled around 5000 km with the RV.
- Road conditions
We mainly travelled on Queenslands highways, only around Brisbane there were a few kilometers of motorway. Most of Queenslands main Highway No.1 is in very good condition. Speed limit usually is 100 km/h, sometimes 110. There are either overtaking lanes or long parts where the road is straight. Beyond Cairns the road becomes more windey and narrow. Roads besides highway No. 1 can be in varying conditions but highways are always tarred.
Other roads can be gravel and I cannot recomend travelling long distances on gravel roads with a large RV. However, some nice places can only be reached via gravel roads. When we travelled back from north to south we took some inbound roads through Queensland hinterland. These were small and sometimes windey.
- Campgrounds
Queensland is a holiday region and there are campgrounds everywhere. There are budget campgrounds as well as expensive resorts with large playgrounds and pools. Prices vary accordingly, with 2 adult and three kids we payed between 18 and 80 AUS$. In the main season around christmas, the prices are even higher. Queenslands prices are generally higher compared to other regions in Australia. The rental company (Maui/Britz) gave us an overview brochure of the main campgrounds. Big4 is a big chain of mostly expensive but good sites. Some campgrounds offer a much more comprehensive brochure with many campgrounds and directions. Our map also had the campgrounds marked. There are also many rest areas where camping is permitted and cost free. Some villages have a sign "RV friendly" which indicates that camping is permitted in many areas of the village and camping rest areas with toilets and often also dump points are available for free. Some of the National Parks also provide camping areas with very basic facilities.
It is also outside high season advisable to book all campgrounds in advance. Some beachfront campgrounds have been fully booked even though it was winter. Around christmas and during summer holidays in Queensland surely all campgrounds in the costal regions must be booked well in advance. Some campgrounds keep at least unpowered sites available for those who have not booked in advance.
Our favourite campgrounds have been:
-Dicky Beach (mainly because of the beach itself, but also the facilities have been excellent.
-Airlie Beach Resort
A great place for the whole family with large pool wth water slides and a large playground! This 5 star resort offers everything for a great holiday.
- BBQ
Australia is a BBQ country. There are public BBQ places in almost all public parks and near the beaches. The BBQs are electric and easy to use. All of them are kept in good condition. So for several times we stopped over for lunch to have a nice BBQ.
- Internet access
If you read one of my first blog entries you will know that I had bought a mobile hotspot which would allow me to have wireless internet access everywhere. On the first day in Brisbane I purchased a Telstra SIM card with 40 AUS$ worth of data volume. Initially they put me accidentially on a voice plan and I could not get any internet access. I had to go back and they changed the plan to data. The amount was enough for the full 4 weeks surfing, blogging and uploading photos.
Another way of accessing the web was the use of the WLANs on the campgrounds. Many campgrounds offer 3 hours per day free web access but often the access only works close to the offices. So very often the internet access on the campgrounds did not work and I used the Testra mobile access. Telstra has a very good coverage and I was able to access the web in every village. But outside Brisbane there was no UMTS access and internet speed varied very much.
I'll write another blog on the things we enjoyed most and those that one might skip...
—-- Artikel wurde erstellt auf meinem iPad
Position:Between Australia and Singapore
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