Day One - Planning and Setting off
I've always wanted to go to Australia to watch some of the Ashes, a boyhood dream really. Therefore, when Yorkshire Jon and me were talking this over in Wolverhampton's Great Western pub, we decided to go for it.
The stars had aligned really. I was on the retirement road and nothing work-wise was happening in November and December as most of our customers have finished projects and are winding down for Christmas. We agreed to use my Sisters travel agent - TC Councillors - who had helped get my Nephew and Mom back from some traumatic delays getting back from Switzerland the year before when my Niece had got married over there. Lisa, the agent, worked us up a good price for flights, hotels and some trips out whilst we were out there.
There were five tests in this series:
- - First Test, Perth, 21st - 25th November 2025.
- - Second Test, Brisbane, 4th - 8th December.
- - Third Test, Adelaide, 16th - 20th December.
- - Fourth Test, Melbourne, 26th - 30th December.
- - Fifth Test, Sydney, 3rd - 7th January 2026.
We decided that it would be more adventurous to miss the second test in Brisbane as that would involve a 5 hour fight there and the same to Adelaide. Instead, the Indian-Pacific luxury train from Perth to Adelaide was much more appealing especially as we would be crossing the Nullabor Plain (https://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Nullarbor_Plain) , noted for the being the longest straight section of railway in the world (478 km; 297 mi).
There were three trips we wanted to do:
- - Pinnacles Desert
- - Rottnest Island
- - Borrosa Wine tour
Total price without the test tickets = £6,600.00 - a bargain really. All we needed was food and beer money.
Before departure, I had some Christmas engagements to fulfill involving family and friends but eventually, the day arrived when we were due to set off.
Yorkshire Jon's wife Anna kindly took us to Wolverhampton Station for the short train ride to Birmingham Airport where we checking in, went through the security and passport routine (we would get very used to that) and found the Weatherspoons for some Fish and Chips, just in case Australia didn't have that particular British delicacy.We boarded the Emirates big A380 and settled in for the seven hour flight to Dubai - first time in the Middle East for me. We duly arrived at 2 am local time having had a few catnaps along the way.
Dubai is a massive hub and with only 2 hours to cross the airport, it was a bit of a challenge but made a bit easier by the inter-terminal train.
Having again cleared another security check, we boarded another A380 for the trip to Perth - this time 10 hours mainly overnight but as were we flying over the Indian Ocean, daylight came early and we had a good view of Australia and swirled over the city. Arriving at the International Airport, we disembarked, collected our luggage and made our way through customs, which included biological check for soil on your shoes, and immigration and then off to the nearby railway station to catch the train to the city centre or CBD whihc is Aussie speak for Central Business District.It took us a while to get our bearings but eventualy located the Adina Apartments Hotel where we checked in, sorted out the cocked up bookings, and then headed out to find some food which ended up as a burger from Burger King equivalent. Then we dropped across The Globe Hotel which was the Barmy Army HQ for this Test.Feeling the effects of jetlag, we retired for the night, glad it was a nice temperature compared with the wind and rain of good old Blighty.