A race against time: Azores to Austria to Australia

[Mattg]

A hot breakfast was served a few hours later as the sun came up again.



It felt a bit strange to be eating breakfast at what would have been 9pm in Vienna. But with the time difference, it was already 5am in Tokyo and we'd soon be landing.

I chose the Japanese breakfast, which was served with strawberry yoghurt and fresh fruit.



We landed in Tokyo around 6.30am local time.




While disembarking, I made a point of thanking each member of the cabin crew for doing such a wonderful job. This was a very pleasant flight.

 

[Mattg]

We'd arrived slightly early but it didn't really matter as my connecting flight to Sydney was scheduled for 10.20pm! Ordinarily I would have left the airport and headed into Tokyo for the day, but with the whole coronavirus situation I decided just to stay inside the airport. By the time I cleared international transit security it was 8am, so I had 14 hours to wait.

Haneda Airport wasn't as quiet as I had expected. Most of the airport shops were still open and there were still a few people around, despite many flights being cancelled...



By the way, I'm not personally a Pokemon fan, but I'm sure some will appreciate the novelty of the Pokemon vending machines at Haneda...



There are multiple ANA lounges at Haneda Airport. The first one I tried to visit was closed...



But of the ANA lounges in Terminal 3 was still open. It was a little busy in the morning, but almost all of the guests cleared out by 11am when some of the US flights departed. For most of the day, there were more staff than passengers.

This lounge was a comfortable place to wait around. Clean, well-appointed showers were available.




My only real complaint is that, having had only a couple of hours of sleep on the plane, the lack of a sleeping area (or even just somewhere to lie down) was noticeable. By late in the afternoon, I was struggling to stay awake and I tried to sleep on one of these chairs:



The ANA lounge has a great noodle bar with around a dozen hot dishes available to order. Throughout the day, I tried most of the menu. The ramen and katsu curry were my favourites. Here are a few of the delights:





And I loved the Japanese-style beer dispensers:



Other than the noodle bar, there was a limited range of individually-wrapped buffet food available and plenty of drink options. Every time you entered the food area, you had to get your hands sprayed with sanitiser. ANA had put on two staff members just for this purpose.

As you'd expect, the Japanese lounge staff were ever so polite. Each time I walked past an ANA employee, they would smile and bow. And they regularly came to check if I wanted anything.

As nice as the ANA lounge was, I was well and truly ready to leave after 14 hours!

 

[Mattg]

The next overnight flight was NH879 to Sydney. To my amazement, this flight is still operating regularly even now - in late April. This was another Boeing 787-9 and it was slightly more full, but only just with around 25 passengers. Unlike the previous flight, everyone on board was Australian. (They had to be as the government had just banned anyone else from coming to Australia.)

Only 13 passengers were in economy class, so once again, everyone could choose which row of seats they wanted to lie down across. This was the cabin after boarding was completed:




Priority boarding was implemented perfectly. And did I mention how much I love Japanese politeness? "Thank you for waiting", I was told as I got to the front of the boarding queue. Then, the staff member said "thank you for boarding" and wished me a pleasant flight. I don't think anyone has ever specifically thanked me for boarding!

This was another very pleasant flight with a great crew. Dinner was served very promptly after takeoff, and then the lights were dimmed for the night. This was the Japanese option:



For reference, this was the ANA economy class drinks menu:



I slept for several hours. Soon, the sun was coming up again as we flew over north Queensland.



The breakfast box served on this flight was perhaps the only disappointment of my ANA experience. This was the only thing served for breakfast:



We landed on time on a rainy morning in Sydney...

 

[Mattg]

I arrived in Sydney a few days before they started sending everyone to mandatory hotel quarantine. Instead, I was required to go into self-isolation for 14 days after I got home. But I was still allowed to catch a connecting domestic flight home to Canberra.

At several points throughout the journey home, I was informed of the self-isolation requirement. The first time was when checking in at Vienna. There were also announcements made at the boarding gate in Tokyo, and on the plane after we landed in Sydney. As we disembarked, everyone was given a COVID-19 information sheet and a self-isolation declaration card to complete. After duty-free, everyone had to complete health screening where our temperatures were taken and everyone spoke to a biosecurity officer. After this, I cleared immigration and customs as normal. The whole process took an hour.

I headed over to the Qantas domestic terminal. All of the lounges were closed (they had already been closed for 4 days by this point due to the new government restrictions), as were many of the airport shops. I only had 15 minutes before my flight boarded, so it didn't really matter. Here are a few photos from SYD in late March:

 

[Mattg]

The last leg from Sydney to Canberra was relatively uneventful. It was a short QantasLink Dash 8 flight and, miraculously, there were more passengers on this flight than both of the ANA flights!



A snack and drinks were served on board:



Soon, we were descending towards Canberra and my 39-hour trip home was almost over. Although I wish it was under different the circumstances, it was a relief to be finally home.

 

[Mattg]

Summer in Vienna is fantastic, hope you get to experience it next year. What made you move there, apart from it being the most liveable city in the world?

I really hope so too!

I've previously enjoyed living in Germany and the Netherlands, so Austria was a logical choice for another working holiday year given I also speak German. I also really love Vienna as a city - as you say, it's consistently voted the world's most liveable city and I can absolutely see why. It's beautiful, incredibly well-connected and I had a lot of fun there. And I really liked the food scene, including the sheer variety of different cuisines available. I still miss Vienna and can't wait to go back once it is safe to do so.

 

[OZDUCK]

Thanks for a report on what must have an intensely worrying time. I hope that you do get to experience living in Vienna again.

 

[VPS]

Glad you made him home safely. Hope you get back to Vienna soon

 

[NickCorr]

And I loved the Japanese-style beer dispensers:

View attachment 215866

I Love those beer machines!!!

 

[boomy]

Nice TR in unusual times.

Glad to read you appreciate the Japanese service and politeness. Some pax take it for granted and even complain about “robotic” service, something I never understood because IMO they are exactly the opposite!

 

[mad_atta]

Fascinating report! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Bindibuys]

Thanks for your TR.
Look at it this way...... first to arrive in CBR for the gathering.