Before leaving the US, we had a day in Legoland near San Diego, California. This is fun. Amazing things built from Legos are on display; recreations of the New York City skyline, DC neighborhoods, and lifesize characters. A good way to entertain the kids and yourself for 4 hours.

We begin with the most important question I keep getting asked: is it true that toilets flush clockwise out here, south of the equator? I checked many toilets during this 2 week trip and the answer is: I don’t know. Toilets are manufactured differently here and they all operate the same way. What happens is that you get a big gush of water from two directions and it just floods the bowl and pushes whatever is in there straight out the back. So I regret to inform that I have diligently investigated the matter but still don’t know the answer to this pressing query.

Air New Zealand flight from Auckland, New Zealand to Cairns, Australia is 4:45 flying time and leaves twice a week. Cairns has a new airport. We were given a thorough inspection upon arrival by customs; they are looking for fruits, veges and drugs. Pony-tailed local told us all we need to know about crocodiles on the hourlong ride to our hotel, the Sheraton Mirage in Port Douglas. A member of Leading Hotels of the World, it is a very nice hotel with lagoons and abuts the Four Mile Beach, an unusually pristine stretch of beach with pretty views of nearby mountains. Here the rainforest meets the sea, an unusual setting of nature. There is no development along the beach itself and nobody sitting on the beach or selling things – just walking and swimming (although not now since it was jellyfish season). Food and beverage at the hotel was quite good and we stayed on the property for the first day; we had the hotel’s best suite and it was well appointed. Some of the 30 year old hotel is dated but it is undergoing refurbishment. The grounds are enormous and the landscaping is really lovely. 

Courtesy shuttle to town which runs all of 5 blocks with souvenir shops, eateries and a supermarket in the middle. Bill Gates and Bill Clinton recently bought homes here; the Secret Service had to buy the property next door once Clinton bought in. The Inlet is a restaurant on the marina offering sunset views and good fish; the local fish we liked was Barramundi. Getting a taxi home at night means you have to walk to a gas station on the edge of town and go to the back of it; the lady is proud of her fleet which has gone up from 2 to 8 cars. The main evening activity for us in town is the lobby piano bar. 

Sunrise walk on the beach and a good brekkie (breakfast) to start a day of adventure. 90 minute ride on a large catamaran to a pontoon (floating station) out by the Great Barrier Reef. Here you can don snorkeling gear, get on little submarines and see what’s beneath, have lunch on board, or just sit and look at the beautiful water and fish from an underwater observatory. The parrot fish are especially colorful. We were lucky that we went on a very nice day (it’s not always sunny and the weather can be unpredictable) with especially low tides so some of the reef was above the water line. After about 3 hours there, we took a small boat to a helipad and boarded a helicopter for the 35 minute surprisingly smooth ride back to a helipad on the hotel grounds. We flew over the reefs, rainforests and Port Douglas. By 3:30 we were back at the lagoon having a swim and enjoying the last rays of sun because sunset is at about 6pm this time of year which is their winter and Port Douglas is at about 15 degrees south latitude (roughly the same as Costa Rica is to the north). Cost of the Quicksilver boat expedition was about $150 USD and the optional helicopter return was another $175. These are especially expensive items for Australia but it is the best way to explore the Reef; little boats go out for less money but you don’t have all these options. Over all, Australia is a relatively reasonable place to spend money on extravagances because prices are reasonable and the Australian dollar is also reasonable. Today Queensland (this part of Australia which bills itself as The Sunshine State on its auto license plates, just like Florida) lived up to its name. When it rains lightly here, they call it “mist.” After some tapas in the lobby, dinner at Nautilas, the city’s best-known restaurant, where Bill Clinton says it is his favorite. There are pictures of him with these bimbo-looking waitresses on display; I suppose they brought them in special for him because the whole staff looked gay to us. Nautilas is set in the forest under the trees and a canopy is pulled over when it rains. Food was good, but the Belgian chocolate dessert was better. 

Qantas had a nice business lounge and the 2:30 flight to Sydney was a good one. Airport security here is very tough about what you can take on board; we had these baby finger puppet silverware that had knives without edges but they caught them and forced us to check them. The US security officials didn’t have a problem with the cutlery. Factoids: Burger King in Australia is Hungry Jack’s. Lots of Japanese tourists here; the hotel has a Japanese speaking concierge on duty at all times. Port Douglas keeps nice by limiting development to low buildings. Australians are concerned about skin cancer from the sun; children must wear special costumes for swimming. I learned to drive on the left side of the road; the main thing to get over is the round-a-bouts (circular intersections) and not to keep turning on the windshield wipers instead of the turn signal, but that comes after a few drives. Australia has eliminated pennies; they round up and down to the nearest 5 cents. This is a mark of an advanced civilization; that and the existence of triple-ply toilet paper are two points in their favor. 

In Sydney there are two kosher restaurants, Beaches and Tibby’s. Tibby’s is much better. They are in a suburb called Bondi, where parking is fierce. Almost 2 hours drive will bring you to the Blue Mountains, a resort area with canyons, trees and some small mountains. Leura is a nice one-block town in the region to have lunch in. It is a 5 minute drive from Katoomba, the main town all of 5 blocks long, where our hotel Lilianfels is. Lilianfels is a 5-star hotel, part of the Orient Express chain of properties, just a few minutes walk from Echo Point, a viewing area where you can see The 3 Sisters, a rock formation against sweeping views of the valley. The mist from the eucalyptus trees forms a blue mist over the range thus giving the region the name Blue Mountains. Rooms that face the valley are smaller but worth the view and the decorating is very charming with comfortable beds. If you want to stay right in Katoomba, consider the Carrington Hotel, a restored property right in town. It is cheaper and a 3½ star property. Lilianfels is a 5 minute drive away, and we were very glad we stayed there. The difference in price was small, but the properties are not comparable.  Dry Dock is a good fish restaurant in town. Paragon is an old art-deco favorite and a good place to have lunch. Scenic World is the main Katoomba attraction. An inclined railroad running at 52 degrees takes you steeply but smoothly down into the dark (they play the theme from Raiders of the Lost Ark) for a few minutes, then you walk along a 20 minute flat forest trail, then return on the Sceniscender, a gondola ride back up. A gondola which will traverse the valley is under construction. You can take the Sceniscender instead of the inclined railway if that is too scary. This whole thing takes about 1 hour. The rest of the day we vegetated at the hotel spa (the treatments were unusually good), had tea in the lobby, and a lovely dinner at Darleys, the gourmet room at the hotel. The fish was the best I’ve had on this trip and the desserts were all excellent, including something made with quinces. My wife’s 3 year old niece was well behaved throughout this 2 and a half hour affair, made cuter by the hotel’s provision of a dinner companion in the form of a teddy bear with a drink placed in front of him. Next morning we rode the Zig Zag Railway, a steam choo-choo which takes you on a 90 minute excursion featuring several short rides and short stops as the locomotive changes sides whilst the train goes through the Zig and Zag up and down the mountain. Nice way to go around with grandma and niece. This region is a family-friendly place offering a nice getaway from Sydney with good roads and reasonable prices. Its high season is in winter when people warm to the fireplaces; during the summer, it is not that much cooler than Sydney and the locals warm to the beaches instead.

Back in Sydney, an emphasis on Jewish items of interest today. The city’s 50,000 strong Jewish community has some very impressive facilities. The Jewish Museum tells history and, from the look of things, you didn’t have to do much bad in England during the 1700's to get shipped off to Australia on a one-way basis. You got 7 years for stealing some lace; 14 years for stealing a purse or being drunk; more than that was a life sentence because people didn’t live too long. There was a special exhibit on Hungarian Jewry, which makes up a significant sector of the community. The Great Synagogue is also impressive; they give several tours a week, mostly to the local schools which study comparative religions. They showed us a video and demonstrated items in the synagogue. An elderly pompous Brit gave the lecture and Karen could hardly contain herself from laughter. They sell little koala bears holding an Australian flag and wearing a prayer shall. They have become rather paranoid about security here at Jewish places and the general attitude at this synagogue was “Glad You Came...Don’t Come Back. But it’s OK to linger for a moment and buy a souvenir, but that’s all.” Visited Moriah College, the city’s leading Jewish day school which has its own campus and 2,000 students from K-12. It is a very impressive facility with such things as a music room with a recording studio (500 students are in the music program), olympic-size swimming pool, and serious security. At the weekly assembly while the children are getting seated, they show slides about books to read. The campus is rather relaxed about religion; it is a community school run under Orthodox auspices but you don’t have to wear a skullcap and religious instruction is optional after Grade 10. 

David Jones department store loses money but has good sales and lots of things to buy. Remember too that the seasons are reversed. The food court offers green and chocolate gelato, worth noting perhaps on a return visit. There is a nice café called the Sidewalk café along the mezzanine running above the street between the store’s two buildings. Sat in Hyde Park which runs along the city center and took the bus back to Maroubra, Karen’s home suburb.  DoubleBay is a chic shopping and café street in Sydney. We ate lunch at the Stamford Hotel café and liked it. I was given a warm welcome at Karen’s local synagogue. At the airport, it is easy to get the VAT back (here they call it GST) and there is nice shopping. You don’t have to show the goods, at least if it is small purchases (ie: under $500). It is a 12:30 flight to San Francisco. 

Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay, California 

Forty minutes drive from San Francisco or Oakland airports is the Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay resort. Not much to do except spa, take a short walk around the town of Half Moon Bay reached by hotel car, and eat five times a day in the club lounge (I recommend this highly; it is good value for money). One day we had dinner in the hotel’s restaurant which was very good; pretty sunsets along the beach which is lined with a stunning golf course. They don’t let you take out golf carts without a tee time. All that seemed missing in this recreation of a Scottish seaside location was a guy in kilts and bagpipe, but alas he showed up on weekend nights to serenade the sunset. The evening activity is a campfire with blankets and the sounds of the raging surf beneath. The hotel provides marshmallows to toast over the fire. A very good way to ward off some jetlag on the way back home. Jet Blue was 4:45 back to New York and perfectly fine. The $99 fare was less than the $100 taxi ride to the airport.

Useful Travel Advice: Starwood Amex Program

Useful travel advice: I have had problems finding out how to get miles for free tickets to Australia. United is a lousy airline but we flew on two business class tickets for 180,000 miles.  Qantas costs 150,000 miles for 2 economy class tickets (290,000 for 2 business class tickets) and is very hard to get because they give few tickets away to American, which is their partner, and American doesn’t play ball with American Express (though United does). Reading Business Traveler USA magazine, we found that American Express does offer a card via the Starwood Preferred Guest program (spg.com). The program participates with 30 airlines, including Qantas, on a one dollar to one mile program, sometimes better. They also offer a bonus: Transfer 20,000 points to an airline, and Starwood kicks in an extra 5,000 points. Another thing to know is that if you call Qantas, they will tell you that they won’t check to see if flights are available for miles unless you have miles in the account sufficient to buy the ticket. This intimidates people into transferring points into their accounts only to be told when they call that no seats are available. Qantas phone agents are saying this because it wastes time to look at reservations that will not be booked right away and because they are lazy, but if this happens then ask for a supervisor because there is no company policy against looking up this information upon demand.

United Airlines: A Review of their airline and frequent flyer program

To give you an idea of where United is at, we ordered vege meals and they had them, though it was some kind of inedible gnocche with canned peaches. We asked for the fish, but they had run out. We were given a lecture about how we must eat what we order and several flight attendants talked to us like we were in kindergarten, and told us that the airline was in bankruptcy and running on a shoestring. We were told this by 3 people. The lavatories had all the amenities stripped except for soap and cheap paper towels that came off on your face. Breakfast was fruit followed by more fruit. We were told by a flight attendant when we gave feedback that the airline doesn’t care one bit what the flight attendant tells them about what passengers have to say. To be fair, two of the crew donated to us their rather inedible fish meals but along with them came the chief purser to remind us not to expect anyone to be so nice because United has rules and, by the way, we should know that United runs on industry standard. Well, Karen and I fly a lot, and the airlines we fly on don’t run out of food in business class (or economy class), offer enough choices and don’t give so many lectures in lieu of food. United operates old equipment and doesn’t charge any less than its competitors on this monopoly route, where if you pay for it, a business class roundtrip ticket costs close to $10,000 (and it’s hard to get discounts). 

On Air New Zealand, we flew with United miles and the rule is you can’t change your itinerary once you commence travel, even to upgrade on a standby basis if you gave the miles for a business class ticket but economy class was only available at the time of ticketing. So it wound up happening that on the 5 hour flight from Auckland to Cairns, Karen sat in the back while I sat in front with 14 empty seats around me in business class because the computer only granted one of us a business seat at the time of ticketing and the second one never became available during the two months thereafter. The airline deducted all the points from us nevertheless because this was one of 3 segments of the ticket; the other two were in business class. I asked the airline crew if they would just look the other way and let Karen sit with me; they insisted that she hadn’t paid for the ticket and couldn’t sit there (even though she had paid). They were just terribly mean and ridiculous. One lady came over to us later and said she thought the airline was being mean about it, but that they were being told from up top to say No because of their arrangements with United. I think this award program sucks – if you have been deducted the full amount of the miles, you should be treated as a revenue passenger on a standby basis so that if the seat goes out empty, you should be put into the seat. To do otherwise is cheating the customer and it just is so in your face that it makes someone hate the airline, rather than rewarding and encouraging loyalty. Overall, I don’t like these frequent flyer programs; they are being subsidized by people who are overpaying to fly and meanwhile the value of the premium services are being diluted because of all the freebies on board. Better to cancel the program and make the price of the paid tickets more reasonable and restore the perks of the premium services for which people are paying. I have letters into customer relations and CEO’s at Air New Zealand and United and will let you know if there are responses from them. If you have thoughts about these programs, I’d like to hear from you.

For Photos of this trip, click here.