Day 15: Sat 16 Sep - Seoul to Hong Kong (HKG) to Brisbane (BNE)

Yesterday I calculated that If I left the hotel on the 10:25am bus I would be at the airport with plenty of time to spare. I then figured that I did not need to start packing until this morning. However, I awoke in a panic and leapt out of bed before I had checked the time - 5:58am! Oh well, no time like the present to start the packing process.

Steve, Sylvain and I had a leisurely but not too filling breakfast at 7:30am, said our goodbyes and went our own ways. Steve was going jewellery shopping for Sally and Sylvain was off to visit another UNESCO site - a fortress of some description; if it is more speccy than the ones we have already seen, I will be most unpleased.

I checked out at 10am and waited in the lobby for a while instead of on the street waiting for the bus. Bumped into Nicole and she said she was also taking the bus to the airport so we sat and waited together. The bus was on time and we were at the airport about 80 minutes later.  We had 20 minutes to wait until the Cathay Pacific check in desks were open.  I had the good fortune to be first in line in the FF Priority Gold lane, and Nicole was not too far behind the front of her queue.  Security and Immigration were busy but we had no hassles and were in the Cathay Pacific lounge with plenty of time to relax and have lunch and a calming glass of French bubbles.  I was able to bring Nicole in as my guest as we were flying to HKG on the same flight, so that was good for her.  The flight was delayed somewhat, however, we were soon on board and took off about 20 minutes late.  It was a rough flight, with inflight service having to be stopped no sooner than they had started.  I got my meal – chicken pasta, but the drink came about half an hour later.  It was a bumpy landing in HKG. Watched the movie - Jack Reacher: Never go back.

Nicole and I found the QANTAS Club for which we need a cut lunch and a 6-pack to get to. It was quite full, however, we managed to find two seats and made ourselves comfortable as I had at least an hour and a half before my onward flight to BNE; Nicole was on a flight to Sydney a little later. 

This flight was also delayed, however I was fortunate enough to be given another points upgrade to Business, so when finally on board I could unpack and get organised without having to annoy anyone else or block the aisle.  Was given my pyjamas and comfort pack, accompanied by a glass of bubbles. Our departure was delayed as some goose in the QC had not heard the boarding call and he just happened to be a Business Class passenger.  20 minutes late he was.  So, then we had to wait our turn in the take-off queue, and by the time we eventually took off we were about an hour behind schedule.  As this was a QANTAS aircraft, I didn’t find anything to watch on the inflight entertainment so watched the last four episodes of the TV series I had downloaded.  Had a very nice beef fillet for dinner and then tried to get some sleep; slept for about two hours, then just dozed.  This flight was also quite lumpy and we took a slight detour, maybe to avoid more bad weather and turbulence.

Bus ticket


Cathay Pacific lounge Seoul

A330 Seoul to Hong Kong












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