The trip to Sydney on the train on Monday 15th was the usual - slow and tedious but the least uncomfortable of the available options.
Once we arrived at Central we got the train to Martin Place station and then to our hotel. The only issue with all of that was actually getting into and out of the train stations - as in Brisbane, they're quite keen for people with suitcases to use the lifts rather than the escalators, but it was like a magical mystery tour actually finding the lifts in both Central and Martin Place.
Because we booked the room direct with the hotel, we automatically got a noon checkout rather than the standard 11am. I was hoping to be able to extend it further but they only allow for one more hour of extension. They charge $30 for it but that wasn't my problem, we'd need to go out to lunch anyway so a late checkout wouldn't help unless it could be until 3pm or so.
Anyway, the room was ok, we had a fairly good night's sleep although the airconditioning was less than great; the room really was too warm.
We got up fairly early on the Tuesday and went out for coffee and some last minute shopping, then went back to the hotel until around 11:30. Checked out and asked them to mind our suitcases. Then came the great trek - we thought we'd just go for a walk. So we trotted down Phillip Street to the Quay and admired the Radiance of the Seas which was in port, making sure to avoid the hordes at the Opera House who were hoping for a glimpse of Harry and Meghan. Then we wandered up George Street and eventually ended up at Darling Harbour, where we had lunch. Then we decided to try to go to Paddy's Market but it was closed. So, we hopped on the light rail up to Central where we made a great discovery - we decided to buy Opal cards since we'll be using Sydney trains a few times over the next few months. Turns out that not only were we paying too much because of paying standard fares rather than Opal (which we knew) but they actually honour the ACT MyWay concession cards, which means that Paul can get the even lower concession fares. A really helpful young man at Central sorted this out for us and now we're proud holders of Opal cards.
Then, despite our lovely new Opal cards, we *walked* all the way back to the hotel instead of getting a train! According to my phone, almost 18,000 steps for the day.
By now it was about 3pm and we decided to go to the airport - knowing that it would be too early really. So, we got out there and of course were really hot and sweaty because of all that walking. As it turns out, there are showers in the public toilets there, so with a bit of careful purchasing (for example, a towel) we were both able to have a shower and change into other clothes. Much nicer way start a long-ish flight
While this was all happening though, someone posted on the Facebook group about the cruise that our flight was delayed. And, sure enough, the Sydney Airport website said that our 9:45pm flight had been delayed by 45 minutes to 10:30. At this stage we weren't sure if that was correct, because the boards in the airport still had it leaving at 9:45, and Scoot doesn't have their own online "arrival and departure" checker to confirm. I was a bit concerned about this, because the airport has a fairly strict 11pm curfew and we weren't going to have much leeway if it really was correct.
Anyway, they finally started check us in, so we went through immigration and security, where I yet again got pulled over for the bomb test. I absolutely believe that I meet their criteria for "little old white lady to be pulled over so that people can't complain about profiling". Not complaining, but it really does happen to me all the time! Paul also got pulled up for a pat-down check and the bomb test.
We checked out where our gate was and then went and spent an outrageous amount on dinner ($58 for two burgers, two orange juices, and one large chips) before settling down to wait for the flight.
Eventually the airport signs started showing that the flight was delayed, but some people still hadn't noticed. Later though, a lady sitting behind us asked if we knew when the curfew was, and we started discussing the risks, when two people sitting across from us both heard what we were talking about, went pale and started panicking. One of them - obviously a really optimistic young lady - had a further flight from Singapore; she had allowed only two hours to arrive there, get off the plane, get through Immigration / luggage / Customs, and check back in for another flight. I wouldn't risk this if my first flight was with a really reliable airline, let alone with Scoot, who are notorious for delays.
Interesting flight left from our gate while we were waiting - the airline code was ASY (flight ASY42) and it turns out this is an Australian Air Force flight. The destination on the board meant nothing to me, but Google told me it's an air base in Dubai. The passengers appeared (not surprisingly) to be Aussie and maybe NZ defence force people.
People started lining up to board our flight long before it was ready to board. The Scoot people at the counter told them all to sit down and wait (which they all ignored), and in the end a lot of them were made to line up somewhere else for boarding. People (like us) paid a lot of money for the good seats, or simply to get early boarding, and Scoot was very good about making sure those financial promises were met.
We finally took off at one minute to 11 - so a bit over an hour late and one minute before curfew. They did make up some time en route but we definitely arrived late. Both of us managed to get a bit of sleep along the way. We never expected Scoot business class to be equivalent to Qantas or Singapore Airlines - we were hoping for something like their premium economy and that's what we got - nice wide seats that you could recline a decent distance without smacking the person behind in the face. However, we also got a meal included (in economy you have to pay for it) and ditto access to their entertainment service which you watch on your own device. Almost the best thing - sharing the toilet only with those in business class - no queues and it was still clean at the end of the flight.
Arrival into Singapore was fine - VERY long walk to immigration but not much of a queue (a lot of the people on our flight must have been transitting), a short wait for our luggage and no wait for a taxi. Our taxi driver was a bit of a lunatic - road lanes were optional in his mind - but at that time of the day there was almost no traffic and he told us a lot about Singapore.
The hotel had our room all ready and waiting, and once we got to it - around 5am local time - we showered and crashed.
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