Getting to the next stop ATW - Oz

3 days ago
2 min read

January 28-30, 2026 from the Itinerary - a 2 night stay at the Hampton Inn in Sandton (suburb of Johannesburg) and take Quantas QF64 to Sydney, transferring to Quantas QF655 to Perth where we pick up the train.

I'll skip over the 28th and 29th, only saying that this Hampton Inn was absolutely one of the best in terms of value for money of just about any hotel I've been in. The room was huge (upgraded because Chris is a lifetime Platinum member), the breakfast buffet was very generous with a lot of fresh (vs. processed) food, the staff was extremely attentive and friendly.

Also, they have a resident cat, but no one knew her name.

Last night we had dinner with Phil and Christin - Chris' work friend and his wife - at Rockets (https://www.rocketslife.tv/rockets-lifestyle/bryanston). They have a large and varied menu, but, at least last night, there was no running water in the entire area. Needless to say, I'm not sure what the kitchen staff was using to wash their hands and I tried not to think about it. I had a buddha bowl and Chris had an enormous burger. He ordered it medium and it came out practically bloody, so we're waiting for the results as it works its way through his digestion. Maybe this is why he craves such spicy food. No photos, so please use your imagination. We were never given a good reason as to why the water was off and for how long it would be off.

January 29/30 - our flight to Sydney was today on Qantas business class. The lounge was a good experience - there was a lot of fresh food and drink on offer

This was probably one of the worst flights I've been on from the perspective of screaming babies and food.

There were two infants - one(?) of which screamed every 2 hours. The food was absolutely disgusting and I ended up having some digestion issues. The soup was lukewarm and the chicken was only warm, but it was served with an ice cold sauce. I had the cheese for desert and I think the cheddar was all rind. There was a stewardess who was also one of the worst I've had. It might have been her first flight, but I'm not sure. The dinner service was slower than on Rovos Rail, and that was glacial. I finally took my breakfast tray back on my own and got a snarl from her.

There are 5 hours between flights as we continued on to Perth. This lounge was also very nice in terms of food and drink. It had a "make your own toastie" station.