A couple of days ago I boarded my first international flight since late 2019. Who would have thought international travel from New Zealand would have ground to a halt for the better part of two years. Like many of you we cancelled trips, ours to Ethiopia and Italy. Sadly, during this time a civil war in Ethiopia has caused chaos and unfortunately the country doesn’t have the same appeal until peace is restored.

So now we are heading to Cape Town. We are excited to explore the wine region around Franschhoek and Stellenbosch. Then onto Namibia to discover the spectacular landscapes, staying at three &Beyond camps. After this adventure we’re returning to Italy, staying in Rome and Tuscany, our favourite places. Finally, on our way back home we have a few days in Phuket, to get a good dose of vitamin D before summer.

Italy is an all time favouite destination.

We also love Africa.

If any of these destinations are of interest, stay abreast with Blog the Globe. Subscribe to the blog and follow me on Instagram.

Our business class flight was on Singapore Airlines A350-900. Post-Covid it seems the airline has taken the opportunity to reset, and some of the service experiences have changed.

1. On boarding the aircraft, there were no pre-flight champagne or orange juice offered and no hot towels…no big deal. There were also no newspapers or magazines  on offer.
2. There was no distribution of a beauty/hygiene bags although I don’t think this is a bad thing. People don’t use them and there’s so much waste. On request you could ask for slippers, sleeping mask, air plugs etc. There were ample toothbrushes and shaving equipment in the bathrooms.
3. A highlight were the food and wine choices. While western food was avaliable, their Asian options including curries, noodles and dumplings for breafast were outstanding. The wine chosen by their highly acclaimed connoisseurs were a mix of excellent Australian, Italian and French wines.
4. The service was faultless and the Singaporean stewards and stewardess are timeless and impeccably dressed.
5. The seating/sleeping pods are large, but sleeping on an angle, into a narrower foot area could be problematic for larger people.

The following items were all on offer.

Overall, a good experience.

We were in transit at Changi Airport in Singapore for four hours on route to Cape Town. The lounge, heaving with  un-masked people was a sure sign the world has moved on from. Covid.

Post coming soon on our exceptional food and wine experiences in Franschhoek, Cape Town.