HIDDY

I'm beginning to have my doubts as well Moomba after that itinerary.


Good work. ^

Moomba

I have now added the photos for the previous six reports.

Enjoy.

BKK-LHR coming soon.

Moomba

The Photos

After three nights in Bangkok it was time to jump in a car and head back to BKK airport.
I had ordered a car for 09:45 at the hotels recommendation. I could have left it later as the traffic was light on this Sunday morning.

I reached the airport and asked the diver to drop me at the Thai Premium check-in entrance. As the car pulled up a TG staffer opened the door for me and uttered the usual Thai greeting which was becoming a very familiar phrase to me by now.

He grabbed my bags from the car and escorted me into the terminal building. He asked if I was flying Business or First. When I said First he pointed me to the left and we walked into the dedicated F check-in area.
An agent took my passport and asked me to sit down. She did her thing over at the counter and came back to me with the BP and my passport. The baggage guy did the Thai bow thing and I nodded back thanking him.
My check-in agent then escorted me to the dedicated immigrations desks and then on down to the lounge entrance (Business class). Here she handed me off to a fellow on a small golf cart type arrangement and he whisked me past the business class lounge inhabitants and dropped me off at the entrance to the First lounge. Here he handed me off to a lounge agent who then escorted me into the lounge and asked for my drink preference. He also asked if I would like a massage.

Sparkling water and no thank you were my responses.

My drink was delivered soon after and I settled in to my second visit to this lounge this year and read my book. There were some computers for use by lounge guests and a small sit down restaurant with the various food items on display under plastic wrap.

At 11:50 an agent came around and told me it was time to head to the gate. He herded the four of us on the flight together and we were taken down a level to where some golf carts were waiting. Two of us to a cart we were ferried all the way down to the other end of the main wing of the terminal building. Here we alighted and were escorted upstairs and through the security check point. We were then escorted down to the gate and on board where our lounge agent said here goodbyes and the crew in F said their hellos.

Flight TG916 BKK-LHR Seat 1A then 3A
Aircraft: 747-400
Departure time: 12:25

My jacket was taken and PJs were handed out. There was an amenity kit, with basic non-name brand lippie, socks, mask, a brush and some Evian facial spray in them, already at the seat along with a pair of slippers.

I was originally in 1A and was settling in when it became apparent that 1K and both 2 seats were the only other seats occupied. I asked a crew member if I could move back to 3A where it would be a little more private (and I could take photos unnoticed by the other pax). This was not a problem and I moved myself back to 3A.

Dom was offered as a pre-take off tipple and I of course accepted. A hot towel was delivered before we pushed back.

The doors closed at 12:24 and we pushed back a couple of minutes later.

The cabin has a very open spacious feel about it but the seats offer little privacy. It was quite odd being in an aircraft where there were no walls in front of Doors 1. The first bulkhead wall was in the J section and was the back of the loos that were in the middle of the aircraft just behind Doors 1.
A flight time of 12 hours and 2 minutes was announced and my Dom was refreshed just prior to push back.

The cabin was sprayed with insecticide at the request of the UK quarantine peeps.

There was no queue for take off and we were in the air in no time heading to the West.

After the belt sign was switched off a glass of bubbles was presented before me with a bowl of macadamia nuts. This was followed by the luncheon service.

Bangkok - London:

First Serving:

Hot Savoury:
Chicken Satay
Peanut Sauce, Cucumber Relish Sauce

Oscietra Caviar with Garnitures

First Course:
Wing Bean Salad with Smoked Duck Thai Style
Duo of Marinated Halibut and Smoked Salmon
Rolled Grilled Zucchini with Porcini Mushroom Italian Style

Main Course:
Pan-fried Australian Veal Loin, Three Peppercorn Sauce
Roasted Potatoes with Rosemary, Grilled Vegetables

Roasted Duck Breast with Duck Juice
Apple Compote with Rosemary, Duchess Potatoes
Vegetables

Pork Mignon in Curry Pa-naeng
Steamed Thai Hom Mali Rice
Sauteed Kailan with Oyster Sauce

Stir-fried US Scallops with Yee Heong Sauce
Egg Noodles, Vegetables

Bread Selection

Assorted Cheese Tray / Fresh Fruits

Dessert:
Assorted Cakes

Tea, Coffee, Espresso, Cappuccino

Wine List:

Champagnes:
Dom Perignon 2000

White Wines:
Rully 1er Cru 2000
Chateau De Cruzeau, Pessac-Leognan 2003

Red Wines:
Chateau Batailley, Grand Cru Classe De Paulillac 2002
Monthelie 1er Cru, Les Champs Fulliot 2005

Aperitifs:
Campari
Gin Martini
Screwdriver
Bloody Mary
Black Russian
Vodka Martini
Warre’s Warrior Port
Bristol Cream Sherry

Spirits:
Bacardi Rum
Tanqueray Gin
Jack Daniel’s Bourbon
Johnnie Walker Blue Label
Chivas Regal Salute Scotch Whisky

Liqueurs:
1795 Extra Cognac Otard
Hennessy Paradis Extra
Kahlua
Drambuie
Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge

Beers:
Heineken
Chang Beer
Singha

Soft Drinks:
Fruit juices
Diet soft drinks
Perrier mineral water
A range of soft drinks

Beverages:
Espresso
Cappuccino
Decaffeinated Coffee
Special Blended Coffee
Ceylon Tea
Oolong Tea
Earl Grey Tea
Japanese Green Tea
English Breakfast Tea
Peppermint Tea
Camomile Tea
Milo


The next hour or so consisted of Satay and bubbles, Caviar and bubbles, Starter and bubbles, bubbles and bubbles.

For the main I went with veal which was just delightful and I washed it down with the Chateau Batailley.
The cheese was brought around on the trolley and I opted for a couple of pieces along with some of the Warrior port.

The dessert tray was brought around next on the trolley and I grabbed a couple of little cakes and some of the 1795 cognac.

As seems to be usual the turbulence hit just as my cup of coffee was delivered and it proceeded to spill all over the place. The FAs needed to replace the sauce twice in the following 5 minutes.

After the meal was over hot towels were once again passed around.

A bottle of Evian was then given to each passenger and the cabin lights were dimmed.

I played with the IFE system a little but decided not to watch anything instead opting to fall into a champagne, wine and food induced coma for a few hours.

The seat was comfy to sit it and to sleep on. The foot stool moves back and forward so that you can get it in just the right spot for your leg length. The head rest is mechanically operated as well. The seat seemed to have a few little quirks about it though when I was trying to get it to go down to bed mode it kept having a hissy fit. I eventually made it behave though. The only criticism I have is that the table does not move back and forward and seems to sit out quite a way forcing you to lean forward to eat.

I awoke sometime later and decided to watch a movie during which a snack of Open Faced sandwiches was offered along with some tea. The sandwiches were smoked salmon and chicken.

Around 3 hours from London the second meal service commenced.

Second Serving:

Canapes:

First Course:
Couronne of Leek stuffed with Pumpkin and Zucchini Salad
Lobster Medallion Marinated with Basil, Smoked Ham and Melon Balls

Soup:
French Onion Soup

Main Course:
Braised Lamb in Red Wine with Shallot, Pan-fried Spaetzley
Mixed Vegetables Western Style

Roasted Salmon Fillet with Skin, White Wine Veloute
Garlic Mashed Potato
Sauteed Fresh Boletus Mushroom, Fava Bean

Chicken Curry Mussaman
Steamed Thai Hom Mali Rice, Sauteed Broccoli

Stir-fried Beef, Carrot and Black Mushroom in Oyster Sauce
Yellow Noodles

Bread Selection

Dessert:
Assorted Thai Sweets and Tartlet

Tea, Coffee, Espresso, Cappuccino

The canapés were handed out with an offer of a drink. I went with the Rully white wine which I stuck with for the remainder of the flight.

My table was set after the canapés were consumed and the Lobster starter was presented before me.
The soup was up next and as usual soup on a plane just plane works. Very nice indeed.
I opted for the Chicken curry for this meal and was not disappointed. Once I had finished the bowl of curry I was asked if I would like some more but I declined.
Next up the dessert cart made the rounds with an apple tart, coconut jelly and corn delight on offer. I was umming and ahing and the FA said how about I just give you one of each. I said that sounds fine with me. She remembered my selection of the cognac at the earlier meal and asked if I would like some more. I said I would stick with the wine this time.
I asked for a cappuccino which was delivered not long later.

Once I had finished a hot towel made its way to my seat.

There was still 2 hours to go before we were to hit the deck and I spent most of this time sipping on the white wine, which was being refilled with regularity, and reading my book.

The crew were very good on this flight and I was never left wanting for anything or any bubbles.

We did a couple of circles over East London and then came in to land over Richmond. We landed at around 18:10 and were soon parked at the gate. I said my thank you to the crew and headed off on the long walk to immigration. I could have jumped a golf cart that was offered for the F passengers but instead decided on the walk.

The cart made it to immigrations only moments before I did but I got the upper hand by using IRIS who was again happy to welcome me to the UK.

Down in baggage the carousel started to life just as I approached it and 4 or 5 minutes later my bags appeared. I proceed out through customs, trying to negotiate the rabble that seem to want to dawdle through there, and then fought my way past the madding crowds waiting for arriving passengers.

Down, down I went to the HEX platform and had to wait 9 minutes for the next train to London.

A quick cab ride home from Paddington and there you have it.

The end of another week of madness ala Moomba style. I ate and drank so much in this week and a bit I now need to go to a health farm.

Or perhaps I just need a holiday? Hmmm Stockholm looks nice.

The Photos

Steady-EDI

WOW!!!!!!!!! Fantastic shot! ^^^

With apologies to this lot :-

A tube and a HEX costs an arm and a leg, keep moving
A tube and a HEX costs an arm and a leg, keep moving
A tube and a HEX costs an arm and a leg, keep moving
He's off on his travels again!

A tube and a HEX costs an arm and a leg (just nod your head),
sit down, stand up, keep moving
A tube and a HEX costs an arm and a leg (just nod your head),
sit down, stand up, keep moving
A tube and a HEX costs an arm and a leg (just nod your head),
sit down, stand up, keep moving
He's off on his travels again!

Genius1

I've just caught up with the remaining few sectors of your faboulous trip reports. ^

With regards to the BA facilities at JFK T7 (on your CX F JFK-HKG leg) the premium check-in facilities are on the left, not the right and the First lounge is on the left, not the right.

The trouble with BA's First lounge at JFK is that they have invested all their money into the Concorde Room, which is only for BA/QF First passengers and the invitation-only elite levels. The First lounge offers practically the same as the Terraces (business class) lounge next door, except a different decor.

Moomba

Thanks for the correction Genius1. I have fixed the post now.
How bizarre I know full well they are both on the left and can still picture them (even after all the champagne in between). Don't know how I managed to do that. Maybe this year of travel is effecting me in subtle ways I am not noticing.

Moomba

The Photos

Like I said I needed a holiday after my last routing madness of the previous week and to Stockholm to Stockholm to recuperate was the order for the weekend.

On the last day of the working week I was feeling decidedly rough and my digestive system was not a happy place. I went to bed very early without my supper the bad boy that I am.
On the morning of my departure I was still feeling a little green but a lot better and ready to venture out without fear of nasty consequences.

Back to the two tube and 09:10 HEX routine to take me to terminal 5 at London Heathrow.
On arrival I met up with my travelling companion for the weekend and for the first time ever at T5 I was through security in what I consider to be an acceptable time for a so called Fast Track. It was only about 4-5 minutes before we were making our way to the Galleries First lounge via the elongated routing that BA/BAA forces you to take.

Once in the lounge we stopped for a wee bite of some bacon baguettes and a glass of bubbly. The baguettes seem to have had some sort of transformation into Lilliputian versions where the roll part is so small the piece of bacon spills out every which way.
The bubbles on offer were the much maligned (on the BA board) Tattinger Prelude and a Cattier Clos Du Maulin. I decided to try a glass of the latter which turned out to be more akin to Cattier Piss.
Get this dear reader, Moomba left the glass of champagne half consumed and had a cup of coffee instead. The coffee was considerably more drinkable even though it was the ‘from an automatic machine muck’.

After a while in the lounge it was time to head down to the domestic gate area of T5 to board our flight to Stockholm. As usual with BA there was no such thing as priority boarding

Flight BA0778 LHR-ARN Seat 1A
Aircraft: 320
Departure time: 11:15

On board I was welcomed by name by the purser and once I was in my seat my jacket was taken and stowed away. A hot towel was offered whilst we were on the ground awaiting push back. The doors closed at 11:05 but we had an ATC hold so we couldn’t push back.

We eventually did so just after our scheduled departure time at 11:17. There was a long taxi and queue before we took off at 11:40.

Once the seat belt sign was off the purser came around with juice and water as a starter drink service. He told us it was the extended breakfast service on this 2 hour 5 minute flight. Ah the dreaded extended breakfast; fruit, a piece of cheese, a quarter of a tomato and some cold meat. Just the sort of substantial meal one needs at 12:15 local time and 13:15 destination time on a two hour flight. BA have you heard the expression low cost carrier??

With the meal rolls and breakfast pastries were offered and a round of drinks was offered, including the offer of some bubbles which I accepted. After I had finished he came around with tea and coffee offers.

There is not much else to report about the flight itself except that the purser was very efficient and regularly offered more drinks, tea, coffee etc.

We landed at ARN and were quickly processed by immigrations before heading out into the common arrivals, departures area at T2. On outside past the baggage carousel not waiting around as we had no checked baggage.

We caught the very fast and quite expensive Arlanda Express into Stockholm. We were able to take advantage of a 2 for the price of 1 one way fare offered on the weekend services which made it a price effective trip after all.

Once in Stockholm we made the short walk to the Sheraton where I they had to do some room juggling to find an acceptable room. Despite my sending them an email several days earlier requesting a room with 2 beds they had upgraded me to a suite with 1 bed. They eventually found us a room (which was a lower standard than the room with 2 beds I had originally reserved). Still it had two beds and a bathroom and that was all we really needed for the 1 night.

The afternoon was cool but not cold and dry but grey. We spent the time wandering the old town and doing a big circuit back up to a park at the opposite end of the city where an old observatory sits atop. There seems to be more than your average share of buskers in Stockholm. There were at least 4 of the ubiquitous South American pan pipes buskers we encountered on our walk. You ain't heard ABBA until you have heard it done by a pan pipe busking group.

It was back to the room for a while and then out again to the old town in search of some authentic Swedish cuisine. We ended up at a cosy little restaurant with not much in the way of a name CC. I had some lovely chanterelle soup and reindeer in apple sauce as my main. Both were very nice. A local beer washed them both down well. Coffee and some ice cream with chocolate sauce was the go after dinner.
A wander around the old town at night is very picturesque with little shops and restaurants dotted here and there amongst the small alley ways. Some of the restaurants have small iron oil lamps out the front which made the atmosphere quite magical.

After breakfast at the Sheraton it was out into a most miserable of days. It was cold and raining heavily the whole day which really put a damper on the day’s proceedings.

First up was an hour cruise, well at least it was indoors, down a canal and back around into Stockholm harbour. We passed by many museums, historical buildings and some very expensive waterfront properties on the way.

After this we walked in the pouring rain back 350 years to visit the Vasa a 17th century war ship that sank just outside Stockholm harbour on her maiden voyage. It was resurrected in the late 50’s and given a new lease on life. It is now housed in a museum where you can learn about the short life and times of the ship and its inhabitants. You can also see how remarkably well preserved the old lady is.

After a couple of hours here it was time to venture again into the elements and wander around the streets of Stockholm. We soon tired of trudging around in the rain and found a coffee shop to warm up and dry out a little. A cup of hot chocolate later, and a little cake of course, we made our way back to the Sheraton where we were due to check out a little later.

Back to the airport on the Arlanda Express again and up to T2 departures. The security queue was snaking a little but did not take long to make my way along. I headed up to the shared lounge that BA uses at ARN. I was welcomed in and given the pin code to enter the inner sanctum which was my right as a OneWorld emerald card holder.

The lounge had a couple of computers, some nice chairs by the windows looking out of the tarmac and some food and beverages. There was some beer on tap as well as bottled beer and some spirits and mixers and wine. The food was minimal including nuts, pasta salad, Swedish meatballs, crispbreads and some sweet cakes.

I watched the sunset over the Western sky and sipped a Bloody Mary whilst waiting for the flight. The flight showed as boarding and we made our way out of the lounge and through passport control and straight on down to the plane.

Flight BA0781 ARN-LHR Seat 3K
Aircraft: 767
Departure time: 18:40

On board I took my seat and a while later my jacket was taken away. Once it looked like the last of the passengers were on board the CSD told my seat mate he could move around if he liked. There were 6 rows of J on the 767 and only 9 passengers.

The captain came on the horn at 18:30 and said we had a ATC delay of 40 minutes but he was trying to make this time come forward. The crew got busy on hearing this and came around with trays of OJ and water. ^
No sooner had they done this when the captain came on and said he was successful at bringing forward the slot and we were to push back straight away.

We pushed back at 18:45 and taxied out to the take off runway. The CSD announced he would be dimming the lights for takeoff and apologised that the reading lights were inactive as they caused a constant dinging if they were used. Ah BA the purveyor of a fine range services on clapped out aircraft. So it was it in almost total darkness that we hurtled down the runway a few minutes later.

Once in the air and the belt sign came off the crew came around offering a pre dinner drink with some pretzel nuggets to nibble on. I went with a scotch and dry ginger ale. After the drinks dinner was offered.
The choice was a cold Chicken Salad or hot Salmon with Pasta. The salmon was mighty nice, made all the nicer with the Pommery Champagne that I was consuming with the meal. The meal was good until that last bite.

What on earth was gritty in that last mouthful? I had chomped into a little piece of pasta that had gotten dried and crunchy on the side of the cooking container. Seconds later I realised the grittiness was porcelain. A crown had disintegrated in my mouth on that last bite.

On the tray with the salmon were a small potted dessert and some cheese and fruit. After my porcelain tasting session I decided to bypass the cheese and just ate the little coffee mousse thingy.

The crew member came around offering tea and coffee or more drinks. I said I need to drown my sorrows as this just became a very expensive flight. I explained about my little mouth explosion and she asked if it hurt. It didn’t and I assured her of that. She brought me champagne and took my tray away.
The rest of the flight was pretty non-eventful but had some lovely views as we were chasing the sunset towards London.
Near the end of the flight the crew member asked if I would like another champagne and I accepted. She brought it out along with four more in a duty free bag and said they are to help ease the pain. I laughed and thanked her for the goodies.

It was soon time to land, which we did in almost total darkness again and we taxied to our gate where there was actually someone waiting to bring out the jet-bridge.

On leaving I thanked the crew member for my pain killers and headed out up the ramp.

It seems T5, the newest of LHR’s terminals, also has the worst reputation for non-functioning IRIS. So it was this evening the little lady did not want to play ball. I was directed to a queue where returning residents were able to speak to a real person, rather than queue with the rest if the foreign devils.

I was cleared into the UK in about 15 minutes where I met up with my British travelling companion who somehow took longer to come out of immigrations than I did. We said our goodbyes and I caught the HEX and two tubes back to my flat.

Passion / Addiction? I don’t know, was just a bit of a fun weekend away from London.

The Photos

Moomba

I have finally got around to uploading pictures of my time in Bangkok.

I had visited this city before and wanted to get out of town on a day trip. The one I chose was a day trip to Ayutthaya Province to a World Heritage Site of a 600 year old Wat. Also on this trip we visited the Summer Palace.

I will let the pictures do the talking for me this time.

The Photos - Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit

The Photos - Day Trip to Ayuttahya

HIDDY

The Pasta was innocent......I reckon the Pretzel Nuggets were the instigators.

Moomba

The Photos

Time now for another bit or bob, this time to beautiful BC in Canada.

Originally the flight chosen for the trip to Vancouver was the earlier of two BA had on their schedules which left early afternoon. Thanks to the downturn in the industry BA have ditched the early flight and were down to one flight a day. They automatically changed the booking to the later flight.

The upside of this change was being able to do an almost full day at work before leaving for the airport. The downside being that the arrival in YVR would be much later.

I left work around 14:00 and made my way on one tube and the 14:40 HEX to LHR T5.
I made the long walk down to F check-in and checked my bag and collect the BP. After a quick double back to the security check point I had to wait only a minute before loading my stuff in the tray and going through the scanner. Why can’t they make these things all work the same? I beeped. I never beep and I am usually wearing pretty much the same for each flight.

Anyway the ever so friendly attendant groped me for a while including running his fingers around the top of my trousers. He then asked me to undo my belt buckle and then he got his jollies feeling around the inside of my trousers again!

I headed straight up to the Galleries F complex, ringing my travelling companion on the way, who I was going to guest into the lounge. Once inside we immediately headed for the champagne bar and to my surprise some Bollinger was available. Sweet.
It was then time for some food as I had not yet eaten lunch. With that out of the way it was time to ponder why BA think that people at end of the lounge only drink white wine? There are several bar areas in this lounge. One is champagne only, one only has whites and another has whites, reds and on this occasion more of the bubbly.
After some food and a relax it was time to refill the bubbly glass. The champagne bar had no more bollie!!! I went to the other bar and drained the last of the bottle that was sitting up there. Phew.

Our gate showed as being one in the B terminal which requires a little journey on a train. We headed off over to the B gates about an hour before the flight so that we could check out the Galleries lounge over there before boarding.

We headed out of the lounge and down the escalator and then down another escalator and then down another escalator before reaching the train terminus. The train came quickly and it was a very short journey to the B satellite. Once there we went up an escalator and up another escalator and up another escalator before reaching the lounge.

The Galleries lounge at the B gates is a smaller version of the others but there is no F section and we had to mingle with other than Gold card holders in this lounge. A glass of wine and some snaps later we noticed that our plane had started boarding. We could see the gate from out perch in the lounge.

We headed on down to the gate and joined the Fast Track line that was not actually moving. In fact the agents were calling people over from the Y line rather than processing the Fast Track line. Around five minutes and a lot of grumbling from the queue an agent finally apologised for the delay in boarding the Business and First cabins. They were still being cleaned and we would only be let on board once the cleaners had vacated those cabins.

After the rest of the plane had completed boarding they finally got the nod for us to board. We quickly left the Fast Track line and joined the no queue in the Y section and our BPs were scanned and on board we went.

Flight BA0085 LHR-YVR Seat 62B
Aircraft: 747-400
Departure time: 17:10

On board I was directed upstairs and welcomed by the crew member at the top of the stairs. I walked down to my seat and extracted the required items from my carryon before placing it in the overhead bin. My jacket was taken and dealt with by the crew member.

Drinks offered before take off were champagne, orange juice or water. No prizes for guessing what I selected.

We pushed back at 17:30 after an ATC delay that the captain had informed us about just prior to our scheduled push back time.
We queued for ever until we finally powered up the engines and took to the skies at 18:01.

After the belt sign was extinguished the hot towels came out and were quickly followed up with a drinks round. I opted for a Kir Royale to savour with my cashews. Unfortunately no one informed me that if you unlatch the foot stool it can come hurtling down, hit the meal tray and then spill a nearly full glass of Kir Royale all over you and your trousers. Of course the stool is not supposed to drop without your holding the latch in but hey that is quality engineering these days.

Once I had dried myself off I settled back into my seat and the crew came along and gave me a refill of the bubbles.
The crew were taking their time with the meal so that they did not start serving until 19:00. The senior crew member came around and asked what my preference was from the following items on the menu.

Menu

Starters
Beef bresaola with rocket, Parmesan cheese, pomegranate and lemon oil
Or
Liam Tomlin’s mushroom and potatoes a la grecque

Fresh seasonal salad served with vinaigrette

Main
Lamb Shepherd’s pie

Michel Roux’s breast of corn-fed chicken with ratatouille and cherry tomato sauce

Butternut squash risotto with a sage and Parmesan cheese sauce

Main course new potato salad with poached salmon and baby beetroots

Dessert
Lemon tart with blackcurrant coulis

Croxton Manor Red Leicester and Cropwell Bishop Stilton cheese

A selection of fruit

Chocolates

Drinks
Complimentary bar service, including alcoholic beverages and soft drinks, is available throughout the flight. See inserted wine list for today’s selection.

Ground coffee, decaffeinated coffee or tea
Selection of herbal teas includes green tea with jasmine, peppermint, blackcurrant and camomile with honey

Club Kitchen
Between meals, please help yourself to a drink or a tasty snack. Please visit the Club Kitchen and choose from the selection on display.

Snack salads, sandwiches, filled rolls and wraps

Fresh fruit salads and fruit smoothies or juices

Choice of luxury cakes

Crisps and chocolate, including organic chocolate

If seated in the upper deck, you can visit the Club Kitchen downstairs.

Wines

Champagne
Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve

Champagne Cocktails
Kir Royale
Buck’s Fizz

White
Hahn Estates Monterey Chardonnay 2006

Chateau Thieuley Francis Courselle 2006

Red
Bonterra Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 Mendocino County, California
or
Cline Cellars Cool Climate Syrah 2005, Sonoma Coast

Valpolicella Classico Superiore Ripasso 2005, Tommasi

I opted for the mushroom and potato starter which was quite nice and the Shepherd’s pie which was dire and flavourless. Oh well it seems BA are living up to my previous opinion of offering the worst J food. The lemon tart was the saving grace of the meal.

After the meal it was lights out but the crew did not force everyone to close the shades.
We chased the sun for most of the flight so there was a sort of perpetual sunset for quite a while.

I busied myself watching a movie and reading as well as having a bit of a kip.

Around 90 minutes out the lights were turned on and the Refreshments meal was handed out.

On offer were:

Refreshments

Snacks
Selection of sandwiches including chicken with tarragon mayonnaise and savoury cheese with red onion.
or
Marinated Feta cheese and chilli-roasted aubergine salad with vinaigrette

Sweets
Traditional Bakewell tart

I had the salad which was mediocre at best and the bakewell tart was disgusting but that was more because I don’t like almond things more than it being bad.

I had a little trouble with the IFE and it reset itself in the middle of a program I was watching.

Towards the end of the flight I visited the loo and caught the crew member emptying the remains of the wine down the toilet. What a waste!

The CSD came by with the Canadian customs form which was the only time we saw her during the flight.

The crew prepared the cabin for landing and I packed my gear away and stowed by bag once again.

We landed at 19:10 and made our way to the heaving immigrations hall. I had not seen YVR this busy for a long time. There were several long haul flights showing as just landed and the line just kept getting longer as we were standing in it.

Twenty-five minutes later we were given leave to enter Canada by a very nice agent. We then went about trying to identify out bags in the hundreds that were going round in circles on the carousel.

We grabbed our bags and then queued again for a couple of minutes in order to get past the customs agent.

Finally outside we went out to await the hotel shuttle bus. When it didn’t show up for a while we rang them and they sent the bus out to collect us.
Once at the Four Points we were checked into a top floor room and we settled in for the one night stay before heading back to YVR.


The Photos

Kiwi Flyer

Nice to have another report to read while I'm temporarily on the ground (and a fine excuse to delay updating my own TR just a teensy bit longer).

So that's why most of the BA forum want to fly F

My mind boggles at where you put the tray in order for the foot stool to hit it. However, with memories of my CW seat shaking whenever the adjacent pax moved or adjusted anything, perhaps the foot stool doesn't need to actually touch the tray to cause damage.

I find the best way to avoid accidental spillage over the trousers is to ensure the glass is nearly always empty.

Moomba

The Photos

After a hearty breakfast we re-packed into smaller bags for our flight to Tofino on Orca Airways. The baggage allowance for these flights is only 13.5 kg and we were both hoping that we were going to come in under the limit. The hotel did not have bathroom scales so we had to play it by ear with our guesses.

We caught the hotel shuttle to the South terminal at YVR which is quite a distance from the main airport terminal. A lot of puddle jumpers and smaller outfits fly from this terminal to points around the west coast of Canada.

On arrival at the terminal building the Orca desk was not open as it only opens up 30 minutes before the flight. The terminal was quite small but seemed to have all you could want. There was a coffee shop, bathrooms a newsagent plenty of seating.

Our agent finally opened up shop and checked in a lady with a parrot and then both of us. We both came in under weight which was great. No boarding passes were issued and all we had to do was show our ID and sign a form.

The agent told us he would collect us when it was time to board and that we would be boarding from gate 3.

Around 11:40 the agent collected us and said to follow him out to the plane which was in the “nosebleed” stand (i.e. it was a bit of a walk to get to.)

We piled on to our Piper Navajo and made ready for the flight.

Orca Airways Flight 103 YVR-YAZ
Aircraft: Piper Navajo Chieftain PA-31-150
Departure time: 12:00

On board there were four passengers and two pilots and a parrot. The captain introduced himself and the co-pilot and gave us the safety briefing. We pushed forward under our own steam at 11:45 and taxied out to the runway. We were in the air heading west around 5 minutes later.

It was a glorious day and the views from the plane we fabulous as we rose to 6,500 feet to climb over the mountain range that dissects Vancouver island.

Our top speed was around 165 knots. After clearing the mountains we steadily started to descend to YAZ airport on the other side of the island.

The flight was just under 50 minutes and was a great experience especially skimming over the mountain range. There were a couple of eagles by the edge of the runway to welcome us to Tofino.

We grabbed our hire car (Budget have an office at YAZ airport) and headed off to our lodge at Middle Beach.

The next three days were spent in and around Tofino walking through rainforest, along beaches and going on a whale watching tour and eating lots of seafood.

I will let the pictures do the talking on the Tofino experience. I think you will notice that I found the sunsets to be very nice.

Tofino Photos


The Photos

Jenbel

Sounds like a great trip!

I heard a rumour that there was a lemur on board the plane as well?

Moomba

If you open the tray and leave it at the position furthest from you and then drop the stool down it does in fact hit the tray. Great piece of design that is.

Moomba

The Photos

The first few days in Tofino were nothing less than perfect with regard the weather but it all turned sour the day before we were due to fly back to Vancouver.

On the day it was worse still and visibility was very limited. We rang Orca and they told us that they had not yet cancelled the flight although if the weather didn’t clear the flight would not operate.

We pottered around for the morning until such time as we needed to check out of the lodge. The weather was still looking grim so we decided to ring again and were told that the flight was still scheduled and they would ring us if anything changed.

We went into Tofino to do some last minute shopping and had pulled into a garage, to fill up the rental before leaving, when the phone rang.

The news was that they had cancelled the flight and to be the airport at 13:00 and we would be bussed to the other side of the island where they hoped they could fly us back from.

Back out to the airport and we dropped off the car and waited until our bus came along. The driver explained that we would drive first to Qualicum and if it was still a no go for there we would keep going to Nanaimo.

After waiting for some late comers we headed off on the 2.5 hour drive through the mountains rather than over them as we had done on the way in.

The drive was really pretty and the autumn colours and magnificent scenery made it quite a pleasant trip. We stopped in Port Alberni for some food and drinks before ploughing on to Qualicum Beach.

On arrival at the airport the agent told us the plane was on its way and would be there in around 5 minutes.
Sure enough the plane arrived not too long after and the inbound passengers disembarked. Some were stopping in Qualicum and other piled on the bus for the drive back to Tofino.

There were 6 passengers and two pilots this time and we all walked out to the plane with our bags and the co-pilot loaded them into the various nooks on the plane. My bag ended up in the rear storage compartment of the right engine.

Orca Airways Flight 106 YAZ-YVR
Changed to BUS YAZ-XQU then XQU-YVR
Aircraft: Piper Navajo Chieftain PA-31-150
Departure time: 13:30

On board the six of us settled in whilst the captain gave the safety speech.
He informed us the flight would be 25 minutes.

We took off in the rain at 15:58 and climbed up to 1,500 feet where we stayed until descending into YVR. The flight was quite smooth despite the dreary weather.

On approach to YVR we came in parallel to a commercial 737 flight on the main runway at YVR to our port. We touched down just before them at 14:25
.

We taxied up to the “nosebleed” stand again and extracted ourselves from the aircraft. The crew retrieved our bags and we walked into the terminal building. This time we were prepared and called the Four Points who sent the bus out for us.
At the hotel we retrieved our stored baggage and checked into our room on the top floor again.

A few days in wet Vancouver were in store for us.

The Photos