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April 30 in the Netherlands is known as Queen's Day (Koninginnedag in Dutch). The day is a public holiday to celebrate the Queens birthday. It's actually the birthday of the last queen (Juliana), but it is said that the current Queen (Beatrix) kept it in honour of her mother, and also because her birthday is in January, too chilly to be celebrating outdoors.

Queen's Day is the biggest party of the year in the Netherlands, and on the day the streets resemble a huge market (vrijmarkt, or freemarket) as anyone can sell anything in the streets. Further info at Queen's Day: The World's Biggest Street Party.

Today I stumbled upon Dutch Orange Day, a little celebration the local Dutch community put on to celebrate Queen's Day in Melbourne.





Seeing the Dutch celebrating in Melbourne got me thinking what might have been. Not many people outside of Australia know that this continent was once known as New Holland (in fact probably not many Australians know that either).



When New York was still New Amsterdam (in 1644) the Dutch seafarer Abel Tasman christened the continent Nova Hollandia. It wasn't until 1824 that New Holland officially became Australia.

The first recorded European sighting of the Great Southern Land was by the Dutch explorer Dirk Hartog, who landed at what is now known as Cape Inscription, Dirk Hartog Island, on 26 October 1616.

Probably the most famous contact the Dutch had with Western Australia was when the Batavia struck a reef off the coast. It is a classic story of mutiny and survival, which can be read in detail at the Batavia Story.

British ships also sighted the coast but as the Western Australian coast is a vast waterless expanse it was never colonised.

Labels: australia, holiday, melbourne, netherlands

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Labels: travel blogs

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Location: Melbourne - Australia Date: 25 April 2008

April 25 in Australia and New Zealand is Anzac Day. The day commemorates Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who landed at Gallipoli in Turkey on April 25 1915 during World War I.



The day is a public holiday and it has since come to represent a memorial day for all war veterans.

Labels: anzac day, australia, melbourne

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The State Library of Victoria on Swanston Street in Melbourne and its Domed Reading Room.



Behind the library is an apartment block and the headquarters of BHP-Billiton, world's largest mining company.











The library was renovated between 1999 and 2003. Before then the skylights were covered up as the roof was leaking. Without the Australian sun pouring in through the skylights the library had a more Gothic Northern European feel to it. Or maybe that's just my memory of it when studying the in my school years.

Labels: australia, books, melbourne

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On display at the State Library of Victoria in Melbourne is The Medieval Imagination - Illuminated manuscripts from Cambridge, Australia and New Zealand.

There are over 90 manuscripts are on display, dating from the 8th to the 16th centuries.

It's an amazing collection of work, and to top it off, it is free. I have found myself wandering into the library whenever I am in the city to have another look.

It's worth a visit to the State Library just to see the Domed Reading Room. It was opened in 1913 and it was the largest of its type in the world on completion. The reading room was built to hold over a million books and up to 500 readers.

The exhibition is on from 28 March to 15 June 2008.

Labels: australia, books, melbourne

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The typical low cost airline operates on a point-to-point basis. Costs are kept down as there are no bags to check through to another flight, and no waiting for connections due to delayed flights.

Some of the low cost airline networks have become so big though that passengers independently book multi leg flights to get to where they want to go as it still works out cheaper than booking through a scheduled airline.

There is the risk that if your first flight is delayed and you miss the connection you will lose your second flight, but if you are savings hundreds of £/€/$'s, it is a gamble I know many take.

Tigers Airways offers the ability to booking two flights in the one booking session with their Flight Combo service. This is a great idea as it saves you having to work out if both flights you need are available and you save an extra booking fee.



On the Tiger Airways network possible combination examples include:

Melbourne - Darwin - Singapore
Darwin - Singapore - Chennai
Perth - Singapore - Ho Chi Minh City

Passengers need to be aware that this is still a point-to-point service so connections are not guaranteed. Tiger Airways conditions of carriage state:

We are strictly a point-to-point carrier and shall not be responsible to you for any connecting flights.

A European airline that offers multi leg bookings is Air Berlin. Their destination map show where you can fly to (although it doesn't indicate that it is a connecting flight until you are at the booking stage).





I would like to see such booking facilities on other low cost airlines with large networks, like Ryanair and easyJet in Europe. Low cost airline flyers are savvy enough to know that you must reclaim baggage and check in again on the next flight.

With oil prices going through the roof and airlines feeling the pressure of fuel prices, connecting flights through hubs may become more viable for low cost airlines rather than operating so many point-to-point services.

Labels: airlines, low cost airlines

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The Airbus A380 could soon have the option of being fitted out with male urinals. On long haul 747 flights there is always a long queue down the aisle at breakfast time, so this is a good idea for A380's that will eventually be carrying over 600 passengers.

With the space they save by using urinals they can then the water savings for showers.



Male Urinal for A380. Photo from DASELL Cabin Interior

Labels: airlines, public toilet

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Oasis Hong Kong may have gone under last week but there is still a budget long haul airline making a go of it in Asia. Malaysian airline Air Asia have released a sale fare for its Gold Coast to Kuala Lumpur route for 169 Aussie dollars, including taxes.



Air Asia are awaiting delivery of more aircraft so they expand their network. They propose to expand in Australia to Perth, Adelaide, Newcastle and Melbourne (Avalon). To Europe possible destinations include London (Stansted), Manchester, Prague and Moscow. This could mean sale fares that sees $1000 AUD return flights from Australia to Europe.

Labels: air asia, airlines

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Location: Melbourne - Australia Date: 13 April 2008

A large film set was on location in Collins St Melbourne today. While filming on location in the city on the weekend is nothing unusual, the shoot was for a film set in New York. The plaza in front of the AXA building was transformed into Lafayette St New York.


The shoot involved subway passengers emerging from a smoking Lafayette St subway station. There were so many little details attended to, from a US and New York flag hanging in the plaza to US mail boxes as well as renamed street signs.

Labels: australia, film shoot, melbourne, new york

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Location: Melbourne - Australia Date: 28 Feb 2008

Tiger Airways Australia has its home base at Melbourne Tullamarine Airport. A budget airline like Tiger would seemingly be more suitable for Melbourne's other airport, Avalon, which is operating as a secondary low cost airport on the European model. Tiger have their own budget terminal at Tullamarine (terminal 4), separate from the main 3 terminals.



The Tiger terminal is set up to save costs rather than to pamper flyers. An airport spokesperson described the terminal as more like a railway station.

There are no aerobridges at this terminal so pasengers have to walk across the tarmac to and from the plane. When my flight landed the plane went to the end of the building then turned around so as the nose was pointing away from the terminal building. I presume they did this to save the cost of having the aircraft towed out from the terminal.



The arrivals hall is basically a shed built in a carpark and most of the walls are wire fencing. I don't have a problem with that if it's saving costs, but it does have an air of temporariness about it, which is not the message to be sending when trying to establish a new airline.

The most peculiar feature of the arrivals hall is the baggage carousel. The wall between the carousel and where the bags are unloaded is a wire fence, so you get to see the bags being unloaded from the trolley. There are some things in life you should never see, and seeing your bags being unloaded by baggage handlers is one of them. I prefer the mystery of waiting at the baggage belt, looking at each bag coming out of the hole. Instead here we get to see a couple of guys chucking the bags onto the belt. It is worse if you can actually see that your bag is on the bottom of the pile. I don't mind the budget hall, just please brick up or put a tarpaulin up to cover the baggage unloading.



Melbourne Airport was recently voted in the world's top five best airports for its size. This voted would not have included the new budget terminal. Other than the baggage carousel, I'm all for this terminal. It is good for Australia to at last have more than two domestic airlines operating on the continent (counting Jetstar and Qantas as one and the same).

Labels: airport, melbourne, tiger airways

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Hong Kong budget airline Oasis abruptly stopped flying Wednesday, leaving passengers stranded in Hong Kong, London and Vancouver. Passengers who have been caught out have been forced to make their own arrangements home. What a hassle that would be. They have been given phone numbers of other airlines to arrange return flights.



I took an Oasis flight last year from London to Hong Kong. It was their price that got me to fly with them. It seems now though that the long haul low cost airline concept might be doomed with spiralling fuel prices. Jet fuel prices nearly doubled in the 18 months that Oasis was operating. Such increases are proving difficult enough for established airlines, let alone newly started airlines.

Labels: airlines, hong kong, oasis hong kong

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Flight: Tiger Airways TR 702 Date: 27 Feb 2008
Flight: Tiger Airways TT 7567 Date: 28 Feb 2008

Tiger Airways is a low cost airline based in Singapore, with its primary hub at Singapore Changi Airport. Tiger Airways began operations in 2004 and has since set up Tiger Airways Australia in Melbourne and plan to launch Incheon Tiger Airways based in Seoul in 2009.



Tiger Airways fly from Singapore to Melbourne via Darwin. The flight is with Tiger Airways and Tiger Airways Australia on separate aircraft. Unlike other low cost airlines Tiger facilitate the booking of these separate flight segments in the one booking.

Go to Flight Combo on the Tiger Airways website and you can book two segments in one go. It is important to note that this is two separate flights so your bags are not checked through to the final destination.

Another good feature of the Tiger Airways booking procedure is that you can pick your seat when you book your flight. Oh how I loath the mad scramble for a seat that occurs on low cost airline flights with unallocated seats.

Singapore to Darwin

The entire Tiger Airways fleet consists of Airbus A320 aircraft, thus Tiger only fly within a five-hour radius around Singapore. The flight time from Singapore to Darwin is approximately 4 hours 20 minutes.

As Tiger Airways is a bare minimum no frills airline the onus is on you to keep yourself entertained. There is no TV entertainment and no complimentary meal and drink service.



Darwin Airport

In Darwin you must claim your bags and clear Australian customs. Then you must check in again for the Tiger Airways Australia flight from Darwin to Melbourne. Darwin Airport is small enough to make this a simple transfer and there is about 2 hours between the Singapore arrival and the Melbourne departure.

With a population of just over 110,000 people Darwin is a small capital city, even by Australian standards. When you look at a map though of Australia and Southeast Asia Darwin is well situated to be a major hub of air traffic between Australia and Asia. Jetstar have floated this idea recently with a plan to make Darwin a springboard into Asia, and I will revisit this idea in another post.




Darwin to Melbourne

The second leg of this flight is with Tiger Airways Australia. Flight time from Darwin to Melbourne is just over 4 hours, leaving Darwin at 2.20am and arriving at Melbourne Tullamarine at 8am. I always forget what a big and empty continent Australia is. Asia seems so far away and exotic to us Aussies. Exotic certainly, but Darwin is much closer to many Asian cities than most other Australian capitals.

Like the flight from Singapore this is a no frills service. Drinks and snacks are available to purchase. Here is a price sample (in Australian Dollars):

Muffins $3
Pot Noodles $4
Coke(250ml) $2.5
Coffee $3
Beer (VB/Hahn) $6

At the moment Tiger Airways Australia only operate in and out of their Melbourne base. They are scouting around for new Australian hubs which should be known sometime in 2008.

Labels: airlines, australia, darwin, flight review, melbourne, singapore, tiger airways

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Location: Singapore Airport - Singapore Date: 27 Feb 2008

Singapore Changi Airport is world renown for its award winning facilities. It is the home of Singapore Airlines and it is a major air travel hub of Asia.

Budget airlines though are not interested in such facilities that add to the cost of a cheap flight. To cater for the low cost airlines of Asia that might not otherwise consider Changi's gold plated airport, Singapore Airport opened a budget terminal in March 2006 to accommodate budget airlines.

The Budget Terminal is separate from the main terminals (1 to 3) and to get there you need to get a shuttle bus which departs from the basement of Terminal 2.



A tip for budget travellers. There is a supermarket in the lower level of Terminal 2. This is the first time I have seen a supermarket at an airport, which is great if you just want to buy some fruits or a snack instead of buying a meal at an airport restaurant.



Budget Terminal

The budget terminal looks exactly like what a budget terminal should look like - a great big tin shed with every unnecessary expense spared.



The check-in area is simple and spacious and there is a cafe inside the departure hall as well. The Budget Terminal is currently being used by Tiger Airways and Cebu Pacific, and like other budget terminals around the world there is no transfer facility to other airlines.



Budget Terminal - Airside

The facilities on the airside are surprisingly good considering how sparse the outside looks. There are the usual duty free shops as well as cafes and a 7Eleven. I needn't have worried about getting food at the supermarket as there is also a noodle shop selling cheap bowls of noodles. Cheap like normal prices and not ridiculous airport prices.





For the smokers there is a boxed in outdoor section.



Internet

The Singapore Budget Terminal has internet facilities that puts most other airports to shame. There are computer terminals with free internet access as well as a workbench for laptop users.



Each workspace has its own power board with power sockets for most power plug types. There is no wireless but there is a cable provided to plug into your laptop for internet access.

Labels: airport, changi, singapore

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Location: Sentosa Island - Singapore Date: 26 Feb 2008

A popular attraction of Sentosa Island is the Dolphin Lagoon, home of Sentosa's Pink Dolphins. These dolphins start off life grey then become pink as they mature.



At the lagoon the dolphin trainers show off the dolphins by getting them to do some amazing tricks. For an extra fee you can have your photo taken with them.

Entry to Dolphin Lagoon is 19.90 SGD, which also includes admission to Underwaterworld Singapore.

Labels: dolphins, sentosa island, singapore

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Location: Sentosa Island - Singapore Date: 26 Feb 2008

Sentosa Island is a leisure resort island off the city-state island of Singapore. It is regarded as the southern most point of continental Asia.



Sentosa has a Disneyland fake village feel to it, but it is worth going to if you want a bit of a nature break while you are in Singapore. There is a great jungle walk and surprisingly nice beaches. It costs 3 Singapore Dollars to enter, which includes return skytrain ticket to get to the island.

Labels: beach, sentosa island, singapore

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Location: Singapore - Singapore Date: 25 Feb 2008

Labels: good idea, singapore, vending machines

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