cheap flights cruises

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Recently on the airwaves here in Canberra there has been quite a bit of discussion about the Canberra Airport. Due to the large number of public servants now working out there the traffic situation has become a major concern. Also finding a taxi from the airport into the city is said to have a negative impact on business in Canberra.

Something else that was raised by callers was the fact that the Canberra Airport itself is not running smoothly. The terminal is too small and the flights at times were being canceled. The Qantas regional manager was interviewed on air to give a perspective from the airlines. He said according to statistics things are not really that bad.

The Qantas representative also pointed out that the airport will be opening new facilities in around 3 years. Before that time Qantas will spend around $10 million to upgrade facilities at Canberra Airport.

After hearing all this I come back to the headline for this post. If you are coming to Canberra is it worth flying or are you better off driving your car or getting a hire car? I think a Qantas pilot’s wife gave the answer to this. She called in to say her husband finds it better to drive rather than fly from Canberra to Sydney to take the controls of an international flight.

I tend to agree. For the past couple of years whenever I fly out of Sydney International Airport I choose to grab a rental car and drive up the freeway to Sydney. It is about a 3 hour drive and is quite stress free. Compare this to flying and there is little difference. By the time you travel to the airport, wait for check in, board and then fly it all adds up.

I vote for the driving option.

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The Singapore airlines Airbus A380 has been grounded for the due to a problem the fuel pump. The plane was due to fly to Sydney from Singapore however could not make the journey.

Singapore Airlines were forced to replace the superjumbo with a smaller capacity Boeing 747-400 as the airlines other A380 was undergoing routine maintenance.

This is the first grounding of the airline due to a fault with the airplane. Last month a flight was grounded after a tow truck pushing the aircraft damaged one of the wheels on the A380.

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Tonight I was at a Chinese New Year celebration at the Chinese Embassy in Canberra, Australia. They had a raffle where the main prize was a pair of return business class tickets to Beijing from Sydney. Winning that was one way to get a cheap flight to Beijing.

The other way is to read my tips in the flight to Beijing article on the website. Having recently been watching Survivor China and visiting the embassy tonight my desire to visit China is really strong.

In the embassy itself there are many items that showcase China. They have some Terracotta Warriors, a room decorated as if it is out of the Forbidden City in Beijing. There is a bamboo garden and also in the main garden they have several pavilions built in the traditional Chinese style.

Going to the embassy was just like visiting China. Inside one of the halls of the embassy they had Chinese tea tasting. Outside on the main stage a fantastic show was put on to entertain the hundreds of guests. It started with some lion dancing, followed by dancers from Shaanxi which is home of the Terracotta Warriors. Later came some tai chi, followed by more dancing.

Also at the embassy there was a travel information stand operated by Helen Wong’s tours. I grabbed a couple of brochures about some of the places I am interested in visiting. Lucky for me I am off to Beijing for the Olympics in August.

When not attending the Olympics I would like to visit Shanghai and Guilin. Some of the photos I have seen of Guilin are truly spectacular.

If you have visited China I would love to hear about your favorite spots and not so favorite places.

Check back here in a few days and I will have some video from tonights performance.