Trip Report - CBR-SYD-WLG-SYD-CBR

[Todd M]

Flight – QF1422

 

Dep - CBR

 

Arr - SYD

 

Rego – VH-QOH

 

Seat –15D

 

Aircraft Type – DHC8-400Q

 

STD – 13:50

 

STA – 14:40

 

Just made this flight! I made sure I was on this as one of my favourite flight attendants, Melle, was working. Melle originally trained with me on Check In and now works with Link as a F/A. This was just another Dash 8 flight really, had my ginger beer and sat down on the most pink aircraft in Australia! VH-QOH, for those who are unaware, is painted with a pink front half for the Breast Cancer Foundation. A little bumpy coming in due to storm activity in the Sydney area, and upon arrival into the bay I was lucky enough to go for that short bus ride to gate 17! The Bus Ride is getting rarer on T3 arrivals, as usually Gate 16/17 is used with a Pushback provided for the aircraft.

 

Flight – NZ144

 

Dep - SYD

 

Arr - WLG

 

Rego – ZK-OJN

 

Seat – 26F

 

Aircraft Type – A320-200

 

STD – 18:10

 

STA – 23:20

 

Decided to wing it with Air NZ, having never flown them before and they had the best option with the best inflight entertainment. I made my way from T3, and used Sydney Buses route 400 which is the cheapest of all the transfer options. Seeing as though I had plenty of time, I arrived into T1 with about 15 minutes before check in open at 15:15. Being one of the first in the queue, I got through quickly and had lunch while filling out my green customs card. Breezed through customs and security screening and went and found a quiet corner of the terminal near my gate to relax. Watched a episode of The Cleveland Show and American Dad, before an announcement was made that there would be a gate change. Moved to the other gate, only to find a delay had been posted due to aircraft changes. It eventually came time to board, I was seated in the last few rows so I got to board first. My first impression of the aircraft was that the A320 has such a nice, bright and modern interior. The overhead bins are quiet large (Compared to the 737 where I have trouble fitting my backpack in), and the seats easier to find with the light up sign on the PSU. Simply put, the A320 craps all over the 737 (Sorry 737 fans!). I found my window seat and started to play around with the onboard entertainment unit, which I discovered was touch screen and easy to use. AVOD aswell, which is a bonus when you need to get up and move about. We sat on the ground for what seemed like a millennium, with me watching the Lightning Indicators closely hoping they would not change from flashing white to blue (Which would indicate a longer wait for pushback due to storms). Luckily they pushed us at the same time as our adjacent 777 SIA aircraft, and we beat it out for the long taxi. Eventually departing about 1 hour behind schedule (I would guess, did not have my watch on me). We watched the safety video, which is just fantastic. It is one of the best I have seen, next to the V Australia animated video. Up in the air I started watching 17 Again, the flick with Zac Effron as he gets transformed into his 17 year old self to try again. Had not seen this before and was a good laugh. For my dinner I chose the Chicken Pie, having multiple stuff I did not like in it (Such as olives) it was good none the less and I washed it down with a nice Cola Beverage. Eventually my movie had finished and I decided to go for the next thing on my inflight menu, 30 ROCK. A great show featuring Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin. We started our decent, and upon approach and finals turbulence started up a little and a bumpy landing into Windy Wellington. Corrections could be felt being made, but it wasn’t as bad as a lot of You Tube videos make it out to be :P. Arrived dead on midnight, and cleared customs and immigration as quickly as possible only to find a taxi waiting for me which would take me to my studio apartment in the city. After calling Optus because my AutoRoam did not activate, I finally hit the pillow at around 01:30, ready for the big day ahead of touring the city on Trolleybuses and Trains.

 

Flight – NZ141

 

Dep - WLG

 

Arr - SYD

 

Rego – ZK-OJE

 

Seat – 23F

 

Aircraft Type – A320-200

 

STD – 06:40

 

STA – 08:20

 

I woke up at 3:30, with my taxi booked for 4:00 with an airport arrival of 4:15. My Prius taxi was waiting downstairs for me, and got me to the airport right ontime. Wellington Airport opens at 4am for the early JetConnect, Air NZ and Pacific Blue departures. I walked straight through the non-existant queue at Check In, and had to wait for about 15 or 20 minutes to pay for the Airport Tax upon departure (Travelex did not have their safe open). Once again, cleared customs with ease and ended up surfing the net on the free wi fi available terminal wide. Our flight boarded near to on time, and with me hoping I would have no one next to me for the flight, I boarded and waited. My wish had come true, I was alone and had three seats to myself. I am not a morning person, so I would prefer to not show rudeness to the person next to me because I didn’t talk to them! Watched the safety demo, and pushed back into the darkness. I was happy to sit back and watch Monsters vs. Aliens, a Dreamworks CGI movie about monsters and aliens. I had already seen it before, and it lasted me through breakfast which was a Ham and Spinach pastry with full bar service (Of which I had a coke, I needed some kind of caffine!). After this I decided to watch Fawlty Towers and then listened to some music, before watching Scrubs during our descent. Coming in on approach to Sydney we were lucky enough to be parallel to a Qantas A380, a great sight watching this giant floating gracefully back to earth. After alighting and finding out the rego from the crew, I made my way to Immigration and used the Smart Gate system with near ease. Last time I did not do so well, this time I was prepared and the Smart Gate let me through. I was approached at the carousel and had my card checked, and then told to go to a certain gate where they let me straight through as I had nothing to declare. I then made my way back to T3 for my flight home, via the Airport Link service as it would allow me to get the next flight out.

 

Flight – QF1471

 

Dep - SYD

 

Arr - CBR

 

Rego – VH-QOB

 

Seat – 17C

 

Aircraft Type – A320-200

 

STD – 09:40

 

STA – 10:30

 

Did a last minute change at the kiosk downstairs and ran to the Call Forward counter to drop my bags and head to gate 17. I was happy to get on this flight, I just wanted to relax at home for the day after being up so early. Another uneventful Q400 flight, however it was one I have not been on before. Had my ginger beer and stared out the window at the towns I have seen many times before, and can name each one by approach roads and features in the towns. Grabbed my bags upon landing, and headed to the Bus Stop for the final stage of my journey that would take me to my front door.

 

Photos from Wellington

 

Here is a small selection of photos from my trip and a small afternoon of plane spotting. This location is easy to get to by bus, and is so close to the runway it is amazing. To view more, see http://www.flickr.com/photos/kommissar_todd06/collections/72157623464692414/ and to get a larger version click on the photo.

 

 

 

 

 

Air NZ ‘Nothing to Hide’ Safety Demo and adverts, aswell as behind the scenes

 

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