DAYS 1 & 2, 25-27 March 2015, Melbourne-Hong Kong-Amsterdam

Day 1-
We caught the shuttle in yesterday to Melbourne and stayed at the Parkroyal hotel opposite the airport overnight - enjoying a meal at the nice irish PJ o'Briens pub & a walk out in the cool evening air afterwards. Slept well- you've gotta love the feather toppers on all the hotel beds, they're heaven!

Mooched around today until 1 pm when we went and checked in with Cathay Pacific, no issues at all. First leg is 10 hours to Hong Kong, then 3 hours in transit which gives you enough time for a walk and a shower. Pretty easy and smooth flight, really comfy seats compared to other airlines & the cabin crew all had a clear grasp of English which is always a plus! Watched the science fiction movie 'Interstellar' starring Matthew Mc Conaughey, was really long (excellent when you are killing a long flight!) & a good storyline. Need to watch it again I think to get the full gist of the story though. Graeme watched 'John Wick' starring Keanu Reeves - a violent blokes movie!

Landed in HK no worries and through to the lounge to get a shower - wee hoo, hot, hot then cold, cold water cos there were so many people showering, but got into the thrill of not knowing what temp was coming next haha! We hadnt eaten the 2nd meal on the plane nor in transit since you are just sitting doing nothing.

Reboarded in the early hours and off to Amsterdam, about 12 1/2 hours.

Day 2 -
Flight was good, cabin nice and cool which makes you feel a lot better than some airlines that have the heaters cranked all the time! Had a meal then we crashed as pretty knackered - eyes like boiled sweets on sticks Dad haha!

This photo is somewhere over Russia, near a place called Bastad- which appealed to my humour!
Graeme got 7 good hours sleep and I got 5, which was great, then had brekky, cleaned up, watched the movies 'Whiplash" & "Grand Budapest Hotel'. Excellent flight and landed on time at 6.15am in Amsterdam - 7C - up from 2C! Lovely and brisk.

The tour operator for our river cruise was there to pick us up- once we found them as they were all waiting at the wrong gate. Surprised we had private transfers in a very nice mercedes, as there were others we saw at the airport who are obviously on the cruise too, so had assumed it would be a bus or shared van.

Got to the Movenpick hotel and were very appreciative that at 7am they had a room ready for us on the 9th floor overlooking the river - noice as Kath n Kim would say! As its raining, plan B of going walking around town wouldnt have been as good, so good to get in and can have a drink and shower - especially as check in here is 3pm. There is a massive cruise ship right outside our window too!

Went out for a walk to town in the frigid crisp! wind & rain. There are people, people everywhere riding their push bikes -dinging the bells & riding with bright rosy cheeks. The rain was driving but everyone (including us) was out and about. It was only about 10am and the streets were really dirty with rubbish, but we were on the edge on the red light district and beat the road sweepers to be fair. Saw a 'Condomerie' shop opposite a 'Gay Porno Cinema!.

The smell of strong cannabis in the streets is quite confronting and seeing people in the coffee houses lighting up joints. You would get stoned just sitting in them! We passed a group of 14 or 15 year olds sitting outside smoking joints - makes you wonder about the associated issues with this at such young ages. Not sure if its legal to smoke it at their age but they certainly werent hiding it.
The Dutch people here are a real mix of extremely liberal and also very upright, proper citizens!

Had a lovely couple of Dutch weizen pints in the bar at the hotel bar before dinner in the restaurant overlooking the river. Went for a walk afterwards in the cold air - think it would be safe to say I am the only person in Amsterdam wearing jandals lol!