Easter in Japan (via Singapore and back via Noumea)

[henrus]

Day 11

I woke up to an average day in Noumea with passing showers throughout the day although the view from the room was nice. The Hilton breakfast spread was good and no complaints as on a Sunday it seems they continue the breakfast service into “brunch”.



I checked out and went for a walk, the beach at Anse Vata is looking rather sad especially with all the construction going on


Baie des Citrons is looking a little nicer and here I had a long lunch. It was rather busy due to the cruise ship in town but no one in the water as it’s now illegal to swim after the recent shark attack.



My prebooked shuttle showed up right on time at 1:30pm and there was a quick 10 minute detour to pick up a couple along the way. I’d online checked in and has a mobile boarding pass so was able to pass directly through security and only had an hour to wait until boarding.

For the 2 hour flight back to Brisbane I was sitting in Row 3 (first row of economy) and much to my surprise a full meal, beef with veg and pasta was served (there didn’t seem to be any options).

I’m glad I didn’t pay the extra for premium economy which is basically like Air NZ’s works deluxe but worse because it has the same legroom. The only real difference is the priority check-in/boarding because the meal was essentially the same (although served with an salad as extra).



Arrival into Brisbane was early and the A320neo is fitted with the same IFE system as the A330neo so two cameras which made for a nice landing shot to round the trip out.

 

[henrus]

Conclusion

After covid locking Japan away for so long it was good to be back. Things are still a little crazy up in Japan with a lot of people still wearing masks and temperature checks at a handful of places - although it's good to see those at ANA staff in some airports and flights were no longer wearing masks which I guess gives the public confidence that it's "ok"/socially acceptable to be without a mask in an airport or on a flight.

I only spent time in Tokyo to catch up with friends but otherwise it was the worst part of the trip with far too many tourists, places like Ginza and Harajuku are over run right now and this isn't even a really busy time.

I'd never been to Hokkaido or Niseko and now really want to go back in deep winter to get the full powder experience however I've booked again via the Jetstar return for free sale for Oct/Nov and am currently thinking Kyushu from Kagoshima up the east coast to Kitakyushu (any thoughts/ideas/comments on this I'd be keen to hear).

Finally Air Calin, for $1662 oneway in Business class Tokyo to Brisbane (even thought the last 2 hour flight was in Economy) it was a steal. During a sale you can find return tickets for just below $3k which is a fraction of Qantas and their current $8k return rip off fares are in Business. The real problem with Noumea is the long layover times and distance from the airport but I see the former as a benefit and the latter as a small inconvenience once you're parked up beside the beach.

Thanks for reading to the end and hope you enjoyed!

 

[rbjhan]

Thanks for the report!
Very interesting flights indeed, and I thought mine was complicated

I am also thinking about a Nov trip to Kyushu/Shikoku, probably something like Takamatsu - Matsuyama - Yufuin - Kurokawa - Kumamoto - Kagoshima...

 

[VPS]

Thanks for the TR

 

[offshore171]

A great TR. Never would have thought of such a routing.