Getting there is half the fun

An AAP report by Andy Phillips says the mother of the three children sitting close to us had the right idea of how to get through a long-haul flight: bribery.

“Yes, you can have a biscuit,” she said to her youngest boy, a three-year-old now wearing a look of surprise at how easily he’d gained his sweet treasure. “But only if you’re good,” she added.

Ah, he must have thought – there’s always a but.

After the biscuit, a sheet of stickers came out of a travel bag, then a colouring book and some pens. The little bboy looked perplexed, perhapsthinking it was early for Christmas.

His older brother, a seasoned traveller aged six, had navigated the entertainment system, and was halfway through an episode of The Wiggles.

We were a few hours into one of the world’s longest journeys, yet one which hundreds of thousands make each year. Known as the Kangaroo Route, the Sydney to London long-haul journey is the standard option for Australians keen to discover the ancient delights of Europe, or for Europeans keen to delight in their own personal discovery of Australia.

Too often something to be endured rather than enjoyed, we had a few extras to keep us going – a sort of self-bribery. Rather than staring at the back of a seat for 24 hours, our trip took us through quiet NSW bushland on a Sydney winter’s morning and past the towering moonlit minarets of one of the largest mosques in the Middle East before landing in London.

Yet our journey was not unusual. With fuel levies and carbon taxes making long-haul flying more expensive, more and more airlines are catering for passengers who see getting there as an important part of the holiday.

We flew Etihad, who this year added the Sydney-Abu Dhabi connection to become one of the latest entrants into the Kangaroo Route market.

The official airline of the United Arab Emirates, the company has split the plane into Coral, Pearl and Diamond “zones” rather than classes.

Business class passengers, in the “Pearl zone”, get a kind of pod enclosed on three sides, with a massaging seat which mechanically reclines to become a completely flat bed.

Standard extras include a designer travel bag filled with products such as “refreshing mist”, an a la carte menu, a wine list and even chauffeur-driven luxury vehicles to whisk you to your hotel once you have stepped off the plane.

Coral (economy) passengers get a menu of their own, a slightly smaller travel bag and mid-movie treats such as ice-creams and bottles of water.  The entire plane is fitted with a multi-function entertainment system where hundreds of hours of movies and TV shows can be played, stopped, and swapped when you prefer the look of the one your neighbour is watching.

Our 14-hour flight to Abu Dhabi featured meals including three-cheese won tons and Arabian mezze, a couple of movies and a sleep.   By the time we got there our little friend had stuck his stickers to every available surface and we were ready for another stop-off.

A chauffeur-driven car waited for us as we stepped into the sultry heat of the Middle East, and we were whizzed past the changing skyline of one of the world’s fastest-growing cities, towards the InterContinental Hotel.

Having undergone a dramatic $A54.5 million refurbishment, the lobby sets the standard for the hotel, with crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and backlit Onyx marble providing an impressive backdrop.

Forget dreams, this is the stuff deep oil reserves are made of. Thankfully the 550AED-a-night ($NZ200) accommodation means you don’t have to own an oilfield to stay here, and it is central enough to be a great place from which to explore this new city of billionaires.

A day or two is enough to explore a few of Abu Dhabi’s sights. Burqa-clad women sat on traditional carpets in the cultural centre and weaved baskets and other goods; fruit sellers offered produce from across Gulf countries like Syria, Lebanon and Iran; jewels dripped from shelves of the gold market; the Persian Gulf sparkled from the Corniche, a sea-side promenade.

It seemed a world away from the monotony of the non-stop journey. Our final leg involved another seven hours flying time to London, and we had a room waiting for us so we would be refreshed before venturing into London proper.

The Renaissance London Heathrow Hotel is a GBP4 ($NZ12) five-minute bus connection from Heathrow, and added to their plush rooms is a view directly over the Terminal 1 runway. Super-thick triple-glazing means minimal noise gets through to the room, while planes landing every five minutes provide a fascinating reminder of the true marvel that is air travel.

If Robert Louis Stevenson was right, and it is better to travel than it is to arrive, then at least I could go to bed dreaming of aeroplanes.

Etihad offers return flights from Sydney to London via Abu Dhabi from $2951.90 in Coral class, or $8617.10 in Pearl class. Both include taxes and fuel surcharge.

Visit Etihadairways.com for more details.

The InterContinental Hotel Abu Dhabi offers rooms from 550 Dirhams ($A167) per night – for details visit Intercontinental.com.

Visit Renaissancelondonheathrow.co.uk for details on a stay at the Renaissance London Heathrow Hotel.

A Report by The Mole