Customer Blog: Eddy and Andrea from Somerset
I heard about Lucy Morgans from my brother-in -law. He recommended us to chat with her as we were starting to plan our next holiday to Australia. Although this was our sixth trip to see our son and his family in Canberra this one was different because we had decided this time, we wanted to travel Business Class! Lucy was great at picking out a place for us to stay in Sydney and also booking internal flights for us up to Noosa on the sunshine coast. But one of the best bits was the excitement of having Chauffeur Driven transport from home to and from the airport, the complimentary food and drinks in the Executive Lounges and the comfort of a flatbed seat on our 22,000-mile round trip.
We flew with Emirates in a Boeing 777 to Dubai and then in a new Airbus 380 on to Sydney. Emirates have a great in-flight entertainment package and whilst watching the latest films, in the A380 the bedside drinks unit was within easy reach! Or if we wanted to stretch our legs, we were able to take a stroll to sit and talk with other passengers in the bar at the rear of the plane.
Sydney is a truly cosmopolitan city with lots to see and enjoy. We took a ferry across the Harbour to Manley and enjoyed watching the surfers riding the waves. The ferry runs about every half hour and is an inexpensive way to get great views of Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. Australia has a reputation for producing some of the world’s best Baristas and some really healthy breakfasts - it seems a lot of business people in the city had the same idea but we didn’t have to search too far to find some excellent coffee bars to start the day.
The flight up to the sunshine coast took just over an hour. It is aptly named as the sun shined all the time we were there (in January 2023). We stayed in Noosa during the school holidays but the lovely beaches were relatively free from crowds – apart from Australia day when most people seemed to want to party on the beach. The water was warm so we weren’t surprised but we chose to relax by the deserted pool alongside our apartment. On returning to Canberra, we took our usual trip back to the Arboretum. When we first visited around 10 years ago the newly planted trees barely came up to our knees. But each time we visit we see they have grown a little bit more. This time it was interesting to see the addition of the children’s garden and the succulent garden. The on-site café is a good place to take in the spectacular views and as you would expect the coffee isn’t bad either!
The Botanical Gardens is another interesting place worth visiting. There is plenty of wildlife as well as plants trees and shrubs to admire. Although there is a small charge for parking entry is free. Our favourite part is the tropical rainforest although it can be hard to see each other through the mist.
Mount Ainslie probably affords the best views of Canberra although it can be a bit windy.
We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Australia and Lucy kept in touch both before during and after our stay to ensure everything went smoothly. We would certainly recommend her personal service to anyone wishing to travel and in fact have already done so to several of our friends.