Grand Australia/New Zealand December 15, 2014

Hello Mates. I will be traveling from Boston, MA. Is anyone traveling with the group on this tour date?

Comments

  • Hi; We are also traveling on the December 15 tour; We are going to get to Melbourne, Saturday morning, December 13. We will initially stay at the Westin Melbourne and then move to the Langham on the 15th. We are flying Air New Zealand from NYC to LA then to Auckland and then Melbourne. Will you be arriving early? We want to do some sightseeing in Melbourne on our own since the tour only has one full day there..
  • Hi. My flight arrives on the morning of the 15th. Traveling from Boston-->San Francisco-->Auckland-->Melbourne. Hoping the lie-flat bed allows a good rest and eliminates jet lag. Looking forward to meeting you--Robin
  • And remember, Melbourne has been a sister city to Boston since 1985. You will be encouraged to know that your accent is amazingly quite transferrable. (Naturally, Aussies are familiar with all sorts of accents , unlike … well … ) All you need to know is that yours will fit right in. You'll be as surprised as I was on my first visit to Boston.

    Cheers,

    Jan
  • PureLuxury wrote:
    Hi. My flight arrives on the morning of the 15th. Traveling from Boston-->San Francisco-->Auckland-->Melbourne. Hoping the lie-flat bed allows a good rest and eliminates jet lag. Looking forward to meeting you--Robin
    Please let me know how you get on with the Jetlag elimination. I've never been able to eliminate it and usually arrive a couple of days early to allow for it to improve.
  • Thanks for the reply, Robin. One of the reasons my wife and I get to these tours early is to get acclimated to the time change (especially when the change is so drastic like this tour). Yes, the lie flat beds should be a help in getting rest on the flights. Also, looking forward to meeting you on the trip. David and Connie.
  • British wrote:
    Please let me know how you get on with the Jetlag elimination. I've never been able to eliminate it and usually arrive a couple of days early to allow for it to improve.

    British,
    I am one of those persons who can sleep well on an airplane and avoid jet lag. Fortunate for me, I have been able to travel to far away places and step off of a plane and "GO". If my flight arrives early morning, my routine is to go to the hotel for a quick shower and a bite to eat and then I hit the road. I usually do a city tour on my first day to determine the areas I want to concentrate on. This also takes up a big block of time. I stay awake until 9-10PM (my normal bedtime). Am I tired at the end of the first day, YES; however, I sleep like a baby the first night and am well prepared for the remainder of the trip. Even for those trips where I have arrived late at night (Singapore), I usually get to the hotel by 11PM, go straight to bed, and am ready to go first thing in the morning. My key for early morning arrivals is to stay active and do not try to take a quick nap.
  • jdurkin wrote:
    And remember, Melbourne has been a sister city to Boston since 1985. You will be encouraged to know that your accent is amazingly quite transferrable. (Naturally, Aussies are familiar with all sorts of accents , unlike … well … ) All you need to know is that yours will fit right in. You'll be as surprised as I was on my first visit to Boston.

    Cheers,

    Jan

    Jan,
    Thanks for the history. I've been reading the recommended books and have not come across this tid bit of valuable information. Fortunately, I do not have the Boston accent, as I am a New Orleans girl. I relocated to Boston a year ago...thoroughly enjoying the city, but I do not drop the letter "R" when speaking:)

    Cheers
  • PureLuxury wrote:
    Jan,
    I do not have the Boston accent, as I am a New Orleans girl. I relocated to Boston a year ago...thoroughly enjoying the city, but I do not drop the letter "R" when speaking:)
    Oh dear! And here was me thinking that you drove the same things as we do in Australia … cars. Never mind. Just think of all the fine Australian actors who you would never know are … except when they are home with us. And delivering memorable eulogies at funerals, of course. [For which see recent Kate Blanchett speech.]

    I'm sure we will cope with the lilt of your vowels just fine, sugar. ;)

    Cheers,

    Jan

  • PureLuxury wrote:
    British,
    I am one of those persons who can sleep well on an airplane and avoid jet lag. Fortunate for me, I have been able to travel to far away places and step off of a plane and "GO". If my flight arrives early morning, my routine is to go to the hotel for a quick shower and a bite to eat and then I hit the road. I usually do a city tour on my first day to determine the areas I want to concentrate on. This also takes up a big block of time. I stay awake until 9-10PM (my normal bedtime). Am I tired at the end of the first day, YES; however, I sleep like a baby the first night and am well prepared for the remainder of the trip. Even for those trips where I have arrived late at night (Singapore), I usually get to the hotel by 11PM, go straight to bed, and am ready to go first thing in the morning. My key for early morning arrivals is to stay active and do not try to take a quick nap.

    How lucky you are to have such an adaptable body clock. We have tried all ways to improve our jet lag-- staying awake, napping for a few hours, eating at the new times, getting out into the sunshine. They do certainly help. My husband sleeps well on planes, I am not so good, but for us jet lag lasts about 3 days. Those 3 days, however busy I am I still have trouble falling asleep until at least 1am--and of course for so many TAUCK tours you might need to be up at 6am or so. That's why we try to arrive early. We have noticed that many others on the tours get quite jaded and elect not to do the occasional optional tours that Tauck provide. They are paid for but optional. That's a shame, because of the two times I can remember recently where we took the optionals, there were only 3 of us both times and the tours were wonderful. In fact,on our India tour the bus was dispensed with and we were taken in a limo and then a tuk tuk that no one else got the chance to do. Most others slept for the afternoon. I still recommend arriving several days early before a tour begins if time and budget allow. Then if you feel well you can explore the area in more detail at your leisure, going to sites the tour does not cover. We research what to do before we go, put them in priority order, see what time and energy allow and don't sweat not being able to see everything, rushing too much spoils the enjoyment and feel of a place. And of course, it's a good excuse to return someday.
  • I couldn't agree more, British. My optimum early arrival time in a first port of call is 5 days. I've worked out the hard way that that is the number of days required to get all my internal combustion parts in sync with my feet and legs and hopefully the brain follows. Unfortunately there's no guarantee of that! I remember one unfortunate morning in Sonoma when I had to apologise for suffocating the rest of the bus with Shalimar …. I'd forgotten I'd already spritzed. And you're right about everyone else missing in action. I always wonder if these people ever balance their cheque books with the amount of time/money wasted thus.

    Everyone says the journey to Australia is a once in a lifetime trip. I find that odd, given how often we travel to North America and how many flights cross the Pacific daily. Someone must be on them! The Tauck trip here is so short ….a little over a week. If it truly is your trip of a lifetime, why would you waste any of it asleep or being less than alert? There's no point in denying it! There's too much evidence to prove it. I don't believe all American tourists walking down Collins Street really are zombies. It's just the way they walk and how their eyes are glazed over. It can't be fun for them.

    Be kind to yourself. Arrive early.

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