Validation trip Experience- US to Sydney and Back
Sep 9th 2009, 12:42 am
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Validation trip Experience- US to Sydney and Back
So we just got back form our Validation trip. We did a short 1.5 day halt in Sydney.
We flew Continental Airlines to Los angeles and then flew "VAustralia" all the way to Sydney. I must say they were really good. The service was very good and the crew was very energetic. The in-flight entertainment was excellent-so was the food. Only issue was that we were put in a bus and hauled to no-where to get on the plane. They said the tow-truck had broken down so could not pull the plane to the gate.
We got to Sydney round 7:00 am, Sunday morning. Immigration was a breeze. Done in about one minute. Thankfully we just had a 10 minute wait in the queue. THe immigration guy did say-"Welcome to Australia".
We put up in Hotel Ibis close to Airport. We took an airport-hotel shuttle. The cost was AUD 6.00 per person one-way. It took about 10 minutes to get in the airport. If you need a Mobile, there is a Vodafone store in arrivals. They sell prepaid SIM cards. For travel currency, we used travelex.com they were convinient and provided next-day delivery of Cash.
The Mascot train station was about a 10 minute walk from the hotel. You can get a unlimited trips return ticket for about 11 AUD each. There are weekly pass options but dint do that as we did nto need that. The train was convinient and quick. It got us into Circular Quay (pronounced "Key") in about 10 minutes and there stood Sydney Opera and Harbor Bridge!!!
Very touristy area. Nice cafes and lots to see. Late we went to Towne Hall. Heard it was a nice shopping area. Pretty impressive. Clothing is expensive from US levels. We plan to now buy designer brands here before we leave.
We also took a trip to Woolworths. Good store with comparable prices as US levels-except a few items like Diet Coke. The other good thing is the price you see is what you pay-unlike here. For US residents-you get almost all brands here-Snickers, huggies, "5" gum, kraft cheese, Heinz, Sara Lee, Subway, McDonalds, Campbells etc-sorry just can remember these.
So our next day was spent to get to the bank -"WestPac" and making a deposit to activate it. Bank personnel were curtious and well informed.
Back to the US..
Now back to work tommorrow morning.
We flew Continental Airlines to Los angeles and then flew "VAustralia" all the way to Sydney. I must say they were really good. The service was very good and the crew was very energetic. The in-flight entertainment was excellent-so was the food. Only issue was that we were put in a bus and hauled to no-where to get on the plane. They said the tow-truck had broken down so could not pull the plane to the gate.
We got to Sydney round 7:00 am, Sunday morning. Immigration was a breeze. Done in about one minute. Thankfully we just had a 10 minute wait in the queue. THe immigration guy did say-"Welcome to Australia".
We put up in Hotel Ibis close to Airport. We took an airport-hotel shuttle. The cost was AUD 6.00 per person one-way. It took about 10 minutes to get in the airport. If you need a Mobile, there is a Vodafone store in arrivals. They sell prepaid SIM cards. For travel currency, we used travelex.com they were convinient and provided next-day delivery of Cash.
The Mascot train station was about a 10 minute walk from the hotel. You can get a unlimited trips return ticket for about 11 AUD each. There are weekly pass options but dint do that as we did nto need that. The train was convinient and quick. It got us into Circular Quay (pronounced "Key") in about 10 minutes and there stood Sydney Opera and Harbor Bridge!!!
Very touristy area. Nice cafes and lots to see. Late we went to Towne Hall. Heard it was a nice shopping area. Pretty impressive. Clothing is expensive from US levels. We plan to now buy designer brands here before we leave.
We also took a trip to Woolworths. Good store with comparable prices as US levels-except a few items like Diet Coke. The other good thing is the price you see is what you pay-unlike here. For US residents-you get almost all brands here-Snickers, huggies, "5" gum, kraft cheese, Heinz, Sara Lee, Subway, McDonalds, Campbells etc-sorry just can remember these.
So our next day was spent to get to the bank -"WestPac" and making a deposit to activate it. Bank personnel were curtious and well informed.
Back to the US..
Now back to work tommorrow morning.
