We spent two days in Melbourne and celebrated our son Marcus’ 48th birthday on the Tuesday 30th April morning prior to heading to Melbourne airport to embark on our Qatar flight to Doha.
The queue for Qatar Airlines was exceedingly long and it took well over an hour to complete the check-in. Fortunately security and customs formalities were completed with minimum delay.
The thirteen hour flight to Doha was with a Boeing 777-300 and we departed on time at 15:15 Melbourne time. The plane’s seating was comfortable with ample leg-room and the food and drinks service was excellent. True to form, on overseas trips we order Bloody Marys which are a holiday commencement catalyst!
Bloody Mary time!
View leaving Melbourne
The 11989 km journey to Doha involved crossing from Melbourne towards Perth and then heading northwest towards Christmas Island and then across Sri Lanka to the Arabian Peninsular.
Our flight path, Melbourne to Doha
We landed at Doha’s Hamad International Airport at 22:45 local time and after a lengthy walk were checked through security and commenced a search for gate C93, the departure gate for our next flight to Casablanca in Morocco.
The Doha Airport is a very modern mega structure with airport lounges radiating from a central glitzy shopping precinct surrounding an internal garden area with tall trees! The airport lays claim to being the number one airport in the world having won the Skytrax award in three of the past four years.
Hamad International Airport, Doha
Even at midnight the airport was saturated with humans and we felt lucky to find seats in the departure area as we had a three hour wait before the Casablanca flight at 01:30 on May 1st.
At just on 02:00 our ‘Royal Air Moroc’ Boeing 787-9 departed Doha and commenced the eight hour flight to Casablanca.
Our flight path had us crossing Saudi Arabia and then flying over Suez towards Cairo. The track then followed a mid-Mediterranean path towards Malta and then over Sicily. We skirted Southern Spain before crossing the Straits of Gibraltar and heading south west across Morocco to land at Casablanca at 08:00 on Wednesday. The air travel and associated airport waiting time was just on 30 hours total since having left Melbourne.
Flight path from Doha to Casablanca
Passing through customs and security at Casablanca was slow partly due to the number of Islamic pilgrims on the flight returning from visits to Mecca or Medina. Many of the pilgrims had vast amounts of luggage plus duty free goods and were slow and blocked access to lanes.
On exiting the Mohammed V International Airport we were delighted to find Chahine our driver and guide whilst in Morocco.
Chahine greeted us warmly and escorted us to his fairly new Mercedes van and then drove us the 15 km into central Casablanca.
As it was too early to access our hotel Chahine (Arabic for hawk or falcon) suggested we visit the King Hassan II mosque for a couple of hours.
King Hassan II Mosque
This magnificent mosque was built on a man-made platform jutting over the Atlantic Ocean. Its Moorish style architecture is awesome in both size and detail. The minaret soars 200 m upwards making the Hassan II mosque the tallest religious building in the world.
Inside King Hassan II Mosque
Jak & Corinne inside King Hassan II Mosque
Built over a period of only six years in the 1990s, it incorporates 20th century innovations such as an opening sliding roof and lasers that shine east towards Mecca.
Opening ceiling inside King Hassan II Mosque
The construction involved 35000 craftsmen and everywhere one looks one sees exquisite mosaic tilework, decorative marble and granite columns, carved stucco, huge chandeliers and especially impressive is the cedar panelled timber work in the high dome.
The main prayer hall measures 100 m by 200 m and can accommodate 25 000 men. Women use an upper gallery mezzanine area for prayer.
Women’s mezzanine and central dome inside King Hassan II Mosque
We spent some time in the Museum of Islamic Crafts before heading for our hotel and some well earned sleep after two strenuous days of air travel.
Display inside Museum of Islamic Crafts
Our hotel is the Val D’Anfa and it is comfortable and located close to the Atlantic coastline. In the late afternoon we enjoyed a meal and drinks on the terrace overlooking the hotel’s pool.
Dinner by the pool at our hotel, Hotel Val D'Anfa
Pre dinner drinks by the pool at our hotel, Hotel Val D'Anfa
We then had a brief walk down to the nearby beach which was crowded despite the approaching sunset. The gritty sand was a coffee colour and the beach goers were either resting, chatting or playing soccer. Only one or two people were actually swimming in the surf.
Tomorrow we will visit sites in and around Casablanca.