We flew up from Melbourne to Sydney this morning to catch our flight to Santiago for a 32-day trip to South America and Antarctica. We got to Sydney with enough time to relax in the Qantas lounge and enjoy a bite to eat before the long haul flight.

Andrea relaxing in the lounge.
Andrea relaxing in the lounge.

We got a nice view of Sydney as we took off and settled into the 12-hour flight.

Sydney.
Sydney.
Andrea on the flight.
Andrea on the flight.

We had a relaxing flight to Santiago. Things all went well pretty smoothly until we got through immigration and couldn’t find our driver to take us to the hotel. We rang the hotel and they advised that he was stuck in traffic as a result of the on-going protests. While we waited for the driver, protesters marched through the airport. They were peaceful but pretty noisy!

Our driver eventually arrived and we headed off the hotel. We are staying at the W Santiago, which is in a nice quiet area (away from the protests that are on-going around the city). After checking in we decided to walk to a shopping mall nearby. Along the way we were struck by how many businesses were closed and covered by corrugated iron sheets. When we got to the mall, it was was closed. There was a small group of riot police out the front and the entire perimeter of the mall was also covered in corrugated iron. So, we decided to just walk back to the hotel.

The shopping mall, like most shops, was closed.
The shopping mall, like most shops, was closed.

Once back at the hotel, we relaxed with a drink at the bar before going back to our room. We are struggling a little with jet lag so we opted for room service for dinner, which was very nice.

Even though it’s only about 6 pm here, we’ll be heading to bed shortly! We’re not sure what we’ll be doing tomorrow; we’ll just see what the day brings.