Olá! I’m writing this post from Brazil so I thought I would throw some Portugese in there 😛 Welcome to my August post, a little belated I know but time has been escaping me! I feel very blessed lately to be travelling to so many great cities and to have flown with such lovely crew. Life is good, no complaints! I started off last month travelling to Georgia for a mini vacay on my days off, I then spent the rest of the month operating flights to New Zealand, Indonesia, Bulgaria, Maldives, Thailand and Romania.
Tbilisi and Kazbegi, Georgia
Once my August roster was published and I found out that I had a few days off at the start of the month, I decided it would be best to jump on a plane and fly anywhere cooler than 40+ degree Doha right now. I was going back and forth trying to decide where to travel to until I asked my housemate for her input, “where should I go on my days off?” she responded, “why don’t you go to Georgia? I heard it’s nice” …and that’s how I decided to go.
I spent almost 2 days in Tbilisi the capital city of Georgia and one day in Kazbegi which is in the countryside, roughly 3 hours from the city. I absolutely loved my time in Georgia. Tbilisi is so beautiful, very scenic, the food and wine is amazing, people were very friendly and weather was nice. I spent most of my time walking around the city, it’s surrounded by many hills which means many amazing viewpoints. I hope I can spend some more time here, I really enjoyed the vibe of the whole place. It’s definitely one of my favourite places I have travelled to so far.
Beautiful view of Tbilisi from Narikala Fortress
Lots of Churchkhela – a traditional Georgian candy made from walnuts and grapes
Bridge of Peace
Hiked to the top of Mount Mtatsminda – love a nice view
I also managed to fit in a quick little stay in the countryside, Kazbegi. I spent my day here hiking to Trinity Church which is high up on the mountain overlooking the town below. The scenery was truly amazing, I feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to travel to such a beautiful place. Honestly, if I was still living in Australia, I probably never would have travelled to Georgia. It was never a country I heard much about or had any plans to travel to, but it has ended up being one of my most favourite places I have ever been to! That’s definitely the beauty of this job and living abroad. It has opened my eyes to so many new countries that I probably would have never seen if I was still back in Aus. I can’t wait for all the adventures to come!
The hike up to Trinity Church
Up the top near the clouds!
Views from my hotel ❤
Auckland, New Zealand
Shortly after I returned from my little trip to Georgia, I embarked on almost the longest flight in the whole world (it used to be number 1 but now I believe Singapore to New York is the longest flight in the world). After almost 17 hours, I finally arrived in Auckland, New Zealand. Despite being so close to Melbourne, it was actually my first time there. I can’t believe I travelled 17 hours to get there opposed to just 4 hours which is what it would take me travelling from Melbourne.
I had a nice time in New Zealand, I spent my first day there exploring… sorry I mean eating and drinking wine at Waiheke Island. Myself and a few of the crew planned to tour the island but instead we got off the bus at the first winery we stopped at and spent the entire afternoon there. We were lucky to have such a beautiful day despite it being the middle of winter. We were able to sit outside and admire the view while eating our perfectly cooked snapper with a glass of vino… I mean what more do you want in life?
Travelling to Waiheke Island via ferry
Beautiful Mudbrick winery ❤
On my second day, I planned to go on a hike with one of the crew but jetlag struck me long and hard and I ended up sleeping the whole morning… oops! Thankfully I woke up before the day was over. I forced myself to get out of bed so I could enjoy what was left of the day. Unfortunately, unlike the day before the weather was quite miserable so I decided to spend my afternoon shopping. After this, I went to the famous restaurant Depot for some more wine and of course oysters! So yum! Why do I love seafood so much?
Sky tower at night
Sofia, Bulgaria
I was so excited to see Bulgaria on my roster this month. I didn’t bid for this flight but I am always happy to explore to a new country, especially when it’s a country in Europe and it’s summertime. Sofia is an old European city, I fell in love with the architecture, greenery and its many beautiful churches.
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral
This was a cute little park near the cathedral where locals sell their artwork
On my flight back to Doha, I was stopped by a little old Russian lady when walking in the cabin. She stopped to tell me how happy she was on the flight and how all of us crew had made her journey perfect and that we were all so beautiful. After speaking with the woman some more, I discovered that she was travelling back home to Melbourne of all places! She wrote some lovely words for us to pass on to our supervisor. She even gave me her home telephone number for when I am back in Melbourne, because she is a pianist and wants to play piano for me! Bless her heart ❤️ Seriously, these are the things that really make your day when you fly. Not only do I love all the travel but I also love meeting people from all around the world and having these random chats.
One night in Bangkok
Can you believe the crew I flew with didn’t know that song? I was singing it the entire layover and they just didn’t appreciate it. Anywhoooo, lucky me I was given one night in Bangkok this month and it was one I will never forget!
The main reason why I love Thailand, well anyone should love Thailand is the food.
Exhibit A – Dinner:
It was one of the crew’s birthday so a few of us went out to celebrate. It was a Monday night so there wasn’t too much happening but with some Thai crew’s guidance we decided to go to a popular saxophone bar for some live music and cocktails. The last performer was seriously amazing and apparently quite famous in Bangkok. The place got very crowded right before he went on stage. I fangirled him at the end of the night and asked for a photo #noshame
#fangirl
On the next day before my flight back to Doha, it was my mission to visit the Unicorn Cafe. A magical place I heard about over a year ago and longed to visit because I love unicorns so much that it hurts. Unicorns are just so pretty, like this cafe❤️ maybe one day I will decorate my room like this place, a girl can dream!
Bucharest, Romania
This was my only requested flight last month that rostering was so kind to give me. I was desperate to go visit my old housemate/forever sister Elly in her hometown Romania. Unfortunately we don’t live together anymore but when we were together at her apartment in Bucharest it felt like we were right back in Doha living as housemates again! It has been a few months since she left Doha and I really miss her. It was super nice to catch up and I’m so lucky that my job gives me the opportunity to visit her. I have a feeling I’m going to become a frequent flyer to Romania😁
Sister sister ❤️
The amazing breakfast she made me in the morning before my flight home ❤️
That’s all for August. I know we are already in September and I have already completed a few of my flights (mainly turnarounds including Iraq and Athens and I am currently on my layover in Sao Paulo, Brazil), but here is my roster for the month. I am also going for leave in a few days to Turkey!!! SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! New country to explore😁
September layovers:
- Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Nairobi, Kenya
- Tunis, Tunesia
- Bali, Indonesia
- Rome, Italy
That’s all folks, until next month! xxxxx
Danielle Murnane 
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