ahsset

If you have been to Australia and travelled as a backpacker, could you spare 2 minutes to complete my survey about backpacking in OZ? I would really appreciate it.

http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB2266FAFKYQL

If you did it before, i lost the results :( so if you wouldn’t mind doing it again that would be awesome… also its a little different this time.

THANKS!!!

PS OMG i didn’t mean to span the site… i have problems putting the messages up – it kept saying it wasn’t working… but it was… but it turn out that it was posting it in the wrong place… i WILL try to delete them. _sorry!

Wheni went there they gave us as much chocolate as we wanted at the start (ie they had box boxes of pieces of dream, dairy milk, dark choc, whatever – about 4 or 5 types) and they gave us a sample of each then offered us seconds if we wanted. It was to eat there as it was unwrapped. I think the idea is to give you your fill of chocolate at the start so you don’t get greedy/silly during the tour!
During the tour they gave out more samples, mainly wrapped things you could take home, like 6 roses, furry friends, dairy milk squares etc.
We were so sick from eating the free chocolate that we went to sleep when we got back to our accomodation. I woke up to the sound of my friend rustling chocolate wrappers… going for a caramel roses choc after sleeping the sickness away!

When i was in spain i found it very difficult to find much to eat that was vegetarian… there is only so much patatas bravas you can eat…

September 2005 (Main Lobby / Check-in counters) – We were supposed to take 3 flights on the day we ended up sleeping in athens airport. The first one was from Larnaca, Cyprus to Athens, Greece. About 15 minutes or so into this flight the cabin crew start running to the cockpit with oxygen bottles and come through the cabin saying “do up your seatbelts tightly”... then we started heading rapidly towards the ocean…
we didn’t know what was going on but we knew there was something wrong. the plane seemed to be under control but we were going down very fast. we honestly thought were would end up in the ocean. i coudn’t believe i was actually going to be in a plane crash. eventually the cabin crew came and told us that there was a slow loss of conpression indicated and we had to quickly drop below a certain level so that if the cabin lost pressure it would be safe for us!
anyway, obviosly i lived to tell the tale. we made a very fast landing in Rhodes and proceeded to be stuck there for 5 hours which meant we missed our 2nd flight from athens by 3 hours. when we eventually got to athens we couldn’t get onto another flight that day but we thought it would not be so bad cause cyprus airways should pay for a hotel for us… we thought. but no. appanently because it was an emergency it wasn’t their fault and they offered us nothing.
the next flight we could try to get on was at 6.15 am the next day so we had to sleep at the airport so we could be there at 4.30 to check in. i searched every inch of the airport for sleeping places. we slept in the only area with a few seats without armrests. it was underneith mcdonalds. there were bright lights, noisy security guards, noisier and constant announcements, the airport never stops all night and the shops are open 24 hours nearby.
if you have a sleeping mat there are better places to sleep but you need a mat cause the floor is hard, cold, marble. you can find little spots like under the stairs and stuff which are less bright and a bit more out of the way and peaceful.

August 2005 (International Terminal) – We were travelling round europe and unfortunatley ended up in Helsinki during the Athletics championships. Because of this we couldn’t book a hostel. We looked up www.sleepinginairports.com website and saw what great reviews Helsinki airport had and decided not to cancel going to Helsinki but to try the airport instead.
Our main concern was getting chucked out into the rain, especially because we couldn’t even say we had a plane to catch, but no one bothered us at all. There were HEAPS of people sleeping there. We were in the international check in section and there were atleast 40 other people there. I think that there were many people in the same situation as us. The airport was quite noisy until about 2am when the last plane left (full of noisy scotsmen in kilts) and again at 4am when the first plane checked in. i think it was extra busy because of the people leaving after visiting the athletics.
i slept very well on the vinyl seats from 2am til 10am. i did have a sleeping bag and a pillow and i even put my jammys on. it was a little on the cold side but not too bad if you have a sleeping bag or something warm on.
i would recomend you get there early (by 10pm) and get a bench if you have to stay there because all the accomodation is fully booked because there are not enough seats for 40 people! If you have a bedroll you can sleep on the floor in a corner somewhere too

October 2005 (USA check in area) – We had to cut our stay in Vancouver short. We planned to stay there for about 4 days but instead we had to fly in at 9pm on Friday and fly out at 8am on Sunday. We already planned to sleep in the airport the night before our very early departing flight but since we also arrived late on Friday we descided to stay both nights in the airport because it would be easier than finding a place to stay late at night and easier than getting up at 4am to get our flight out… and we are cheap!

I scoured every inch of that airport for the best place to camp out. On the check-in level on the far end of the USA check in there is a big empty area with only seats and a bathroom that is just perfect for sleeping. The seats are mainly without armrests so you can lie out. Its very quiet as there are no flights to the USA after about 8pm and there are no announcements! The only annoying thing is the ride-on floor buffer that comes around mid-night… especially annoying if the cleaner then hangs around talking for ages on his phone, but anyway…

This part of the airport is right near the entry to the Fairmont Hotel so no need to worry about the airport being locked at night and you being kicked out into the cold, which is always my main concern when sleeping in an airport.

This airport was fantasic. No one bothered us even though we slept in the same place 2 nights in a row. We had our sleeping bags, pillows and pyjamas out too. There is a couple of TVs to watch if you get bored. The food is not too expensive (for an airport) especially if you visit one of the 3 Tim Hortons (prices are not inflated). There is even a 7/11 and a liquor store on the bottom level of the domestic area.

Go to the International arrivals area for baggage storage if you want to go out and explore the city without your stuff. Its a bit expensive but not too bad. A pack or suitcase will cost $5 per item to store for 24 hours. The bus into the city will cost $2.25 and you need the right change… but if you are a crafty cheapskate you might manage to use that one ticket for the whole day, not just the 90mins or so its is actually valid for – just flash it at the driver and walk confidently by. if you get caught just play the dumb tourist and say you thought it was a return ticket… worked for us! You can also try jumping in the back doors if there are people getting out the back and enough people getting in the front doors to distract the driver ;-) BTW this is the only airport i have slept in that provided enough seats to cope with the number of sleepers!