BDU: Snorkeling Trip

BDU: Birthday Down Under - Trip Planning
BDU: Flying to Sydney
BDU: Park Hyatt Sydney
BDU: Sydney Activities
BDU: Sydney Opera House
BDU: Flying to Uluru and Back
BDU: Uluru and Kata Tjuta
BDU: Park Hyatt Melbourne
BDU: Melbourne Activities
BDU: Flying to Fiji
BDU: Hilton Fiji
BDU: Snorkeling Trip
BDU: Flying to Los Angeles
BDU: Hyatt Regency DFW

As we recovered from our overnight flight to Fiji we thought about what we might like to do in this island paradise.  We settled on a snorkeling tour that we were able to book through the hotel's activities desk.

We were booked with an outfit called Whale's Tale and the crew was a fun-loving bunch.  There were probably 20-25 of us on board as we sailed toward what I believe is a private island owned by the tour company.  There was a semi-permanent hut there with cooking facilities and picnic tables, several other grass-topped huts to provide some shade and a sand volleyball court all set up.  The name of this dot of sand? Snorkel Island, of course!

Yes, it's Snorkel Island

BDU: Hilton Fiji

BDU: Birthday Down Under - Trip Planning
BDU: Flying to Sydney
BDU: Park Hyatt Sydney
BDU: Sydney Activities
BDU: Sydney Opera House
BDU: Flying to Uluru and Back
BDU: Uluru and Kata Tjuta
BDU: Park Hyatt Melbourne
BDU: Melbourne Activities
BDU: Flying to Fiji
BDU: Hilton Fiji
BDU: Snorkeling Trip
BDU: Flying to Los Angeles
BDU: Hyatt Regency DFW

It was still quite early, around 7 AM, when we arrived at the Hilton.  The good thing is that the staff is quite accustomed to having folks arrive at all hours.  We did have to wait a little while to check in as several people on our flight were also staying here.  The open-air lobby was quite inviting and the seating was quite comfortable.

Hilton Fiji Lobby Seating

Hilton Fiji Reception Desk

BDU: Flying to Fiji

BDU: Birthday Down Under - Trip Planning
BDU: Flying to Sydney
BDU: Park Hyatt Sydney
BDU: Sydney Activities
BDU: Sydney Opera House
BDU: Flying to Uluru and Back
BDU: Uluru and Kata Tjuta
BDU: Park Hyatt Melbourne
BDU: Melbourne Activities
BDU: Flying to Fiji
BDU: Hilton Fiji
BDU: Snorkeling Trip
BDU: Flying to Los Angeles
BDU: Hyatt Regency DFW

Melbourne is very nearly at the very southeastern tip of Australia.  Fiji is northeast of the continent and it is one time zone earlier.  That meant our 5-hour flight to Nadi (pronounced NAHN-dee, even though there's no second "N"), which left around midnight, would land us in Fiji first thing in the morning.  This was the only flight with award space and we took the only three award seats that were available nearly a year in advance.

BDU: Melbourne Activities

BDU: Birthday Down Under - Trip Planning
BDU: Flying to Sydney
BDU: Park Hyatt Sydney
BDU: Sydney Activities
BDU: Sydney Opera House
BDU: Flying to Uluru and Back
BDU: Uluru and Kata Tjuta
BDU: Park Hyatt Melbourne
BDU: Melbourne Activities
BDU: Flying to Fiji
BDU: Hilton Fiji
BDU: Snorkeling Trip
BDU: Flying to Los Angeles
BDU: Hyatt Regency DFW

While Sydney is well-known for its famous sites like the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, we weren't sure what there was to see in Melbourne.  Turns out it's more a financial capital for the country and while there's plenty to do and see, it's not quite as touristy.  But they do have a hop-on/hop-off bus and a free trolley system that helped us get around town.

The closest bus stop was caddy-corner from the Victoria Train Station.  I thought it was a beautiful building from the outside and wish we'd stopped in to look around.

Victoria Station

BDU: Park Hyatt Melbourne

BDU: Birthday Down Under - Trip Planning
BDU: Flying to Sydney
BDU: Park Hyatt Sydney
BDU: Sydney Activities
BDU: Sydney Opera House
BDU: Flying to Uluru and Back
BDU: Uluru and Kata Tjuta
BDU: Park Hyatt Melbourne
BDU: Melbourne Activities
BDU: Flying to Fiji
BDU: Hilton Fiji
BDU: Snorkeling Trip
BDU: Flying to Los Angeles
BDU: Hyatt Regency DFW

Our flight from the Ayers Rock airport (by way of Alice Springs) landed in Melbourne mid-afternoon.  While we certainly expected the weather to be cooler than Uluru and the desert, I was a little surprised at how much cooler it was.  Knowing Melbourne was further south than Sydney I had expected to need a jacket but with the wind blowing, long sleeves felt good too after the sun went down.

We didn't have to wait long at all for our shuttle driver to arrive at baggage claim and after walking next door to the international terminal to collect more passengers we all hauled our luggage out to the curb for the trip to our various hotels.

It was on our drive from the airport that I saw the native wildlife for this trip (besides the ibises in Sydney). We were speeding along a multi-lane highway when I looked at a large grassy field on our left and first thought cows were grazing there.  But the ones atop the ridge looked odd for cows and when I looked closer I realized they were kangaroos (or maybe wallabies).  Unfortunately we zoomed by too quickly to get a snapshot.

We arrived at the Park Hyatt and were warmly greeted by the bellman who took charge of our large bags.  The front desk staff were uniformly young, attractive and quite helpful.  They confirmed we'd booked a club room and pointed out the restaurant to us where we were entitled to breakfast during our stay.

Entrance to the Park Hyatt Melbourne

BDU: Uluru and Kata Tjuta

BDU: Birthday Down Under - Trip Planning
BDU: Flying to Sydney
BDU: Park Hyatt Sydney
BDU: Sydney Activities
BDU: Sydney Opera House
BDU: Flying to Uluru and Back
BDU: Uluru and Kata Tjuta
BDU: Park Hyatt Melbourne
BDU: Melbourne Activities
BDU: Flying to Fiji
BDU: Hilton Fiji
BDU: Snorkeling Trip
BDU: Flying to Los Angeles
BDU: Hyatt Regency DFW

When planning this trip I knew I wanted to re-visit Sydney (not to mention staying at the Park Hyatt there!) and one of my traveling companions had never been there so I always knew that was going to be an item on the itinerary.  But I wanted to do some new things too.  I'd already seen the Great Barrier Reef on my last trip so I decided on Oz's other great natural wonder, Uluru (OO-LOO-ROO). It wasn't until I started researching further that I learned there's another rock formation nearby, Kata Tjuta (KHAT-ah JU-tah).

We'd had lovely spring weather in Sydney but when our plane landed at they Ayers Rock airport, the weather was HOT.  It's a tiny little airport with only one luggage belt and two gates.  We were amused by the sign in the bathroom that asked people not to wash their feet in the sink.  You just know there had to be a number of incidents leading up to that situation!

Since Uluru is a national park, all the lodging is run by one company, similar to the way national parks here in the US are run.  While I couldn't use traditional hotel points for our room here, by using the ArrivalPlus card from Barclays we were able to use their points to offset the hotel and rental car charges.  It ended up costing us each about $100, which was not a bad deal at all.

And speaking of rental cars, this was my first opportunity to drive on the "wrong" side of the road.  Let's just say I was glad we were in the Outback and there wasn't much in the way of traffic.

The whole Ayers Rock area is fairly compact and our apartment was only about a 10-15 minute drive from the airport.  We got our bags unloaded, changed into weather-appropriate gear and set out for the park - which itself is only about 10-15 minutes away from the resort area.

After obtaining our park passes at the main gate, we headed into the park.  We could catch glimpses of Uluru here and there but then finally we rounded a bend in the road and there it was.  I wanted to stop the car and take pictures but there were "No Stopping" signs all over the place - so apparently I was not alone with that idea!

Hello Uluru!

BDU: Flying to Uluru and Back

BDU: Birthday Down Under - Trip Planning
BDU: Flying to Sydney
BDU: Park Hyatt Sydney
BDU: Sydney Activities
BDU: Sydney Opera House
BDU: Flying to Uluru and Back
BDU: Uluru and Kata Tjuta
BDU: Park Hyatt Melbourne
BDU: Melbourne Activities
BDU: Flying to Fiji
BDU: Hilton Fiji
BDU: Snorkeling Trip
BDU: Flying to Los Angeles
BDU: Hyatt Regency DFW

Originally I had hoped return to the US from this trip on a Friday, which would mean minimal time off and build in a couple of days to recover upon our arrival back home.  But when the first class seat from Dallas became available on a Wednesday, it was too good to pass up, so I booked it.  Turns out that was a blessing.  If we'd landed in Australia on a Sunday, we would have been flying to Uluru, in the center of the continent, on a Thursday, staying until Saturday.  And as I noticed when I started searching for award tickets to Uluru - award seats on the weekend are rare creatures indeed, at least on Qantas.  As it was we managed to find three award seats to Uluru (one with indirect routing) and only two award seats on the return flight.

Those of us half a world away from Australia often forget just how large the country/continent is.  For comparison purposes, the distance from Sydney to Uluru is almost exactly the same as the distance from Washington DC to Amarillo, Texas - just over 1360 miles.

The rock formation the indigenous people call Uluru (OO-LOO-roo) is also known as Ayers Rock.  The Ayers Rock airport (AYQ) is quite small and so the majority of traffic from the east coast routes via Alice Springs, where passengers then fly smaller aircraft into AYQ.  Since there were only two award seats available from Sydney, I let my friends have those and I got up a bit earlier to route via Melbourne, where I would then fly to Alice Springs and we'd all fly into AYQ together.

My ground transfer picked me up right on time and I had no issues.  My friends were not so lucky.  Their pre-paid shuttle never showed but the staff at the Park Hyatt helped them to get a taxi.  Unfortunately that meant they were so rushed for time at the airport that they did not get to enjoy the business class lounge before their flight.  Fortunately Viator refunded their shuttle fees promptly.

I did stop in the lounges in both Sydney and Melbourne.  Both were quite busy but had pretty good food spreads.  But we were fed so well on the plane that I wasn't even hungry!  Quite a change from US-based airlines.

Our flight paths to the Ayers Rock airport (AYQ)
(map made on gcmap.com)

Fortunately our planes were on time and we met up at the cute little airport in Alice Springs (ASP).  At this point we were starting to see desert-like conditions around and it was quite warm.  As we flew toward AYQ, the ground definitely took on a reddish tint and it was easy to see why the area is known as The Red Centre of the continent.

Since there are limited flights to and from AYQ each day, we all had to fly out at the same time and we wanted to land together in Melbourne (our next stop).  Since there were only two award seats available, C purchased an economy ticket while D and I enjoyed our award seats in business class.  She said it was fine for a relatively short flight and fortunately, it was a very reasonably-priced ticket.

Our flight path to Melbourne

Next up: so what's the big deal about a rock?