Ahmet Erkun

An uneventful flight brought us to IAH. Bonus … we were 10 minutes ahead of schedule.

Our aircraft pulled up to Terminal B and we deplaned via a ramp that was brought to the plane for our convenience.

The beauty of being familiar with an airport is that you know how to get from one point to another. In our case, a short stroll and a short ride on the skyway was all that we needed to get where we needed to go in Terminal E.

Now to while away the time until our 8:25p departure to SYD.Leggi altro

Kangaroo Island — KI as the locals refer to it — is one of the ports of call on our AusPan itinerary. Not sure if we’ll make it ashore, however, as it is a tender port that gets canceled more often than not.

The island has more to see and explore than one can reasonably do in one day anyway. So, we added KI to our itinerary as a getaway during our overland trip.

The only way to get to Kangaroo Island is by ferry from Cape Jervis.

The only way to get to Cape Jervis from Adelaide, where we detrain from The Ghan, is by car … because the bus service seems to be limited to once a day. But, even if that were not the case, having our own wheels will give us not only flexibility along the way, but we will also have our own wheels to explore the island.

And of course, once we get to KI, we need a place to stay.

Ferry booking …✔️
Car rental booking …✔️
Accommodations booking …✔️

Looks like we’re ready for KI!

Another mode of travel — a car ferry — has now been added to our overland trip.Leggi altro

With a late afternoon flight back to Colorado, we were in no hurry to rush off Oosterdam when disembarkation began around 7:00a. Having selected the last disembarkation group color — Gray 2 — we waited in our cabin in comfort until we heard our group called just before 9:00a.

One of the worst parts of disembarking a ship with nearly 2,000 passengers is the long lines to go through immigration. Well, today the lines moved at a steady pace, so it wasn’t bad. No wait at the taxi line either.

By 10:00a, we were at FLL looking to check our bags. Not so fast. Apparently, bags can only be checked within four hours of the scheduled departure time. Oh well … we found a quiet spot in baggage claim of all places and whiled away the time until the magic hour.

Once the bags were checked, things were back on track again. No wait at the security checkpoint. Seats available in the otherwise crowded United Club Lounge. On time boarding and departure of UA 696 to Denver.

It’s been an uneventful flight thus far … a little turbulence notwithstanding. I even netted some complimentary miles on my MileagePlus account because the entertainment system at my seat is not functioning. I have my iPad and we have wi-fi for social media, so no problem passing the hours.

Another hour to go and we should be landing in Denver.

(Yay! I even got to post this footprint while we’re still on our way to Denver.)Leggi altro

Routine. Routine. Routine.

I suppose the only thing to write about is that in addition to going to the Coloring for Adults session, Mui paid the surcharge — $25 — to go to the Guided Painting on Canvas session today. The result? An impressionistic painting of water lilies. He did pretty good … and best of all, had fun.

By the way, one of the great things about a westbound TransAtlantic is that we keep falling back where time is concerned. That means that some of our days are 25 hours long. We were at GMT +2 when we boarded Oosterdam in İstanbul on 21 October. We are now at GMT -2 … with several more hours to gain before it is all said and done.

As of noon, distance covered since departing Tenerife: 1,614 NM
As of noon, distance remaining to Ft Lauderdale: 1,838 NMLeggi altro