WellingtonFF

I did a very similar trip four or five years ago, but with stops in Cairns, Nhulunbuy (to spend Xmas with my daughter who was working at the local hospital) and Darwin (with a side trip to Kakadu).

Fascinating part of the world - it is a shame you couldn't see more of it on the ground - I guess you enjoy your flying, as I still do after all these years.

Some of the fond memories of the trip (apart from the spectacular scenery) at Nhulunbuy, were Xmas dinner at the local pub complete with a Father Xmas giving out presents to the kids and being able to collect mangos from the mango trees growing in the garden of the house we were staying in and eating them for breakfast (I am a passionate mango lover, and the Ecuadorian ones in NZ are dreadful), Kakadu where lightning struck the flag pole at the hotel we were staying at on New Year's Eve and put out the phone system, and the spectacular tropical storms that regularly started at 4 - 5 in the afternoon - we got caught in two of them, one of them driving from Jabalu in the Kakadu to the hotel and it was really scary, and the other trying to leave a rental car at DRW airport, which I had to abandon, but there was a very understanding Budjet lady.

From memory, we did NZ Y WLG -AKL, NZ J AKL - CNS, QF Y CNS - GOV- DRW - SYD and NZ J SYD - WLG

It was a great trip, and I think some Australians living in NZ need to get a fix of the Australian outback every now and then. I am certainly one of them - in my younger days, I was very lucky to work in the mining industry and saw a lot of outback Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

I enjoy living in NZ very much, but I miss the space and the colours and the heat every now and then.

Seat 2A

I've always wanted to fly through Gove. Perhaps someday... I'd really like to duplicate one of the old MMA milkruns down the Northwest coast. In the meantime, I quite enjoyed reading your report as always. Quite the nice little jaunt through Oz. ^^

WellingtonFF

Many thanks. A little OT, but your post brings back some memories also. I used to fly with Mickey Mouse Airlines when they were still flying DC3s up the North West Coast and to Kalgoorlie. I was on one flight to Port Hedland during the middle of summer and the thermals were so bad and one of the passengers was so air sick that we had to land somewhere - Geraldton I think, and transfer him to a Friendship.

I also remember lining up at the starting stalls at Kalgoorlie airport (not the well known tourist attractiion in Hay Street !!) to join in the race to make sure that I got a seat on the plane to Perth - MMA was some airline, and it tended to be a little haphazard and disorganised, but it had great character.

Kiwi Flyer

Thanks for the comments. Australia does seem to have a few milk runs. I've been meaning to do some for a while, but haven't yet had sufficient time available (or really haven't found a way to combine with a trip to the nearest main centre to lower the cost).

Kiwi Flyer

I'm sure I'll be back. After all it, along with the northwest (Kimberleys, Bunglebungles, etc), is one of the few parts of Australia I have yet to explore.

Me too. It annoys me a bit when people say how empty the outback is. I just think they're looking for the wrong things and not seeing properly the scenes before their eyes.

littl_flier

I think Gove is one of the most beautiful places I've been to. I spent three weeks up there (in two trips) at the beginning of the year and the place has a lot to offer. Unfortunately there is very little accomodation due to the Alcan G3 project but if you can convince a local to take you deep sea fishing followed by waterskiing, seize the opportunity. There is crocs supposedly, but that only adds to the excitement.

lelee

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WellingtonFF

It is certainly one of the more remote parts of Australia, with no road contact at all during the wet when we were were there, but Mrs WellngtonFF and I apart from eating mangoes in the morning which had fallen from the trees surrounding the house we were staying in courtesy of my daughter had a great time there hanging out at the the local pub on the sea watching the sunset and drinking one or two reds , and visiting various places which displayed the local aboriginal culture.

My daughter is very much into aboriginal health, and was part of the Flying Doctor service into aboriginal communities around Arnhem Land, but some very depressing stories to tell, I have to say, and I certainly saw a fair bit of that it my younger days. But some very positive ones also with the art community near Gove.

Mrs WellingtonFF is a Korean and a painter and we have been married many years, but she is absolutely passionate about the Australian outback, the colours, and the space.

I guess I am the same as discussed in a previous post in this thread.

Kiwi Flyer

Rather than start a new thread, I'll post some other less travelled intra-Australia trips here. I have several such trips in the next few months so be sure to check back.

Kiwi Flyer

AUCKLAND to SYDNEY (AKL-SYD) on QF operated by LAN

Another day and another all too familiar OMG o'clock wakeup call. With a significant shortage of sleep I struggled to get up and thus left for the airport later than I intended. Traffic was moderately light but not so light that we weren't delayed slightly en route. I use the premium check in. Arriving later than normal means the departure tax stickers are here (although check in agent confirmed that at 0430 this was earlier than normal).

A small delay at premium immigration while the agent calls someone to sort it out - for a moment I thought there was a problem with my record (I did once need the agent to make a call to Canberra to allow me to check in for the flight!) but it turns out to be a computer glitch.

Then upstairs. A short wait at pre-cleared immigration as only 1 officer is manning a desk and there is a queue of non-pre-cleared pax. After a short while someone pops out from the side door to let me through.

Then quickly through security and up to the lounge. I hopped on the computer to check the departure time. For when I looked the previous evening the LAN flight from Santiago (SCL) had departed late. With a tightish connection in SYD I was anxious that my flight could be an hour of more late (and if late arriving a candidate for a remote stand - adding to the delays - for AKL international terminal is rather busy in the early morning with too many arrivals and departures for its 12 gates to cope with. Fortunately the flight made up time en route and we are due to have an on time departure (which actually happens).

I have a bulkhead aisle seat and one of the very few empty economy seats alongside me. What a shame - a few more seats filled and I was a candidate for an op-up. Still the seat isn't too bad, apart from the aisle being miscentered - thus every pax boarding (and the crew later on) seems to bump into me on their way past The seat is more comfortable than QF's economy seat for example. The IFE is off half the flight with just the short "The Simpson" movie shown (+ an arrival video for Australia). Headphones are the clip-on variety.

Breakfast is a piece of bread with ham and melted cheese, 4 cubes of fruit and a mini (half normal size) pottle of yoghurt. Only 1 drink and it is an effort to get any other drinks in flight. The crew ignore call lights (looks like half the rows have it lit up by the end of the flight) and a mission to stop them on their way through - it took me 5 goes just to get a 2nd (small) cup of water

Flight time is short and we arrive early.

Kiwi Flyer

In transit in Sydney

It has been a while since I've flown in or out of T2 (QF Link, Virgin Blue, Jetstar and regional airlines terminal) and I'd forgotten just how much more of a pain it is to transfer from/to international compared with QF mainline.

With the early arrival we join the peak hour rush. Even with passing dozens of people in the pier on the way to immigration, and not stopping for duty free, there are enormous queues and it takes 40 minutes to clear immigration. Then 20 minutes to clear customs and x-ray - my card was checked 4 times before reaching the x-ray - an indication of poor queue management.

Then rush down to the other end of the international terminal to take the transfer bus. Having already an onward boarding pass and no checked bags to redeposit, I bypassed the queue, quickly cleared security and only a short wait for the next bus. Then exit landside and descend to the tunnel walkway, up 2 levels to departures, walk past check in and through another security check. Then back along most of the length of the terminal to the Qantas Club.

All up it took 100 minutes to transfer and the cumbersome process involved many checks and walkways/corridors that double-back If I was slower (and worse luck timing the transfer bus) I could easily have spent 150 minutes, which is ridiculous - LAX levels of inconvenience

The Qantas Club is much smaller and sparser than the bigger mainline domestic one, but has most of what you need - free food (breakfast still at this hour), free drink (non alcoholic at this hour), newspapers and magazines, computer and printer, etc.

Kiwi Flyer

SYDNEY to NARRABRI (SYD-NAA) on QF DH8-300

I was taking advantage of a very nice Australia domestic sale, coinciding with a very nice trans-tasman sale, to visit (albeit briefly) a couple of places I hadn't been before.

At the lounge I got checked in for the next couple of flights. They were unable to check me in for my final flight of the day.

The flight was called and I headed to the gate. The aircraft was parked up alongside the terminal - so no bus to a remote stand ^ The all economy flight was very empty with only about 12 passengers in this 50 seater aircraft. Plenty of space for all those who wanted some.

The aircraft had been sitting in the sun for some hours and so was rather hot until the combined effect of aircon nozzles switched on cooled the cabin down. There was a lengthy warm up of the engine before we left, but even so we were slightly early.

We took off towards the north and had an unexpected flight path tracking immediately south, past the southern suburbs before turning west, flying to the edge of the Great Dividing Range before finally turning north. So those on the right hand side got to see virtually the entire city out their window at fairly close range. We crossed the ranges north of the Blue Mountains. Then the gently sloping edge of the western plains - the valleys seeming mere dips in the ground compared with the deeper cliff-ringed ones we passed earlier in the flight. The skies were clear with a high layer of dust/smoke, but nonetheless the descent to Narrabri was bumpy from thermals.

No IFE of course, but there was a muffin served as well as tea, coffee or water.

We arrived early. Those continuing to Moree were invited to remain onboard for the short transit. Nonetheless I hopped out for a quick stretch of the legs and to look around the terminal. But first a short wait for someone to unlock the gate between apron and terminal. The terminal is small and reminded me of say Wanaka airport in NZ. One check in counter, a handful of seats and a toilet. Nothing much else.

Kiwi Flyer

NARRABRI to MOREE (NAA-MRZ) on QF DH8-300

As with many small airports everywhere, regular passengers ignore the official check in cut-off and turn up just a few minutes before departure. So this means no early departure from here.

No security and the airport staff is nowhere to be seen after making the boarding announcement, so the only check of the boarding pass is on boarding, by the same flight attendant who came up from Sydney. For some reason I'd been given a different seat so I shifted across.

With a short 20 minute flight time (not my shortest flight in case you are wondering) there is no onboard service. Again the cabin is mostly empty.

We fly along at 2000 feet (yes you read right) - which gave great views close up (mainly wheat fields and empty paddocks) but also meant we had a bumpy ride from the thermals the whole way.

Again at Moree those continuing are asked to remain onboard. For those interested in mileage earning (eg through minimum miles) SYD-NAA-MRZ is a single flight number and MRZ-SYD was a different flight number, but SYD-NAA and NAA-MRZ can be booked as two separate segments on the same ticket. So easy enough to book in such a way as each leg on the triangle earns miles/segment.

Kiwi Flyer

MOREE to SYDNEY (MRZ-SYD) on QF DH8-300

This flight was 70% full and I guess the main reason the triangle flight wasn't cancelled. I did have an empty seat alongside.

We climbed through the bumps quickly and had nice views heading south. We crossed the hills at the top of the Hunter Valley. Downtown Sydney was just outside and below my window as we flew past to land from the south. We arrived a few minutes early.

Food was small snack box. A savoury danish, micro chocolate bar, water, tea and coffee. I'm not sure why they bothered with the box as offering not much different to the flight up to Narrabri, which did not have a box.

Kiwi Flyer

In transit in Sydney

I had a moderate transfer time but had plans for the F lounge visit and some shopping which meant I didn't particularly want to waste a lot of time getting over to international terminal.

On arrival we were asked to remain onboard while a bus was sent out to the aircraft despite being parked just a few metres from the terminal This took a while to come and load up. It then drove us around the end of the pier (we'd parked at the base) to pull into the bus arrival zone just about opposite on the other side of the pier. Grrrr.

Then a walk down to the far other end of the terminal to take the stairs down to the tunnel, through the tunnel which emerges at the end of the other domestic terminal. Then walk past a closed screening station to the open one in the middle of the terminal, quickly through and double back to the end I'd just come from for the bus transfer point (from which the exit from the tunnel is visible through the glass just a few metres away).

As I was not checked in I did so at the transfer desk. From some odd reason it took 2 agents and 2 computers to check me in The first seat proferred was not my pre-selected forward aisle seat but instead a rear middle seat (row high 30s on 767). What? Why did I (with highest earnable status on QF) get moved to such a horrid seat? More on this later. I was then offered - "we do have 1 other seat available, an aisle seat in the high 20s rows. Okay I'll take it - not as good as I'd pre-selected or would like but far preferable to where they had put me.

The agents did not offer an immigration (+ security) express lane invite (link to QF forum thread on this newly reinstated service) But when I asked they willingly gave me one. As it happened the express lines for both immigration and security were about the same length and at the same processing speed as the slowmo lines, so I kept the card for future use (valid only on departures assuming the trial continues or becomes permanent).

Of course the delay in checking me in meant I just missed a transfer bus and had to wait another 20 minutes for the next one (watching the driver sit and read his newspaper in the meantime - what a cushy job that is).

Then through immigration and security in about 15 minutes. Yeah even though both lines moving similarly, they both were slow for what is a quiet time of day for international departures.

So it took me about 90 minutes to reach the lounge from the time the aircraft door was opened on arrival at T2. Grumble.