anat0l's Audacious Australian and Asian Adventure Aboard Abundant Aircraft

[anat0l]

(also known as "It's a Mad, Marvellous, Meticulous, Mileage-heavy May (inc. an Oz Fest 6 Trip Report)" on FlyerTalk)

Yes folks, it is here...the story of an AFF member who decided to turn an apparent innocuous pair of events (Oz Fest 6 in Cairns and a small SC run based on last year's 2-for-1 QF sale) into a flying fest. And you thought it was only DJ's wheels which were falling off.... :mrgreen:

Now, you'll need to be patient with me whilst I'm reposting this, because AFF has more stringent image limits than FT (6 per post on AFF vs. FT's 20, which I had enough trouble coping with). Not to mention that AFF has a 24 hour limit on editing...so now you know why the FT people got the report first...... There's also a bit of translation (handles, smilies, etc.) from the FT version to the AFF version. Handles of people only on FT are shown in this report in purple.

For those of you who have never read a trip report of mine, some of you may find the content meandering, greenhorn and verbose. For others, you may be annoyed by the volume of pictures (particularly those on limited bandwidth connections and/or small screen devices - please enable your image blockers now!) or the inordinate lengths of some posts. But for the rest of you who persist in the reading, I wrote from my mind without too much edit, so I hope you find the report entertaining.

As usual, more photos (including high resolution versions) can be found in my FT Photo Gallery.

Please note that all actual departure and arrival times are sourced from FlightStats.

Links to Menus

• Covered in this trip report
  • Friday 22 May 2009: Oz Fest 6 Friday Dinner
  • Thursday 28 May 2009: Qantas First Lounge Melbourne (Tullamarine): Daily Specials / All-Day ; Drinks
  • Saturday 30 May 2009: Qantas Airways QF142 Auckland-Sydney Business Breakfast
  • Saturday 30 May 2009: Qantas First Lounge Sydney: Breakfast, Daily Specials / All-Day ; Drinks
  • Saturday 30 May 2009: Qantas Airways QF31 Sydney-Singapore (Changi) First Dinner and Wine/Drinks
  • Sunday 31 May / Monday 1 June 2009: British Airways BA15 Singapore (Changi)-Sydney Club World Dinner / Breakfast and Wine
  • Monday 1 June 2009: Qantas Airways QF141 Sydney-Auckland Business Breakfast
  • Monday 1 June 2009: Jetconnect (Qantas) QF134 Auckland-Melbourne (Tullamarine) Business Main Meal
• Other menus found during this trip, but not covered by my experiences - included for interest and completeness
  • Saturday 30 May 2009: Qantas Airways QF31 Singapore (Changi)-London (Heathrow) First Supper / Breakfast
  • Saturday 30 May / Sunday 31 May 2009: British Airways BA15 London (Heathrow)-Singapore (Changi) Club World Dinner / Breakfast
  • Saturday 30 May / Sunday 31 May 2009: British Airways BA15 London (Heathrow)-Singapore (Changi) First Dinner / Breakfast
  • Sunday 31 May / Monday 1 June 2009: British Airways BA15 Singapore (Changi)-Sydney First Dinner / Breakfast

Summaries

• Flight summary list - a slightly different version can be viewed via my ba97 profile
• A GCM link to the flights covered in this trip report
• First time experiences
  • First time airports: Alice Springs (ASP), Christchurch (CHC) Domestic, Cairns (CNS) Domestic, Mackay (MKY), Townsville (TSV), Queenstown (ZQN)
  • First time lounges
    • Alice Springs (ASP) Qantas Club
    • Auckland (AKL) Domestic Koru Club
    • Auckland (AKL) International Qantas Club (First Lounge)
    • Cairns (CNS) Domestic Qantas Club
    • Canberra (CBR) Qantas Business Lounge
    • Canberra (CBR) Virgin Blue "The Lounge"
    • Christchurch (CHC) Domestic Koru Club
    • Mackay (MKY) Regional Qantas Club
    • Melbourne Tullamarine (MEL) Qantas First Lounge
    • Rockhampton (ROK) Regional Qantas Club
    • Singapore Changi (SIN) Qantas/British Airways Business Lounge
    • Singapore Changi (SIN) Qantas/British Airways First Lounge
    • Townsville (TSV) Qantas Club
  • First operational upgrade (in fact, four during this trip!)
  • First international points upgrade on Qantas (which was successful!)
  • First time flying Air New Zealand
  • First time flying British Airways
  • First time flying First Class (on any airline)
  • First time flying an Airbus A380 (on any airline)

Links to my other trip reports

• My First Time as WP and an F Lounge Run
• Another Domestic SC Run (starring Freddie Jr)
• AFF Gather #2 in RADelaide - A Trip Report
• SYD / MEL Hilton Getaway
• BNE-PER in 9 hours ... on NY07 day!

 

[drron]

Anat01,an Awesome Acheivment.An Airlines Alliance Annoyance.Actually Amazing.An Australian Achiever.And AFF an Appreciative Audience.
Anough Already :shock:

 

[Flashback]

Look forward to reading more. May head over to FT to get a sneak peak....

 

[anat0l]

Prologue (part 1 of 2)

Prologue: the Evolution of a Status Run...

The date is mid-November 2008. With attendance at Oz Fest 6 in Cairns pretty much decided but no flights booked yet (holding out for a good sale), Qantas decides - out of the blue in unprecedented (at least in my lifetime) form - to put out a sale advertising 2-for-1 Business and First class fares. Being absolutely single, I thought as much that a lot of great fares were going to go begging. Then a FT PM from Kiwi Flyer asked whether I would like to tag team to fly AKL-SYD-SIN-SYD-AKL in J. At first, the price was fairly attractive, but doing the status credit math it didn't seem to stack up. A bit of ironing out and an intricate payment system and agreement ensued, but we booked the flights and, as it turned out, Oz Fest was merely a week before.

[b][u]Date   PNR     Flight  Sector   Dep   Arr     Cls  A/C  Remarks        [/u][/b]
30MAY  QFNZ01  QF 142  AKL-SYD  0850  1020    J    763
30MAY  QFNZ01  QF  31  SYD-SIN  1625  2230    J    388
31MAY  QFNZ01  QF 320  SIN-SYD  1945  0515+1  J    772  op BA15
01JUN  QFNZ01  QF 141  SYD-AKL  0715  1210    J    763

(note that all PNRs are not real - they are only to show the different bookings I made, with which airline, in which country and the order I booked each one)

There was still Oz Fest flights to think about, plus positioning into AKL...

Fast forward a bit...now Oz Fest flights had to be thought about. I always wanted to do the QantasLink milk run up the Queensland coast, which was part of my hesitation in booking so soon, reasons including holding out for a sale (and hopefully a QantasLink one), balancing the payment periods on my credit card, and finally actually deciding whether I would actually fly the milk run because I knew that the milk run would naturally cost much more than any direct routing, let alone single-indirect routing. As well as this, as there was only a week between Oz Fest and my SC run in AKL, I thought as much that there was no point in returning to BNE for a mere week, so I decided to take that whole week off (which also helped smooth things over at home).

I tried all sorts of routing combinations on the Qantas domestic multi-city booking engine (since every savvy QF person here knows that booking each sector separately in Australia will necessarily mean incurring the wrath of the credit card booking charge). Eventually, I found that booking BNE-GLT-TSV-CNS gave the best price (albeit still fairly pricey for what should be a simple BNE-CNS trip); it would only mean 3,000 points and 30 SC, but it would mean another dream fulfilled.

[b][u]Date   PNR     Flight  Sector   Dep   Arr     Cls  A/C  Remarks        [/u][/b]
[highlight]22MAY  QFAU02  QF2300  BNE-GLT  0615  0720    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
22MAY  QFAU02  QF2300  GLT-ROK  0745  0810    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
22MAY  QFAU02  QF2300  ROK-MKY  0835  0920    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
22MAY  QFAU02  QF2300  MKY-TSV  0945  1035    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
22MAY  QFAU02  QF2300  TSV-CNS  1100  1150    Y    DH4  op QantasLink[/highlight]
30MAY  QFNZ01  QF 142  AKL-SYD  0850  1020    J    763
30MAY  QFNZ01  QF  31  SYD-SIN  1625  2230    J    388
31MAY  QFNZ01  QF 320  SIN-SYD  1945  0515+1  J    772  op BA15
01JUN  QFNZ01  QF 141  SYD-AKL  0715  1210    J    763

So I had a way to get to CNS, now how was I to get from CNS to AKL, as well as how to spend the week I had in between? I tossed up ideas of staying extra days in CNS, as well as going to AKL again. Without much company, extra time in CNS didn't seem very appealing; having been to AKL twice I didn't see a lot of value spending more days there unless I did absolutely nothing (which may not be a bad idea either). There was also the possibility of some SC runs in New Zealand (especially with QFNZ / Jetconnect ceasing NZ domestic on 9 June; it would give me a chance to fly them a last time). I also thought about getting across to AKL from MEL, which would give me a chance to try the MEL T2 QF First Lounge.

So now the plan became CNS-MEL somehow, then MEL-AKL for the SC run. Funny enough at the time, Qantas had a domestic sale on, and I found it too tempting to pass up the opportunity to book a domestic SC run, particularly as this time I could do it during the weekdays rather than weekends. With more time on my hands, I also set up the routing so that I could stay in ADL instead of CBR, where the former was much cheaper to overnight in than the latter. So now I had:

[b][u]Date   PNR     Flight  Sector   Dep   Arr     Cls  A/C  Remarks        [/u][/b]
22MAY  QFAU02  QF2300  BNE-GLT  0615  0720    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
22MAY  QFAU02  QF2300  GLT-ROK  0745  0810    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
22MAY  QFAU02  QF2300  ROK-MKY  0835  0920    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
22MAY  QFAU02  QF2300  MKY-TSV  0945  1035    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
22MAY  QFAU02  QF2300  TSV-CNS  1100  1150    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
[highlight]25MAY  QFAU03  QF 709  CNS-BNE  1010  1215    Y    738
25MAY  QFAU03  QF 621  BNE-MEL  1255  1345    Y    738
25MAY  QFAU03  QF 693  MEL-ADL  1625  1715    Y    738
26MAY  QFAU03  QF 738  ADL-SYD  0930  1150    Y    738
26MAY  QFAU03  QF1479  SYD-CBR  1255  1345    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
26MAY  QFAU03  QF1476  CBR-SYD  1455  1545    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
26MAY  QFAU03  QF 765  SYD-ADL  1625  1805    Y    738
28MAY  QFAU03  QF 680  ADL-MEL  1040  1225    Y    738[/highlight]
30MAY  QFNZ01  QF 142  AKL-SYD  0850  1020    J    763
30MAY  QFNZ01  QF  31  SYD-SIN  1625  2230    J    388
31MAY  QFNZ01  QF 320  SIN-SYD  1945  0515+1  J    772  op BA15
01JUN  QFNZ01  QF 141  SYD-AKL  0715  1210    J    763

MEL-AKL was booked shortly after, taking advantage of a Qantas Trans-Tasman sale. The detail still missing was how to get home. At that time I was thinking just to book a AKL-BNE direct to go home, but after searching Qantas for AKL-BNE, I found cheap (sale) Business Saver fares, but more strikingly I also found a routing via MEL, which was also price competitive (the price of AKL-MEL-BNE J was much cheaper than MEL-BNE J alone, albeit the former is J-saver and the latter is full-J). After some thought, AKL-MEL-BNE was booked...

[b][u]Date   PNR     Flight  Sector   Dep   Arr     Cls  A/C  Remarks        [/u][/b]
22MAY  QFAU02  QF2300  BNE-GLT  0615  0720    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
22MAY  QFAU02  QF2300  GLT-ROK  0745  0810    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
22MAY  QFAU02  QF2300  ROK-MKY  0835  0920    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
22MAY  QFAU02  QF2300  MKY-TSV  0945  1035    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
22MAY  QFAU02  QF2300  TSV-CNS  1100  1150    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
25MAY  QFAU03  QF 709  CNS-BNE  1010  1215    Y    738
25MAY  QFAU03  QF 621  BNE-MEL  1255  1345    Y    738
25MAY  QFAU03  QF 693  MEL-ADL  1625  1715    Y    738
26MAY  QFAU03  QF 738  ADL-SYD  0930  1150    Y    738
26MAY  QFAU03  QF1479  SYD-CBR  1255  1345    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
26MAY  QFAU03  QF1476  CBR-SYD  1455  1545    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
26MAY  QFAU03  QF 765  SYD-ADL  1625  1805    Y    738
28MAY  QFAU03  QF 680  ADL-MEL  1040  1225    Y    738
[highlight]28MAY  QFAU04  QF 133  MEL-AKL  1930  0059+1  Y    734  op Jetconnect[/highlight]
30MAY  QFNZ01  QF 142  AKL-SYD  0850  1020    J    763
30MAY  QFNZ01  QF  31  SYD-SIN  1625  2230    J    388
31MAY  QFNZ01  QF 320  SIN-SYD  1945  0515+1  J    772  op BA15
01JUN  QFNZ01  QF 141  SYD-AKL  0715  1210    J    763
[highlight]01JUN  QFNZ05  QF 134  AKL-MEL  1615  1820    J    734  op Jetconnect
01JUN  QFNZ05  QF 636  MEL-BNE  2005  2215    J    738[/highlight]

So now I had an itinerary that gave me a couple of spare days to "relax" before more flying on the SC run. That situation changed very abruptly . A post on AFF revealed a sale around ADL, MEL and ASP; this was Qantas's silent reply to Tiger's sale on their new sectors. With crazy prices to ASP, I thought this gave me a chance to get to the Australian centre at a price I would probably never see again. This would mean usurping another spare day, but the temptation was too great . Things got crazier when I searched ADL-ASP and was presented with a direct option or routing via MEL. I tried to squeeze ADL-SYD-CBR-SYD-ADL on the same day, but even with the first ADL-MEL flight of the day, this was impossible. I also couldn't fly ADL-SYD-CBR-SYD-ADL the next day (28 May) and make my ADL-MEL flight in time; rescheduling ADL-MEL (ponying up the change fee and fare difference in the process) didn't look attractive.

The only option I could find was to fly ADL-CBR direct, then CBR-SYD-ADL the next morning (first flights possible). This would mean overnighting in CBR , of which by that time Hell would have to freeze over before a fairly cheap accommodation in CBR could be found. The only choice I could see would be to stay up all night, but I did book a hire car (and credited to VS Flying Club) as it basically accounted for the taxi fares to get to and from the airport.

[b][u]Date   PNR     Flight  Sector   Dep   Arr     Cls  A/C  Remarks        [/u][/b]
22MAY  QFAU02  QF2300  BNE-GLT  0615  0720    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
22MAY  QFAU02  QF2300  GLT-ROK  0745  0810    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
22MAY  QFAU02  QF2300  ROK-MKY  0835  0920    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
22MAY  QFAU02  QF2300  MKY-TSV  0945  1035    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
22MAY  QFAU02  QF2300  TSV-CNS  1100  1150    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
25MAY  QFAU03  QF 709  CNS-BNE  1010  1215    Y    738
25MAY  QFAU03  QF 621  BNE-MEL  1255  1345    Y    738
25MAY  QFAU03  QF 693  MEL-ADL  1625  1715    Y    738
26MAY  QFAU03  QF 738  ADL-SYD  0930  1150    Y    738
26MAY  QFAU03  QF1479  SYD-CBR  1255  1345    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
26MAY  QFAU03  QF1476  CBR-SYD  1455  1545    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
26MAY  QFAU03  QF 765  SYD-ADL  1625  1805    Y    738
[highlight]27MAY  QFAU06  QF 670  ADL-MEL  0605  0750    Y    738
27MAY  QFAU06  QF 796  MEL-ASP  0840  1105    Y    738
27MAY  QFAU06  QF 797  ASP-MEL  1145  1450    Y    738
27MAY  QFAU06  QF 693  MEL-ADL  1625  1715    Y    738
27MAY  QFAU06  QF 708  ADL-CBR  1825  2035    Y    734
28MAY  QFAU06  QF 560  CBR-SYD  0645  0735    Y    734
28MAY  QFAU06  QF 739  SYD-ADL  0820  1000    Y    738[/highlight]
28MAY  QFAU03  QF 680  ADL-MEL  1040  1225    Y    738
28MAY  QFAU04  QF 133  MEL-AKL  1930  0059+1  Y    734  op Jetconnect
30MAY  QFNZ01  QF 142  AKL-SYD  0850  1020    J    763
30MAY  QFNZ01  QF  31  SYD-SIN  1625  2230    J    388
31MAY  QFNZ01  QF 320  SIN-SYD  1945  0515+1  J    772  op BA15
01JUN  QFNZ01  QF 141  SYD-AKL  0715  1210    J    763
01JUN  QFNZ05  QF 134  AKL-MEL  1615  1820    J    734  op Jetconnect
01JUN  QFNZ05  QF 636  MEL-BNE  2005  2215    J    738

By now my itinerary was looking precarious in some ways: 40 minutes only between MEL-ASP and ASP-MEL, 40 minutes between SYD-ADL and ADL-MEL on 28 May. Not to mention the killer early ADL-MEL flight on 27 May, plus the prospect of completely staying up all night in CBR. :shock:

 

[anat0l]

Prologue (part 2 of 2)

As if my itinerary couldn't get much more packed, I thought about the last days of Jetconnect, and thus temptation became an unbeatable force and I booked my last flights on Jetconnect NZ domestic. I always wanted to try Jetconnect on other sectors besides AKL/WLG, so AKL-ZQN and ZQN-CHC were added to the list. As well, I wanted to try NZ and my new NZ GE comped status. AKL-WLG was one of the NZ sectors, as it was the earliest flight in the morning, which "worked out" best after my MEL-AKL which arrived in the dead hours of the morning; after all, the first AKL-WLG on Jetconnect gave only a 30 minute connection in WLG. The other possibility was CHC-AKL, since the last such flight on Jetconnect was too tight to connect with the ZQN-CHC Jetconnect flight. I could have flown ZQN-CHC on a NZ ATR, but all was decided based on the balance of fares plus the fact that ZQN KC doesn't sound as forward-looking compared to CHC KC.

As it happened, I also thought about putting in an upgrade request to F for QF31. It would be such a boon if it did happen - QF A380 F - but as every QF flyer knows, QF international upgrades are always a lottery, especially from J to F, and especially where there is more than one person in the upgrade request. After discussing the prospect with Kiwi Flyer, despite Expert Flyer seemingly reporting that an upgrade was unlikely, but seeing as we had nothing to lose, Kiwi Flyer called QF (the only way it could be requested) and requested the upgrade.

[b][u]Date   PNR     Flight  Sector   Dep   Arr     Cls  A/C  Remarks        [/u][/b]
22MAY  QFAU02  QF2300  BNE-GLT  0615  0720    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
22MAY  QFAU02  QF2300  GLT-ROK  0745  0810    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
22MAY  QFAU02  QF2300  ROK-MKY  0835  0920    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
22MAY  QFAU02  QF2300  MKY-TSV  0945  1035    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
22MAY  QFAU02  QF2300  TSV-CNS  1100  1150    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
25MAY  QFAU03  QF 709  CNS-BNE  1010  1215    Y    738
25MAY  QFAU03  QF 621  BNE-MEL  1255  1345    Y    738
25MAY  QFAU03  QF 693  MEL-ADL  1625  1715    Y    738
26MAY  QFAU03  QF 738  ADL-SYD  0930  1150    Y    738
26MAY  QFAU03  QF1479  SYD-CBR  1255  1345    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
26MAY  QFAU03  QF1476  CBR-SYD  1455  1545    Y    DH4  op QantasLink
26MAY  QFAU03  QF 765  SYD-ADL  1625  1805    Y    738
27MAY  QFAU06  QF 670  ADL-MEL  0605  0750    Y    738
27MAY  QFAU06  QF 796  MEL-ASP  0840  1105    Y    738
27MAY  QFAU06  QF 797  ASP-MEL  1145  1450    Y    738
27MAY  QFAU06  QF 693  MEL-ADL  1625  1715    Y    738
27MAY  QFAU06  QF 708  ADL-CBR  1825  2035    Y    734
28MAY  QFAU06  QF 560  CBR-SYD  0645  0735    Y    734
28MAY  QFAU06  QF 739  SYD-ADL  0820  1000    Y    738
28MAY  QFAU03  QF 680  ADL-MEL  1040  1225    Y    738
28MAY  QFAU04  QF 133  MEL-AKL  1930  0059+1  Y    734  op Jetconnect
[highlight]29MAY  NZNZ08  NZ 401  AKL-WLG  0600  0700    Y    733  Space+
29MAY  QFNZ09  QF2704  WLG-AKL  0830  0930    Y    733  op Jetconnect
29MAY  QFNZ10  QF2791  AKL-ZQN  1015  1205    Y    733  op Jetconnect
29MAY  QFNZ11  QF2772  ZQN-CHC  1630  1720    Y    733  op Jetconnect
29MAY  NZNZ07  NZ 554  CHC-AKL  2020  2140    Y    733  Space+[/highlight]
30MAY  QFNZ01  QF 142  AKL-SYD  0850  1020    J    763
30MAY  QFNZ01  QF  31  SYD-SIN  1625  2230    J    388  [highlight]J>F pts-up req[/highlight]
31MAY  QFNZ01  QF 320  SIN-SYD  1945  0515+1  J    772  op BA15
01JUN  QFNZ01  QF 141  SYD-AKL  0715  1210    J    763
01JUN  QFNZ05  QF 134  AKL-MEL  1615  1820    J    734  op Jetconnect
01JUN  QFNZ05  QF 636  MEL-BNE  2005  2215    J    738

At this point, I was well warned by Kiwi Flyer of the enigma which was ZQN and the possibility of getting stranded in the South Island. Had that happened, there would have been an expensive exercise in rushing back for the SC run, or perhaps even missing it (which would be even more expensive ). There wasn't a single travel insurance scheme that would cover me in this situation for any delays etc. of the sort. Kiwi Flyer advocated either rerouting or rebooking to avoid ZQN, but my sense of adventure (what sense?) and want to visit ZQN (even for a couple of hours) made me stick to the schedule...

So there we have it - that's how a simple two events turned into a grand scale SC run. :mrgreen: There were certainly many tight connections in the schedule. I linked quite a few of the PNRs, as well as sorting out in my mind all my strategies, like when to travel without checked baggage, and how to go about travelling around when I had no choice but to take my checked baggage with me. (No, it was not possible for me to go the whole week with carry on only!)

Now enough with the preliminaries....on to the report....

 

[anat0l]

Fri 22 May: BNE-GLT-ROK-MKY-TSV-CNS; Day 1 Oz Fest (part 1 of 6)

Friday, 22 May 2009 (Day 1 of Oz Fest 6)

A More Sane FTer Flies to a Do (with apologies to Kiwi Flyer)

One thing about the milk run is the early start - almost as early as the first flights of the morning to SYD and MEL (QF501 springs to mind). So a couple of hours sleep and I was up at 0330h packing clothes etc. without too much consideration. Luckily this time I had ironed a whole bunch of shirts beforehand so folding them was quick and easy (once I actually remembered the Japanese method of folding a shirt - that took 30 minutes and looking up YouTube to learn again ). A quick face wash and brushing of teeth - shower eschewed until at the airport - 0430h Mum was awake and we were off to the airport.

A quick ride later I was back to the familiar halls of BNE Domestic, although this morning it was uncharacteristically quiet, which I found odd because surely there were enough people on the first flights of the morning (business people, domestic->international transfers in SYD and/or MEL), but the check-in hall was not teeming with pax. Mind you, the regular bag drop line was still long enough to balk queuing in, and come to think of it the premium line wasn't too much better. Still, a few minutes I got to a counter. Now the fun starts...

The check-in agent looks at my booking as I have already OLCI'd for my flight, albeit with the poor seat of 5A. She looks disapprovingly at my seat and my WP status and decides that a better seat could be sought out. We negotiate for 2A all the way (can't seem to get row 1) and now she's having a bit of fun trying to change the seats and print the BPs for the flights. She's offering to change me to the first BNE-CNS direct flight, which would arrive well before the milk run, but I decline and explain to her that I've always wanted to fly the milk run. Surprisingly, she acquiesces and says that it's a great thought, and that perhaps some time when she had time and money she wouldn't mind doing the milk run too. I'm given BPs for BNE-GLT, GLT-TSV and TSV-CNS, then it's through security and up to the J Lounge. That's probably one of the longest check-in procedures I've had to endure.

Once in the fairly quiet J Lounge, first things first is a shower and a shave. The razors handed out in the domestic lounges are much better than the cheap and poor-performing excuse for a manual lawn mower for the face that were handed out several months ago, and I had no troubles getting a good shave without nicks. Once outside, there was only about 10 minutes or so before boarding, so I grabbed a bowl of toasted muesli with skim milk and some fruit (poached plumped apricots and fruit salad - mainly apples, pineapples and honeydew in passionfruit/orange sauce), then proceeded to scoff it down hastily - eschewing a cup of coffee in the process - as a few minutes later my flight was called. So skipped out of the J Lounge and down to gate 3 for boarding.

Flight: QantasLink QF2300 Brisbane (BNE D) - Gladstone (GLT)
Depart: 0615h Sched; 0630h Actual
Aircraft: VH-QOK Dash 8 Q400
Distance: 272 mi (438 km)
Class: Economy
Seat: 2A

Upon arriving at gate 3, Michelle (one of the FAs on the milk run up) immediately greeted me and noted that I was going all the way to CNS on QF2300. My affirmative response was followed up with a question as to whether I would be able to disembark at each stop, and Michelle said that "it should be OK". I also was given copies of my GLT-TSV and TSV-CNS BPs again for some reason.

Out onto the tarmac, the walk was straight up following the concourse to the circular remote pier and then a left to the parking space which was a bit of distance from gate 16. I was greeted at the aircraft by Justin. The load to GLT consisted of a mere 35 people. Unfortunately, we were not able to make an on-time departure as the power cart we had hooked up to the aircraft malfunctioned, so the ground crew had to scuttle off in a hurry to locate another one. A bit of fiddling with the power and lights later and the aircraft was able to hook up to a good working power cart and began to charge up. As part of the procedures for the first flight of a Dash 8 for the day, the engines needed a routine test, so for a while we sat at the gate whilst the engines were given a good going over. Once I heard the engines changing in "sound", we pivoted around and finally took off.

Brisbane (BNE) city from the air

A light breakfast was served during our flight to GLT, consisting of a blueberry muffin, a small packet of dried apricots and an orange juice, packed in a strange plastic packaging, which seemed a bit of a step up from the old packaging which was simply a clear plastic flip-up container (similar to the ones used in many sushi shops for takeaway). I opted for a cup of black tea to supplement the light meal.

QantasLink plastic packaging with a light breakfast inside

Light breakfast - muffin, apricots and OJ

The flight to GLT is about the same as ADL-MEL, and the ensuing red mud dam of which I know well (part of previous research) appeared below, signalling that we would be landing within minutes.

Red mud (bauxite residue) dam, storing the waste stream of refining alumina

As we touched down into GLT, the sun was in such a position that you could clearly see the shadow of our aircraft being projected on the ground, which looked kind of hauntingly cool as the large shadow ran over scores of houses below. GLT was a terminal of which I had become familiar about three years ago now, and despite the fact that there was no airside security, I was cleared and allowed to disembark, which was just as well, since if I was doing this milk run, a bit of time here and there to stretch the legs was very welcome.

 

[anat0l]

Fri 22 May: BNE-GLT-ROK-MKY-TSV-CNS; Day 1 Oz Fest (part 2 of 6)

Gladstone (GLT) terminal from the tarmac

Flight: QantasLink QF2300 Gladstone (GLT) - Rockhampton (ROK)
Depart: 0745h Sched; 0750h Actual
Aircraft: VH-QOK Dash 8 Q400
Distance: 59 mi (95 km)
Class: Economy
Seat: 2A

A short turn about and it was pretty much time to reboard. The turnaround at each port was a mere 25 minutes, which is the minimum MCT for regional airports.

The load to ROK was only 16, but seeing as it takes approximately 1-2 hours to drive to ROK from GLT, there's little reason why many or any people would want to fly there. Most of the pax were going beyond ROK along the milk run route.

Given the short flight, there was no inflight service, so about half an hour later we landed at the renovated ROK terminal. For some odd security reason, everybody on the aircraft had to disembark at ROK.

Rockhampton (ROK) terminal inside

The last time I was in ROK (Jan 2006), the terminal looked very dingy. The renovated terminal looked much more pleasant, as well as being beefed (no pun intended) up with security screening thanks to jet aircraft now operating flights to ROK. I knew there was a regional QP somewhere, but I forgot where and given that my connection was so tight, there was little time to hesitate. A quick enquiry at the QF service desk directed me to the lounge, which was not guarded, minded or access-limited (cf. regional Koru Clubs which are PIN-protected doors) in any way shape or form.

ROK regional QP door

Inside ROK regional QP

The regional QP was a bit bigger than 1-2 meeting rooms in an average office, coupled with a small bar area. The bar had a fridge with a range of drinks (a few beers, water, juice and soft drinks), tea and coffee and some light snacks (biscuits, one type of cheese in packets, nuts and pretzels). I think it isn't bad for a respite stop, although I wish the window blind was opened to give some sort of view. Anyway, I pilfered a couple of packs of nuts and a water before going through security hastily, as my flight was once again boarding and the line going out the gate 3 door to the tarmac was rapidly shortening.

Flight: QantasLink QF2300 Rockhampton (ROK) - Mackay (MKY)
Depart: 0835h Sched; 0835h Actual
Aircraft: VH-QOK Dash 8 Q400
Distance: 174 mi (280 km)
Class: Economy
Seat: 2A

Once up in the air, a refreshment of juice was offered. The flight to MKY is longer than that of GLT-ROK, but shorter than BNE-GLT. It wasn't long before the aircraft carrying 50 people from ROK landed in MKY, docking at gate 1, the furthest gate from the terminal.

Mackay (MKY) terminal from outside

Mackay (MKY) terminal inside

The regional QP at MKY was even smaller than the one at ROK, and had no windows at all! It did have a slightly different snack selection, i.e. Tim Tams, of which I picked up a couple. (Hard to resist!) Once again, MKY services jet aircraft so it was through security screening before heading out back to the aircraft and onto TSV.

 

[anat0l]

Fri 22 May: BNE-GLT-ROK-MKY-TSV-CNS; Day 1 Oz Fest (part 3 of 6)

Flight: QantasLink QF2300 Mackay (MKY) - Townsville (TSV)
Depart: 0945h Sched; 0945h Actual
Aircraft: VH-QOK Dash 8 Q400
Distance: 206 mi (332 km)
Class: Economy
Seat: 2A

On this flight, Justin and Michelle switched positions (i.e. Michelle assumed the front FA position). Onboard, 57 passengers were served a Tempations cupcake with pink icing, which was to promote research for breast cancer. Tea, coffee and water was offered to complement the sweet cake.

Breast cancer research cupcake refreshment

The approach to TSV was quite picturesque as we circled around the coastline. As we landed into the formerly international-destination-serving TSV, we passed by a few aircraft of the now-defunct regional carrier Macair, as well as some Alliance aircraft, before taxiing and docking at the standoff bay at gate 6.

Townsville (TSV) terminal from the outside, still showing "Townsville International" branding

Townsville (TSV) terminal from the inside

Entrance to the TSV QP

TSV QP food, featuring Nachos

Unlike the previous ports, TSV actually has a real QP at airside, which is probably only getting reasonable load factors due to the volume of mining related travel from TSV (probably a lot of WPs using their any-time access rather than people travelling on QF metal). A nice enough lounge for a regional port; the view simply looks out to the tarmac which was highly shadowed by the aerobridges. The bar wasn't open at the time, so no alcohol, but the all-day menu was already served out. One subset of food which was not offered at other QPs compared to this one was the ingredients for a basic plate of nachos: corn chips, tomato salsa, guacamole and sour cream. Nothing like the restaurant - just basic, but certainly different to other QPs.

I couldn't help but garner a small plate of nachos myself before having to reboard QF2300 for the last time...

Flight: QantasLink QF2300 Townsville (TSV) - Cairns (CNS D)
Depart: 1100h Sched; 1100h Actual
Aircraft: VH-QOK Dash 8 Q400
Distance: 177 mi (285 km)
Class: Economy
Seat: 2A

The load going to CNS was 64, which was just about getting to capacity for the Q400.

The flight to CNS took us over parts of the reef; the majestic shades of blue below were a treat for the eyes (and those sporting better cameras than mine) . A mere hour-ish flight ensured and we touched down in CNS, docking into domestic gate 14. We had to walk a bit of a ropy path to the temporary disconnected building which was the Qantas baggage claim. A rather poor greeting for those coming to CNS, however notwithstanding the arrangements at CNS, priority tags seemed to do its job and I picked up my luggage within seconds of the belt being started.

 

[anat0l]

Fri 22 May: BNE-GLT-ROK-MKY-TSV-CNS; Day 1 Oz Fest (part 4 of 6)

boxo was already at the baggage claim when I was waiting for my luggage to come through. Although I had no numbers and (except for JohnK) had no idea of the other people arriving at around the same time, within about an hour we found chchkiwi and the Falconeas. JohnK finally stopped downing QP beers and joined us at the taxi rank where seven of us (I think Noelene was also riding with us) scrambled into a maxi-taxi and off to the Holiday Inn and Hilton.

Hotel: Hilton Cairns
Room Type: Executive King Single
Room Location: 9th (Executive) Floor

Check-ins were handled efficiently, which was just as well since we were all already running heartily late for lunch (in fact, rather too late). The Hilton Cairns had been recently renovated, which was just as well since I thought it wouldn't be much better than the Hilton Brisbane; how wrong was I. My room faced the city rather than the harbour, but the room had a little balcony and was delivered with the usual Hilton clean, crisp, professional simplicity. It must be the location dynamics or something else but even though the decor is much the same, it doesn't have the very "old" feel that the Hilton Brisbane has. Oh well.

Palm forest in the middle of the Hilton Cairns

The harbour, taken from the Executive Floor

I quickly surveyed the room before heading back downstairs to Mondo's, which is very nicely located directly on the waterfront. There, I saw most of the rest of the early birds (amongst them straitman (fellow GCC participant and co-organiser), Mrs straitman (WP chaser :mrgreen, wijomas (who had my new NZ GE pack, and also a WP chaser), f0zzyNUE and others), as well as the locals turtlemichael (fellow GCC participant) and Platy (UQ PhD trench fellow! ). A few scattered plates of tapas and the like adorned the tables; everybody had already had lunch and even though I could have used a bit of a bite, I felt it was too late to order anything so I didn't bother. A good time was had talking to everybody, even though I was a bit tired from the early start. People began to move in and out of Mondo's until about 3-4pm, when the crowd mostly started to break up. I mostly started moving because wijomas had my NZ pack and needed to get some cash. I had to do similar on account of paying for dinner, so I decided to join him.

Looking out to the harbour from Mondo's

wijomas eventually managed to get some cash (thanks to his mum) and in walking around I got both steps and cash (thank you cash-out from Woolworths - sure as hell beats trying to find an ATM, or copping the charge for using an ATM not belonging to your bank ). By the time we got back to the Hilton, it was almost time for the Executive Lounge to open, so a quick shower and change later, it was off to the lounge.

 

[anat0l]

Fri 22 May: BNE-GLT-ROK-MKY-TSV-CNS; Day 1 Oz Fest (part 5 of 6)

Hilton Cairns Executive Lounge

boxo and I were the first ones in the lounge; we were so early that the food was barely even served yet. We got some drinks for ourselves until some food started to make its appearance. Having not had any lunch, I was a rather ravenous as I collected a plate of food. Not long after boxo and I had started eating, more FT guests started to file into the lounge. It was quite funny in a way that almost all of the Executive Floor guests were from FT.

Food in the Exec Lounge

As more people filed in, gradually some hot food of deep fried chicken bits made their way into the selection. The one guest that stole the show was mini-LW, who was at her first Oz Fest along with her parents (LW and Mrs LW, of course) who were on a well deserved break. A lot of chatter was had in the Lounge until everyone realised that there was still dinner to be had, so with a bit of time in reserve, we all got prepared for dinner and headed over towards the Shangri-la to Norths for the Friday Night Dinner.

Tables set at Norths

Our spot at Norths looked directly at the waterfront, which would be nice except there was no moonlight to enlighten the harbour, plus a whole bunch of ships were docked anyway. Everyone took their spots and soon it was time to choose what to eat. A set menu (which can be found here) was prescribed and everyone chose a starter, main and a dessert, with standard items of a tempter soup, bread and sides of chips and salad provided. (I personally think this is a great alternative to alternate drop set-ups).

Orders were taken and balsamic vinegar / olive oil was poured for all, followed by some nice crusty bread (soft on the inside, crusty on the outside). Soon after, shots of soup were offered as a tempter, with starters coming not too long after that.

Soup shots

 

[anat0l]

Fri 22 May: BNE-GLT-ROK-MKY-TSV-CNS; Day 1 Oz Fest (part 6 of 6)

I selected the beef carpaccio to start, which was served with a very small, thin French stick. Not a bad number, although some might have thought the dish to be disproportionate in size (value) compared to the other starters.

Beef Carpaccio starter

The starter plates were cleared soon after. Then came a very long wait (at least for our table). Our table seemed to be the last one to be served our mains as other tables had at least finished half of their main course before we were served ours. I selected the spatchcock for the main course, personally not knowing what to expect, however when the dish was delivered I was summarily surprised by the size of the serving. A nicely flavoured dish; the coriander was a very nice touch.

Spatchcock main

A salad of rocket, parmesan and pear as well as a serving of chips with aioli were provided as sides and shared amongst the table.

A couple of desserts (the sorbet didn't make the cut) made for a difficult choice for some to decide, but I settled for the pannacotta, which was pleasant and light. Those who selected the chocolate pudding were amply rewarded as table-wide, dishes of pudding exploding with melting chocolate were witnessed.

Pannacotta dessert

After finishing dessert, a few FT members were seen doin' some conspirin' and soon their motives were made clear, as a grand chocolate cake with candles was brought out to the collective rendition of "Happy Birthday Mrs straitman". Mrs straitman was very visibly surprised and her face was awash with the emotions of surprise and delight. With three cheers and a small speech, some people got up to partake in the birthday cake (in particular, one attendee (who shall remain anonymous - no, it was not yours truly) who demolished the remainder of the cake just as the night was rounding up ). Most people started to move back for a good night's sleep within about 30 minutes of the birthday song being sung, mindful of the 8.45am start the next morning. I headed back to my room and packed up a bit (since I'd be having to hop hotels the next day :shock before settling in for a good night's rest.

 

[anat0l]

Sat 23 May: Day 2 Oz Fest (part 1 of 4)

Saturday, 23 May 2009 (Day 2 of Oz Fest 6)

View from my Hilton room of Cairns city

After a sleep which was (and probably would have never been) long enough, I stumbled out of bed to wash up and hurriedly pack all my stuff, including the complimentary bottle of wine everyone on the TravelZoo rate received. Then it was off to the Executive Lounge for breakfast before rushing downstairs to check-out and leave my bags behind the counter. (My original plan was to drag it all the way to the Holiday Inn that morning, check-in, then come back in time for the shuttle which left the Hilton, but oh well - I had also planned to get up early enough that morning to go walking with turtlemichael... )

By the time I had check-out and the baggage sorted, there were a large number of FTers already in the lobby lounge waiting patiently for the shuttle to the train station. Nothing much happened until LW and family arrived in the lobby lounge and once again the perky mini-LW was inevitably the centre of attention. The shuttle arrived and all of us poured in (well, almost all - there wasn't enough room in the shuttle for everyone at the Hilton, so the remainder had to wait for a second shuttle to arrive). On the way to the train station, our driver gave us some background information on our tour today, as well as information about timing of the train and Skyrail.

Upon arrival at the station, each of us ambled to the platform to be greeted by many carriages with a distinct, old and graceful feel about them. One of the cars were dedicated for us. The inside of each car had seating consisting of sets of pairs of timber benches which faced each other; each bench accommodated about 4 people.

Train to Kuranda at the railway station in Cairns

The train ride up to Kuranda was a moderately slow but enjoyable one. I sat near the front of the car along with wijomas, LW and family, straitman, Mrs straitman and JohnK. Some people admired the view from the train as we climbed up slopes, pushed through tunnels and traversed through several tracts of forest growth, all the while as information about various features along our journeyed was chimed over the PA system (in English, Japanese and German).

 

[anat0l]

Sat 23 May: Day 2 Oz Fest (part 2 of 4)

FTers riding at the front of the FT car

mini-LW studies what there is to do at Kuranda

The Kuranda train passing over a bridge

We had a couple of stops along the way the Kuranda, but everyone took a walking breather when the train at Barron Falls. The falls was a pleasant enough sight as the gentle stream crashed down to the small pool of water below, however it was said that the falls has been seen to be far more magnificent than what we saw that day.

Barron Falls

The stop did well for most to stretch their legs and take in the view, however soon enough passengers platform-wide were told by the train guards to reboard as the train continued on to Kuranda.

Kuranda railway station

Once we arrived at Kuranda and headed upstairs to the street level, everyone split up to enjoy the day. One of the main streets running through Kuranda leads right back to the Skyrail station; it was claimed that crossing the town (assumed from the station to the place where Birdworld and butterfly sanctuary were) took just about 10 minutes (which turned out to be a fair estimate). Having come as a single traveller, I asked LW (and Mrs LW) if they didn't mind me tagging along with them for the day, of which they said would be OK.

As we walked through the town proper, there were several places where one could sit down and eat, or grab a smoothie (in no shortage of flavours, such as pineapple, mango (the local favourite) and about another half-dozen or so fruits). We also passed by a small shop that sold mango wine. For myself, I couldn't help but have a taste, and after sampling each of the sweet, medium and dry varieties, I bought a bottle of pleasant medium variety, which the shopkeeper kindly put aside for me to collect later.

We reached the other side of the town and made a right turn to go to Birdworld and butterfly sanctuary. A bite to eat was in order before any more touring; we came across a cafe called Annabel's and ordered some lunch. I bought one of their appetising shephard's pies, whilst LW ordered a couple of pies for Mrs LW and himself, and mini-LW enjoyably sipping down on a smoothie.

All the food consumed, we headed to Birdworld, but before going in, LW and I had to pay a visit to the crashed C47DL plane which was adjacent to the markets. The markets sported shops selling all various touristy items, from sheepskins to anything made of crocodile to handwoven purses and bags. Beyond the markets was Birdworld, where guests were summarily welcomed by a decidedly loud bird who was perched near the reception.

LW purchased a bag of bird feed (consisting of various bird edibles like nuts and seeds) and we went in. What we saw was a very large aviary set up with a very distinct damp rainforest like environment. The small courtyard we saw upon entering had quite a few people as well as birds. I went into the courtyard to see some of the birds when one happened to land on my head and began to scratch around a bit; whether or not it was a good thing that my hair was gelled remains a mystery. As it turned out, it was not unusual for birds to perch on people's heads, as LW - amongst several others - duly found out. mini-LW was discovering the fun of feeding the birds, as was the rest of us, although in many cases everyone's hand was left with a few bite marks.

A bird perched on top of LW

 

[anat0l]

Sat 23 May: Day 2 Oz Fest (part 3 of 4)

As we continued around the path in Birdworld, we came across many birds both flying and flapping around in the lower lake, as well as the very large Cassowary located in its own enclosure at the lower part of the aviary. As we rounded up our walk around the track, we all fed a few more birds to use up the bag of feed. LW attempted to feed the very large bird in the photo below, which he did valiantly but not without coming away with a sore, pinched hand.

The Cassowary

anat0l feeds a bird

An intimidatingly large bird with a deadly beak (as LW found out later)

Our next stop was the butterfly sanctuary, although Mrs LW decided to stay in the markets and do some gift shopping. The butterfly sanctuary was virtually next door and was set up in an aviary of similar appearance to that of Birdworld. Butterflies flitzed everywhere throughout the sanctuary as we proceeded at our own pace through the paths. Although it wasn't difficult to have a butterfly land on one's self, the more difficult task was taking a photograph of the butterfly before it flew off. After latching onto an existing tour and visiting the butterfly laboratory, we decided that it was time to leave the sanctuary and at the exit we were greeted by Mrs LW.

The butterfly sanctuary "aviary"

A butterfly lands on anat0l's shirt

Everyone had a restroom break before heading back through town towards the Skyrail. mini-LW was looking a bit famished so LW and Mrs LW stopped at some cafes until they found one that could do up a cheese sandwich for mini-LW. They found a cafe which was about a half-block away from Annabel's that actually made the cheese sandwich and didn't want to accept any money for it, but LW wouldn't have any of that. We then joined the leisurely stroll of several FTers back through the Kuranda township. I stopped at a newsagency along the way to grab a large bottle of water, since by that time I felt more parched than the middle of the Sahara. About one block before the Skyrail, we stopped for a round of smoothies at a shop which feature-offered Spanish doughnuts (which were like a regular donut except larger - not thicker!).

At the Skyrail station, people were being loaded into cable cars at four people per car. LW, Mrs LW, mini-LW, JohnSydney2000 and I clamoured into a car as it slowly lurched out of the platform area before abruptly jolting away from the station at full speed. The view from the Skyrail was magnificent, although photos were difficult to obtain due to the afternoon sun and having to shoot photos through the windows of the cable car. JohnSydney2000 and mini-LW were having a lot of fun riding the "bumps" (i.e. when the car passed a pylon point), as well as seeing if there were people in the cars going in the opposite direction.

Just one of the views snapped up whilst on the Skyrail

We had a couple of stops along the way back down on the Skyrail, which gave us all a bit of time to stretch the legs. In particular, the second stop was compulsory, since we needed to change cable lines there. Once we had arrived back at the bottom of the Skyrail, we passed through the souvenir shop and cafe outside to our waiting transport back to the hotels.

 

[anat0l]

Sat 23 May: Day 2 Oz Fest (part 4 of 4)

As soon as I got back, there was no Executive Lounge for me given that I had changed hotels for the night. I got my luggage back from the Hilton concierge and trekked off to the Holiday Inn, which was a decent 10-20 minute walk away (and perhaps a little longer when one is lugging about 20kg of luggage with them). I passed JohnSydney2000 along the way, who was heading in the opposite direction and also hotel hopping (except his planning and strategy was more advanced than mine).

Hotel: Holiday Inn Cairns
Room Type: Standard Double
Room Location: 3rd Floor

Holiday Inn Cairns - inside the hotel

My room at the Holiday Inn

Eventually managed to huff up to the Holiday Inn (with one rather sore hand) and bee-lined it to reception. Check-in was completed reasonably quickly and easily, which was mostly helped by the fact that my stay was fully paid for (although the credit card swipe was still needed for incidentals).

The room was mostly clean and there was a helpful notice for those not familiar with the North Queensland environment about the possible appearance of ants. It was a bit difficult to get used to the room considering that a room at the Hilton (as it stood with the special rate found by turtlemichael, combined with HPC discount) was a mere $9 more expensive, but it's the price one pays to get mileage! I immediately plugged in my chargers (especially my cameras, which were getting quite a work out that day in Kuranda) and made myself a cup of tea (although I had to clean both the kettle and a tea cup before use). I partially repacked everything to get a better fit, as well as selecting out the clothes for the dinner cruise in the evening.

I'd somehow managed to doze off a bit before waking up and realising that the cruise ship was shoving off within the hour, so that meant quickly jumping into the shower and getting dressed in frantic fashion (no pun intended). Even JohnK buzzed me as to where I was and then further chided me for not heading out earlier.

I briskly strided towards the wharf and managed to arrive within the area in 12 minutes. The problem was now trying to find where the ship was, and then how to get to it. The wharf looks really big at night time when it is dark and even harder to pinpoint ships and the routes to individual berths. A call to JohnK was made and after about 5 - 8 minutes of flitzing around looking lost, I found he was waiting on the landside before we walked out to the ship. As I understand, straitman subsequently became annoyed or the like with JohnK for leaving the ship, so I guess I should be apologising to straitman for delaying the ship's on-time departure and apologising and thanking JohnK for holding out to guide me to the vessel. If it was any consolation, I wasn't the last one to make it to the vessel; certainly not the only one to get lost around the wharf!

FlyerTalkers on board

The ship was awash with FT members and even more so than beforehand since some people had only arrived on the Saturday (and some had not gone to Kuranda). On board, all were offered a glass of bubbly on arrival before finding a random table to sit down and have a good chat. After some time, the ship's crew instructed everyone to sit down for a head count (which, even with a group of fairly mature minded adults , turned out to be a lot harder than you think), before giving the safety information and demonstration (courtesy also of our entertainer for the night, although LW wisely eschewed to join in the demonstration this time). With all that done, the gangplank was removed and the vessel finally moved off from its berth.

The vessel merely did a small turn about the harbour, which kept the on board experience steady throughout the entire night. The onboard buffet was organised into two sections in an effort to mitigate crowding. On one side was the cold buffet of seafood, salads and desserts, whilst on the other side was the hot buffet of soup (with bread rolls) and hot dishes. Many people piled up on the seafood, with many tables showing piles of prawn and oyster shells heaped up in bowls which were regularly emptied by the crew.

Although our entertainer encouraged people to get up and dance, many people simply mingled around the tables; in any case, the dance floor wasn't big enough to swing a cat. A few of us - yours truly included - also decided to brave the cool harbour breeze and mingled outside on the front deck. Not that there was much to be seen from the deck (let alone from inside the ship), given that one side was simply the harbour side (without the "spectacular" lighting of a big city) and the other was basically shrubbery (which has no lights).

All too soon, our couple of hours on board were exhausted and we headed back to the wharf. Just before we docked into the harbour, the word got around of a small kick-on drinks at the Hilton courtesy of JohnSydney2000, so about two lift-fulls of people scrambled back to room 925 to enjoy mostly a carton of Hahn Premium (the dubious de facto choice of beer for QP stalwarts) as well as bottles of the red offered to all for the TravelZoo promotional rate. How it was possible to squeeze all those people comfortably in a mere Executive King Single room turned out to be relatively simple (the bed providing a good place for comfortable seating for those that chose to utilise it).

I had to admit that I thought management or someone else (non-FTer) on the same floor was going to complain and kick us all out. The odd feeling was duly compounded as a couple of phone calls to the room were made; the resulting silence as the phone chimed was absolutely deafening. However, each time JohnSydney2000 went to answer the phone, it only turned out to be a false alarm and that more people coming up, at which point the crowd went on to resume the same level of conversation.

JohnSydney2000, in his wisdom, decided to lift the mood just that bit more and started a bit of informal trivia, with a few contributions from the crowd. But the mental highlight of the night was a timed exercise where the crowd was directed to line up in chronological order of birthday (in the year, not of age) without using any speech. I've done this exercise before in primary school, although at the time we were also not allowed to write on paper either! (Being savvy flyers, we know all the ins-and-outs of working around terms and conditions, so some of us were savvy enough to pull out a pen and paper....) The challenge could have gone horribly awry, especially considering the split of people in the room who write their dates as DD/MM as well as MM/DD. Eventually, through the wise shoving of some switched on people, our line was successfully completed; JohnSydney2000, who was timing the whole exercise, congratulated the group on doing better than the reported average time for the exercise. Now who ever said a bunch of "crazy" people who like to fly a lot weren't smart?

It was not too long after the exercise that some of us decided it was time to hit the sack. A handful of us at the Holiday Inn summarily bid good night to all before we walked back to our hotel for a good night's rest. Luckily for me, I had a 10.30am start tomorrow, which should be enough time to walk with turtlemichael, pack up, check-out and head back to the Hilton to re-check-in, dump bags, grab Green Island day bag, have a bit of breakfast before heading off to Green Island.............

 

[anat0l]

Sun 24 May: Day 3 Oz Fest (part 1 of 3)

Sunday, 24 May 2009 (Day 3 of Oz Fest 6)

Miraculously managed to wake myself up in time to put on walking gear and head out towards the Hilton, where I met up with turtlemichael who was doing his normal daily morning ritual of walking (and more so because he is on our GCC team ). We backtracked to where I came from and beyond, walking the entire length of the Esplanade before heading back. Since I needed to pack and move hotels etc. before Green Island, I had to short circuit the return journey and headed straight back to my room at the Holiday Inn.

Once back at my room, it was a case of collecting the mild chaos in my room and stuffing it back into bags (as well as working out what to bring for the day ahead). A shower, change and room check later, I was downstairs in the lobby checking out hastily and once again dragging my luggage and backpack all the way back to the Hilton. It's a funny thing since driving between the two hotels is trivial, walking between the two with no baggage is moderately pleasant, whilst lugging baggage between the two on foot is not for the weak (especially when one has not had any breakfast as yet!).

Hotel: Hilton Cairns
Room Type: Executive Double
Room Location: 9th (Executive) Floor

Finally lugging up to the Hilton I proceeded somewhat breathlessly to reception where Lena checked me in. Originally, she said that my room, which was an Executive King Single with a view of the city, was not ready yet, however if I was prepared to accept an Executive Double with a view of the harbour then I could have my room straight away. I think that was a no brainer decision. Lena gave me my keys in a green (Welcome Back) paper wallet and also made sure to put in a word to the Executive Lounge that I would be dropping in for breakfast soon.

Hilton Executive Double room

View of the harbour directly from my room balcony

After getting to my room (which was pretty much directly opposite the room I had on the first night), I dumped my bags and took a few pictures from the balcony which looked magnificently out to the harbour. The room is the same as the one that I had before, except that there were obviously two slightly smaller beds rather than one big bed, plus since there were two beds there was no space for a writing table, so the cabinet where the TV was placed on top was slightly longer, with an office chair slipped under on one side, making it a somewhat de facto working area (although far too little elbow room unless one shifted the TV a bit to the side). Snapped a few pictures, then changed into beach clothes and proceeded to shove a number of items very quickly into my sports bag, as at that time there was a mere 40 minutes before the vessel to Green Island was heading off.

I proceeded hastily to the Executive Lounge where the staff member there greeted me (as per Lena's pre-emptive action). I took a few items from the buffet and scoffed it down. I ordered a coffee but unfortunately did not get to finish it in time; the lounge staff equally surprised at my short stop in the lounge. Thankfully, even though I was short on time and I had to uncomfortably semi-sprint to the boat, I knew where I had to go (unlike the night before); if knowledge wasn't enough then a large vessel berthed in direct line of sight of the Hilton shore filled with people (witnessing a poor sod semi-sprinting along the shore and then onto the wharf) should convince anyone. I handed over my ticket to the crew who were waiting at the gangplank and I was on board. Refreshments were being served below deck, but I couldn't be bothered, especially in light of the number of people that were on board. Luckily, I managed to bump into the FT contingent who were located on the upper deck, including Bundy Bear who had just arrived that morning. It was only a few more minutes before the vessel roared to life and we finally shoved off to Green Island.

During the somewhat short journey to Green Island, crew went around to all the passengers distributing flyers about what to do on Green Island (and the Outer Reef for those who signed up for that tour). I'd signed up for the Green Island tour that offered both snorkelling and a glass-bottomed boat ride. A lot of people decided to stretch their legs as well as congregate for a good chat near the rear of the upper deck (in spite of the unannounced turbulence ).

Once we arrived at Green Island, the people who wanted to ride the glass-bottomed boat needed to go straight away. A flurry of people moved quickly down the wet stairs and scrambled on board the small glass-bottomed boats.

 

[anat0l]

Sun 24 May: Day 3 Oz Fest (part 2 of 3)

The vessel to Green Island docked at the Island pier

On board the glass-bottomed boat

The boat ride moved off from the pier and we headed a moderate distance out from Green Island. At times we would slow down to snap pictures of the various kinds of coral ("if you think it looks like something familiar, that's probably it's name"), scores and schools of fish and various other aquatic life (including sea cucumbers, sea stars and clams). At one point, our driver and tour guide threw fish food overboard and we witnessed a flutter of fish splash to the surface in a mad attempt to eat the feed.

An image of the sea bed from the glass-bottomed boat

Feeding the fish

:idea:VIDEO: Part of the Glass-Bottomed Boat Ride (Youtube - 4 min 7 sec)

With the ride over, I headed to the dive shop to get snorkelling gear. It was a bit of a downer that no one else in our contingent was going snorkelling, but I pressed on (it was part of the ticket anyway). I was a bit unsure and felt really naive because I had never snorkelled before, but I changed into my swimming gear, put my bag into a locker and headed to the beach area to the left of the pier.

The tide was quite low and I removed my flippers in order to more easily wade from the shore until the water level was appreciably deeper, although this did involve stepping on some rather rough (luckily not sharp) coral. There were a few people out there snorkelling and I some how managed to deduce how to fit all my gear on, although I think my technique was still quite faulty since I had to keep surfacing quite often in order to empty my mask of water (even though I thought that the mask was on nice and tight). I saw more of the coral that was seen on the glass bottomed boat tour, but nothing overly spectacular; occasionally, I was passed by a small school of fish, as well as spotting the odd clam. I managed to graze my left knee appreciably due to my multiple surfacing incidents and resulting scraping on coral. It was a bit hard to snorkel for a long time when there was no one to talk to, so I think I spent just about over half an hour before I decided to head back to shore. I returned my gear to the dive shop before heading to one of the bathrooms near the ice cream shop to change.

By the time I had changed back and was out and getting my land feet back, I was somewhat hungry, however spurred on by other FTers who were off for some activity, we all followed the paths through the forest which contained many signs explaining the interesting flora and fauna on the island (and indeed characteristic of tropical North Queensland). Green Island is not large by any means - the island is probably 10-15 minutes or so walk at its widest. We followed the path until we hit the beach again, then circled around the Island until back at the pier.

One of the signs in the forest walking path

I walked back to the eatery area (near the pool) to see many FTers relaxing with a drink. I was quite hungry so although some of the prices of food were quite balk-worthy, I purchased a chicken roll and devoured that quickly, not because I was that hungry but the word had got around that we needed to board the vessel going back to Cairns soon.

 

[anat0l]

Sun 24 May: Day 3 Oz Fest (part 3 of 3)

As the sun began to descend from the sky, the vessel back to Cairns pulled out of the Green Island pier. We arrived back at the wharf and Bundy Bear got the word around to get a group photo at the wharf. There was some logistical fun and acrobatics to be had as cameras were prepared (and timers were forgotten), angles were examined and people forgoed the old tallest-to-shortest sorting method and simply stood where they could be seen (or not seen). Eventually, most of us made it into at least one shot. I returned to my room to find another complimentary bottle of red, three kiwi fruits and a welcome back greeting card; then it was change out of beach clothes to civvies, have a shower and wash my swimming gear. There was still some time before the Executive Lounge was going to open, so I headed out for a walk around Cairns city (town?).

Complimentary wine and fruit, with welcome greeting card

Exterior of the Hilton Cairns

The Executive Lounge opened up when I got back to the Hilton and some FTers had wasted no time pulling up to a table and cracking open a beer or helping themselves to a glass of wine. Others were mindful of flights the next day and sagely used the lounge computer and printer to OLCI, of which I did and was lucky (since it was well after T-24) that my preallocated seats were quite favourable for my three sectors the next day (all 738 services; preallocated 4C, 4D and 4C). I was still quite hungry at the time owing to the day's activity with little eaten, so it came to a surprise to some when I tore through a couple of plates of evening canapes.

The FT group in the lounge slowly started to mull over Bellavista's, which was just around the corner from North's, though some had popped over earlier to take advantage of the happy hour specials. When I arrived, the place was pretty packed, which was a big surprise for me since it was a Sunday night. A few FTers were scattered around supping and gulping down on various beverages of the alcoholic kind; when the dinner crowd reached critical mass, we moved away from the outside area to a set of tables that was a little distance away from the blasting music and other masses.

One of the long tables present for Sunday dinner

Menus were spread around the tables offering light and simple meals, but most people decided on the pizza selection, with some sharing between a few (e.g. yours truly) and some tearing into one by themselves. The pizzas ended up being fairly decent in size so if one person was quite hungry then one pizza would easily fill them up but it was also the right size for a couple (or three for light eaters) to share. Some pizzas took a bit longer than tolerable to be served, with some coming with the wrong ingredients.

A pizza that was devoured at Sunday dinner

LW came along again to join us for dinner, but this time Mrs LW and mini-LW also joined us. As with many Oz Fest Sunday night dinners, a nice low key, no-schedule dinner was the way to go and that's pretty much how it went, except we did have another birthday surprise that day. The night at Bellavista's ended relatively early, however a decent number of us were prepared to kick on at Bar 925 (once again courtesy of JohnSydney2000), even the self-proclaimed tired (and some who had to wake up at OMG o'clock the next day).

Just like the simple arrangements for dinner, [JohnSydney2000 kept the night nice and simple as well - no quizzes or brain strainers that night; we did welcome and thank Bundy Bear who had only come for the Sunday part of Oz Fest but was most helpful in processing credit card payments for events. The hot topic of the night was where the next Oz Fest was going to be held, with suggestions of Darwin, Alice Springs, Broome, Adelaide and Canberra thrown up in the mix (and a few noting that for some reason the Gold Coast never made the first cut). Most people didn't stay too long and for my part I could not help but go with my good judgement and call it an early night even though I was pretty much next door. I did a little bit of packing (whilst being just a tad annoyed that my wet clothes had not dried much since the afternoon) but I unwisely left most of it to the next morning as I was quite tired.

Cairns is my second Oz Fest after Hobart from 2008, but I enjoyed it thoroughly. It is difficult to compare the two locations and sets of events, although Sunday seemed a much better and more "together" affair in Cairns compared to Hobart. The weather in Cairns was absolutely superb (and just in time as most of us left before some rain decided to make an appearance). I think everyone has a tendency to agree that annual events get better and better each year.

For me, great weather, great events and great company made for a great weekend away, especially before my status run that was coming up :shock:.

 

[anat0l]

Mon 25 May: CNS-BNE-MEL-ADL (part 1 of 3)

Monday, 25 May 2009

If there's one thing that most of you should know or have deduced about me already, it's that I'm not a very good morning person, even though there is clearly a non-refundable airfare on the line. I woke up and had to toss a few things into my bags, but the biggest problem I had was my still wet clothes from yesterday which I had hung on the makeshift laundry line in the bathroom. And then I still had to check out and have breakfast before getting to the airport. Given the tight timing, I would have needed to eschew the option of a possible airport shuttle and cough up the dough for a taxi. But first thing's first....

After packing most of my stuff, I used a hair dryer to get my wet clothes to a point where my clothes weren't perfectly dry but good enough for me - there wasn't a lot of time. I tossed the wet clothes in a double bag and packed it in, hoping like anything that the mouldy wet smell would not disseminate throughout my baggage. I still had two bottles of free red wine plus a bottle of mango wine I had purchased which I could barely fit in my backpack, but after a quick room check I was out the door and down to reception.

I checked out without a hitch and left my bags with reception whilst I went to the hotel's internal restaurant for breakfast. I had gotten the word that LW, Mrs LW and mini-LW would be there nice and early for brekkie, so when they weren't there I was afraid that I had missed them. In any case, Noelene was by herself at a small table so after picking off quickly at the buffet I decided to join her. Our flights weren't at similar times, so sharing a taxi was out of the question. We had a nice chat over breakfast and then I saw LW and family drop in, joining straitman and Mrs straitman, who all had plenty of time up their sleeves, unlike yours truly.

As I finished demolishing breakfast, it became very much apparent that I had little time to waste before getting to the airport. However, during that morning, it occurred to me that during my SC run there would be international travel, and I have three bottles of wine with me. Although that wouldn't translate to hell at customs, it would definitely be a red flag. All this because I was lugging three bottles around with me. There had to be a better way. That better way was courtesy of LW, who after some discussion and with the kind additional permission of Mrs LW, agreed to carry my three bottles with them back to BNE. LW and Mrs LW - a very special thanks to you for that favour.

We went back to concierge so I could give LW the bottles and call a taxi. Thank goodness for the time in the morning combined with the size of Cairns contributed to a fairly quick arrival time for the taxi. I clamoured into the taxi and we were off for the fairly quick and surprisingly not too expensive trip to the airport, which I unusually paid in cash. Once at CNS, I went to QF bag drop and found only a couple of people in the premium line. Once at the desk, I got my BPs for all my flights, except the first thing I noticed which was unusual was that one of the BPs handed to me was labelled "Business". As I walked away, I checked all my BPs and saw that my CNS-BNE was in 2A rather than 4C as I had originally checked-in with, then it suddenly really dawned on me. I had been operationally upgraded. My first one. I could not believe it, I almost pinched myself.

Inside airside area in CNS domestic

I went through security and looked around the small-ish open area for chchkiwi, who was going to be on the first two flights I was also flying today. I didn't find her but I found the CNS QP, so I proceeded in and found tom911 and company enjoying a few morning refreshments. I left my bag in the QP and proceeded out to the public area again to look for chchkiwi and eventually found her. When we went back into the QP, I tried to negotiate a better seat for her on the CNS-BNE flight as well as trying to get adjacent seats for the BNE-MEL flight. Not too surprisingly, after we all reconvened in the QP, our flight was being called. In true flight-experienced fashion, we waited for a bit until the final call was made in order to give the plebs a chance to board first. As we exited the QP, the lovely agent at the front desk gave back chchkiwi's BPs. Whilst she didn't have any better seat for the CNS-BNE flight, we did manage to get adjacent seats for the BNE-MEL flight, which was much better than the seat she was originally given.

Inside CNS QP

CNS domestic is unusual in that the terminal has only one level. We proceeded through gate 18 and had to negotiate a ramp going up to the aerobridge which lead to our aircraft. It's a bit like a standard terminal set up for an airport which only has standoff bays and airstairs, but in this case, the aerobridges are fixed and people are channeled from the relevant gates to the correct ramp leading up to the aerobridge.

Flight: Qantas Airways QF709 Cairns (CNS D) - Brisbane (BNE D)
Depart: 1010h Sched; 1011h Actual
Aircraft: VH-VXN "Fremantle" Boeing 737-800
Distance: 865 mi (1,392 km)
Class: Business (operational upgrade from Red e-Deal)
Seat: 2A

I settled into my seat still beaming over my first operational upgrade; so much so that once seated I called Bundy Bear to tell him the "news" . Just as the J FA helping the CSM started offering pre-flight drinks of juice or ice cold water. I selected a water and noticed that J was only about half full. A Qantas Boeing 717 was parked adjacent to us, as well as a number of Dash aircraft nearby. We soon pushed back and took off without any fuss.

QantasLink aircraft parked near us as we pushed back

The flight this morning was a refreshment flight, but most people know that a refreshment in Business is anything but. The offerings today was a sweet onion and egg pie or fresh fruit and yoghurt. Being that a nice warm refreshment on board is rare and trumps even QP offerings most of the time, I went for the sweet onion and egg pie, which was sided with a single piece of bacon and a tomato. For the sharp ones amongst us, you would have easily deduced that the long-winded name was merely the cover for a quiche, however when I mentioned this to the CSM she merely laughed and insisted that what she had said was duly the name of the said dish. I then proceeded to amuse her by regaling the classic quiche mispronounciation joke (one of many versions puts the joke on former US president George W Bush). A fruit danish was offered as a side along with a small bowl of fruit.

 

[anat0l]

Mon 25 May: CNS-BNE-MEL-ADL (part 2 of 3)

Domestic Business refreshment (warm choice) of quiche (or sweet onion and egg pie)

I decided to skip an alcoholic drink and instead stuck with a glass of water with tea to follow later. When the trays were cleared, I couldn't help but ask for some more fruits. The CSM instead came back with the full, colourful tray for the alternate refreshment, i.e. fruit and yoghurt. The yoghurt was natural and plain, clearly not everyone's cup of tea, but having not had much fresh fruit in the past few days, this was very much a blessing. A bit later after the main cabin service had been finished and cleared, the main cabin supervisor came back up through the Business cabin to offer National Breast Cancer pink cup cakes. These are a bit more grandeur than the ones I had tasted in the past; these ones had small pink sprinkles on them, in addition to being slightly larger and presented in a trendy compartmentalised box (cf. the old style where every cup cake was individually wrapped in plastic).

QF709 Domestic Business refreshment (light choice)

Breast Cancer cup cake, "improved" version

After all of that eating and my cup cleared, it was almost time to get ready for landing, so it wasn't until long that we landed in BNE and had an effortless taxi to gate 20. We disembarked and bid farewell to tom911 and company who were spending a few days in south-east Queensland, whilst chchkiwi and I headed to the J Lounge for a refresher. Since our connection was the bare minimum 40 minutes, we didn't have a lot of time for a breather anyway. I finished off a water whilst we had a bit of chat, but before long our flight was called and so with nothing better to do (apart from ensuring that we got some overhead bin space), we headed over to gate 22 to board our flight to MEL.

Flight: Qantas Airways QF621 Brisbane (BNE D) - Melbourne Tullamarine (MEL T1)
Depart: 1255h Sched; 1253h Actual
Aircraft: VH-VXB "Yananyi Dreaming" Boeing 737-800
Distance: 859 mi (1,382 km)
Class: Economy
Seat: 4D

From the gate to the plane our flight was looking fairly full. Luckily there was still some overhead space left when we got to our seats: chchkiwi in 4E and myself in 4D. When we departed, the aircraft was full bar a few middle seats near the front and peppered around the place.

Lunch was served at the usual timing after take off and as with most usual lunches on QF domestic, sandwiches were offered today (sometimes it is a sandwich or a salad). My LFML lunch was carried on the trolley rather than specially brought out. The LFML sandwich turned out to be lettuce and tomato on wholegrain bread. Yep, that's all. Lettuce and tomato...oh, I almost forgot, and butter. Rather disappointing effort; it was enough to keep anyone from starving for sure, although perhaps using lean meat or cheese would have been more reasonable. Even if QF wanted to keep the "one size fits all" approach (i.e. LFML, vegetarian etc.), then perhaps adding more (different) veggies would please the palate a bit more? But perhaps I'm asking too much (although for a LFML it still behooves me why you would still add butter). A bottle of water and tea topped it all off.

Contents of my LFML sandwich (you can just make out the butter on the bottom slice of bread)

chchkiwi and I chatted for the whole 2 hr-ish flight; at lunch, she made the comical remark at the cleverness of the QF tablemats (i.e. contains utensils and then can be used as a bag). Something different, I guess.

We touched down to a rather wet MEL and taxiied to gate 1 for disembarkation. chchkiwi was staying in MEL for a few days before heading back across the Tasman, so after leaving the gate area into the terminal proper, we said our parting remarks and I headed straight to the J Lounge to catch up on my emails, since I only had just over an hour's connecting time to my next flight.

Qantas 738 VH-VXB "Yananyi Dreaming" parked at gate 1 (photo from the MEL T1 J Lounge)

I grabbed a cup of green tea, sat down near the magazines and fired up my eeePC. I had a quick look at my emails and saw that I had a whole stack load of unread messages, of which I marked off about 15% of them and went through another stack load. With still about 25% of the emails to read (mostly AFF and FT ), I decided to tackle something else - downloading pictures from my camera to eeePC. Whilst power wasn't a problem (since I was recharging my battery on the camera every day, or at least that), space was sure to be one. I did a bit of fiddling on my eeePC to try and get my camera's drivers, which downloaded at a stupidly slow rate for some odd reason. It was so slow that it only finished at merely T-12, where after I immediately shut down the computer and packed up my things as I raced out of the lounge and down to gate 2.

As is usual in MEL for some odd reason, as I made my way from the upper concourse down the stairs towards the low-number gates, I managed to read the flight information monitors along the way and although it was about T-8 minutes to go the flight had been marked as closed. I picked up the pace and ran towards the gate to find I was one of the last few passengers to board the aircraft. The FA saw me running like mad and sympathetically smiled at me as she took my BP and put it into the scanner. The scanner spat out the BP and beeped, red lights a-flashing. OK...this is a new one for me. The FA sent me to the gate counter as the desk agent was trying furiously to reorganise BPs for a few pax (including me). Didn't help, of course, that his computer had crashed and needed rebooting, and then following that the BP printer was jamming and basically being a <insert appropriate word here>. Eventually, short of booting both the machine and the printer (as in, literally), the desk agent jogged over to another gate (or perhaps the CityFlyer service counter) to get our BPs. When he came back, I realised why I was red beeped: another operational upgrade!