From the sunshine of the Gold Coast Australia it is a long journey and wondering is it too far to swim or even row. Definitely it is worth flying and there are few routes to consider but first our journey began (my eldest son, Scott is on board with me) with waking up 2.12am (nothing like a pre-alarm wakeup) & standing out the front of the house when it starts to rain. We had an airport transfer by Con-Xion door to airport for $86; 2 persons with luggage. Other Brisbane transport options to the airport are abysmal. Flying out of Brisbane International is the best option to the Gold Coast and I chose the Auckland route to help break up the long flight syndrome. The other choices were to fly via Sydney or Melbourne which then becomes a direct 12-14hr flight to Santiago Chile.

The Auckland leg is no more than 3hrs with a 3hr stopover (QF119). From there to Santiago is a 11hr flight with a 1hr 30mins stopover. Lima Peru is a further 3hrs 42mins direct flight. Flying the Santiago route is quite long with nothing obviously to see over the vast Pacific Ocean (2 or 3 movies long). The journey I believe is 4200klms & the flight specs are 39,000 feet, 660mph & air temp -70®C. Qantas provides the packaged pillow & light blanket .. and yes, you will need them.

With a 3 plane flight booking I had a few issues with check-in online so I was ultimately referred to the airline counter on departure from the chat online. By the way, Qantas does not accept the slightest negative feedback. They will cut you off so it is an art form to get your frustration made clear to them. The counter staff were terrific and that included Auckland & Santiago staff (Qantas/ Latam Airlines) to organise the Boarding Passes required.

To play with your mind we departed at 8.15am 28 March 2019 and took all the flights and included the stopovers to ultimately arrive at Lima Airport 5.30pm 28^th March 2019. Obviously, the International Date Line comes into effect and we will ‘lose’ a day coming back.

Surprisingly we both did not gain much sleep time and it was awkward sorting out the body clock during the Pacific Ocean flight. The stopovers were warmly welcomed but doing the multiple baggage screening was arduous. Brisbane has the state-of-the-art screening where you don’t have to take out your laptop or anything else in your carry on. They do include the biometric body scan too. The other locations do require laptop removal with no body scans as yet.

The approaches to landings in Santiago and Lima are quite dramatic involving tight bankings for alignment with high mountains and peninsulas to counteract. The large Boeing planes are rather manoeuvrable and must give the pilots are bit of a thrill to the norm.

As a matter of convenience; I ticked the food box for Vegan on the flights as Scott has been one for many years now. Somehow, the food tasted great and easy to eat however, I contracted a bit of diarrhoea on something that did not agree with me. Always like to share the good and bad. Scott was fine. We did not partake in any food on the stopovers so it was surely on the flight food. I always pack and take my Imodium tablets for such occasions along with hydration tablets.

We were given Immigration Declaration slips to fill in so always have a pen on you. Despite filling them in they were not needed as we were on connecting flights. Store that in the memory banks for next time. The Lima declaration did my head in though where you are asked to declare certain items in your baggage like spare SD memory cards or flash drives, hard drives, laptops, cameras, Go Pros, mobile phones, chargers, tools, etc with strict tax levies if Customs wish to inspect your luggage. There is a percentage tax applied if they wish to enforce. While going through all the hoops and with immigration I did not see any such inspections or submission of forms required.

Once, we got through Immigration there was a bank of certified taxi/ van providers awaiting us. They were all waving for our attention and with certain prices on their counters. I chose the LHS end one which gave the best pricing. My hotel & others offered me online pricing of $35-40US to my hotel. The operator priced a private limo car with driver for $19US & that came with a $2US tip to the driver. It is recommended to use these operators to ensure safety to your hotel destination. It is quite easy for a person to have a car and call it a taxi and therefore anything can happen once you are out on the streets.

The drive from the airport to our hotel was intense. No-one abided by the lane markings and with the peak hour traffic it took almost an hour. The streets were clogged with all types of cars, buses and trucks all playing cat and mouse or the usual bluff method. There were a lot of vehicles that would not pass a fitness to be on Australian roads. Our driver must of changed lanes 100 times and with no regard for the closeness of vehicles. It was organised chaos; much like the Vietnam scooters. Scott stated “that was insane” when at the hotel.

With the hotel check in finally over we were due for dinner on a lighter scale however, Scott is always hungry. Through Trip Advisor we found a cosy little restaurant, Panchita, that served Vegan meals. We had 2 large wraps, with condiments, bread and 2 stubbies of well tasting beer all for $21US or 68Soles.  I believe it is rather hard being a Vegan in Lima from our walk throughs of the streets. Crossing the road is another concentration factor as they drive in the RHS of the road so you look left first. When the street has a red light engaged then you can walk across the pedestrian crossing. There are very few walk signs installed like in Australia.

As I’m writing this blog, I slept very well in the hotel last night with a very hard pillow. Scott woke up around 7.30am only to slip fast back into slumber. I think they call that jet-lag. Young people .. no stamina!!! It is now, 10.45am, Scott still asleep and we haven’t had brekky yet or ventured out. My diarrhoea has cleared to alleviate your concern therefore lunch maybe more timely if Scott awakes. It is our free day I suppose. Cancel lunch; Scott awoke at 315pm .. somewhat drained. Surprisingly, we were both fit now to venture the streets again. No need for taxis .. walking is not draining where we are located to the CBD.

The internet network is rather slow and frustrating and that is adding to the stresses at times. It’s amazing how we operate these days on it, especially when travelling. It took a few goes to get our next flight Booking Passes to Cusco on the 31^st March. My banking is a whole different matter with no connection due to its slowness. WiFi appears to be a good level but that is only available down on the first floor to which I’m not ready to venture down there just yet for another try.

I’ll sign off here for the moment, however there’s still much to talk about Lima.

Cheers & stay safe out there.