Hel&Will

I think it really depends on how you want to spend the first few days in Oz. We travelled in 2003 with Cathay Pacific stopping in Hong Kong for about 4 hours each way and were tired for the first few days. In Dec 2006 we went to Oz again for Christmas but went with Malaysia. Landed at Kuala Lumpur and got connecting flight to Langkawi for 3 nights and it was brilliant. When we finally arrived in Oz we did not suffer at all from time differences and we were fully refreshed for our family visit. We would not now fly without doing a stopover unless in an emergency situation.

We are hopefully emigrating towards the end of this year and I am currently planning our trip to Oz. Looking like London - Johannesburg (10 days) - Kuala Lumpur (2 days) - Langkawi (6 days) - Kuala Lumpur - Sydney. Did think about Singapore but not sure if there is enough to do plus we want to chill out on the beach for a few days before arriving in Oz. Also looking at maybe doing stopover in Bangkok instead of Kuala Lumpur. There are so many options and I feel that we will need the stopover as a holiday before trying to settle, find house, get jobs etc which will all be stressful.

Helen

Centurion

Or use the money you would spend on a stop over and fly business class with Virgin Atlantic or one of the other premium business class carriers and arrive without much jetlag and have a much nicer trip with a bed

jules29

Did you have kids with you only we have 3 girls aged 10, 7 and 3?

Buzzy--Bee

Not that time! But I would take yours there - the 10 and 7 year old will certainly love all the different sights, sounds, smells. The markets especially may be of interest to girls!



Buzzy

jules29

Thanks. I think we probably will do it. The kids love seeing things on holiday and have already seen some really different cultures. I think i'm just a bit worried about other "sights" they might see

Buzzy--Bee

avoid Patpong then.

Chinatown will be fine.

Explain to them that many Thai ladies have English "husbands" and thai women look young for their age. That will explain the number of middle aged English guys you see with young thai girls.....



Buzzy

VikkiL

Hi,

We are flying out to Brisbane in August (hopefully!) and have 3 children aged 16, 6 and 2. We are flying with Singapore Airlines and without a stopover, I think the worst one will be the 16 year old - she gets bored on a train to Manchester!!! We just want to get there and get the journey out of the way but obviously it depends on your situation and whether you have a job to start when you get there etc. You know the kids better than anyone else and how they will cope with the flight.

Good luck!

jojo90

WE flew with two kids aged 2 and 4 years. I had been dreading it but they wee great and took it all in they're stride.

We had a four night stopover at Singapore. We flew with Singapore airlines who were absolutely fantastic with the kids. We stayed at the Rasa Sentosa resort on Sentosa Island. I booked one room directly with the hotel over the phone as we were unable to have a both kids in the same room if we booked through a travel agent. It saved us loads. I also arranged transportation with the hotel for an airport pickup so they collected us in a mini bus which easily fitted our 40kg baggage allowance. I can honestly say this was the best thing we ever did. It refreshed all of us and because it was on the same time zone as Perth we got over our jetlag before arriving in Oz. We has a fantastic mini holiday which was much needed amidst all the chaos. The resort was fairly basic and a bit tired looking in parts but more than adequate for what we needed. It had a nice pool and good food and was very close to all the sightseeing stuff.

I had been a bit reticent as I thought it would be a bit of a hassle with unloading all the luggage again etc etc but it really was the best decision we ever made especially as our feet didn't touch the ground for weeks once arriving in Oz as there was so much to do!!