2013 Aussie Holiday: 01 Sydney

"When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money..." - Susan Heller

Day 01: 22 June 2013

(KL – Sydney)



(All geared up for a family winter holiday)

We are going for a family holiday!

We booked 3 taxis for the 8 of us at 05:00 from Putramas Apartment to KLIA. When we arrived at KLIA, we performed the Subuh prayers and had breakfast at Old Town Kopitiam before we checked in at the Special Check-in Counter as we have two toddlers (Hana and Alia) and two 'warga emas' (hubby and I) in our family.

(Sara, Fitri, Iwan and Ella having breakfast at KLIA Kopitiam)

(The grandchildren, Alia and Hana still deep in slumber)

The 09:00 Mas flight MH141 from KLIA reached Sydney Airport at 19:05. The journey of more than 8 hours was spent watching most of the latest in-flight movies and napping in between meals.

At Sydney Airport, passport and immigration checks were swift and we were lucky to be allowed to bring in baby foods and chocolates. I remember on our last 3 trips to Australia we had to dispose all food stuff in the big dump bins placed all over the arrival hall. Even our few packets of Brahim’s and 3-in-1 Nescafe were not spared.

(Welcome to a cold chilly Sydney)

We bought 3 prepaid sim cards of A$20 each, to ease communications between us during our trip. This was necessary if we need to call local numbers for enquiries or to do bookings for accommodations at the camper park later in our trip. We even brought a few sets of walkie talkies for us to communicate when we are on the road.

(Buying pre-paid sim cards from Optus)

At the Hertz counter we collected our pre-arranged rented car, the Kia Grand Carnival with passenger capacity of 6 adults and 2 children. The MPV is equipped with 2 child-seats, a GPS and wifi on-the-go. I would not recommend purchasing the wifi package as it has a daily usage limit and quite expensive compared to buying prepaid cards. The rental rate came to A$185 per day and a deposit of A$100 refundable when we return the MPV in good condition. We would be using this MPV throughout our 10-day trip and would be returning it at Melbourne Airport before our departure to KL.

(Collecting our vehicle from Hertz Car Rental)

After completing the paperwork we had fillet-o-fish dinner at the Airport McDonalds then later picked-up our MPV from the parking lot and headed towards Adina Apartment Hotel Sydney in Haymarket. The 2-room apartment is situated adjacent to the Central Station and near the many landmarks of Sydney.

(A spacious Kia Grand Carnival)

The rental rate for the 5-star apartment per night was A$396 and we would be staying here for 2 nights. The apartment was cozy and clean and the kitchen was well equipped. There are also a washer and tumble dryer to wash our dirty laundry.

After checking-in, we went out to buy some provisions at a nearby convenience store before we retired for the night.

👈👈 2013: Sydney, Australia

2013: Guangzhou/KL 👉👉