Nearly a catastrophe

We left Cairns yesterday lunchtime, flying with Jetstar.  Both Lindsey and I get emails from Jetstar offering Friday Frenzy deals. I think Lindsey probably finds these a tiny bit more useful than I normally do. On this occasion it was very useful indeed because you could upgrade to business class for half a Vegemite sandwich and a bottle of beer. So we did. Jetstar is a budget airline so you don't get the seats that turn into beds, but you do get veRy comfortable seats with lots of leg room, lovely food, plenty of wine and attentive staff. I must remember to keep and eye on the Friday Frenzy emails the next time I want to potter about in Jetstar's domain. (It is surprisingly difficult to type Jetstar!!)

Anyway. We got here. Lindsey had organised a three bed room at the airport hotel. Which very conveniently is across the road from the airport, a two minute walk under a covered walkway. Where in most airports you would find the short stay car park. The only hotel actually at the airport, said Lindsey.

Odd, thought I. We are booked I to a different hotel when we come back on Monday. It too says it is a five minute walk from the airport. Later in the evening I double checked my booking. Yup. Definitely says a five minute walk. I checked to see how we got there. Cross the road, walk under the bridge. I looked on Google maps. That said it would take an hour and a half by car :-S. I checked again. A five minute walk. It was all very peculiar. I looked at it all again. I looked out the window. I can see the airport. But I can't see a bridge or a fly over. It turns out that what I fondly thought was the Osaka international airport when I was making the booking is, in fact, a small-ish domestic airport serving relatively local cities, about an hour and a half from the actual international airport by car. So no use to me at all!!!

It was fortunate that I thought to check last night, though. I could cancel that booking with no penalty last night. So I did. And now we are booked  in here on Monday evening. Very much more convenient for our lunchtime flight on Tuesday from *Kansai* international airport Manchester.

Kansai airport from our hotel window

Took me ages to work out why my iphone wouldn't connect to a network when we got here. Both Lindsey's phones connected - eventually. But not mine. Couldn't even see a network to connect to. Then I remembered that I had turned 3G off when I left the UK to conserve battery power. Japan's mobile phone network is entirely 3G.   No 3G, no phone service. I've turned it back on.

Onigiri for breakfast then off to Gifu.