The Kangaroo Route from Australia to the UK is a tedious 24 hour trip if you can’t sleep on planes (which would be me). One benefit of such a long flight is that the ticket will usually permit a stop-over for no extra cost. It is with this option that I find myself in Hong Kong for two days.
Nathan Rd, Kowloon - Hong Kong
I’ve been to Hong Kong a few times now using this option. it’s a great place to stretch your legs between flights. I have now got a few favourite restaurants and cafes, and can – for the most part – get around without a map.
My flight to London is with Qantas, which use Hong Kong, Singapore or Bangkok as the stop-over city. Singapore is good for a one day stop because it is so easy to get in and around. Bangkok is my favourite city for longer stops as this gives me the chance to explore some more of Thailand.
I have previously been able to do a stop-over in Tokyo and Shanghai, but fares to those cities are always more than the traditional hubs of Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.
Airlines from the Middle East are now prominent on the Kangaroo Route, so Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha are now viable stop-over cities as well. I got a great deal one year with Emirates which took me to Dubai, a city I wouldn’t have gone out of my way to visit, but a worthy city for a stop-over. If Etihad and Qatar offer a good deal in the future I’m sure I’ll one day find myself in Abu Dhabi and Doha as well.
India is the missing link on the Kangaroo Route. Qantas has a flight from Sydney to Mumbai and that’s it. There are no airlines from India that fly to Australia (though there is talk of Air India returning, and Kingfisher Airlines are looking into starting flights).
For me Mumbai or Delhi would make a great stop-over city. There are so many places I want to see in India that having a few weeks there on the way back from Europe would be a good way to do it. Visas, terrible airports and extreme culture shock would discourage any Australian airline from using an Indian city as a stop-over hub, so I don’t think that will happen any time soon.
What is your favourite stop-over city on the Kangaroo Route?
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