No I am flying with Turkish Airways so I am going Melbourne - Singapore then to Istanbul were i am spending a few days then flying to Budapest. I went the cheapest option and an option where I could spend a few days seeing a friend in Istanbul. For $1400 return I think I did pretty well in June.
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I noticed that Turkish Airlines does not fly to Melbourne, although the airlines is planning on expansion into Australia. Instead, Singapore Airlines and qantas fly to Melbourne.
No they donāt but they have partner airlines. I donāt remember which airline they have put me on to Singapore.
They predominantly codeshare with Singapore Airlines, so you should have a great trip the whole way through, both SQ and TK are excellent airlines.
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Thatās good to hear.
The zip-line that Brisbane City Council approved for Mt Coot-tha mentioned a couple of time on the forum has been scrapped by the cityās new Lord Mayor.
If you have a current Australian e-passport, from June this year you can use e-gates at major UK airports like UK and EU passport holders, instead of spending an hour queuing at passport control.
https://www.ausbt.com.au/uk-opens-e-gates-ditches-landing-cards-for-australian-passports
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Perfect timing!
About time. The lack of reciprocity is a really annoying thing about eGate usage. Barely any countries that Australia permits it for actually allow Australians to use it (and often if they do allow is registration is required).
Customs is probably THE most annoying aspect of international travel.
In Australia, itās much easier and quicker to get in and out compared to almost everywhere else. Probably because we are residents here would help a lot.
Iāve never had a problem with customs in the UK. Most times I go in I wait about 5-10 minutes. Iāve waited much longer at Melbourne airport.
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When you arrived in 
did you have to Use incoming arrival card to fill out? (I had back in 2009 when I arrived at Heathrow and GAtwick airport. Never used Stansted airport before)
When I first flew to London just after Boxing Day 2017, I had to queue for an hour at passport control at Heathrow. By the time I reached the baggage carousel allocated to my flight, it had stopped and my baggage was the last one standing beside it. With the ability to use e-gate, my time will be better spent waiting at the carousel with everyone else.
Last time I went I did (2017).
Apologies for not getting in touch with you but in Heathrow airport on arrival, do you have to go through customs?
I have never been stopped at customs.
I will be going on a short trip to the Central West of NSW in a few weeks time. The majority of my time out there will be spent in Orange and Parkes, however if I have any spare time at all, I was considering going for a day drive to Condobolin (as the āUtes in the Paddockā has been moved to there).
Has anyone here been to Condobolin before? The reason why I ask is because I have a few hesitations about going there. Itās only a small town of about 3,000 and itās basically in the middle of nowhere, so iām a bit concerned about how welcoming the town is to outsiders. I know you need to be careful about heading into small towns in inland/outback areas, particularly ones that are not on major tourist/highway routes (such as Condobolin).
I havenāt been able to find a lot of information about Condobolin online and Iāve never been to the town before, so I was just interested to hear if anyone on here has had any experience of going there?
You will have no problems going to Condobolin unless you are interested in causing trouble. Rural people are very friendly. As tourism isnāt huge in these areas they love getting a chance to show off their towns. It is a beautiful area. With travelling time you would fill in a day very easily.
Iām just a little concerned about the āneed to be carefulā about small towns, towns of 3-5,000 generally have a lot of local history and plenty to see, there are motels and pubs to stay in, police and hospitals, along with Cafes and restaurants.
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I suspected that would be the case. Re the āneed to be carefulā point: I guess thatās just a byproduct of my own naivety as someone who lives in a populated, coastal area like the Illawarra. I realise that trouble is unlikely to happen unless you go searching for it yourself. However, Iāve read quite a few negative reviews about other inland/outback towns such as Moree, Wilcania etc. where shopfronts have barbed wired windows and the townsfolk are not receptive to āout of townersā going there.
Obviously that doesnāt mean Condobolin is the exact same way, but having never been to a town of 3-5,000 as far inland as Condobolin (not to mention the fact that it isnāt near any major tourist/highway routes), I simply donāt know any better.
When flying, Iāve wondered what do Media Spyers watch on the plane?
- Movies
- TV Shows
- Live TV
- Sport
- Documentaries
- Flight Tracker
- Other
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