An Alphabetical Stroll Through Bali and Australia-A is for: A BIG, FAT FINALE!! Link to new Africa TR (4/5)

[Steppesister]

Your pictures of the landscape from the air prompted me to look up some information on plate tectonics. The long lines of upthrust remind me of the San Andreas fault in California. In fact, an article posted just yesterday says that the continent of Australia is drifting north at 2.8 inches a year. It should hit India in a few million years.

That is a lot of traveling. You will have covered a lot of territory by the time you are done.

YAY! I KNEW someone would be prompted to dig deeper! Huzzah!

You are right they do. I grew up along the S.A. fault growing up in Cali and it does look like that... very striking and especially from the air.

Huh! I did not know that. Interesting how Panacea was one big continent, broke apart, and now things are kinda coming back together. Geology is so cool!

As for the ground covered. Whooo boy, indeed. By the time we got home after a month gone, I was actually really tired and ready to be back. It was a very long trip.

 

[Steppesister]

We loved the Daintree rain forest area and Cairns. I am excited to hear about your time here.
I’m sorry but a big no for me with Hostels I couldn’t do it! I’m glad it worked out for you and you saved some money for other things on the trip!

Do you still have your photos? I plan to share mine on one of the very last chapters of this report and would love to see some of yours.

I don't love hostels, but do love the price. Now and then, if I can squeeze even one more day of touring, and that's the price to pay, I'll do it. And especially if it means Anara can join me.

 

[Steppesister]

Hmmm...
Do you mean you went NW of Cairns to the Daintree Ntl Park... or did you mean you went to the NE corner of Australia? Fitzroy Island is due East of Cairns, too.

Fixed...

I'm not surprised in the least. I would've been a bit surprised if you could've done it in less time.

I tried super hard to find a direct flight... no luck.

Meh... That's not that bad. I'd much rather be 4 hours early than only get there with under an hour before flight time.

Me too, absolutely!

This is really becoming a thing. I see this quite a bit.

It all started in Portland.

So... no flies at the airport??

Yes, there were some and I didn't last outside too long. If the flies didn't annihilate you, the heat would.

Interesting and I did read.
Very detailed, although I'm not sure if I'd want one for my own.

I guess I'm in the minority here in liking them. If anything else, they'd be a great conversation piece in a home.

Um...

So...

I've worked at 4 different airports and on all of them (depending on wind direction) you have to taxi on the runway, turn around and take off. There are turnaround areas on the runway just for that purpose. Here's the start of runway 08 in Brandon, MB. Note there are two turnaround areas as the runway was extended at one point.

In Churchill, you have to trundle almost 9,000 ft down the runway if you want/need to take off RWY 15.

Wow! That's super cool! I guess I've only ever taken off from large airports and a few times from grass strips. Thanks for sharing those!

Great shot. Looks like a shot from a National Geographic special.

Heh, it kind of does. Very interesting landscape for certain.

...until they dumped gross black olives all over it. Blech.

But they're so good!

Too bad. A good banh mi sandwich is soooo good.

For SURE! I looooooove a good banh me even with a very chilis.

I'll take it with a grain of salt, then. Unless of course your story is corroborated...

IT was!

I guess they don't get a lot of passengers?

Who knows! It was just very weird.

Lovely. I'll pass. Do they have a spot to pitch a small pup tent, by any chance?

LOL! I suppose we could have camped along the way, but in the city we'd look like homeless and in the Bush... well, there are dingoes.

"Sorry Anara. You're out on the streets! Good luck."

Hah, nah, I'd have gone on Google and found a room and we'd have Ubered there.

Ew...
You're not exactly selling this...

No diseases were acquired.

Please tell me with clean sheets.

Oh yes, for sure.

I'm way, way past that. I will gladly pay for a hotel room. Doesn't have to be fancy. But if I've got $125 in my pocket and I have to choose between a $100 room and $25 meal or a gross $25 "room" (complete with athletes foot) and a $100 meal... there's simply no doubt which option I'm choosing! I applaud your sense of adventure, but that's not for me.

Well, it's not always what 'd choose (clearly, as we did have some super nice places on this trip, remember that super cool cottage on Kangaroo Island?) and I wanted to consider Anara's budget too. So a hostel now and then worked or us both.

Ah yes. Youth. I almost remember that.

Twas a long, long time ago. Sigh... <goes to take some Ibuprofen for a rotten neck>

 

[Steppesister]

My ds has been making homemade pizzas for a while, so this is actually not shocking to me at all. I don't think he includes any of those ingredients besides toppings like pepperoni or sausage! Possibly there could be egg in the crust, but I don't think so. Vegan would be more challenging since you would need vegan cheese - and not including soy in the vegan cheese. We aren't vegan, so I'm not sure what those options would be.

I stayed in my fair share of hostels when I was much younger, but I don't remember any being that much of a party atmosphere! Not sure if I would be up for one nowadays...

Then I'm going to chalk it up as a marketing ploy. "Hey ! We've made a pizza without any of these things! (Which are not in pizza anyway, but might attract some airline companies) I have made pizza as well, and honestly can't remember if I ever used egg in any of my dough recipes. #cravespizzanow

I thought it was an odd business model, but in some ways absolutely genius. Market to the young, free-spirited travelers, offer low-priced drinks and music and tours and voila, a bustling business that's full up.

 

[Steppesister]

I agree. I make homemade pizza crust and the ingredients are flour, water, yeast, a little sugar or honey, olive oil and salt - no egg.

This sounds like the one I used to make. So the "No egg" seems a little like a gimmick. ??

 

[Steppesister]

Just got all caught up, as I was on my own warm-weather get-away
Great news about another trip for you and glad to hear work is going well!

YAY for get-aways!

I'm really looking forward to it for sure.

I'm 3 weeks in and the hard part is starting on Monday when I'll start to scribe for my colleagues.

 

[pkondz]

I tried super hard to find a direct flight... no luck.

Not surprised.

It all started in Portland.

Oh, yes? I think I might have heard of that?

Yes, there were some and I didn't last outside too long. If the flies didn't annihilate you, the heat would.

Double trouble!

I guess I'm in the minority here in liking them. If anything else, they'd be a great conversation piece in a home.

Oh, I don't mind them... and definitely a conversation piece. Just not sure where I'd put something like that.

But they're so good!

LOL! I suppose we could have camped along the way, but in the city we'd look like homeless and in the Bush... well, there are dingoes.

"A dingo ate my baby."...

No diseases were acquired.

High praise indeed.

Well, it's not always what 'd choose (clearly, as we did have some super nice places on this trip, remember that super cool cottage on Kangaroo Island?) and I wanted to consider Anara's budget too. So a hostel now and then worked or us both.

I get that.

Twas a long, long time ago. Sigh... <goes to take some Ibuprofen for a rotten neck>

Ah yes...

 

[zanzibar138]

Have you ever considered it...?

I don't think I love flying enough to consider it. Although maybe it's like a car - I can get terrible car-sickness too but I'm ok when I'm driving!

At this point though I pretty much dread any time I have to fly anywhere, so I can't imagine paying a small fortune to just fly around for the fun of it

By the time we got home after a month gone, I was actually really tired and ready to be back. It was a very long trip.

I hear ya. We felt the same after a month of travel. I don't know how you managed with just a carry on - I grew very tired of living out of a suitcase and having to put together outfits only using what I had. Although from memory everywhere you went would have been fairly warm (with the possible exception of Tassie) which would have made packing slightly easier. And you probably didn't take a wedding dress

 

[irene_dsc]

Then I'm going to chalk it up as a marketing ploy. "Hey ! We've made a pizza without any of these things! (Which are not in pizza anyway, but might attract some airline companies) I have made pizza as well, and honestly can't remember if I ever used egg in any of my dough recipes. #cravespizzanow

100% marketing ploy. Like those No GMO labels on things that aren't even available as GMO varieties!

I mean, if you have an allergy, it's good to know that there isn't any cross-contamination, but that's about it.

 

[missjackiemcg]

When we got to the airport at 8:15, I simply parked it in their lot and that was that. I tossed the key on the counter at their kiosk and never heard another word.

Well that looks absolutely amazing!!!

I don’t remember much about the flight except my notes say that the lady next to me had BO

Well that's an exciting way to fly!

You brave soul, you!! I love that you prioritize saving where you can, but I'm not so sure I could live the hostel life, even for a night or two.

 

[Steppesister]

W is for: Wet, Very, VERY Wet! Waaaaahhh!​

The club thumping went on into the wee hours of the night and not a great deal of quality sleep was gotten. As you’ll soon see, I would have plenty of time to catch up.

Our alarm was set for 5:30 (after the noise stopped about 4:30AM, we did get about an hour, although Anara probably slept better than her old and crotchety mom.) and we were out the door by 6:00. As I do for all of my international travel, I had spent countless hundreds of hours researching the options in and around where we were headed. One thing that came up was that, while there was development and various amenities on Fitzroy Island, they are expensive and sometimes not reliable.

So we had a conundrum… where to ration up for at least some of our meals including breakfast that morning…

The solution was Rusty’s Morning Market in Cairns, which fortuitously was only ½ a block from the hostel. Not only that, but the walk there was through a covered portico as it was raining heavily. Without the pomp of ominous and unnecessary foreshadowing, this would be our lives for the next 4 days- solidly and unescapably wet.

The market was mostly open with quite a few vendors set up and we started to wander. I adore international, local markets and almost always find produce or other fun products that I would have to hunt pretty hard for here- especially in semi-rural Kentucky. I’ll spare you the hillbilly, fried chicken jokes, which sadly are somewhat justified. I digress…

Rusty’s was a vast sea of fresh produce vendors interspersed with amazing offerings of pre-packaged international foods ready to go. It was a veritable treasure trove of photo opps and even better, an endless sea of goodies to choose from for us to purchase for our adventure.

​

We settled on getting some goodies from 2 different sellers, but our favorite by far were the Vietnamese dumplings. They were absolute Heaven, especially paired with the fresh cut mango pieces, both of which we enjoyed on our journey and beyond.

​

Our check-in time for the ferry to Fitzroy Island was scheduled at 7:00 so we made our way, another couple of blocks away from Rusty’s, to the tour and marina terminal building. No one was at the check-in counter, so we sat and waited. Finally, someone showed up only to tell us that the office we needed to be at was out and around the corner. We headed there and soon enough had our tickets and directions for the boarding process.

​

The Cairns marina is HUGE with hundreds of slips for private craft, commercial tours for deep sea fishing, water sports, and leisure touring, as well as quite a commercial few fishing vessels. Ours, of course, was tied to a slip that was the furthest out. In the rain, with no umbrella, like a herd of drenched sheep, our group of about 40 folks made our soggy way to the ferry, handed off our luggage to the crew, and chose our seats.

(This is Anara getting sick and using an alcohol wipe to try to alleviate the nausea)​

We were absolutely drenched and were both sullen and a bit grouchy, not to mention fairly cold as well. The 45-minute cruise was definitely on the rough side, and we passed the time by digging into our snacks and catching up on trip notes; Anara listened to her book and I watched the passing scenery. As you can see from the photos, most of the trip is done hugging the coast of the mainland.

​

We arrived at 9:00ish and normally, folks would immediately start playing on the beach or in the pool or grabbing breakfast. Exactly zero of that was possible; it was pouring rain and not that warm. Instead, we checked in and obviously were told our room wasn’t ready. I anticipated that but with nothing to do but watch the rain, I sulked. It was clear this portion of the trip was going to be somewhat of a colossal bust, but weather is just not something you can control.

(While waiting in the covered reception area (it's HUGE!) I spied this hanging birds nest on one of the plants. These ARE SO COOL!! They literally just hang by a few strands of grass and sway in the breeze.)​

It turns out it wasn’t just a passing rainstorm but Tropical Cyclone “Megan” making her appearance just in time for my once-in-a-lifetime trip to snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef. B!t(H. Nevertheless, we tried to make the best of it and some decisions had to be made.

​

Right around 11:00, I went back to the desk to ask about our room and sure enough it was ready. At that point, we headed straight there, took hot showers, changed and regrouped.

​

We also put on our ponchos and decided to brave whatever Nature would throw at us and venture out.

​

The Nature Trail was... interesting.

This trail is a short 30-45 minute hike over some rocky parts; none of it was flat or easy, especially when wet. I had to go slow so as to minimize the likelihood of an epic wipeout requiring medevac. It would not be the first time on Fitzroy I flirted with death…

LOTS OF WATER!

​

Continued in next post...

 

[Steppesister]

Continued from previous post...


By then the rain had slowed just a little to a drizzle and the hiking actually wasn’t too bad. Our ponchos did the trick for the most part and it wasn’t quite as cold and miserable as earlier when we were soaked to the bone. Eventually, we made it to the ocean’s edge and as I stepped out from the rocky “trail” and onto the sand, one of the most magical experiences of the trip unfolded.

I am a snake fanatic. From a safe distance, of course, and hopefully with a camera. I love their patterns and colors, and honestly, to come across one at all in nature is a rarity. I had really hoped to see one (FROM A SAFE DISTANCE) in the Aussie Outback but hadn’t until now- just then this absolutely gorgeous Green Tree Snake made its way from the ground into a tree right beside us. Spectacular! There were a few other visitors on the beach and several of us gathered around to watch it for a bit. Not knowing whether it was venomous or not (until I Googled and researched a bit- there are no venomous snakes on Fitzroy, come to find out) I kept a healthy bit between us. So, a bucket list item checked off- a snake in the wild!

​

We did a little shelling and beachcombing and decided to walk back not wanting to tempt fate with hard rain returning. Our excursion highlighted the intense amount of washed up coral on the island, in some places FEET thick. The next day we even saw some nature-related signage that explained why so much and what kind.

​

Scenes from the little beach:

(From the "other beach", looking back to the pier area)​

The walk back was uneventful except for seeing some of the hundreds of thousands of Major’s Skinks that live there.

​

With no broken necks or legs, we headed to the room, and I took a nap until dinner. We’d only spend 2 nights on Fitzroy and this night we’d hit up the less expensive option of Foxy’s Bar and Restaurant. Their menu was surprisingly diverse for a small island café.

​

If memory serves, Anara chose to sleep a bit longer than I wanted to, so I headed there myself to have a pre-dinner cocktail and people watch. It was a perfect way to spend a bit of time and the scenery was as moody as I was- not how I envisioned this portion of the trip would go but trying my best to find beauty and make the best of the conditions.

(A favorite photo from the trip)


​

We ordered a huge salad (I think?- no photo) to share and called it a night. The rain wasn’t going to let up so there was nothing left but to catch up on some much needed sleep.

 

[Steppesister]

Oh, I don't mind them... and definitely a conversation piece. Just not sure where I'd put something like that.

That's the problem with art. :/

"A dingo ate my baby."...

I don't think I love flying enough to consider it. Although maybe it's like a car - I can get terrible car-sickness too but I'm ok when I'm driving!

At this point though I pretty much dread any time I have to fly anywhere, so I can't imagine paying a small fortune to just fly around for the fun of it

How did you do on your long flight to the West Coast? Big planes are less of an issue, I'd think?

I hear ya. We felt the same after a month of travel. I don't know how you managed with just a carry on - I grew very tired of living out of a suitcase and having to put together outfits only using what I had.

A bit of laundry along the way and a few undie washes in the sink.

Although from memory everywhere you went would have been fairly warm (with the possible exception of Tassie)

Yes, Tassie was for sure on the chilly side. Pleasant in the day, but evenings were very chilly. I remember on our arrival night, up in the highland at the lodge, we froze and had to run that space heater all night even with flannel and down.

And you probably didn't take a wedding dress

LOL! Definitely NOT!

 

[Steppesister]

100% marketing ploy. Like those No GMO labels on things that aren't even available as GMO varieties!

I mean, if you have an allergy, it's good to know that there isn't any cross-contamination, but that's about it.

Agreed! 100%.

 

[Steppesister]

Well that looks absolutely amazing!!!

Shockingly good for an airplane pie.

Well that's an exciting way to fly!

It was not the most amazing flight aesthetic.

You brave soul, you!! I love that you prioritize saving where you can, but I'm not so sure I could live the hostel life, even for a night or two.

This one was a bit... muchly. The others weren't too bad for the very short time we were in them.

 

[zanzibar138]

The club thumping went on into the wee hours of the night and not a great deal of quality sleep was gotten.

Without the pomp of ominous and unnecessary foreshadowing, this would be our lives for the next 4 days- solidly and unescapably wet.

Bummer. Hate when the weather doesn't cooperate!

We settled on getting some goodies from 2 different sellers, but our favorite by far were the Vietnamese dumplings.

Yum!

We were absolutely drenched and were both sullen and a bit grouchy, not to mention fairly cold as well. The 45-minute cruise was definitely on the rough side

Yuck, sounds very unpleasant. Did Anara take any travel sickness medications?

It turns out it wasn’t just a passing rainstorm but Tropical Cyclone “Megan” making her appearance just in time for my once-in-a-lifetime trip to snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef.

Bad timing. March is the tail end of our cyclone season.

We also put on our ponchos and decided to brave whatever Nature would throw at us and venture out.

You kinda have to while you're there, right? At least the rain eased off a bit for you.

This trail is a short 30-45 minute hike over some rocky parts; none of it was flat or easy, especially when wet.

I would have travelled slowly and carefully too! Didn't look muddy though so that's a bonus.

just then this absolutely gorgeous Green Tree Snake made its way from the ground into a tree right beside us.

Ooh, beautiful!

We did a little shelling and beachcombing and decided to walk back not wanting to tempt fate with hard rain returning.

Good idea!

It was a perfect way to spend a bit of time and the scenery was as moody as I was

Still looks beautiful, but it is disappointing when you have all these expectations of how it's going to be.

How did you do on your long flight to the West Coast? Big planes are less of an issue, I'd think?

Big planes are definitely still an issue, particularly if there's any sign of turbulence. I just always take Kwells before departure, before landing and along the way too for longer flights in case we hit turbulence. I'll do some breathing/visualising exercises if I start getting anxious. It's why I always try to fly business for longer/overnight flights. If I can get comfortable enough to fall asleep for a while it helps. The longest flight on our recent trip was 18 hours from LAX to Singapore, but luckily it was fairly smooth for most of the way and I managed to get a decent few hour's sleep.

Unfortunately for me, flying is a regular part of life for work. And also a necessary part of most travel for Australians, particularly from Perth, where our isolated location puts a real limit on the variety of road trips we can do without having to be gone for weeks.

 

[Wood Nymph]

It turns out it wasn’t just a passing rainstorm but Tropical Cyclone “Megan” making her appearance just in time for my once-in-a-lifetime trip to snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef.

Was Fitzroy Island the main destination for people wanting to scuba and snorkel at the Great Barrier reef?

This trail is a short 30-45 minute hike over some rocky parts; none of it was flat or easy, especially when wet.

The rocks look very slippery.

absolutely gorgeous Green Tree Snake made its way from the ground into a tree right beside us

I would be a leery of that snake, especially if I didn't know whether if it was venomous.

We ordered a huge salad (I think?- no photo) to share and called it a night. The rain wasn’t going to let up so there was nothing left but to catch up on some much needed sleep.

The weather must have been a huge disappointment. At least you had a nice place to stay.

Were you and Anara getting tired of traveling by this point?

 

[pkondz]

The club thumping went on into the wee hours of the night and not a great deal of quality sleep was gotten.

Thinking you weren't overly sad about leaving.

Our alarm was set for 5:30 (after the noise stopped about 4:30AM

That's when you make lots of noise when heading out.
If people don't mind keeping you up until 4:30, then they obviously won't mind being woken up at 5:30.

Rusty’s Morning Market

fortuitously was only ½ a block from the hostel. Not only that, but the walk there was through a covered portico as it was raining heavily.

Nice bonus on a rainy day.

Without the pomp of ominous and unnecessary foreshadowing, this would be our lives for the next 4 days- solidly and unescapably wet.

Ugh.
Whelp... I guess you can't always have nice weather.
It would be nice if they would hold off until after the vacation, though.

I adore international, local markets and almost always find produce or other fun products that I would have to hunt pretty hard for here- especially in semi-rural Kentucky.

I love markets too. I almost always find something to buy.

I’ll spare you the hillbilly, fried chicken jokes, which sadly are somewhat justified. I digress…

It was a veritable treasure trove of photo opps

So I see! Lots of vibrant colours.

At first I thought those were potatoes, but... dates? No idea.

but our favorite by far were the Vietnamese dumplings. They were absolute Heaven,

Sounds delish. Did you eat them cold?

Finally, someone showed up only to tell us that the office we needed to be at was out and around the corner.

Close call! Wouldn't have been so great to discover that after the ferry had left.

Lots of advertising... and it all looks fun!

The Cairns marina is HUGE with hundreds of slips

I'd like to see that.

Ours, of course, was tied to a slip that was the furthest out. In the rain, with no umbrella, like a herd of drenched sheep, our group of about 40 folks made our soggy way to the ferry,

(This is Anara getting sick and using an alcohol wipe to try to alleviate the nausea)

Poor Anara. But how does one use an alcohol wipe to combat sea sickness?

The 45-minute cruise was definitely on the rough side, and we passed the time by digging into our snacks

Wait... Anara was sick... but still managed to eat? Impressive.

We arrived at 9:00ish and normally, folks would immediately start playing on the beach or in the pool or grabbing breakfast. Exactly zero of that was possible; it was pouring rain and not that warm.

Pretty pool... Too bad you couldn't use it.

(While waiting in the covered reception area (it's HUGE!) I spied this hanging birds nest on one of the plants. These ARE SO COOL!! They literally just hang by a few strands of grass and sway in the breeze.)

That is cool!

It turns out it wasn’t just a passing rainstorm but Tropical Cyclone “Megan” making her appearance just in time for my once-in-a-lifetime trip to snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef. B!t(H.

Oh, son of a.... gun.
That's really too bad. I think I'd be crying.

Nice and warm!

If a tad... damp.

Right around 11:00, I went back to the desk to ask about our room and sure enough it was ready.

Nice! Early.

Well, you're both smiling.
But is Anara wearing a bathing suit?
I'm not sure if that's smart... or just makes the poncho redundant!

Billy Connolly is brilliant.

I had to go slow so as to minimize the likelihood of an epic wipeout requiring medevac.

That video... talk about an ankle break waiting to happen!

It would not be the first time on Fitzroy I flirted with death…

Umm.... (no foreshadowing there at all. Nope. None. )

The Nature Trail was... interesting.

I note that I neither heard nor saw Anara. Was she with you on this trek?

I am a snake fanatic.

I recall you like snakes. Didn't know you were a "fanatic" about them, though.

I had really hoped to see one (FROM A SAFE DISTANCE)

Nice shot!
(And yes, pretty snake, too. )

Our excursion highlighted the intense amount of washed up coral on the island, in some places FEET thick

Whoa!

The walk back was uneventful except for seeing some of the hundreds of thousands of Major’s Skinks that live there.

See lots? Or just a couple?

With no broken necks or legs

Always a plus. I'm betting there were some who weren't so lucky.

I headed there myself to have a pre-dinner cocktail and people watch.

Always a good option.

Stunning!
Was it really that colour or is the saturation pumped up? (Which is okay if it is, because... stunning!)

 

[missjackiemcg]

I absolutely love this mindset! I've grown up hearing my grandma and my Mom always say, "we never let the weather stop our fun!" I'm a huge fan of throw on the poncho and get out there, especially on a vacation! (At home, maybe not so much, LOL!)

The pool and hotel look lovely--too bad you weren't able to enjoy the pool space as you waited for your room though. Love the wildlife you were able to see on your hike adventure, especially all that washed up coral. I don't think I realized it ever washes up in that way.

 

[Steppesister]

Bummer. Hate when the weather doesn't cooperate!

For sure! The rest of my trip had fabulous weather so I really shouldn't complain all that much.

Yuck, sounds very unpleasant. Did Anara take any travel sickness medications?

She did, but by then was out of them. At least she didn't throw up and did recover quickly.

Bad timing. March is the tail end of our cyclone season.

I would still probably have gone though since that was when the wedding was chosen. But will definitely tuck that away for any next times.

You kinda have to while you're there, right? At least the rain eased off a bit for you.

Exactly! I mean, I was definitely NOT going to just sit in the room.

I would have travelled slowly and carefully too! Didn't look muddy though so that's a bonus.

Nope, no mud really at all. I was very grateful for that. And even in places where there wasn't a true trail, the ground was mostly wet coral and sand so was easy to walk on.

Still looks beautiful, but it is disappointing when you have all these expectations of how it's going to be.

It was beautiful in a dark and stormy sort of way. And there was still enjoyment to be had. I mean, I wasn't at work or studying so there's that.

Big planes are definitely still an issue, particularly if there's any sign of turbulence. I just always take Kwells before departure, before landing and along the way too for longer flights in case we hit turbulence. I'll do some breathing/visualising exercises if I start getting anxious. It's why I always try to fly business for longer/overnight flights. If I can get comfortable enough to fall asleep for a while it helps. The longest flight on our recent trip was 18 hours from LAX to Singapore, but luckily it was fairly smooth for most of the way and I managed to get a decent few hour's sleep.

Unfortunately for me, flying is a regular part of life for work. And also a necessary part of most travel for Australians, particularly from Perth, where our isolated location puts a real limit on the variety of road trips we can do without having to be gone for weeks.

I'm going to mention Kwells to Anara. I have no idea if they are available here as I've never looked for them.

I priced out business class for my upcoming trip but it was 10 times more expensive (like over $5,000) so that was a major no-can-do. Someday....

I can see that and I'd imagine there are a lot of options for you folks in Perth for cheap commuters. Otherwise, with the amount of travel you all have to do, that'd add up fairly quickly!