Day 1 Thursday / Friday 16th-17th August 2025 Qatar Airlines
We started packing about a week or so before we were flying out. Tania as usual restricted Graeme to only 3 pairs of undies and 4 pairs of socks, minimal T shirts and pants. It always seems we are not packing enough, but we do get by while we are away. As the air flights were included as part of the TripADeal package, we didn't have any choice regarding airline, and this will be our first time with Qatar.
On arrival at the airport, we always check the weight of our luggage before checking it in .. this trip Tania's bag was 17 kg (including 2 kg of food) and Graeme's was 15.1 kg. Oh, also this trip we are travelling with new lightweight luggage sporting some colourful dust covers for a bit of protection.
Dinner was served about 2 hours into the 13 hour flight , we aimed to try and get some sleep at about the 4-5 our mark. The flight was relatively smooth, we arrived in Doha slightly ahead of schedule at 4.15 am local time. As we stepped off the plane, Graeme's glasses immediately fogged over it was so hot and humid, even at this early time of morning. We landed on the tarmac and was bussed into the terminal which was massive and plenty of shops.
We had about a 3 hour lay over before boarding our FinnAir flight to Helsinki. While lining up to board, a couple behind us spotted out Aussie flag patch on our backpacks and asked if we were doing a TripADeal ! They were from Queensland, and after arriving in Helsinki we found out there were 10 others on our plane that were on the same tour, and 24 more that had arrived already back in the hotel. So, our tour group was 34 people in size.
The tour guide, Jan met us all at the airport and transported us to our hotel for the night. After checking in, we ventured down tho the lakeside markets and had some moose meatballs for dinner.
Moose Meatballs – now that’s different. What part of the Moose (just out of interest)