aussiedreamer

Thanks to all for the support. It’s been a minute, but we’re finally heading off. Our last trip was December 2019, so we are thrilled to be going anywhere. If you haven’t read my posts, we are heading to nyc to catchup with friends, for a special birthday dinner at Kings in NYC. We will have a month to explore after that. Not a lot locked in….RV exploring Maine, Montreal and Quebec, a night at MSG to see Billy Joel and a couple of days in San Francisco on the way home.

some details re flights:

thanks to points, we are flying from Brisbane, Australia on Qatar, qsuites to Doha then onto nyc. Yes it’s the very long way but for the price of a bit of tax we feel it’s worth it. I’ll let you know.

Currently enjoying the AirNZ lounge in Brisbane. Not sure why it’s not Qantas, as that’s who we booked with, but very nice.

next update probably Doha.

Melnq8

I hope you have a wonderful time!

oldemalloy

Relax and enjoy. Have a wonderful trip.

TDudette

Sign me up!

aussiedreamer

Well, I’d love to tell you more about that flight but we slept 10 of the 14 hours. Not complaining obviously… very comfy. And the suites are very private. So private we could get changed into our complimentary pjs at our seat. Watched a movie and had a delightful breakfast.

Currently in a very hot looking Doha, this airport seems much busier than I’ve seen. We arrived at 6am and it’s absolutely buzzing. We got to spend an hour in the LV lounge…. Really lovely and calm. We are just awaiting boarding, very intense security to get to the gate. Just when you think you know what they want to look at, it changes. Ha ha.

interested to know if this will be treated as a night time departure, as we arrive into JFK at 3.30pm.

J62

Safe travels. It's expected to warm up significantly (as in nicely, finally) here in the northeast over the next few days.

The flight from Doha to JFK is in daylight the whole way, over continental Europe then England/Ireland. Even if they try to treat it as an overnight flight, any cracked windowshade will flood the cabin with light.

PrairieHikerI

Sounds like a good trip. I visited a longtime friend in Brisbane once and he took me to Noosa National Park and some casino. Unfortunately, we lost contact. Here are pointers for Quebec City.

Quebec City. It has the French language, culture and food and “romantic” European-style architecture (it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO). Founded in 1608, the original French settlers built in the French style of that period. It is the only fortified city north of Mexico. There are buildings, houses and churches dating from the 1600s including Maison Puiseaux, Maison de madame de La Peltrie, Basilique-cathedrale de Notre-Dame, Maison-Duc-de-Kent, and Seminaire-du-Quebec. "The Old Quebec historic district resembles the historic walking areas that can be found in Europe's most classic cities, with plenty of shops, European-style eateries, sidewalk cafés, and parks. The picturesque old cobblestone streets are sprinkled with historic buildings, churches and shops, with the magnificent St. Lawrence River as the backdrop. Towering over the old town is the Château Frontenac, a grand hotel dating from 1893. Surrounding the city are the stone walls or fortifications which the French built hundreds of years ago to protect the city from being attacked." Eat rabbit at a French classic bistro such as Le Lapin Saute or eat yummy crepes at Le Billig. Grab a croissant or baguette at Panetier Baluchon. Take cruise along the St. Lawrence River.

PrairieHikerI

Stonington, Maine. An authentic fishing village barely touched by tourism. Eat fresh broiled lobster, fried haddock and clam chowder. Take a boat ride along the Down East coast. There are very few authentic fishing villages remaining in America, but this is one of them.

Castine, Maine. This picturesque Down East fishing village features Wilson Museum, a scientific and historical museum campus. A footpath will take you to the historic Dyce Head Lighthouse. Downtown Castine’s Main Street is lined with federal style and Victorian houses. Kayak or take a boat cruise of glittering Penobscot Bay. May be too touristy for some visitors during the high season.

aussiedreamer

I’ve been slack with updates, sorry but we’ve broken down in/on (?) Cape Cod. No big dramas, a tyre blew out and we’ve been waiting for 3 hours…..so far… so I thought I’d try to catchup.

The second flight was just amazing, I can highly recommend Qatar… the Qsuites are fantastic. A couple of movies, a couple of meals and a few drinks and we were in nyc. The customs entry was smooth and fast, although I have to ask, why are the US border agents so ‘unfriendly!.’ In Australia you will always get at the least a hello, I know it’s a serious job but as a first point of contact, it’s very unfriendly. End rant.

For the first time when booking our hotel on booking.com, I used the offered taxi service. It’s basically the same cost as a cab but they greet you in arrivals…… supposedly. No one was there and when I rang, they said it would be an hour wait. So we canceled and walked outside and jumped in a cab. Enjoyed the drive into Time Square, the hotel was basic as expected but the location was handy. Having said that, we had 36 hours without hot water. Apparently we’ll be compensated….we’ll see.

We quickly showered and headed out to catchup with our friends from home. Had dinner and a couple of margaritas at Margaritaville, not a great choice but adequate for a quick hello and to see Times Square. We didn’t last too long and crashed but as it was about 8pm we think we did pretty good. We both took some melatonin and we both think it really helped. Woke feeling very smug as we’d packed the small Nespresso machine we’d bought on a previous trip…… forgot to pack the water tank!!!!!

So we headed out to find St Kilda Coffee, I believe it’s owned by a couple of Aussies…St. Kilda is a beachside suburb of Melbourne. We were now ready to go, so quickly worked out the subway, I’d done some reading before we left and felt pretty confident. If it helps anyone nervous at all, we found with being able to tap our c/card or phone, knowing each trip is $2.75 and knowing if we were going uptown/Downtown it’s a breeze. So after some research, we headed to the Nespresso store in Bloomingdale’s to try for a replacement water tank. They were so lovely., but explained they don’t carry spare parts. When we told them our sob story they offered to see if they could find one that might fit out the back. They did, we were so happy and they insisted we could just have it. How’s that for service?

We headed to Brooklyn and wandered around for a while, loved it. Very green and pretty. Walked back across the Brooklyn Bridge, so glad we did this, it was on my list of things we hadn’t done. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful crisp cool day. Loved seeing the town hall and the court house.

Next it was back to our hotel to collect the small suitcase of chocolate we’d bought over for our friends son. They can’t get it here and we’re very happy. We headed to Eataly at the Flat Iron building, met up with our friends and had a lovely charcuterie board for lunch. We then went to their sons apartment and met their adorable granddaughters and caught up with their son and dil. A lovely afternoon, followed by a Mexican dinner at one of their local fav’s, the Yellow Rose. Just a perfect day.

Ill be back soon.

ps. Still waiting for roadside assistance.

Melnq8

the small suitcase of chocolate we’d bought over for our friends son. They can’t get it here and we’re very happy.

I lived in Australia for seven years and routinely brought back goodies for friends and family...as a chocolate fiend, I'm just curious what kind of chocolate you hauled over?

marg

I'm sure there were TimTams in the suitcase.

millie2112

around the corner from the Flatiron building is 'hole in the wall', aussie owned, and head chef is my son. Opposite Eatily on w27th.

Melnq8

marg - no doubt!

aussiedreamer

fantastic, we’ll have a look on our return. Thank you 😊

aussiedreamer

Tim Tams
Mint Slice
Cadbury Dairy Milk
😊😊😊

aussiedreamer

The next day changed a bit as due to Memorial Day weekend we needed to ‘collect’ our RV a day early. So we negotiated to do the paper work and handover and collect the next day. We googled our way to the depot in New Jersey and worked out the NJ bus. What fun. Caught the bus at the Port Authority and it was about an hour to Old Bridge and then a short Uber to depot. Worked really well as we took half our luggage with us. Did the trip in reverse to our hotel. We really enjoyed the ride out of NYC.

Stopped off for a burger at 5 brothers, surprisingly yummy. Headed back to our hotel to shower and get ready for the much anticipated dinner at Kings, which was the starting point in the planning of this trip. Only to find out the hotel had no hot water………. And didn’t have for 36 hours. Sigh 😔. So much for feeling glammed up, but we did our best with cold water.

We arrived early to the restaurant on a beautiful sunny warm evening. Enjoyed a cocktail while waiting. Just a beautiful small friendly restaurant.

our friends arrived and we had a lovely long table, our friends son had pre ordered the wine for the meal. Wow he did good. Starters was served family style and we each chose a main. Desert was again served family style with a taste of each desert on the menu.

we were all very content and when it was suggested we walk to Dante’s ( apparently quite well known) for a night cap, off we went. Unfortunately there was a two wait, we weren’t that keen. We had a stroll around Soho which I loved, said our goodbyes and headed home. A really lovely day.

Ps. The exit time on our tyre repair was 5 hours!!!! At least we were very self contained.
Also apologies for any typos…. Typing on the road. X

mlgb

I definitely see TimTams (Australian import) here at World Market and even Vons (Safeway). They sell Cadbury Dairy Milk everywhere, even Target. But it's made in the US so probably tastes different.

Have never seen (nor tried) Mint Slice though.

nylilly

Eataly is on 23rd Street, not 27th.

millie2112

Sorry.... I gave the wrong address.. Hole in the Wall W24th street... not 27 (blame fat fat fingers).
Eataly goes way down the block so it is sort of opposite the side of Eataly.

anyways.. aussiedreamer if you feel like some melbourne cafe food, I recommend.

aussiedreamer

thank you, we will next week.