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Queensland And Northern Territory Aerial Sampler

Queensland And Northern Territory Aerial Sampler

Old Jan 9, 2008, 11:34 am
  #46  
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Another trip report in this series is coming soon.
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Old Jan 10, 2008, 2:45 pm
  #47  
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AUCKLAND to SYDNEY (AKL-SYD) on Qantas 767-300 in business class (domestic configuration)

After a couple of busy days stuck on the ground I was up at OMG o clock and on my way to the airport. I almost stayed up for the flight but ended up catching an hour or so of much needed sleep and hoped my alarm would wake me - which it did, but only after it had been going for a couple of minutes!

The previous day I was pleased to note the threatened Qantas engineers strike, which changed to overtime ban, had been deferred for a couple of weeks. So my fears of being stranded somewhere on my complicated itinerary had faded and I was in a good mood.

Traffic was light and I arrived at the airport right at the time I'd intended. In the Qantas premium check in area there were a couple being seen to by one agent, and 2 Air NZ staff standing around looking bored. I was checked in but the boarding passes were slow to print and took several goes on all 3 machines. I thought the 2 Air NZ staff were unprofessional in their attitude - taking their time (even taking a call while I was waiting), joking about the printer problems and their ineptitude in entering the wrong information

I guess the regular Qantas staff are on holiday at the moment (indeed I didn't recognise the Air NZ staff either - I doubt they worked on the premium check in desk).

They already had a supply of departure tax stickers (earlier than normal), but I did not need one this time having purchased some extras a few weeks ago.

I was first to the immigration agent in the check in lobby and quickly through. The escalator to departures level wasn't working, and the upper level was fairly deserted. Immigration was not open, and remained closed until 5am. Why is it that some days they open at 4am, some at 4:30am and others not until 5am? Very annoying if you've arrived early (as instructed by the airlines) and hoping to shop/shower/do some work before the flight only to spend most of the time before boarding waiting.

Finally they open and I'm quickly through. At the WTMD the screener wanted me to put my boarding pass into a tray I just said no and walked through.

Up to the lounge which had been open for some time, to cater for the LAN arrival from Santiago. Welcomed back and headed for a computer. Oops the F ones are all in use - have to slum it in business
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Old Jan 10, 2008, 7:10 pm
  #48  
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Boarding was called. We had the far end gate. The flight was fairly empty - ridiculously empty in business class. I'd noticed the previous day that the seat beside me had been blocked ^

A pre-departure water, juice or bubbly. A DVD folder was handed out for me to make a selection before we left. My folder had only 3 offerings with lots of double-ups and triple-ups. Nonetheless I got my choice on request. With a short flight time announced I went for my 2nd choice of movie as the first one was a bit long to finish today.

We left on time. Another drink (water, juice, smoothie or bubbly) before breakfast.

My overhead light flicked on and off intermittently all flight. The small bulkhead screens showed nothing but flickers until close to landing when they sprung into life on the flightpath. The main screen had no such problems.

I dozed a bit.

We arrived early with a rare straight in approach, but most of this time was negated by a long taxi. As we disembarked I prepared myself to race across to domestic for my connection which when booked was short was made even shorter by a schedule change. Sometimes at this time of day I've taken the full amount of time I have available just to clear immigration and customs, and then there still is the transfer.

I noticed an Air NZ aircraft at a gate on the one world pier. They seem to be mixing things up a bit lately, for just a few days ago I observed a Qantas aircraft on the star alliance pier.
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Old Jan 10, 2008, 7:19 pm
  #49  
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Auckland to Sydney business class menu

BREAKFAST

Fruit fusion drink

Orange juice

Your choice of:

Continental breakfast

Fresh seasonal fruit

Bookfarm muesli

or

Cereal selection

A choice of warm bakery items

or

Hot breakfast

Fresh seasonal fruit

Ricotta and basil frittata with leg ham, mushrooms and rocket

or

Smoked salmon scrambled eggs with potato rosti, sauteed spinach and tomato
A choice of warm bakery items


BEVERAGES menu

Champagne

Australian Wine

Aperitifs

Campari

Spirits

Bacardi white rum
Chivas regal scotch whisky
Inner circle (green dot) dark rum 57.2%
Tanqueray london dry gin
The glenlivet malt whisky
Wild turkey 86.8 bourbon
Wyborowa classic vodka

Beers

For your enjoyment we have a selection of premium international and Australian beers onboard today.

Non Alcoholic

Apple juice
Orange juice
Spicy tomato juice
Tomato juice
Mineral water
Soda water
Tonic water
Bundaberg ginger beer
Cola
Diet cola
Ginger ale
Lemonade
Solo - lemon squash

Hot Beverages

Grinders coffee
bodum
decaffeinated

Dilmah tea
chamomile
english breakfast
jasmine green
peppermint

Hot chocolate

Liqueurs

Bailey's irish cream
Cointreau

Fortified

Penfolds bluestone 10yo tawny
Rutherglen liqueur muscat

Cognac
Martell vsop
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Old Jan 11, 2008, 9:53 pm
  #50  
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SYDNEY to CAIRNS (SYD-CNS) on Qantas 767-300 in business class (international configuration!)

It was my fastest transfer international to domestic that I could recall. Gate was close to immigration. Walked straight up to officer - no line at any booth. Managed to get through the baggage claim melee fairly fast and turned right for the express customs line (regular line was rather long, as normal for this time of day). No queue there, thus no delay at X-ray.

Power-walked to transfer bus, passing dozens of passengers along the way. No queue at security (there was a queue for check in/bag drop but since I already had my boarding pass and no checked bags I simply ducked under the barrier to the security line). Waited 1 minute before the bus boarded. Arrived at Qantas Club 30 minutes after our aircraft doors opened on arrival.

Brilliant. If only every transfer was this good. So I had a bit of time in the lounge to catch up on emails before my flight was called. The announcement was made late in the boarding process, so by the time I got to the gate at the far end of the terminal I was one of the last to board.

Business class was 3/4 full, but an empty seat beside me ^

A delay on departure due to discrepancy in the amount of fuel. Rather important to have that right. Still, I hoped the delay wouldn't be too long for my onward connection is not long (and on separate tickets). I'd already OLCI'ed as a precaution. The delay was not long, but our taxi was.

Service was good.

The meal on offer was lunch (rather early). A choice between feta salmon salad and chicken. Roll, cup cake, the usual drinks. Only 1 white and 1 red wine available - I thought there were 2 of each when I flew this a couple of months ago. Some time later (after trays cleared away), an nice cream ice cream.

Being an international configuration aircraft, we had a choice of 9 channels of movies/shows.

Not much view - lots of cloud. Some turbulence about an hour out of Cairns. The bumps were not bad at all, but service was discontinued. We pulled up a little behind schedule at the end gate - thus a long walk in the outside covered passageway more than the length of the terminal, in rather hot steamy air, followed by walking back most of the length of the terminal to get to security. Poor design if you ask me.

Last edited by Kiwi Flyer; Jan 11, 2008 at 10:05 pm
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Old Jan 11, 2008, 10:24 pm
  #51  
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Cairns to Townsville (CNS-TSV) on Qantas Dash 8 Q400 in economy class (operated by Sunstate)

Back in the lounge I had just enough time to confirm meeting with some FTers that evening and freshen up, before the flight was called. The temporary Qantas Club (as with the SYD F relaunch, temporary means 1-2 years) is as crowded as ever. I've visited a few times since the temporary lounge has been used, all at this time of day (middle of the day) and every time it is crowded - standing room only. Queues for bathroom, computers, entry to the lounge and even the drinks.

Anyway, I have the milk run to look forward to. Why fly to Brisbane in a couple of hours when you can stretch it out all afternoon? Get closer views of the coast, islands and Great Barrier Reef. No misconnect risk as it is all on one aircraft. Ahh to have the luxury of enough time to do this.

It also adds several new airports and routes to my personal flown list.

It is not trivial to book this. Enter Cairns to Brisbane in booking engines and this flight does not appear. You need to book as multiple coupons to force the flight. But on the Qantas website, for example, there is a limit of 2 "routes" per day. So if you want to get minimum miles/segment credited for all the segments you need to use other booking engines or split across multiple tickets. Further, when I originally booked this flight it had 25 minute transits between each leg - thus bookable on Qantas website (MCT is 25 minutes). However, some other FTers who booked subsequently found the schedule had been modified with some transits being 20 minutes.

First we have a long walk to the end remote stand - including a wait en route for ground traffic to cross our path. By the time we get inside the airconditioning is a very welcome relief.

The flight is fairly full but the seat beside me is empty. My small carry on fits neatly in the overhead bin.

The flight is short so soon after takeoff the crew are up and handing out the snack. Today it is a small filled roll plus water pottle.

We have nice views of the GBR and islets. To our right the thunder clouds are building and mask views of the ranges.

On arrival at Townsville, through passengers are asked to remain on board and keep their cellphones off while refueling takes place. We are also asked to unbuckle our seatbelts.
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Old Jan 11, 2008, 10:35 pm
  #52  
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TOWNSVILLE to MACKAY (TSV-MKY) on Qantas Dash 8 Q400 in economy class

About half the passengers disembark and 5 minutes later about the same number get on.

The FAs take turns doing the safety briefing. I guess it would be boring doing it 5 times in a short period.

Another short flight. This time the snack ("refreshment on the Qantas website) is some christmas shortbread (still!), water, tea or coffee.

This leg is mostly close to the coast.
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Old Jan 11, 2008, 10:36 pm
  #53  
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Time to board another flight - I'll update some more later.
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Old Jan 12, 2008, 2:08 am
  #54  
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MACKAY to ROCKHAMPTON (MKY-ROK) on Qantas Dash 8 Q400 in economy class

This flight is fuller so I lose the empty seat alongside.

Although the website stated refreshment there is just a small water pottle handed out.

As we head south we encounter extensive cloud cover and lose the views I'd hoped for. We only break out below the cloud seconds from landing, but it isnt raining (just very humid).
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Old Jan 12, 2008, 2:14 am
  #55  
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ROCKHAMPTON to GLADSTONE (ROK-GLT) on Qantas Dash 8 Q400 in economy class

A short hop - very similar to the Narrabri to Moree flight. Thus no service. The flight isn't quite as short as Blenheim to Wellington, thus we do get over 10,000 feet altitude.

Solid cloud cover the whole way and again very damp and humid at Gladstone. I'm not sure why but the apron at Gladstone is on a split level!
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Old Jan 12, 2008, 2:21 am
  #56  
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GLADSTONE to BRISBANE (GLT-BNE) on Qantas Dash 8 Q400 in economy class

We were delayed here while the late flight from Brisbane arrived, and did a full turnaround before our joining passengers boarded. So the 20 minute transfer became 45 minutes. If I'd realised I would have hopped off to make a call about dinner/drinks with some FTers.

Eventually we left. Another short flight with no view of the ground below. The setting sun lit up the cloud tops though.

The snack was cheese and crackers, a piece of salami, water, wine or beer.

On arrival we got one of the remotest prop gates. Since it was trying to rain this meant a bus into the terminal. Unlike most other airports that use buses with a mix of seats and standing area, Brisbane uses extended mini-vans. Very crowded and sticky inside It took 3 buses to accommodate all the passengers.

Then I hopped back through security to the Qantas Club to check in for tomorrow's flights, before joining QF WP, IanF and willyroo for drinks and a bite to eat.
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Old Jan 12, 2008, 2:27 am
  #57  
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BRISBANE to LONGREACH (BNE-LRE) on Qantas Dash 8 Q400 in economy class (operated by Sunstate)

After checking in late at night I was not happy to have an OMG wake up call to catch the early train out to the airport for my early morning flight to Longreach, home of Qantas.

When I originally booked this trip the flight went via Barcaldine. But subsequently the Brisbane to Barcaldine flight was added as a tag leg to a Roma flight (ie BNE-BCI-LRE + BNE-ROM became BNE-LRE and BNE-ROM-BCI).

oops time to board another flight, back later
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Old Jan 12, 2008, 1:19 pm
  #58  
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Apologies for the interruption (again).

We had a gate close to the terminal - walked underneath the pier to get to it. A short delay for ground traffic to cross our path.

The flight wasn't very full, so I don't think passenger load is the reason for switching the flights around.

A breakfast was served. Muffin, dried apricots, apple juice, water, tea & coffee. No second drink - which is a bit poor for a flight over 2 hours.

I dozed some of the flight.

The skies were much clearer today and so reasonable views along the way. First the sprawl of greater Brisbane, which then gave way to farms and bush clad hills (the Great Dividing Range - but doesn't look particularly impressive in this part), then great open plains. The monsoonal rains had partly filled the many river channels and turned the land green.

We circled over the small Longreach township before landing. This gave views of the Qantas museum, including the 747 on display.
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Old Jan 12, 2008, 1:30 pm
  #59  
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LONGREACH to BRISBANE (LRE-BNE) on Qantas Dash 8 Q400 in economy class

Shortly before boarding I was paged and handed a "proper" boarding pass. Apparently they don't like you using PYOBP here (because there is no barcode scanner they have to manually keep track of the number of pax with PYOBP and add to the count of BP stubs). Seems silly to me. Most other airports without barcode scanners seem to handle it okay, and in any event they could rip off the extra portion of the paper (PYOBP gives two copies of the BP on the same page).

Again the flight wasn't very full.

I dozed some more.

Snack was a cheese ham and tomato relish sandwich, water, tea and coffee.

On arrival in Brisbane we got the same far stand as I had on the milk run flight the day before. This time, with the weather good (sunny, warm and a stiff breeze) we walked all the way to the terminal.

Then through security and up to the Qantas club to await my next flights. There were lots of kids taking up most of the computers playing games, with no sign of the parents. This annoyed many adult passengers (including me) as it was hard to get a computer (basically had to kick a kid off). The kids were there for a few hours (at least a few hours after I arrived) - so it looked like the parents used it as a daycare facility It even appeared that most of them were in one family/one group. So much for the signs that say "children under the age of 18 not permitted the use of internet facilities"
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Old Jan 12, 2008, 7:47 pm
  #60  
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BRISBANE to BUNDABERG (BNE-BDB) on Qantas Dash 8-300 in economy class

After a few hours in the lounge, and many drinks later (no hot food though ) it was time to board.

Another walk across the tarmac to our aircraft.

Snack was cheese and crackers, tomato dip, more crackers, water, wine and beer.

The flight was fairly full.

Afternoon cloud buildups meant an intermittent view of the countryside along our route. A glimpse of the sea before we turned over the town and back across the river to land.
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