Travel Hack – Departure Cards

I’ll admit it. I can get impatient when it comes to travel. The last thing I like doing is waiting around. When it comes to international travel I just want to get through customs as quick as possible so I can get to the airline lounge or to look around Duty Free.

Last year when taking a school group to China one of the other teachers handed me departure cards for my group to fill out before we left. It was something I hadn’t thought of in past.

Usually when filling out these cards happens just as you go through the crying doors (departure doors) and once in there you find yourself waiting for bench space. When you get a space you find that the pen attached to the bench doesn’t work. So you then have to scramble around in your carry on luggage looking for a pen.

Whilst all this is happening, you see the checkpoints filling up with passengers and lines starting getting longer and longer. So you then rush the card and make mistakes.  If you are travelling with kids you have the extra stress of keeping and eye on them whilst you are filling out your card.

So before your next overseas trip, drop into a local travel agency and ask if they have any departure cards, fill them in at your leisure and save yourself a few minutes (and stress) when at the airport.

5 Reasons I Love Qantas Club

With an international trip coming up I am looking forward to using Qantas Club Lounge both here and their affiliate lounges overseas. Some friends ask if Qantas Club is worth it and in a word, Yes. If you are a fly a bit each year then the $510 Qantas Club membership is a no-brainer. But for myself who doesn’t fly too often this year I am glad that I have kept my membership up to date.

In no particular order here are 5 reasons I love my Qantas Club Membership.

• Extra Baggage. Lets face it, it reduces stress when you don't have to worry about excess luggage. Qantas Club allows you to take 12kgs of extra luggage for international and 9kgs domestic. As someone who often travelled with a bike, this was a savior.
• Showers. Most Qantas Club Lounges have showers. When travelling most hotels make you check out at 10am and with many international flights leaving in the evening it means that you can spend the day sightseeing, get to Qantas Club Lounge and freshen up before getting on the flight home. For long haul flights it means you can freshen up mid flight.
• Food and Drink. Eat and Drink to your hearts content. From barista coffees, Neil Perry Meals to beautiful wines, you are going to find something to your liking. My kids favourite is the pancake making machine in the mornings.
• Guest Access. You can take one guest into Qantas Club and if it’s a Qantas owned lounge kids don’t count towards that guest. So our family of 4 have been able to access the lounge on just my membership, allowing them all to experience the benefits. If you are flying domestically they don’t even need to be travelling.
• Peace and Quiet in Comfort. When waiting for your flight I would much rather be sitting in comfort, in pleasant surroundings. This sure beats sitting in hard chairs at the gate with little to do. This comes in handy when you get an unfortunate delay like the 5 hour one we had at Heathrow when flying BA once.

So have had my Qantas Club membership for 8 years the only regret I have is that I never grabbed it for life when they had that option.


Oh I haven’t been paid for this endorsement, but feel free for an upgrade Qantas LOL.

Paris – Roubaix. The Hell of the North

The 113^th edition lived up to it’s hype as the greatest 1 day cycling race in the world. Like most years it had its share of attacks, crashes and hard luck stories. The rain that had been present in the days leading up cleared and made for a mostly dry race, but the parts where there was still some water on the cobbles provided for some spectacular crashes, and Luke Rowe’s endo was no exception.

It was a crash earlier in the day on sector 20 that split up the peloton and left Cancellara and Sagan on the back foot. Just as they looked like they were going to make it across the gap to Boonen and crew, it would blow back out. Then Cancellara crashed, providing spectators with some unbelievable bike handling skills from Peter Sagan as he literally rode of the top of Spartacus. But the crash also ended any chance Sagan had of closing the gap.

Up front the Boonen, Vanmarke, Boasson-Hagen and co had reeled in the breakaway which included Mathew Hayman. Hayman had looked strong earlier and even tried to ride away from the breakaway earlier. For the Aussies who were staying up late watching it was pretty exciting to have two Aussies in the ten man leading group as Heinrich Haussler was having a great race.  

But by the time they got to the famed Carrefour de l’Arbre with 20kms to go there was only 5 remaining at the front – Boonen, Vanmarke, Boasson-Hagen, Stannard and Hayman. But soon after it was down to 4 as Stannard seemed to cut off Hayman and he lost contact, it looked like the Orica Greenedge riders chances of winning were dashed. It was on this section that Sep Vanmarke lit it up and gap his companions and it looked like he just might have the better of them.

It didn’t last long and the other 3 closed the gap. With 14kms to go Hayman rejoined the group and what followed was a series of attacks that left you guessing. One moment you thought that Ian Stannard was going to get away, next you thought that 4 time winner Tom Boonen was going to make it number 5.

With 2kms to go Hayman attacked Boonen and it looked like he was going to make it stick but Tom got back on. The pace slowed and the other 3 caught up making it a 5 man sprint finish. Hayman timed his sprint perfectly and took an exciting win from Boonen and Stannard.  Hayman’s reaction and utter disbelief was great to watch. I, like many other Aussies, were exhausted at work today, but I am sure we don’t care. Oh and a shout out to Heinrich Haussler who finished 6^th and Zak Dempster in 24th

Beat The Bordem - Car Cricket

Ipads and DVD players are banned in our car, even on longer trips. We don’t want the kids to have their eyes glued to a screen. Over our Easter travels we dragged out a classic travel game to keep them occupied – Car Cricket.  It has been a winner! It’s a game we played as kids on trips to Melbourne. Nowadays it is a bit harder with dual carriageways, they just need to count faster! Most of the trips we took over the holidays were on single lane roads so it made it a little easier.

How We Play

Car -1 run

Ute or Big 4WD – 4 runs

Car towing a trailer, boat etc 4 runs

Car towing a Caravan -6 runs

Truck – 6 runs

Red Car or a Motorbike – Out

When in a 60km or lower speed zone, No play.

Before starting it is a good idea to set up how many innings you are going to have, just to prevent World War III.

Of course how you score is completely up to you. The rules we used were those we used as kids in the 80’s but there are so many more Hilux type utes on the road so maybe these vehicles could score 2 runs.

The kids have loved it, especially my son, who thinks he is the worlds best car cricketer and it is all down to skill, not luck of the draw. It has also been great for their addition skills.

Bahrain Grand Prix – Through Tired Eyes

A 1am (AEST) start time might seem annoying, but I don’t mind it too much. Everyone else is in bed which means I can lay my devices out and not have to worry about getting asked to put out the garbage.

Like most I was hoping to see a ding dong battle up the front, hopefully not just between the two Mercedes cars but hopefully the Ferraris up there to mix it up. But my heart sank on the formation lap to see Vettel’s car explode robbing us of the most likely Ferrari to challenge the Silver Arrow cars.

Again Lewis was slow off the start and was collected by an over ambitious Valtteri Bottas. This would have been ok if it didn’t damage Hamilton’s car. It would have been great to see Lewis make a race of it by trying to chase down Rosberg, but the damage to the car made it impossible to do so. 

Kimi did a good job for Ferrari, but never looked like threating Rosberg up front and although he got the gap down to just a few seconds after the last pit stop, I think this was down to Mercedes managing their car, rather than Ferrari’s pace.

Whilst the race at the front didn’t have you sitting on the edge of your seat, the mid field battles were fantastic, with close racing and some good overtaking. I think having the 3 different sets of tires available is spicing things up and gives the fans a bit more overtaking.

Again Romain Grosjean was a star again for Haas Racing with 5^th place. It is great to see a new team arrive in the sport and be quite successful, although some teams up and down the pit lane aren’t that happy with Haas because a lot of their car is purchased instead of building it themselves.

Ricciardo did well again and it will be great to see him on a track like Monaco (especially if Red Bull have their engine upgrade by then). I think at these tracks he will be threat to Ferrari, if not the leaders.

What a great debut by Stoffel Vandoorne finishing 10^th for McLaren. Maybe Johnny Herbert was right when he said Alonso should retire and make way for Vandoorne. Although sadly I think it probably should be Jenson’s seat he takes.

It is also fantastic to see Manor improve, but sadly Williams look like they have taken a step backwards over the winter, lets hope they turn it around.

Queen of The Classics - Paris-Roubaix

The European spring time is arguably die hard fans favourite time of the year. Whilst the Tour De France is the most famous and prestigious bike race in the world, the Spring Classics really generate excitement amongst cycling fans.

Last night Peter Sagan displayed a powerhouse performance to win the Tour Of Flanders. He was quite literally a machine. The way he just rode the group off his wheel on the cobbled climbs and then soloed the last 16kms to victory was amazing.

Some might not see cycling as an exciting sport to watch on TV but it was hard to take your eyes off the screen. Just when it looked like Fabien Cancellara was about to bridge the gap, Sagan accelerated. With 14 seconds separating Sagan from Cancellara and Sep Vanmarcke with 15kms to go it was tense viewing. Sagan would eek out a few more seconds only to have the chasing duo close the gap and look like they were going to catch Sagan with just over 5kms to go. But alas it was just like Sagan was toying with them and he stretched the gap to go on and claim his first monument.

This leads into this weekends Queen of the Classics, Paris – Roubaix. This is without doubt the favourite one day race amongst fans and never fails to deliver an entertaining, dramatic race. Being an aussie you cant go past Stuart O’Grady’s win in 2007.

If you are unfamiliar with Paris-Roubaix, watch the clip below from SBS and come Sunday night you might just find yourself glued to the TV.

River vs Beach

 After our trip to the beach the debate started River vs Beach. My wife and I were at loggerheads over which one we prefer. I have experienced both in that I grew up on the banks of the Goulburn River, but also spent few years living on the Mornington Peninsula.  My wife spent many years living on the mighty Murray River.

Obviously there are pros and cons for each. For me I love the sound of the waves crashing to the shore and swimming out in the waves. Of course I love the fact you can ski on the Murray and this is a fantastic family activity - if you have a boat.  Whilst the sand is a little annoying when you get out of the beach, it quickly falls off when you when you dry off, unlike when you get out of the river, you stay muddy.

So we would love your thoughts. Vote here or comment below!