With there being practically no traffic on the roads at 06:00, we were at the airport within half an hour of leaving our Oran hotel. We thanked Aziz who had been our driver for these last two days and checked in to find that our flight to Algiers would be delayed by around two hours.
We waited patiently and eventually our Air Algerie ATR 72-600 arrived and we were on our way to Algiers, a flight taking about an hour and a quarter.
Our plane from Oran on arrival in Algiers
At Algiers we said farewell to Ridwane who had been a most informative and congenial guide for our past ten days.
Thankfully, at Algiers our bags were checked in right through to Melbourne. We then had a four hour wait in Algiers where we bought drinks, read, slept and spent the very last of our Algerian dinars on an Algerian cap which was much too expensive but we didn’t really mind.
The flight to Doha was in a Qatar Airways Airbus A300 and took just on six hours and with the time zone difference it meant we landed in Doha at just before midnight on Friday 7th June. The touchdown was so smooth we weren’t really sure that we’d even landed until we heard the engine braking noise.
Our plane from Algiers to Doha, Algiers
The Doha to Melbourne flight was in a Qatar Airways Boeing 777 and was on time leaving Doha at 01:35, on a very early Saturday morning.
Our first alcohol for 3 weeks! On the plane from Algiers to Doha
Our first alcohol for 3 weeks! On the plane from Algiers to Doha
The overnight flight to Melbourne took just over 12 hours and covered a distance of almost 12,000 kilometres and had us arriving at Tullamarine at 22:50 Saturday night.
Our flight path from Doha to Melbourne
Diana and Chris then had a lengthy ‘transit’ delay before their Qatar flight continued taking them on to Adelaide. At this point we had to say goodbye to our dear friends and travelling companions for this last month. It was sad to say farewell after all the fun and experiences we’d enjoyed together in Tunisia and Algeria.
North Africa map showing places we took photos, May-June 2024
We gained consolation in knowing that we’ll all catch up again sometime soon, whether it be in South Australia, Tasmania or on another overseas adventure.
We did some duty-free shopping, passed through customs and caught a shuttle-bus to the nearby Holiday Inn hotel, arriving at 00:15 Sunday morning, June 9th.
Although it was a fairly short sleep period, the six hours was enough to revive the spirits and have us ready to head for Hobart at 08:40.
All went exactly to plan and our wonderful next-door neighbour, Kelly was at Hobart airport to collect us and bring us home. This travel sequence from Oran to Hobart meant we’d been on the move, either in the air or waiting in airport terminals for over 30 hours.
These six weeks of travel, adventure and discovery in North Africa have been far more exciting and enjoyable than we had ever expected. The experiences, sights, scenery, history we’ve learnt and friends we’ve made have been absolutely fantastic.
We have been so fortunate to have had such wonderful guides, who without exception have been so knowledgeable and enthusiastic about showing us their countries. Our drivers too have been exceptionally safety conscious and so courteous and helpful, we could not have asked for anything better.
Special thanks to Jean at Travelbookers and Chelsea and Jim at Native Eye for their valued assistance in putting the whole itinerary together and ensuring it all worked perfectly.
Finally, our gratitude goes to Diana and Chris who provided, as always great company and friendship throughout this adventure together.
During the six weeks of travel time in North Africa we have been acutely conscious of the fact that our very close and loving friends Sinclair and Janet have not been able to travel with us as planned. Our thoughts and concerns were with them both throughout our six weeks journey and we hope that sometime in the future we will be able to resume our travel adventures with them again.