Are you an 4WD owner?

 who doesn't use it as it should be used?

 Like Me...

4WD should spend time in the dirt

I bought a 4WD with the view that I was going to make use of its capabilities and go off road.  Ye ha : first  test drive was short trip from Mount Garnet to Irvinebank (click to se the map).

Great 1st adventure!!! - a few KM's out of Irvinebank and crossing a dry river bed we hit a road and busted and bent the underside of the new 3 month old 4WD. Got  to Irvinebank had lunch got back in the truck and limped home to Ravenshoe. Rang the insurance company and they said it would be uplifted to be repaired and 4 weeks later it returned. 

Thats the best it's done as a 4WD in its 8 year life now a mature aged truck.

It nearly became a so-called Toorak tractor, unknown to dirt roads, from a suburban residential area.

Recently it took an excursion from Cairns northern beaches to Hughenden via Mount Garnet on the Kennedy development road (click to see the map) with real dirt roads...

Great trip, the 4WD made it work. I Made a booking at the Hughenden Allen Terry Caravan Park and asked the manger the best way to get there and he said he does Hughenden to Innisfail via the Kennedy development road and it takes them 6 hours as long as you keep a good pace!! 

So we did just that and kept our average speed around 80 km's per hour or better and did the trip in just over 7:30 hrs from Trinity Beach to Hughenden. It did involve getting off the road completely when a road train was coming at you and coming to an near stop. The dirt roads are very bumpy with soft edges and when transiting between dirt and bitumen it can come with a Hugh thump and then the occasional corrugation and buffeting a little sideways. 

But the Dogs loved it....    

There were travelers attempting this road with a normal sedan pulling a caravan or camper vans ... !! Good luck to them - I would expect that if they had crockery and it wasn't stuck down there could be issues.

The two main shires we drove through were Etheridge and Flinders and you could tell as soon as you drove out of one and into the other. Flinders shire roads were well maintained particularly the dirt roads were much better and the verges were cleared well back so you were able to see if ROO's were about to cross. 

Big day of traveling :

The trip back 3 days later we decided to clock every piece of dirt to see how many Km's of fun were had..!! 0 to 73 km's got us from Hughenden to the 1st section of dirt road and then the dirt went like this .. with a total of 100 km in total. 

On Dirt - Off Dirt

73-86

108-113

116-124

130-149

164-174

177-182

187-210

218-229

239-245

On the way back we made one stop before lunch at Bundock Creek to give the dogs a swim

There was a pretty special memorial in Hughenden that you should take you dog to  

What makes this road fantastic : There was so little traffic

Great drive - Great fun 

Life Miles are back

Buy miles and receive up to 135% bonus

Yep - just got my email today and did a quick calculation : If I were to buy 150,000 LifeMiles I would get an additional 202,500 LifeMiles totaling 352,5000. This is at a cost of USD$33 per 1,000 block. Working on todays conversion from USA to AUD that is about AUD$20 per 1,000 block over the entire 352,500.  

Now that would get you 4 return trips on ANA's band new 787 from Brisbane to Tokyo in Business Class.

The only critical criteria is the following:

Applies only to members enrolled in the program prior to September 7th, 2015.

If you miss out this time join up, it's FREE and hope they do it again. This is the most bonus miles I've seen since I have been a member and it certainly helps with the Oz dollar buying US dollars right now. 

Click Me : This takes you to a page that shows how I have used Life Miles so far 

40 Hours in Auckland 

All because I had China Southern (CZ) frequent flyer miles due to expire in January 2016 

All flights and accommodation were booked 3 weeks prior to travel

The prices shown are all in AUD

Traveled solo 

Virgin Australia (VA) Cairns to Brisbane 
- Economy Class 

$164

2 hr flight time

Booked though Orbitz and paid for with a 28 Degrees MC which attracts no international transaction fees. The ticket was purchased in $USD and was cheaper than buying direct on the VA website. Jump on the free bus from domestic to international airports and got me there about 2 hours before the flight departed. Ready to check-in for my business class flight. A seamless check-in with China airlines, with access to the Qantas Club Lounge. Salinger was the drink of the day before I boarded the flight. 

China Airlines (CI) Brisbane to Auckland
- Business Class

$100

2:35 hr flight time

A little bit of Chaos getting this ticket sorted. China Southern (CZ) website does not allow you to redeem other skyteam alliance airlines, you have to ring there customer service in China (Thanks to Skype the cost is minuscule). Then being advised that I must pay the taxes with a Chinese credit or cash in China. A little difficult when you live in Queensland. Eventually I was directed to ring CZ Sydney office, they were fantastic and made all the arrangements from there on. They took payment is $AUD and emailed an E-Ticket. This charge went onto St George Amplify Card as they provided the best frequent flyer points return at 0.75 per $ spent. 

Auckland Accommodation - Auckland city hotel Hobson 

$188

2 nights

Booked through HotelClub. Used NAB Amex. This was one of 2 charges that went towards the $500 spend required on the trip for the complimentary travel insurance to kick in. NAB charged $3.28 int transaction fee. I did a quick web search to see what promotional codes were around and found a valid one for HotelClub that gave a further 15% off which brought it in at just under $95 per night, I thought this was great for a nice inner city hotel with walking distance to everything. 

Now the Tweener:

Booked the airbus online $25.30 return 

To absorb my time in Auckland I : Walked, ate, consumed loads of NZ wine and beer and caught a ferry.

Food: (sequenced in order from arrival to departure)

Dinner -The Federal :  Casual, sit at the bar, good honest simple food &  great wine - loved the fried cauliflower.
Breakfast - Best Ugly Bagels : Great spot, wood fire burning and the bagels were fab
Lunch - Botswana Butchery : Bit flash!!, could die of thirst waiting for the 1st drink to arrive, food was great.
Dinner - Depot Eatery : Sat wedged into a corner at the bar, busy as, great staff and loads of fun. Most importantly the food was fantastic. Over indulged in there wines by the glass though..! My big spend for the trip.
Breakfast - Fond(ou) Cafe : Just coffee today inside the hotel and good
Lunch - Food Alley : NZ has a great array of food halls and mini shops selling fantastic food : picked a winner here too.

Take home treat: took the ferry to Devonport to explore and spend up on Devonport chocolates  great chocolate fish & chips for fathers day.

Pubs: That I visited once or twice
The Shakespeare Hotel
The Occidental
Vultures Lane

China Airlines (CI) Auckland to Brisbane 
- Business Class 

$392

3:50 hr flight time

Ticket purchased on China Airlines (CI) website and charges in NZD. For me this was WOW 392 bucks business class. This also went on the NAB Amex which made the insurance effective.  NAB charged $7.84 int transaction fee. Stupid error on my part, I didn't have the credit card I charged with when checking in as it was a requirement to site this as part of the check-in process, I was then required to fill out indemnity forms which added 10 minutes to the check-in process. Handled very well by the check-in staff and then I was on my way to the lounge. In this instance China Airlines (CI) used the Priority Pass Emperor Lounge. 

CI is a great way to go if you want to take a quick trip to NZ. The flight I took was a continuation service from Taipei going over and the return service via Brisbane to Taipei. While on the CI website I did play around a little, looking at buying both directions and found it was much cheaper to buy one-way tickets instead of a return flight if you were flying out of Australia. At check-in in Brisbane I also saw that you could upgrade from economy to business at the counter for $149. 

Brisbane Accommodation - Clayfield Motel 

$161

1 night

Booked direct with the motel. I stayed overnight in Brisbane because the scheduled arrival of CI0054 arrived to late to connect with flights to Cairns and a good reason to rekindle my affection for Brisbane city river and the River Cats. I chose this motel because it was only 10 minutes away from the airport and they had done a deal with Alpha cars - $10 each way airport - motel - airport. Train station was very close so next day it was easy access to the city for lunch. checked out in the morning and left my bags at reception. I found Great coffee and Italian sweets nearby which I had to have before I left for the city and after I returned but before catching the shuttle back to the airport. 

Food: 
For anyone who is interested lunch was at Harajuku Gyoza - Southbank. 3 items, 1 beer $32 loved it

Jetstar (JQ) Brisbane to Cairns 
- Economy Class 

$110

2 hr flight time

Booked on the Jetstar (JQ) website using the the direct deposit method to avoid all fees. This booking took several attempts because I initially saw and missed a cheaper price with VA as I would prefer to travel with them and accrue Velocity points. So I booked a JQ service with the direct deposit method as it allows 2 days to pay, I then looked for the same flight the next day and the price had dropped so I booked it again, I watched for a day and then payed. 

Theory: the Qantas / Jetstar sites must monitor your interaction with there website and track your IP address, they seem to know what you searched for previously and the system price manipulates and then moves on after a certain amount of time.

NAB insurance cost $11.12 effectively due to the international transaction fees incurred using these cards 

Ladies and Gentlemen

may I present to you

A performance I saw last night in Cairns as part of #cairnsfest

Performed in the "Speigel Zelt" tent by the lagoon in Cairns.

 A brilliant show 

It was a cabaret show put on by exceptionally talented bunch of entertainers with great voices and dance moves to match. The core of the show was the history of the tent itself "Spiegel Zelt" a 95 yr old amazing tent. A choreographed, singing, dancing & trapeze show. Brilliant Brilliant one of the best thing I've seen for years. So much fun to be had.... The Choreographer was Jason Coleman, One of the best at what he does. It was a wildly entertaining show.

Oh Yeh this show was so good I am going back to see it again..

Don't be shy - if you are going to go get in line at the door and make sure you sit in the front row by the stage. this makes the show that much more exhilarating.

twitter.com/dancejudgejason  

facebook.com/Spiegelicious

All I can say is "JUST GO"

#Spiegelicious was delicious 

A must see cabaret at #cairnsfest BRILLIANT

American Express 

&

Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer Program

Click on the card >> << To apply today

This is my referral link

.....

Updated 21 September 2015

Firstly - The 4 things that makes it a great deal for me 

- 110,000 Velocity points :  Apply by and be approved by 30 September 2015, spend $1000 on the card in the first 3 months of card membership. (applying directly to american express gets you 100K, apply by a referral link gets you the 110K and the referrer gets a referral bonus) 

- 1 free return domestic flight with Virgin each year
list of routes here: AMXACQ1994_FlightMap_v4

- 2 single entry passes to Virgin Domestic lounges per year
lounges listed are Brisbane,Sydney,Melbourne,Perth, Adelaide and Canberra

- Ability to convert your points to (SQ) Singapore Airlines Kris Flyer Miles

(converts at 1.35 VA to 1 SQ mile)

110K will get you 81,481 SQ Kris Flyer Miles once converted – VA points don’t expire, SQ do expire after 3 years so transfer when you are going to travel. 

To fly from Brisbane to either London or Barcelona one way with SQ in Business Class will cost 80,750 miles (booking online discount applies) + $502 in taxes

So effectively if you absorb the application fee ($349) into this flight it will cost $851
** not bad at all I say **

There is the usual other benefits you get with the card like spend and earn Velocity points, complimentary insurances for overseas travel and purchase protection.

.....

I have been following the application of a college as well as my application to verify that all that is offered is received and in a timely manner.

The Timeline to date 

- Colleges application in 28 July 2015 and approved. 

- Card received 06 August 2015, activated, 1st item charged to the card.

- Complimentary domestic flight loaded into Velocity account on American Express system   06 August 2015.

- 2 lounge passes loaded and backdated to 28 July 2015 into Velocity account on American Express system and verified on Velocity program.

- My application in 08 August 2015 and confirmed 10 August 2015.

- Referral bonus loaded into colleges Velocity account on american Express system.
- Received referral bonus in Velocity account 18 August 2015
- 110,000 loaded onto Amex system 16 August 2015
- I have now received my card 28 August 2015, with a letter arriving 4 days earlier saying that there was a delay with sending out cards and 10 days have been added to the 3 month minimum spend period.
-110,000 loaded  onto my account in Amex system 02 September 2015
-My 1st referral activated there card 09 September 20

-Amex system seems to us a 4 day period to load passes, flights & points. This has been the case until the most recent applicant which I referred. neither of us have received points allocation at 4 days but have received passes and flights.
-I contacted Amex at 5 days to ask what was there system of allocation and all they said is they would check it out and manually force the points allocation. At 7 days and neither account has been adjusted.
-Colleges Velocity account credited with 110,000 19 September 2015
-My 1st referral account loaded with 110,000 18 September 2015 

As the process moves I will edit the page . 

If you use my referral link please let me know as deals like this get both you and me closer to our next redemption flight. I'd also like to say thanks for the help.

The start of the referral link looks like this www316.americanexpress.com The www316 looks weird but this is how American Express generates the link. I was unsure of it's validity at the time and I checked it out to be 100% safe and correct, then I proceeded.

As part of the application process you are asked if you have a American Express card. This is a card that originated from American Express direct

If you wanted to do a quick trip to 
New Zealand from Australia 

Which airline would you think to travel with?

I didn't know this until recently ....

China airlines ( CI ) fly between Australia and New Zealand several times a week.

Having flown with China Southern ( CZ ) several times over the past few years and being a member of there frequent flyer program Sky Pearl I accumulated enough KM's to redeem a flight one way between Oz and NZ in Business Class with CI paying the taxes which were just on AUD$100. Getting back : a one-way business class seat Auckland - Brisbane with CI for AUD$382 purchased through the CI website. Love that price!! Cant wait to see what the CI A330 is like to travel on.

  I have just joined CI's frequent flyer program Dynasty Flyer to see were they might take me next. Being a member of SkyTeam it gives you a great list of airlines you could accumulate and then redeem you miles on.

Velocity Platinum Card

This is the Card I have just applied for

It may have a higher than normal annual fee than I would normally accept when applying for a credit card but the benefits outweigh this expense 

Click on the card above will take you to the application page

(This referral link gives you 110K, you can apply directly without using the referral link for 10K less)

Some highlights of this card:

- 110,000 velocity points upon spending $1000 within the first 3 months using a referral link

- A free return domestic flight with Virgin each year - list of routes here: AMXACQ1994_FlightMap_v4

- 2 free passes to a domestic Virgin lounge per year

- Points can be converted to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Miles

- 3 points per $ at a range of restaurants and with Virgin Australia

- 2 points per $ for airlines, accommodation, cruise and tour operators

- Supplementary cards for no additional cost

- Discounted international companion business class fares

- Usual travel insurance / purchase protection etc

The annual fee is $349

Is a BIG winner for me 

To make an offer good for me:

If you calculate A$15 per 1,000 points (miles) you receive with a card is greater than the annual fee then it's a goer and deserves a look at.

I'm prepared to buy points (mile) at up to A$19 per 1,000 depending on the program