AUSTRALIA

Marv & Carole Feldman 's Great Adventure Down Under

Each of our Great Adventures is unique and special. This Great Adventure was one with a mission: to attend a family gathering in Sydney, Australia (hometown of my wife, Carole) over the weekend of 17-19 November. We decided to give ourselves plenty of time to get to Australia on Space-A flights as these military hops are totally unpredictable!

Our first obstacle was the Jacksonville Air Show. While it was exciting to see the Navy's Blue Angels zooming over the skies above our backyard in Florida, the air show caused the Navy to close NAS JAX to all normal flights - just when we wanted to begin our journey to Australia. There was nothing going out of Charleston and we decided against a 500 mile drive south to Key West to connect with a flight to NAS Lemoore, CA (this would have involved more driving to Travis AFB).
However, we always have a "Plan A" and a "Plan B." This is practical since there never are any 100% sure flights with Space-A travel.

Our Plan A: Most every week (often on Saturday nights) there is a mission out of Travis AFB that flies to Hickam AFB, then the following day on to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base Richmond, near Sydney. Normally, there are only a handful of seats available and in the 14 years of traveling, we have only been lucky enough to get aboard twice.

Our Plan B: Most every Sunday (and often several times each week as well) there are flights with good Space-A opportunities from Travis to Yokota. Once at Yokota, there are many flights (often as many as three or four a week) to Singapore. We then pay our way from Singapore to Australia. This can be as cheap as $50 (on Tiger Airways) to Darwin, $200 (on Qantas, Singapore Airlines, and others) to Perth, or $400 (on Qantas, Gulf Air, and others) to Sydney. Sure a lot cheaper than the $1,200 cost of flying from Florida to Australia!

But we had to get out of Jacksonville, FL and head west first! The internet saved the day. We found both a low-cost Southwest Airlines flight from Jacksonville to Dallas Love Field and then a Navy flight from nearby Ft. Worth NAS/JRB to Hawaii. After putting together these two elements (tied together with a rental car between Love Field to Ft. Worth), we landed at Kaneohe Marine Corps Base (at Kaneohe Bay on the windward side of Oahu), on day two of our travel. Not only were we half way to Australia but we were in the beautiful Pacific paradise of one of the Hawaiian Islands.

Having lived in Honolulu for over 10 years, we felt at home there and spent four relaxing days with special life-long friends and family. Our time was filled with laughter, warm hugs and the consumption of our favorite local Asian and Hawaiian foods.
Our luck continued when we boarded a USAF KC-10 jet tanker for a non-stop, 11-hour flight (usually one of the most difficult flights to get aboard) from Hickam AFB to RAAF Base Richmond. This was the only the second time in 14 years we had been successful in flying to Richmond. There were six seats offered; we were numbers three and four, and no one was turned down! Plan A succeeded!

SYDNEY - AND A LITTLE TRIP

After arriving at RAAF Base Richmond, Carole's brother and sister-in-law met and whisked us away for a lovely welcome dinner at Bondi Beach, perhaps Sydney's most famous stretch of sand. This was the beginning of two weeks of wonderful quality time with family and friends.
One of Carole's lifetime friends lived out of town and generously offered us her Sydney "pad" in the fashionable suburb of Paddington. This became our "home" and base. No need to rent a car as we were within easy walking distance of cafes, shops and Sydney's extensive public transport system.
A whirlwind of lunches and dinners with close friends and family set the pace; nonetheless, we made time to enjoy Sydney on our own as well, including a ferry ride on magnificent Sydney Harbour to waterside suburbs and attending a performance of the musical, "Titanic". At an ex-Servicemen's Remembrance Day commemoration on November 11, Marvin was invited to lay a wreath on behalf of U.S. Veterans.
The "Little Trip": From 1995-1998, we lived in the nation's capital, Canberra, during the final assignment of Marvin's U.S. Air Force career, so we made time to return there to visit very dear friends. A 3 1/2 hour coach (bus) ride through the countryside (passing sheep, cattle and even a camel [!], but no kangaroos in sight) brought us to the "Bush Capital" where we were met and hosted by Carole's lifelong friend. Walks, lots of laughter, reminiscences and long talks, as well as a dinner with a group of special friends capped our stay there. Fortunately, we brought warm clothes as this was the region's coldest November in 100 years. It is springtime coming into summer in Australia - what a surprise that snow was falling in the area!
After leaving Canberra by train (our favorite way to travel), we made an overnight stop at the gorgeous country property in the Southern Highlands of our Paddington host and hostess. The blustery winds and frigid temperatures could not diminish the warmth and more reminiscing we experienced during our visit! Just before we boarded the train to return to Sydney, the four of us enjoyed a gourmet lunch by the fire at an elegant Tuscan-style winery.

HEADING HOME

Our family gathering (the main purpose of our trip) was a most enjoyable event and it was great to see many family members and old friends. After two fantastic weeks in Australia, it was time to head home.

Our luck continued when we called RAAF Base Richmond. We were booked on the KC-10 from Australia to Travis AFB via Hickam AFB. Normally, this flight stops in Brisbane to refuel but the aircraft commander said we could fly non-stop to Hickam because of a light load – this saved us four hours of flying and ground time.
Unfortunately for us, President Bush (in Hawaii en route back from the APEC Summit in Vietnam) was having breakfast with the troops at Hickam's chow hall so the base was locked down. All roads were blocked by Security Police and we were told to remain in the Passenger Terminal (for about four hours) until Air Force One took off. Nonetheless, we eventually got quarters on base for a good hot shower and a night's sleep as the crew RON in Hawaii.

The next morning, we continued our travel to Travis AFB, arriving the day before Thanksgiving. This gave us the wonderful opportunity to have turkey with Marvin's family in the Bay area. Fortunately, the day after Thanksgiving, we caught a C-5 from Travis to Charleston AFB. Of course, the C-5 had its normal maintenance issues and we had to remain in the plane for over four hours on the ground at Travis while they repaired things.

Upon arriving at Charleston at 0300, we spotted an extraordinary opportunity. At 0400, there was a Space-A roll call for a C-17 heading to Jacksonville in a few hours. Only three passengers (including us) wanted to go and we boarded the (very rare) flight to Jacksonville International Airport (JIA) where we landed at the Fixed Base Operator (FBO). A driver from FBO kindly drove us to the airport terminal where we rented a car for the drive home (less than the cost of a taxi!). The 30 minute flight saved us a four hour drive from Charleston to Jacksonville and also the cost of a one way-rental from Charleston. We were home by 0700.
What a super way to conclude this Great Adventure to Australia! Happy traveling!

Marv Feldman, Col, USAF, (ret.)
& Carole Feldman
Jacksonville, FL