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

[CaviAck]

Big, big, BIG! thanks to Matt, Charlie, Bruce, and everyone else involved in organising and running the event. I had an absolute blast on the train down to CBR. The 13 hours on the train with such great company went by too quickly. Definitely looking forward to the next one and hopefully I can wrangle the finance department into cooperating.

Many thanks for Drewbles for organising the ice run, the cold drinks from Thirroul onwards were still good into Tarago and definitely much appreciated.

After the long journey home, it's safe to say I will be avoiding long layovers in MEL from now on... And most definitely avoiding the TT shed.

 

[erkpod]

After the long journey home, it's safe to say I will avoiding long layovers in MEL from now on... And most definitely avoiding the TT shed.

I hope you had a nice, unrushed meal in MEL to make up for Tarago.

Maybe for the next event we should do what you & I did, ensure the avatar matches the person even if that means that someone prints out their avatar.

 

[erkpod]

I've uploaded pics from my camera for Saturday & Sunday. I still have some photos to upload from my phone.

AFF Xmas Trip To Canberra 2013 - a set on Flickr


I've also added plane, train, bus, light rail pics from Friday, Friday night, Saturday & Sunday here

Planes, Trains & Automobiles (13-15 December 2013) - a set on Flickr

 

[erkpod]

No, this isn't part of the AFF train. This was the back of the RTM train as the locos were running around at Central.



Pacific National loco 9308 passes our train at Robertson while in charge of a steel train.



Tarago pub pre-AFF tour group arrival



Tarago pub upon leaving





An unexpected bonus for me when arriving back into SYD was seeing VA's 100th B737, YH-YFR.

 

[erkpod]

I've now been to the Vlounges in SYD, MEL, ADL, BNE, OOL & CBR. For me, the latter two are the best for tarmac views/photos but I think I like the views/variety of planes better in OOL. OOL wins!

 

[bass_ke]

I had a quick look through my camera last night and realised I hardly took any photos!

I'll try and get some up tonight or tomorrow

 

[CaviAck]

I hope you had a nice, unrushed meal in MEL to make up for Tarago.

Maybe for the next event we should do what you & I did, ensure the avatar matches the person even if that means that someone prints out their avatar.

View attachment 21709

Food for the Sunday was definitely not rushed. Breakfast at the CP was definitely not rushed, struggled and could barely finish the first plate. The hand delivered coffee to my table was helpful... was still a good breakfast none the less. Lunch was a sandwich slopped up in the VA lounge after all you guys left. And the refreshment service on board QF815 was definitely not rushed, I think penegal at some stage was thinking about lobbing something through the curtains at me. Dinner in the MEL J Lounge was lackluster and hence had a quick toasted sandwich then see what was on offer on QF462 to SYD, which was surprisingly a decent fish pie.

 

[bass_ke]

I'm with you on the CP breakfast struggle, it looked great but couldn't manage to eat much!

 

[Major]

I'm with you on the CP breakfast struggle, it looked great but couldn't manage to eat much!

The smoked salmon was very good

 

[CaviAck]

I'm with you on the CP breakfast struggle, it looked great but couldn't manage to eat much!

Agreed! One of the best breakfast spreads I've seen. Better than the one in the rooftop lounge in the Sydney IC!

The smoked salmon was very good

Unfortunately that was left for one of the many plates I was aiming to go for that morning, unfortunately my stomach disagreed with my eyes.

 

[moa999]

Looks like a great day was had by all

 

[Hvr]

Looks like a great day was had by all

Like most AFF functions there were great people, great times and conversations and it all came together thanks to an incredible amount of work by the organisers.

And the best part is that we really do appreciate it.

 

[SFSC]

A great trip! Thanks all.

We enjoyed our first stay ever at that CP. Our friend from Yass who joined us for brekkie commented that our room (an upgrade: room 601 for those who are familiar with the CP) was bigger than her house.

Noticed BAM1748 and BAM1741 being shunted in the yard as our CLK was departing at 11:40. Would have been a little too distant for a mobile phone picture. (Anyway, that's my excuse for being a bit too slow to drag the phone out of my pocket.) Given that Senior's moment, I hope AFF never enables a dislike button

Our train from Canberra was on time to the minute into Central and we easily made our connection to Fassifern, arriving home not long after 18:45.

 

[CaviAck]

A great trip! Thanks all.

We enjoyed our first stay ever at that CP. Our friend from Yass who joined us for brekkie commented that our room (an upgrade: room 601 for those who are familiar with the CP) was bigger than her house.

Noticed BAM1748 and BAM1741 being shunted in the yard as our CLK was departing at 11:40. Would have been a little too distant for a mobile phone picture. (Anyway, that's my excuse for being a bit too slow to drag the phone out of my pocket.) Given that Senior's moment, I hope AFF never enables a dislike button

Our train from Canberra was on time to the minute into Central and we easily made our connection to Fassifern, arriving home not long after 18:45.

So you were the one in room 601, I was wondering who got those two rooms to the left of the elevators. I was down the hall in 642.

 

[penegal]

...And the refreshment service on board QF815 was definitely not rushed, I think penegal at some stage was thinking about lobbing something through the curtains at me...

To be clear, it was an empty threat... I would never do such a thing :shock::shock::shock::shock:

The crew on QF815 were friendly, but no free drinks were forthcoming in row 4, despite numerous requests on both sides of the curtain. As it turns out I think we would have had them if we had been on the later jet service, but I for one was glad to get home earlier and have a nanna nap.

I do hope those poor people get their iPad back. I guess we will never know.

 

[CaviAck]

To be clear, it was an empty threat... I would never do such a thing :shock::shock::shock::shock:

The crew on QF815 were friendly, but no free drinks were forthcoming in row 4, despite numerous requests on both sides of the curtain. As it turns out I think we would have had them if we had been on the later jet service, but I for one was glad to get home earlier and have a nanna nap.

I do hope those poor people get their iPad back. I guess we will never know.

Oh really now? Empty threat was it?

Well Paul and James were quite flat out running the J cabin from what I could see. Lovely and friendly service. Couldn't say the same about QF462... the CSM was no where to be found, but hey at least premium boarding didn't work, so that's up to QF standards right?

Considering I was told James is one of the better managers out of the Sydney base from a phone call I got this morning, hopefully that iPad will see its owner again.


For those who know of my plight with the CP, I got a call from the accounts manager or something and was offered a free night at the CP or enough points to stay at any IHG property around the world. Picked the points as I don't know when I'll be back in CBR and found out 40,000 points doesn't even cover the IC Sydney lol
But overall a decent ending to a major balls up.

 

[bass_ke]

You won't be bach? Glad to hear you got some resolution and thanks for letting me check in first on sat due said issues!

Hopefully the IC comes up in points break next time for you!

As the week carries on things remind me of conversations as the night progressed on, good times!

 

[bass_ke]

Before I post pics, are most people on AFF comfortable with me posting pics showing faces?

 

[drewbles]

To be clear, it was an empty threat... I would never do such a thing :shock::shock::shock::shock:

The crew on QF815 were friendly, but no free drinks were forthcoming in row 4, despite numerous requests on both sides of the curtain. As it turns out I think we would have had them if we had been on the later jet service, but I for one was glad to get home earlier and have a nanna nap.

I do hope those poor people get their iPad back. I guess we will never know.

Just as well, or someone back in 13C might have been upset

 

[drewbles]

Before I post pics, are most people on AFF comfortable with me posting pics showing faces?

So long as they're of anyone but me, yes