Australia holiday

[Mickwhitt 5,253]

Hi all.

Me and Mrs.W are at Manchester Airport hotel ready to fly out to Australia in the morning.

Longest trip I've ever been on with plenty of seat time in a tin tube at 36,000 feet.

We are off the Perth to watch the first Test match in this Ashes cricket series. 

Experience of a lifetime as when we have watched the game we fly to Brisbane to see Sandra's brother for a week on the sunshine coast.

Im looking forward to seeing things for the first time, koalas, kangaroos, kookaburras etc. Bet it's a great place to play scrabble. 

Ill update you as we go, Qatar first stop for a refuel and leg stretch. Then on to Perth 14 hours later.

 

 

[nylyon-(Admin) 8,638]

Awesome, I’m envious, would love to make it to Australia one day.

[ebinmaine 76,501]

Very cool!

 

Looking forward to your trip! 

 

[EB-80/8inPA 1,947]

Enjoy your trip and the early Spring weather. If wifey was on this forum she’d be asking if you brought compression socks for the flight and scolding you if you didn’t.

[wh500special 2,369]

5 hours ago, Mickwhitt said:

…koalas, kangaroos, kookaburras etc. Bet it's a great place to play scrabble ….

 

 

Or, to open a K-Mart. 
 

(this joke probably won’t translate)
 

Enjoy the trip and travel safely. 
 

Steve

[Mickwhitt 5,253]

Thanks guys.

Yes I wore compression socks. Under my regular trousers. But there were at least three guys with them on paired with shorts! Now they did look pretty odd.

We've just hopped off the flight from Doha to Perth in Western Australia.  The plane was like an icebox and I was frozen the whole way over. 

But it's 25C here now which is just nice. Its been hitting 40C so I'm hoping it doesn't get too fierce. 

In homage to the Pullstart clan I'm wearing flip flops now, over here they call them thongs. Now that has a completely different meaning in England and if I were to wear a thong I'd very quickly end up in serious trouble.

I've also painted my toe nails red white and blue for the trip, well you've got to show off you're from the mother country! 

Off for a look round Perth City now, it looks pretty huge, but then I'm definitely a country mouse.

Mick. 

[Mickwhitt 5,253]

Perth is the longest city in the world at about 75 miles from end to end.

Its really pretty and very relaxed here.

Lots of different birds flying about but the only animal we have seen was an urban rat. I expect we will seemore when we go Wup Wup or out into the country. 

Lots of English folk here for the cricket, but we've only heard a few Aussie accents as the majority of bars, hotels  and restaurants are staffed by Japanese,  Indians, Spanish, you name it. 

Yesterday we had Spanish tapas served by a Japanese girl in an Australian restaurant. Its such a huge mix of folk.

Our first cricket game will be the English fans v the Australian fans at the WACA,  one of the best known cricket grounds in the world. Its been replaced by the 61,000 seat Optus stadium half a mile away, but they are keeping the old stadium for local games! We would have to knock it down as we don't have all the space these boys have. The new stadium was built for less money and quicjer than promised! Beat that if you can. 

The city is so busy, but never seems rushed or crowded.  

Definitely well worth visiting and I am by no means a traveller. 

[Handy Don 15,606]

Just read BBC’s enthusiastic coverage of the opening match. Quite the thriller with some excellent play from both teams. Seems it was a bit of a scary start for England but then a nice outcome by the end of the day!

What a great experience for you and Mrs. Mick!

Edited November 21, 2025 by Handy Don

[Sparky-(Admin) 24,236]

  I’ll be in Australia in 2026 or 2027 (probably both) for work. 
  Expecting each trip to be at least 3 weeks. Not looking forward to the loooooong flights at all. Luckily they buy us first class airline tiks 

[Handy Don 15,606]

14 minutes ago, Sparky said:

Luckily they buy us first class

New Zealand in economy was not fun, but the twelve days there were spectacular. Might be worth a detour for you on the way home from Australia!

[Beap52 1,851]

On 11/19/2025 at 1:13 PM, Mickwhitt said:

Perth is the longest city in the world at about 75 miles from end to end.

 

Doggies!  That adds a new meaning to "Going across town...."   

[Mickwhitt 5,253]

First day was sketchy in places for both teams. But England came out with a slim lead. 

But they threw it away in spectacular style, top batsmen making schoolboy errors. 

With just over 200 to defend we needed to rip through their batting lineup to win. But Travis Head had other ideas and pulled off an escape worthy of Houdini.

He couldn't miss the ball if he tried and made us look very poor. 

Very bruising and maddening after all the preparation.  But being there was a privilege and a great experience,  if not a joyful one. 

We got a lot of stick in the crowd from a bunch of gobby fans. But at the end we all shook hands as we left, knowing we had seen at least one truly great batsman in action, just in the wrong colours for us. 

An extra day to explore Perth before we head off to Brisbane and a warm beach.