Flight 3: Qantas QF 167 Sydney - Cairns
Aircraft: Boeing 767-338 “City of Parramatta”
Seat: 5A
Date: 7 April 2007
Scheduled: 0735
Boarding: 0755 (advised delay “due to late arrival of aircraft”)
Pushback: 0815
Takeoff: 0825
Descent:
Landing: 1107 (Cairns time – no change from Sydney)
Gate: 1113

As mentioned, I had to empty my water bottle. At this point there was maybe 350 mls of boysenberry H2go left. I bought it for this trip because I like the bottle, being reasonably stout and having a “pump” top, rather than a screwcap. I could also stand to have it confiscated without losing too much sleep, which might not be the case with a bottle from (say) Kathmandu or another travel goods supplier.

I drank as much as I wanted – mmmm, love that berry flavour! – and drained the remainining mouthful or two into the container at the gate. I can see that security points are going to turn into waste management facilities after a while.

The flight info said “operated by Australian Airlines for Qantas”, but the plane and crew looked bog-standard Qantas to me, just like the JetConnect flight to Wellington I took in February. I can see the day when Qantas turns into a franchise, just like McDonalds. Buy a plane and uniforms, train the crew using the franchise manuals, send the cabin manager to “Qantas University”...

Much like a Canberra cabbie, I guess. The cars all have the same brand on the side, we (theoretically) have the same training and standards, but when you look closely, it’s just a lot of private operators co-operating.

A lot of Japanese on the flight. But they were all at the back of the bus. The front cabin had 25 seats, with nine occupied.

It says a lot about me that I watch most movies nowadays on planes. I rarely have the time to actually go out and see them in a cinema, and watching television consists of the occasional news bulletin and maybe a favourite show (like Mythbusters). We took off to the south, rose into the overcast, turned right and most of the flight to Cairns was either in cloud or over land that was pretty boring. So I focused on the movie.

“Stranger than Fiction”, a lovely, witty, romantic comedy/tragedy. It had me laughing and crying, it was so well done. A fairly simple premise, but the movie explored the possibilities in some detail. I loved it.

Getting short of sleep by this point. I’d only had a few hours here and there over the past few days, and I could see myself collapsing into my overnight hotel bed in Tokyo and slumbering for a week, missing a bundle of flights. I’d need to set several alarms and arrange for a wakeup.

After the movie and meal, I got stuck into a book I wanted to release in Tokyo. “The Last Blue Sea” by David Forrest, a marvellous Australian writer of several decades back, who only wrote two novels, both of them gems. This one dealt with the war in New Guinea from the perspective of the infantry chain of command, focusing on the sharp end and the emotions of the characters. Based on personal experience. Gotta be.

The reason why I was in a sweat to release it, quite apart from it being a “themed release” of a sort was because 6th April is the annual “Cody’s Release” day to mark the day of death of the father of a BookCrossing friend of mine. Around the world, we release books of a World War Two theme to celebrate Cody’s life. He had been part of that “Greatest Generation” that went off to fight the Nazis and Nips, leaving their blood and bodies on battlefields from Omaha Beach to Okinawa.

I’ll be meeting the BookCrosser later on this trip. She is part of a group that sings old World War Two standards for veterans groups, and I have packed one of their CDs for her to sign. If I can get her to sing “As Time Goes By” after dinner one evening in Charleston, I’ll be a very happy chappy.

Anyway, I was running out of the 6th of April, even if you looked at the US time zones. I had to finish the book before I could let it go. And releasing it in a Japanese-speaking country (like, Japan) had its own problems – most Japanese would either treat it as rubbish or ignore it, and for a BookCrossing release, the idea is to get people to pick it up and love it.

So I was getting all sorts of inspirational input, but not the time to do any writing, save for a few scrawls in my Moleskine.

Coming down into Cairns the landscape changed from boring. Lots of green, lush farmland, rainforest, white clouds, expanses of blue/green water, millionaire homes along a beach, yachts, wide streets, sugar cane, palm trees. Everything that Canberra is not, apart from maybe the millionaire homes.

Istanbul was fantastic, I missed my flight to Helsinki, now waiting at Heathrow T1 BA First for my direct flight to Frankfurt.

I wondered what "cabbie class" was all about. Now I know that it is a very unique and special class. The typical flyer in this cabin is probably someone who is fun, open minded, adventurous and perceptive. A healthy attitude can sometimes make or break a trip.

It is refreshing to read such a fantastic report coming from someone who is not the usual "first class flyer". You add a very special perspective that I find amusing and enjoyable. Your observations are candid, even spontaneous at times and your writing is eloquent and captivating. I think you should be a writer.

Thanks for taking the time to share this superb report with great pictures. ^ :-: :-: :-: :-:

At the risk of sounding stupid, you can't be an actual cab driver, can you? And what exactly is Bookcrossings?

Keep up the very interesting posts.

Check out some of Skyring's excellent previous trip reports, you can find them by looking for older threads by Skyring on this forum. Good stuff!

Absolutely fascinating! Thanks for a fantastic read.
Tim-Tams sound mouthwatering!
Margaret

I'm in Charleston, currently preparing for the five flights in forty hours it will take me to get home.

And yes, I'm well behind. Rest assured, I'm keeping notes and will scan menus.

Currently in the BA First lounge at JFK T7, with two hours to go before my long flight to Sydney. Had the pleasure of flying First in a new AA B767, very impressed with the seats, which incorporate mini-offices in the seatbacks. The tray table folds down, there are holders for power supply and other gear, there's a power outlet, a task light, the seat slides up and forward to provide a comfortable work position.

This is distinct from the table in the armrest, which flips out to join with the seatback table to provide a big square work surface. I had my laptop going at the same time as the attendants served a meal.