Christmas Drinks & Train Crawl Sydney to Canberra [Sat. 14 December]

[Cat207]

I feel stuffed.

I second that.

It's a stinker in Gladstone, but beats that Antarctic weather!

 

[medhead]

5 of us are in the QF J lounge in CBR awaiting QF815 to Melbourne.

Whoops I got into the VA lounge about when you posted this. Should have wandered towards you guys.

Besides all the towels seem to be used in the VA lounge. Hope morning shift didn't use them all.

Seems my cunning plan to upgrade at the lounge with points has failed. All those emails about bidding for an upgrade did not mean I had a flexi fare after all.

 

[gwilli1]

Here is the group shot taken at Robertson yesterday

 

[penegal]

I found an iPad in the seat pocket and handed it to the cabin crew. I was personally thanked by the CSM who said he would pass it to ground crew when we landed.

Hopefully QANTAS can find the owner and return it. I didn't open it, but they know the seat it was found in, so fingers crossed.

Remember to always check the seat pocket!!!

 

[puppysparkes]

QF456 all I found was a CL boarding pass in row 23.

 

[OzEire]

Thoroughly enjoyed reading through this thread over the last few months and last two days.

After a function last night I ended up only a few hundred metres from Canberra station (in Kingston) and wondered if any of the AFFers would wander into either the Foreshore (which mostly would have been closed by the time you all arrived) or Green Square. I didn't recognise anyone from their avatars or photos from this thread so I guess not.

Sounds like all had a great time, thanks for sharing on this thread.

OzEire

 

[erkpod]

My trip report (still a bit of a work in progress, am uploading pics from phone & camera to the interweb now) is located at:

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....os/frequent-flyer-meetup-train-syd-56329.html

 

[Fifa]

A huge thank you to Matt, the fabulous Charlie and the amazing train Crew for a terrific day.
The trip between Sydney and Canberra was the longest I have ever taken but the time just flew .

My +1 and I had the best day and it was great catching up with AFFers we already know and getting acquainted with new ones.

 

[MartinMemo]

A huge thank you to Matt, the fabulous Charlie and the amazing train Crew for a terrific day.
The trip between Sydney and Canberra was the longest I have ever taken but the time just flew .

My +1 and I had the best day and it was great catching up with AFFers we already know and getting acquainted with new ones.

Loved meeting you two, shame you spent most of the trip in economy!

 

[MartinMemo]

Then 1(ish) VA and QF. ATR out of CBR this afternoon, as seen from the lounge.

 

[Major]

I would like to echo my thanks to Matt and his team for the great hospitality yesterday. It was certainly one very interesting train trip and I learned a lot of train techno babble, which I shall trot out at the appropriate social occasion.

Great to catch up with those AFFers that we know and to meet new members.

Once again, thanks Matt and your crew

 

[AdMEL]

Looks like I missed a great day!

And so the day begins - heading through Parkdale in a Hitachi electric train.

Any looking to be guested into the SYD t2 VA lounge from around 9am, please PM. (MEL too from 6:30am)

Rather empty at this OMG'clock:
View attachment 21535

If that's a picture of the train you referred to in your previous post, it's not an Hitachi!

It's either a Siemens or Alstom X-Tropolis!

 

[Fifa]

Loved meeting you two, shame you spent most of the trip in economy!

There were no seats left in J but at least I came forward for a few visits.

 

[drewbles]

Loved meeting you two, shame you spent most of the trip in economy!

You could, of course, have gone down to Y to visit

 

[penegal]

After a function last night I ended up only a few hundred metres from Canberra station (in Kingston) and wondered if any of the AFFers would wander into either the Foreshore (which mostly would have been closed by the time you all arrived) or Green Square. I didn't recognise anyone from their avatars or photos from this thread so I guess not.

Our post-midnight arrival meant many of us older souls headed straight to bed... This is of course with the exception of MartinMemo who hit the nightclubs in Civic until the sun came up.

Incidentally I had brunch in Green Square today with an employee of Brindabella Airlines. He is quite concerned about his job given the current administration.

 

[penegal]

I am now safely at home in Melbourne, and after a quick nanna nap I am ready for another week of work and travel.

---

What a fantastic event! I would have to rate this as one of the best dos of the year. I had a great time. Although the train trip was ~13 hours, the whole day went by very quickly.

I spent most of the trip in BAM1741, so it sounds like I missed out on some interesting train geek talk in BAM1748.

A massive vote of thanks to BAM1748 (Matt), Elyce, Charlie, Bruce and the numerous others whose generosity and skill made this event possible. I feel privileged to have had this opportunity. I know that Matt and co invested a lot of time and money to make this event run so smoothly, so a very big thank you from me. It was fantastic!

Special mentions to drewbles for the "ice run" at Thirroul that ensured everyone had cold beverages for the duration of the trip; and also to tuapekastar who picked me up and dropped me back home in Melbourne; and to Hyatt, who gave both SQ421 and penegal rather comfortable 240sqm (metre not feet) Diplomatic Suites. Having two of the largest rooms in the hotel was of course a little "wasted" given our late arrival meant we only used the rooms for a few hours, however the Hyatt crowd did enjoy a small bottle of 2008 Noble One as a nightcap to finish off what was an amazing day.

And finally thankyou for everyone who attended. The experience was enhanced by having such a diverse and experienced group of frequent travellers aboard the train. I apologise that I didn't get to speak to everyone at length, but I trust that you all enjoyed the experience as much as I did. Thanks also for your generosity with the donations to the Salvos at this important time of year.

 

[penegal]

To finish on a light-hearted note, I think the "call of the year" was made in BAM1741 shortly before we arrived at Queanbeyan. Needless to say - what happens on the train stays on the train... But I will publicly report that I have a very different opinion on Airport Security measures than that individual.

 

[Magpie10]

Thanks to everyone who travelled to CBR and shared their journey and photos. I think those of us who couldn't make it really missed a great weekend. Special thanks to Erkpod for posting so many shots. Cheers V

 

[erkpod]

Thanks to everyone who travelled to CBR and shared their journey and photos. I think those of us who couldn't make it really missed a great weekend. Special thanks to Erkpod for posting so many shots. Cheers V

No worries at all! It gives people who weren't there some idea of what happened.


I've got more photos that I'm uploading to Flickr at the moment, especially from places such as Robertson & Tarago.

 

[blackcat20]

I did enjoy my FaceTime chat with those on the train; it's the closest I was going to get.