Hello from India and Eid Mubarak to everyone celebrating!! I’m currently in 45 degree Delhi for the day… I just landed this morning and am planning to head to the pool shortly to catch some sun. I’m having a nice and relaxing layover today because tomorrow I’m embarking on the ultimate trip (if everything goes to plan) from Delhi to Sydney to MELBOURNEEEE!! OMG I can’t believe it either!
This month was super phenomenal – I travelled to New York, Cape Town, Sweden, Malaysia and Kenya. I had really nice layovers this month and couldn’t be happier with my roster. It’s left me feeling very grateful to be here, traveling the world and doing what I love on a daily basis.
New York, New York
Who doesn’t love this city? Let’s be honest, even though the flight is hell and I only have 24 hrs to explore, I always enjoy my layovers in NYC. This time around I again booked tickets to broadway (I couldn’t resist)… I just love watching musicals and broadway is definitely the best of the best when it comes to watching them. Wicked has always been one of my all time favourite musicals after watching it many moons ago back in Melbourne. Sorry Melbs but it was a gazillion times better in New York!
I started the next day at Central Park for my morning run. It was so nice to see the park this time of year as it looks completely different to when I was here a few months ago in winter. Now that it’s spring, there is so much GREEN and flowers everywhere!
After my run, I decided to walk from the hotel located near Times Square, all the way to Greenwich Village (quite a distance but I am one of these people that love to walk everywhere). Greenwich Village is definitely my favourite area in Manhattan. The area is a lot more quiet than the hustle and bustle you usually find throughout the city. For those of you who are Sex and The City fans, this is where they film Carrie outside her apartment.
I visited a really nice plant-based cafe in the area called The Butcher’s Daughter. I ordered the Egg Benedict, it was so yum and the eggs were cooked to perfection!
After filling my stomach, I visited the Chelsea Market which is basically a giant food hall located inside an old biscuit factory constructed in the 1890s. I love this place! It’s super busy with tourists and locals on their lunch break.
If you walk all the way through the market, you will reach a staircase which takes you up to The High Line, a 1.45-mile-long elevated park on top of the city which used to be a railroad. It’s one of my favourite places in New York. It’s a nice place to visit to escape the madness on the streets below.
I stopped at a store called Avocaderia… what an amazing concept! Can you guess what they sell? Answer: all things avocado! When I saw that they had an avocado cafe in NYC, I had to stop by. I wasn’t hungry enough to order a meal but I did order a delicious avocado smoothie. I might have to come back on my next visit to try more of their menu!
And of course after a rainy morning the sun finally made an appearance as I made my way back to the hotel for my flight back home…
Thanks again NYC for another amazing layover. It’s one of those cities I’ll never get bored of. I could visit every month and still have so much to do. Hopefully I’ll be back soon 🙂
Cape Town, South Africa
I wasn’t expecting to visit Cape Town this month. Unfortunately, rostering removed my Bangkok flight which I was looking forward to and gave me a flight to South Africa instead. This happens a lot as crew, you always have to ready for the unexpected – no flight is set in stone until you are physically on the plane and the plane has taken off for that matter!
This would be my 3rd time to visit Cape Town. After having been to most of the touristic destinations in Cape Town, I was keen to just visit the famous V&A Waterfront area and enjoy a nice seafood dinner with some good wine.
The V&A Waterfront
I was so lucky to have beautiful weather on my layover – just look at that blue sky! South African seasons are the same as Australia so it was approaching winter on my visit.
This is what I came for – seafood and vino ❤ I love the quality of the food and wine in South Africa. It’s super cheap and super good!
This is me after being awake for over 24hrs and going straight out after a 10hr night flight. Cabin crew life definitely looks a lot more glamorous than the reality of it. Most of the time I sacrifice sleeping in order to travel but I wouldn’t change it for anything. The days I spend abroad, travelling around new cities is what makes the job for me.
Sunset overlooking Table Mountain from the waterfront… just magical!
Mombasa, Kenya
I think this would have to be up there with one of my favourite layovers in my entire flying career. I was so fortunate to get this destination as it comes with a super long layover and the destination just opened a few months ago. A lot of the crew are requesting this flight so I was very fortunate to get it. I was also really lucky to fly with some amazing people so I really enjoyed my time there. It felt like a mini vacation and not work at all!
Check out the hotel we stay at…
It even has a water park! Good times were had 😀
I had a full day off in Mombasa so together with the crew we planned a trip to the white sands of Diyani Beach. We had a few options on how to spend our day off but I’m so glad we chose this one. It took a long time to get to there (long car drive + catching a ferry) but in the end it was so worth it.
We got really lucky with the weather because it’s rainy season at the moment and it didn’t rain all day long. THANK YOU WEATHER GODS!!!
We hired a boat to go snorkelling…
We didn’t find much fish but we did find a STAR FISH!
We had lunch and drinks at Nomad Beach Bar and Restaurant, where we also sat and watched the sunset. Couldn’t have asked for a a more perfect afternoon.
To top off a perfect day, we stumbled across this cave restaurant where we decided to have our dinner.
We had a lovely candelit dinner in an open roofed cave… I think we were just missing the romantic proposal 😛
It’s so nice having a whole day off on a layover. It really feels like you’re having a mini holiday and you have proper time to relax from the flight. This rarely happens with our busy flying schedules, but I’m so grateful to have one every now and then!
Stockholm, Sweden
This was my third time to visit beautiful Stockholm and it’s always a pleasure to come back. On this layover I visited the old town, Gamla Stan with the crew as they had never been before. It’s also one of my favourite parts of the city. I love the colourful buildings and cobble stone streets.
We stopped at a cute little cafe in the main square for “Fika” as the Swedish call it. Fika is essentially a short coffee break shared amongst friends and colleagues, an important ritual for the Swedish folk.
The main reason I wanted to revisit Stockholm city, is the fish soup pictured below. I ate this soup on my first ever visit to Stockholm and have made an agreement with myself to always eat this soup whenever I am in Stockholm. It’s the best fish soup I have ever eaten in my life. Do yourself a favour an visit Kajsas Fisk if you are ever in town ❤
Penang, Malaysia
My final layover for the month was Penang, an island in Northwest Malaysia. It was my first time to visit the island and I couldn’t be more excited to spend almost 2 whole days here on my ultra long layover.
On my first night in town, myself and the crew visited one of the famous Iftar food markets. For those of you unaware, Iftar is the meal eaten by Muslims when they break their fast during the holy month of Ramadan. As Malaysia is predominantly a Muslim country, the majority of Malay people will fast during the day. These evening food markets are set up for the locals to break their fast.
The street food in Penang is phenomenal and so so so cheap. For $10 you can try around 3 or 4 dishes… just look at our dinner spread!
We stayed at a super nice hotel. This was the sunrise view from my balcony…
I also spent a lot of time by the swimming pool… (be rude not to)
Oh and did I mention the hotel also has a rainforest growing inside it…? not bad, not bad
The main attraction in Penang is the cute and charming old city called Georgetown. It’s known for its street food of course and also the street art that you find all around the city. Great photo opportunities!
I tried their famous white nutmeg juice which was so much better than expected. A very refreshing drink and what’s better is that it’s supposably super healthy for you.
More street food below… this time we tried the famous Penang Laksa. I’ve eaten laksa before, but the Penang style laksa is completely different. If you’re not a fish lover, you’re probably not going to like this one as it’s cooked in a fishy broth. If you love fish like me, then try it!!
This is how the street food halls look… Lots of different stalls with different cuisines ranging from traditional Malaysian, Chinese, Indian and Western foods.
My second laksa for today, this time I tried another Malaysian style laksa with coconut broth… yummy! Also, I’ll add that the coconuts here were some of the best I ever had in my life!
After eating all the food and taking numerous amounts of photos with all the street art, we headed to Penang Hill to catch the sunset over the island. Unfortunately, we missed the last cable car up the mountain before the sun had set so we were a little late to the party. We managed to catch the end of the sunset but we still had a beautiful view at night.
Thank you Malaysia for another great layover!
Antalya, Turkey
Just when you thought I couldn’t travel anymore this month, I booked a last minute flight to Turkey on my days off! As it’s getting very hot now in Doha, it’s the perfect time to jump on a plane and head to Europe! My favourite continent in the summer ❤
After my amazing holiday in Turkey last year, I couldn’t wait to return to soak up that Turkish sun and swim in that clear blue water. This time around I chose to visit Antalya, a beautiful coastal town in Turkey’s South West. I spent my days by the water – eating, drinking, swimming, relaxing – ultimate holiday mode!
I’ll be back Turkey!!!!!! ❤
June
I’m so grateful for my May roster, I really had the most wonderful month. Unfortunately, I’m not as excited for June as rostering didn’t give me any of my requested flights or days off… how rude! Anywho, I do have leave and am planning a nice little girls vacay in Malta which is one of our newest destinations that opened this month! I’m super excited for that one. As mentioned in my opening paragraph, I’m also planning to FINALLY go home for a few days… it feels weird to even think about as it’s been over 1 year now that I set foot in Melbourne. I wish I could stay for longer but it’s always a challenge to visit Australia on my days off as it’s sooooooo FAR… and I am not a fan of the jetlag!
My June roster looks something like this…
- Delhi, India
- Philadelphia, USA
- Colombo, Sri Lanka
- Warsaw, Poland
I also have 2 turnarounds to Iran and Iraq and of course my usual 5 days of standby, so let’s pray they give me a nice layover somewhere.
Well that’s all from me until next month. Have a great one people!! xxxxxxx
Danielle Murnane 
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