Day: October 16, 2025

Melbourne!

After planning my trip (and paying for most of it) many months ago, I’ve at last arrived in South Australia. I’m here to visit my cousin who is the same age as me who I’ve not seen since we were small children over 70 years ago. Our families were both going to emigrate in the 1950s but on the brink of our departure my dad secured a new job and while she and her family departed the shores of Britain, we stayed behind.

She returned once to visit old family members and friends but I and my family were away on holiday at the time and missed her. Over the years we lost touch but out of the blue the best part of a year ago I felt the urge to contact her and through determination and good fortune managed to do so within 48 hours. After I had done so, as we are both of an age when time is slowly running out, I decided that I would take what may be the last opportunity to travel to Australia to see her.

So here I am. The long haul flight consisted of three legs, the second of which was for over 16 hours from Istanbul to Singapore and was excruciating. The Turkish Airlines Boeing 777 in which we flew was obviously approaching the end of its life and the seat I was in would not recline. Therefore I had to sit bolt upright for the whole flight and while others slept I was unable to do so and had the video screen on the back of the fully reclined seat in front of me just inches from my face.

My journey began at Bordeaux airport and as I was flying Turkish Airlines I took the same 4 or so hour fight to Istanbul that I have taken several times over the past few months, starting in the depressingly naff Bordeaux Merignac departure area.

But this time, instead of proceeding to Arrivals at Istanbul’s superb new airport I headed for International Transfers.

My next stop after the awful flight leg that I described above and a layover of 2 or 3 hours, was Changi airport in Singapore. Changi has been voted the best airport in the world and possesses some spectacular features and I’d hoped to see some of them, but it was not to be. Turkish Airlines had only provided me with boarding passes for the first two legs of my flight and had instructed me to pick up the pass for the final leg at Changi without telling me who the airline was. So not only did I have to discover this information, I also had to make my way through International Transfers to the correct area of the airport.

There was a queue of passengers doing the same as me and for some reason my pass took much longer than those for others to arrive. In fact mine was the last taking the best part of an hour (because of my Australian visa for a reason I could not understand) and I therefore saw none of the features and attractions for which Changi is famous. Instead I ended up with only an hour or so to wait in another somewhat dingy departure area.

The flight was yet another overnighter but this time in an almost brand new Boeing 787-8 of Jetstar, the low-cost Qantas subsidiary. So no problems there then, and at least this time I was able to recline my seat and doze for an hour or so of the 6 hour leg. I was also served with yet another evening meal, making that one on each of the three legs, so by the time I arrived in Australia I was somewhat over-fed and feeling rather bloated.

We landed at Melbourne Airport half an hour before the scheduled time but unfortunately we lost all of that as we parked away from the terminal and it took 30 minutes to get stairs to the aircraft. Australian immigration formalities have a reputation for being somewhat strict but I did not find them so except that our flight had not handed out the forms that you need to fill out declaring that you are not bringing in anything illegal and telling where you’ll be staying and what you’ll be doing during your stay. So after waiting in an enormous queue to go through automatic e-Passport Control and another to clear Immigration, I was sent to yet another to fill out said form.

With all that done, I then found my way to the SkyBus stop to travel to the city as I’d previously planned, arriving at Melbourne’s Southern Cross Station on a fine spring morning as the city was waking up and going to work.

I’d downloaded maps of the city before leaving France so knew how to find my way to my hotel which was less than half an hour’s walk away (less if I hadn’t been shooting videos on the way). My hotel is in Little Bourke Street, close to Chinatown, and was exactly as I’d expected it to be, as I’d viewed it on Google Earth.

It’s unprepossessing, not luxurious and the usual sort of place I like to stay in, without airs and graces. My room is clean but somewhat spartan and described as a ‘studio’ as it has a small kitchen with a fridge, hot-plate, kettle, toaster, a small selection of pots and pans and crockery and cutlery for two people. I’ve said previously that for three nights a hole in the ground would do me so long as it has a bed to sleep in, a shower to shower in and a toilet to… you get the picture, and this is much more than that.

I did little more than crash out for much of yesterday on arrival after the excruciating long haul flight that I’d endured to get here. However, as usual, after marking up my map with places I wanted to visit, I spent the morning wandering around the city and shooting videos on my GoPro. I only made one mistake and had to retrace my steps but by the time I got back to the hotel shortly after 2.00 pm I was feeling the strain. I’ve evidently lost some of my fitness through lack of exercise since the last time I was in Istanbul when the walking hadn’t taken as much out of me.

I’ve also made the mistake of not bringing some really comfortable shoes with me, something I may have to rectify while I’m here, so it was a relief to hobble just round the corner to one of the many small restaurants close to my hotel (the main reason why I chose it) to enjoy a superb lunch of spicy pork belly. Here’s a picture of it, but I don’t think you will enjoy it as much as I did though 😉