Well? What can I say? I don’t think we can travel without trouble. My recommendation to all: Do not fly Gulf Air. Perhaps it’s the supposed ‘reorganization’, as they explained it but, since purchasing my tickets a month and a half ago, I’ve NEVER had so many questionable changes. So far:
-Our first outbound leg was cancelled
-Our first outbound leg was reinstated
-Our first inbound leg was rescheduled to occur after our second inbound leg did (resolved with a phone call to occur a day later than originally scheduled – no compensation for any inconvenience)
-Upon arriving at the airport to depart on our outbound itinerary, were informed that our second leg was rescheduled for a day later (WHAT!?)
-Was also informed that Gulf Air was currently under reorganization and would no longer (after June 1st) be traveling to Sydney… did I mention we return after June 1st? This date was later communicated as July 1st. Let’s hope the second date was correct.
As a result of the rescheduling, we ended up spending about 26 hours in Bahrain. It’s not a bad city! A tad expensive - but great food and nice people. Overall, pleasant experience there AND Gulf Air was kind enough to pick up the expenses. Our flight though, was less than pleasant. Somehow, we ended up positioned next to a family of 10 (I kid you not) children who were obviously not under control and an older gentlemen who was ill. I spent the entire trip being coughed on and knocked against as the elder sneezed, snorted, and coughed and the kids ran rambunctiously up and down the aisles leaving their belongings, unpleasant scents (diapers) and garbage behind them… Not to mention the seats were small and cramped and the pair behind us had no problem expressing their dissatisfaction with our desire to recline our seats (understandable considering the cramped quarters). I don’t think I got a single wink of sleep during the entire flight. We did stop midway at the Singapore airport which is a VERY nice airport. They had several cute souvenirs that we may have to pick up on our way out. J
We ended up arriving a few minutes early. My biggest worry of the trip was that the Electronic Travel Authority I had arranged was not suffice for admission into the country (it just seemed way too easy) and it turned out it was. Compared to the hassle of entering Brazil, Australia is cakewalk. Customs though, was far stricter than I’ve ever seen. They sprayed insecticide just before we arrived and signs were displayed throughout, earnestly expressing the importance of customs in Australia. The last stop before departing the airport was a luggage search ensuring honest responses on the customs forms (wow!).
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