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Holiday Diary – From the Land of the morning calm to downunder
August 17 – Thursday
Finished work at Ulsan Language Academy.
Judy and I caught a 3pm flight to Kimpo airport, Seoul which was very relaxing. We flew over Pohang, which was very interesting because there were so many ships in the harbour.
After ariving at Kimpo we took an Aiport Limonsune (bus with nice seats) to Incheon Internation Aiport.
We met Judy’s mum there and since I was hardly carrying any baggage I volunteered to carry one of their bags which I have now learnt is illegal.
After waiting for the flight I had an average to bad flight to Australia. I could not sleep at all.
August 18 – Friday – Arrive in Sydney
Summary: Stress, and more stress
Mistake One
There appears to be two types of flights for people like myself arriving from an another country in Sydney and transferring to another city like Melbourne.
1. Arrive in Australia on an international flight which terminates in Sydney then transfer to a domestic flight to Melbourne.
This means you have to do your duty free shopping and collect your baggage in Sydney.
2. International flight arriving in Sydney and continuing onto a domestic flight terminating in Melbourne.
With this your luggage is automatically transferred to the domestic flight. This means you don’t have to pick up your luggage which takes a long time. It also means you can do your duty free shopping in Melbourne.
At Sydney I only had an hour to get on the flight to Melbourne. Sydney is Australia’s busiest airport. It is extremely congested unlike, Changi or Incheon ,it was not planed to deal with the volume of traffic it handles. People have been trying to build a second airport for decades to ease the stress on Sydney, but this has not happened yet due to the NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard) syndrome. No one wants an airport near their house because of noise and the fact it lowers your house value.
Result: No second airport. Sydney Airport and its passengers suffer!
For example to get from the domestic terminal to the international terminal you have to take
a bus which takes about 10 minutes. But you have to walk a long way, clear security, get a boarding pass
and then wait for the bus.
When I arrived in Sydney I had the assumption that my baggage would automatically be transferred to my domestic Quantas flight as it said on my baggage tags!
That assumption proved to be incorrect causing me to miss my flight. Fortunally the Quantas people were very understanding and issued me another ticket and told me to go to the baggage office and collect my luggage
I arrived in Melbourne without much trouble where my sisters Leeanne and Karen picked me up.
We then tried out Leeanne’s “lets go in circles” navigational method which seemed to get us there, eventually.
After four or so hours of driving we arrived in Heywood where my parents lived. We stayed there until 4 pm on Sunday when we drove back to Melbourne.
August 22 – Monday – “Opps I did it again”
Karen was nice enough to give me a a ride into Melbourne’s CBD, aka “the city”
She works as the Capital Projects officer at Yarra City Council.
So she usually drives into the city around 7:30am and comes back sometime after 6pm.
I went and saw my old friends at VCAT which was a lot of fun and then went and saw the new Jet Lie movie “Unleashed” which was not bad.
I then tried to see my old flatmate but he was not home, so I caught the 7:20 train to Werribee and then went shopping at Werribee Plaza, arriving at my sisters place at 9 pm.
Unfortunally I discovered upon my arrival that she was quite distressed. She has expected to pick me up where she works and drive me home. I had misunderstood her and took the train home instead of going with her.
Naturally she was quite angry at me. She had waited three hours or so outside her work and then started calling hospitals to see if I had been injured … OOPS
August 23 – Tuesday
Shopping and more Shopping in the city
August 24 – Wednesday
Took the day off and went shopping at Werribee Plaza. Read an email from Mr Kim at Ulsan Board of Education that I will be working at a different school next year and do I want to move house? I decided to move house and am very curious about my new school.
August 25 – Thursday
Went shopping in the city
August 26 – Friday
Went shopping in the city and Victoria Market. Had dinner with Denis and his friends in Chinatown. Caught the 10:30 pm train to Weribee and walked to my sisters place.
August 27 – Saturday
Finnished reading Designated Targets – World War 2.2 by John Birmingham. It is one of those alternative history techno thrillers novels which I like very much. This one involves a modern naval fleet being transported back to World War II just prior to the battle of Midway. It is the sequel to Weapons of choice – World War 2.1 which I read last time in Australia. Unfortuanally I have to wait until next year to read the third and hopefully final book in the series.
August 28 – Sunday
Went to Mandy’s house and celbrated Alexis’s first birthday one day early. Very nice BBQ .. it was fun.
August 29 – Monday
Plan to stay in Weribee and go shopping at the Plaza.
August 30 – Tuesday
Plan to take the 8:20 flight to Sydney, find a hotel, sleep and get up early for the flight to Incheon, Korea
August 31 – Wednesday – From Downunder to the Land of the Morning Calm.
My flight leaves at 8:20 am from Sydney to Incheon.