Aussie Flyer

AIRLINE: Asiana Airlines FLIGHT: OZ742 AIRCRAFT: Airbus A330-300 (HL7747) SCHEDULED TO DEPART: 23.35 ACTUAL DEPARTURE: 23.44 (9 minutes delay) SCHEDULED TO ARRIVE: ACTUAL ARRIVAL: 06.50 (on time) LOAD FACTOR: Economy - 100%, Business - 97% I spend a lot of time in Asia, but for a long time I have been wanting to visit South Korea. In February just gone, I finally had my chance and booked  myself on an Asiana flight from Bangkok to Seoul. I'd never stepped foot on an Asiana aircraft but the internet forums seem to mostly praise the airline, so I was looking forward to giving them a try!  With a departure just before midnight I arrived at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi entry door 4 at about 9.45 pm, a busy time for the airport with loads of midnight long haul flights preparing to leave! This year the passenger numbers have been way up, meaning massive queues at outbound passport control.  Tonight would be ok though - business class means fast track security and passport con

The central Australian town of Alice Springs is not home to many major chain hotels, although they do have a Crowne Plaza, which gets the number 1 spot on Tripadvisor. With that ranking in mind I checked out the prices and found a stay 3 pay 2 offer which seemed like a very good deal. I booked myself in to a standard room and arrived from Melbourne via Qantas (see my previous blog post for the trip report).  I rented a Hertz Toyota Camry and drove to the hotel, free parking is available for those with cars. At check-in I was told the pool was out of action due to heavy rains, it was going to be unusable for a couple of days. That was disappointing because I had been hoping for a dip considering the hot weather! The front desk staff advised we could use the hotel next door's pool if we wished.  The hotel features a series of 3 story buildings connected by covered walkways that face in to the central pool area. Rooms are simple but quite comfortable. There is only an old CRT tv, no