The departure from Japan and Arrival to Australia
I had been living in Japan for just over 3 years and this was my 4th time to return to Australia to visit family. This time was to return and marry my fiancee.
We departed Japan and took the 8 hour flight from Narita airport to Brisbane Airport in Queensland Australia which is approximately 1 hour drive from Gold Coast my hometown. We had to wait for 5 hours to board our plane. So we went to the observation deck at Narita Airport and had a few beers while waiting.
However upon meeting my parents they decided we were going to head further North to visit my Aunt (My dad's sister) who owns a resort on the Sunshine coast at Noosa Heads. OH NO... a 2 hour drive after an 8 hour flight.
Well I gotta say it was worth it the Sunshine Coast is great so much to see and do and the weather is so warm year round.
We made a few stops along the way but the first stop was the Ettamongah Pub located about 82 Km from Brisbane and is a suburb of the Sunshine coast.
A bit further on we passed Mooloolaba which has some of the best beaches ever. We made a lunch stop here and then continued on to my Aunts resort.
We reached my Aunts Resort by early afternoon so we decided to take the boat out on the river for a bit of a sightseeing tour.
We had dinner that night at the local resturant.
Ettamogah Pub was built in 1989 and is a replica of popular cartoon series in Australia and New Zealand.
The Ettamogah pub has great food and drinks and inside it features everything Australian. The other fun part is the strange shape of the pub.
Also it's attached to a theme park called "AussieWorld" with games, rides and food.
There are reptile displays, Gem Cave, Pioneer Motorcycles, souvenir shops and a timber shack. You can also experience camel rides, luge rides, Skirmish, Super X Simulator, football oval and Aboriginal Cultural Centre.
At the Aboriginal Culture Centre you can learn how to throw a Boomerang, spear throwing and they have digeridoo lessons.
Opening Times: 0900 - 1700 hours Daily
Aussie World. 0900 - 2200 hours Daily
Ettamogah Pub. 0500-1930 hours Daily
If you are nearby visiting or just passing by its a great day out!
I took a flight from Narita Airport to Brisbane airport in 2006 it was about a year ago now. I was told it would be Japan Airlines (JAL) . Japan Airlines is pretty well known and has good reviews so I was thinking “NO WORRIES MATE”. Well upon boarding the plane it was actually their affiliate airline known as Japan Asian Airways (JAA).
Well the problem is with JAA flights the aircraft is smaller and a lot smaller no leg room for big people my husband is over 6ft and was uncomfortable the whole trip he could not stretch out he could not even put his tray down for food his legs were hitting the tray.
We boarded a Boeing 767-300 yet the safety card in the seat pocket stated it was a Boeing 747 and JAL aircraft. NOT GOOD.
How do I know this well 6 years of working in the travel industry you learn a lot.
Let me say DO NOT FLY ON JAA (Japan Asian Airways) they are old planes, no room, bad service, bad food and look like a plane that stepped out of the early 80's. Yes they are cheap but if your travel agent does not tell you up front that it is not a Japan Airlines flight then don’t be surprised.
You can normally tell by the cheap airfare and the flight number will be a 4 digit number. Maybe I’m a picky traveler but I know that a comfortable flight is worth paying for and if someone lies about it and crushes your expectation that is not a good incentive to want to travel again.
For example they still had Ash trays in the toilet? WHAT
I believe all smoking is banned on all airlines these days so please explain?????
Oh and the old style facility of personal hygiene products were very low grade.
My advice is check your ticket. Normally a JAL (Japan Air Lines) flight will have three numbers eg..JL123 but if it’s the affiliate airline JAA (Japan Asian Airways) it will be a four number eg JL1234. And sometimes you don't even know till you board the plane.
NOTE: Most of these flights fly predominately back and forward to Asian countries or Oceanic Asian countries.
