I originally published this four years over at FlyerTalk but for those of you who may have missed it or don't frequent FlyerTalk, I thought that perhaps you might like it added to the Jet Photos collection of Trip Reports as well.
April 1st, 2004
This date had been indelibly etched in my mind since a snowy night in mid-January when, in a stroke of inspiration rivaled only by my 1976 landmark decision to eschew a First Class seat on Air France to Mexico in favor of a First Class seat to Hawaii aboard a Qantas 747, I decided to combine my planned spring trip to Australia with what was to have been a September trip to South Africa. The result is that on April 1st, I began a fantastic sixteen day journey that literally circled the globe while traveling over 42,000 miles between Hobart, Tasmania and Port Elizabeth on the sunshine coast of South Africa.
My travels this spring began with a journey from Alaska to Western Australia. Even though I took the long way via Los Angeles, London and Singapore, I’ve made this journey often enough that for me at least, it’s now become fairly routine. Conversely, traveling from Tasmania to South Africa will be a first for me. While it’s possible to fly from Hobart to Johannesburg with a single connection in Sydney, that's just far too simple for me. There’s got to be a longer way!
Those of you who’ve read my past Trip Reports know that I value getting there every bit as much as being there. Then again, who wouldn’t if getting there involved First Class travel aboard the world’s finest airlines along with sleeper accommodations aboard some of the world’s finest, if not exotic trains? Add to this the spice of local transport via bus, boat or hitch-hiking and you’ve got a great recipe for adventure.
As originally planned, this spring trip was to take me to Western Australia for a month followed by three weeks in Eastern Europe. The Africa trip, utilizing a Cathay Pacific First Class award, was to take place in September. However, when it became known that Cathay Pacific planned to discontinue First Class service aboard its A340-300s that were scheduled to ply the Hong Kong – Johannesburg route in September, I decided to move my travel date up to April. Certainly, I could have just flown Business Class to Johannesburg or chosen a different destination where First Class was offered year round, but I wanted to go to Africa and I wanted to go there in Cathay Pacific’s First Class. After all, I’d read so many excellent Trip Reports detailing Cathay’s superb First Class service that there simply was no way I was going to waste my hard earned mileage on mere Business Class travel.
Combining the return portion of my British Airways Australia award with the beginning of my Cathay Pacific South Africa award was where I really got to have some fun. Oh sure, I could have just flown straight back to Alaska, then headed down to the nearest Cathay Pacific gateway city (San Francisco) and continued on across the Pacific and Indian oceans to South Africa. That just seems way too simple, however.
I like to get the maximum possible value out of my First Class award travel. That’s why I fly British Airways rather than Qantas for my First Class award travel between America and Australia. Fifteen thousand miles and two main meals roundtrip across the Pacific aboard Qantas, or 31,000 miles and six main meals roundtrip across North America, Europe and Asia aboard British Airways? I’ll take BA, thanks.
In the case of Cathay Pacific, while their routing between North America and South Africa via Hong Kong makes for a nice long trip, their only departures out of San Francisco and Los Angeles leave late at night and offer only a supper rather than a full dinner service for the main meal. I wanted to experience Cathay Pacific and its award winning inflight service at its finest. This meant departing out of New York, where the Hong Kong service routes through Vancouver. Not only does the New York to Vancouver flight offer a supper with caviar service, but I could also take a stopover in Vancouver and connect to the mid-afternoon departure to Hong Kong that offers a full dinner, snack and a light meal service. If you’re going to fly an airline that’s renowned for the quality of its inflight meal service, why not fly it at a time when it can really shine?
Alright then, so after traveling from Tasmania all the way across Asia, Europe, the Atlantic Ocean and North America, I’ve got to turn around and head all the way back across North America to New York. Via Seattle and San Francisco. God, I love this stuff! After a brief layover in New York, I’ll step aboard Cathay’s distinctive green, white and gray 747 and, after a nice dinner, a couple of glasses of wine and perhaps a movie, arrive in Vancouver at the ignominious hour of 1:45am.
During my stopover in Vancouver, I’d originally intended to head down to Seattle and catch a Seahawks game at their new stadium. That was based upon a September departure however. For this springtime stopover, I came up with an even better plan: A ride through the Canadian Rockies aboard one of the world’s finest trains, ViaRail’s crack streamliner The Canadian. This would involve flying to Edmonton, something I accomplished by booking a flight aboard Canadian low fare success story WestJet. From Edmonton I’d take The Canadian back through the mountains to Vancouver, arriving in plenty of time to connect to my mid-afternoon departure across the Pacific to Hong Kong. After a short four hour layover, I’d continue on across southern Asia and the Indian Ocean to Johannesburg, arriving on the morning of April 11th. So far, over eleven days I will have traveled over 40,000 miles across four continents and three oceans aboard six airlines and one railroad. From Johannesburg, the journey continues aboard one of Africa’s new low fare airlines, followed by two days of railroading aboard Shosholoza Meyl, otherwise known as the National Railway of South Africa.
When I first came up with a rough draft of this itinerary, I spent a good long while just looking at it, awed by its diversity and distance. Over the past twenty years, I’ve come up with some pretty spectacular itineraries around the planet and this trip ranks right up there with the very best of them. As always however, while I, somewhat immodestly, viewed this itinerary as a masterful stroke of genius, most of my friends and acquaintances considered it sheer insanity.
“It’s eleven days of travel!”, they cried.
“What are you – crazy?!”
Hah! What do they know?! Always flying nonstop everywhere, refusing to join mileage programs because they “don’t fly enough”, forever more relegated to an Economy Class seat… they just don’t get it! Oh well, to each their own. I’m going to have a great time of it regardless and they’ll just have to wait for the postcards!
Continuing now with my City to City theme – following a less than direct routing – here is the story of my journey from Hobart, Tasmania to Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Flight time is projected at over seventy five hours, and the first of many fine meals will be served shortly after we’ve reached our initial cruising altitude. We’ve got 42,000 miles to cover and this Trip Report is now cleared for takeoff.
April 1st, 2004
This date had been indelibly etched in my mind since a snowy night in mid-January when, in a stroke of inspiration rivaled only by my 1976 landmark decision to eschew a First Class seat on Air France to Mexico in favor of a First Class seat to Hawaii aboard a Qantas 747, I decided to combine my planned spring trip to Australia with what was to have been a September trip to South Africa. The result is that on April 1st, I began a fantastic sixteen day journey that literally circled the globe while traveling over 42,000 miles between Hobart, Tasmania and Port Elizabeth on the sunshine coast of South Africa.
My travels this spring began with a journey from Alaska to Western Australia. Even though I took the long way via Los Angeles, London and Singapore, I’ve made this journey often enough that for me at least, it’s now become fairly routine. Conversely, traveling from Tasmania to South Africa will be a first for me. While it’s possible to fly from Hobart to Johannesburg with a single connection in Sydney, that's just far too simple for me. There’s got to be a longer way!
Those of you who’ve read my past Trip Reports know that I value getting there every bit as much as being there. Then again, who wouldn’t if getting there involved First Class travel aboard the world’s finest airlines along with sleeper accommodations aboard some of the world’s finest, if not exotic trains? Add to this the spice of local transport via bus, boat or hitch-hiking and you’ve got a great recipe for adventure.
As originally planned, this spring trip was to take me to Western Australia for a month followed by three weeks in Eastern Europe. The Africa trip, utilizing a Cathay Pacific First Class award, was to take place in September. However, when it became known that Cathay Pacific planned to discontinue First Class service aboard its A340-300s that were scheduled to ply the Hong Kong – Johannesburg route in September, I decided to move my travel date up to April. Certainly, I could have just flown Business Class to Johannesburg or chosen a different destination where First Class was offered year round, but I wanted to go to Africa and I wanted to go there in Cathay Pacific’s First Class. After all, I’d read so many excellent Trip Reports detailing Cathay’s superb First Class service that there simply was no way I was going to waste my hard earned mileage on mere Business Class travel.
Combining the return portion of my British Airways Australia award with the beginning of my Cathay Pacific South Africa award was where I really got to have some fun. Oh sure, I could have just flown straight back to Alaska, then headed down to the nearest Cathay Pacific gateway city (San Francisco) and continued on across the Pacific and Indian oceans to South Africa. That just seems way too simple, however.
I like to get the maximum possible value out of my First Class award travel. That’s why I fly British Airways rather than Qantas for my First Class award travel between America and Australia. Fifteen thousand miles and two main meals roundtrip across the Pacific aboard Qantas, or 31,000 miles and six main meals roundtrip across North America, Europe and Asia aboard British Airways? I’ll take BA, thanks.
In the case of Cathay Pacific, while their routing between North America and South Africa via Hong Kong makes for a nice long trip, their only departures out of San Francisco and Los Angeles leave late at night and offer only a supper rather than a full dinner service for the main meal. I wanted to experience Cathay Pacific and its award winning inflight service at its finest. This meant departing out of New York, where the Hong Kong service routes through Vancouver. Not only does the New York to Vancouver flight offer a supper with caviar service, but I could also take a stopover in Vancouver and connect to the mid-afternoon departure to Hong Kong that offers a full dinner, snack and a light meal service. If you’re going to fly an airline that’s renowned for the quality of its inflight meal service, why not fly it at a time when it can really shine?
Alright then, so after traveling from Tasmania all the way across Asia, Europe, the Atlantic Ocean and North America, I’ve got to turn around and head all the way back across North America to New York. Via Seattle and San Francisco. God, I love this stuff! After a brief layover in New York, I’ll step aboard Cathay’s distinctive green, white and gray 747 and, after a nice dinner, a couple of glasses of wine and perhaps a movie, arrive in Vancouver at the ignominious hour of 1:45am.
During my stopover in Vancouver, I’d originally intended to head down to Seattle and catch a Seahawks game at their new stadium. That was based upon a September departure however. For this springtime stopover, I came up with an even better plan: A ride through the Canadian Rockies aboard one of the world’s finest trains, ViaRail’s crack streamliner The Canadian. This would involve flying to Edmonton, something I accomplished by booking a flight aboard Canadian low fare success story WestJet. From Edmonton I’d take The Canadian back through the mountains to Vancouver, arriving in plenty of time to connect to my mid-afternoon departure across the Pacific to Hong Kong. After a short four hour layover, I’d continue on across southern Asia and the Indian Ocean to Johannesburg, arriving on the morning of April 11th. So far, over eleven days I will have traveled over 40,000 miles across four continents and three oceans aboard six airlines and one railroad. From Johannesburg, the journey continues aboard one of Africa’s new low fare airlines, followed by two days of railroading aboard Shosholoza Meyl, otherwise known as the National Railway of South Africa.
When I first came up with a rough draft of this itinerary, I spent a good long while just looking at it, awed by its diversity and distance. Over the past twenty years, I’ve come up with some pretty spectacular itineraries around the planet and this trip ranks right up there with the very best of them. As always however, while I, somewhat immodestly, viewed this itinerary as a masterful stroke of genius, most of my friends and acquaintances considered it sheer insanity.
“It’s eleven days of travel!”, they cried.
“What are you – crazy?!”
Hah! What do they know?! Always flying nonstop everywhere, refusing to join mileage programs because they “don’t fly enough”, forever more relegated to an Economy Class seat… they just don’t get it! Oh well, to each their own. I’m going to have a great time of it regardless and they’ll just have to wait for the postcards!
Continuing now with my City to City theme – following a less than direct routing – here is the story of my journey from Hobart, Tasmania to Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Flight time is projected at over seventy five hours, and the first of many fine meals will be served shortly after we’ve reached our initial cruising altitude. We’ve got 42,000 miles to cover and this Trip Report is now cleared for takeoff.
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