Wednesday 6th March 2024

As I took the elevator down to the lobby I was kind of excited for the upcoming flights.  As I walked up to check out, about 3 staff offered to take my bags which originally I was going to decline, but they told me that the car was already here and they were ready to load everything into the car.  This was not anticipated and quite surprising. Check out took a while and in the end they couldn’t even get it to charge properly so said they would do it later… I hope they forget ;).  Into the car which for me was a first being a BMW Station Wagon (Estate…. sorry) and off to the airport.  About a half hour later, I was dropped off at the Etihad premium check in, why I don’t know.  The driver swore this is where everyone was dropped off for Business Class, even other airlines, but that was not the case as it was clearly Etihad only.

I walked around to the check in area and waited a little bit behind some other people not in Business (sorry…. First Class) holding stuff up.  Once I was helped I saw my bag weight and it was now at 24KG which meant I was screwed for my flight in a couple of days to Brisbane, but I can figure that out later.  Once checked in with boarding passes in hand, I headed for immigration, which was just an electronic border gate, then security, where my camera bag was stripped apart for no apparent reason, but once they let me repack it they seemed to not care.  I stepped out into the Abu Dhabi terminal and my jaw just dropped.  While I had seen a small glimpse on arrival, this place was just impressive.  The scale, the look, how empty it was (apparently 3 in the afternoon is a peaceful time at the airport).  

I headed towards the lounge, and while it was not the Etihad lounge all other airlines in the airport use the “Pearl Lounge”.  It was still a decent lounge.  When I checked in they walked me into an exclusive “First and Business Class section” which was a smaller sectioned off area, and I was the only person in there.  They even offered to bring food in if needed, although I could also go out to the main lounge if I wanted (I didn’t).  I didn’t intend on eating much and they had some nice small light food.  

After sitting in the lounge, reading my book for a while, I headed out from the lounge towards the gate area.  I wanted to see what the airport had to offer.  It was impressive, such an amazing airport and it was still really empty, I was impressed.  I took my time heading to the gate, just enjoying the walk (though my feet probably wouldn’t) and the terminal.  I sat down to wait by the gate for a little bit. 

Qatar Airways – QR1051
Abu Dhabi to Doha Hamad International (AUH-DOH)
1745-1755
Boeing 737 Max 8 (A7-BSE)
First Class – Seat 2A

Boarding: 1658 (Gate B23B)
Push Back: 1748
Take Off Roll: 1804 (Runway 31R)
Top of Descent: 1728
Touch Down: 1744 (Runway 34R)
Shut Down: 1750 (Gate V8)

Boarding was called right on time and as I was ready I headed over towards the gate and got swiped in.  They did tear off part of the boarding pass and thankfully it was not the part with my bag tags, which I was glad for.  I walked down the jetbridge, not being able to get a decent photo (a common theme at these airports for sure) and stepped onboard my first ever 737-8 Max.  It didn’t look much different but the 2 row business.. .sorry First.. Class section was small.  It didn’t matter, this flight was short, stupid short.  The cabin was almost full and by the time the doors closed, just one seat was empty.  

As the door closed up and we began to push back, we took our time getting to the runway but after a powerful take off roll, we were up in the sky and headed for the short flight to Qatar.  After we had barely cleared 4000ft the flight attendants were up and getting our meal options ready.  Not everyone was eating, but everyone had drink orders etc.  It was a sight for sure, to be served a meal (albeit more a snack) on a flight time of 50 minutes (shorter in our case).  While not a big meal, it was still impressive and really tasty. I had the vegie option and it was quite delicious.  It was delicious and hit the spot nicely as it would be a while until my next full meal.  I probably wouldn’t eat in the lounge, while I could, I didn’t really have much time there.

We started our descent over the water directly into Doha’s runways coming in on the side with the royal terminal.  We touched down and taxiied away from the main terminal area.  This meant a bus gate.  Which while to some it might be bad, I was hoping, for one simple reason.  The buses take you directly to immigration or transfers.  No long long walks, just up the escalators and straight in.  Simple as pie!  

Thankfully this time there was no stripping of my camera bag but I knew that was coming thanks to Australian laws for entry from the middle east, why I needed to go to the gate early.  I made my way towards the lounge after stopping for a photo of the creepiest teddy bear known to man.  Before heading up into the lounge, I asked if I was better off heading to the one in the “Garden” area and they said that this one was closer, so I just stayed with the Al Marjoun lounge, the original one.

Now I had been to Hamad International back in 2012 when the place was still being built and it was amazing to see it in full blown now, even more than when it was set up back then.  The lounge was impressive and the main things I wanted to do was get some water for medication purposes and to just relax before my flight.  I didn’t have much time though, as I knew I would need to be at the gate early and they claimed they started an hour early, but with additional security, I am sure it would be probably more.  

After chiling out for a short while, I collected my things and headed for the gate, I took some time to walk past some of the shops, take a few photos.  As I approached, before I could even gather my stuff ready for the security check, they started scanning people in.  An hour and a half before departure…. I expected that! Does this count as boarding started, or is it preboarding.  I got out my stuff and they decided it was time to confiscate half my water bottle, which meant I had to down in right there and then, sadly.  Now it was time to have my bag scanned.  O well, knew it was coming.  It got swabbed multiple times, along with me. It was negative, as expected.

I handed over my boarding pass to the gate agent who asked if i was flying to Kathmandu.  I wasn’t sure if this was a test on me, or he was just joking.  He was obviously making a mistake, but it was a funny moment and I did ask him if it was a test and he laughed.  He scanned me in and told me to go sit in the priority area.  It was then I noticed that the gate area was split up into zone seating, which was surprising, but made perfect sense.  Time for more waiting and sadly no access to a bathroom after downing half a bottle of water.

Qatar Airways – QR914
Doha Hamad International to Adelaide
2040-1700+1
Boeing 777-300ER (A7-BET)
Business Class – Seat 5A

Boarding: 1958 (Gate C5)
Push Back: 2047
Take Off Roll: 2102 (Runway 34R)
Top of Descent: 1625
Touch Down: 1702 (Runway 23)
Shut Down: 1713 (Gate 18R)

Right at 40 minutes prior to departure, boarding was called and the bum rush of priority passengers happened.  It was time to head towards the mother country, while not my city, it didn’t matter.  I was heading home.  I walked down the jet bridge and boarded into the 777 and saw the Qsuite product.  It was impressive.  I took as many pictures as I could and then got situated in the seat, it was exciting.  I had seen so many things written abou this product over the years and I finally would get to experience it.  The seat was incredible, way more comfortable than the Turkish Airlines product, and much more spacious.  The only strange thing for this flight for me would be facing backwards the whole time.  That was going to take some getting used to.

Service was great getting everything set up and it took a while to not be impressed by everything, so much so I almost forgot to put in my ear plugs before departure (the door was just shutting when I remembered… woops!).  There was so many amenities with the amenity kit, pyjamas, two pillows, the offer of a mattress pad later on, menus, drinks, hand towells.  The only thing that was not offered was Arabic Coffee and dates, which was suprising.

We pushed back and followed an A380 towards the runway, taking off on the same runway we landed not so long ago on.  The A380 was probably heading to Australia as all the Aussie flights were going around the same time.  As we lined up, listening to that GE90 power up was like the sound of the gods.  Those two powerful GE90s just sucked in the world and spat it out the other end.  We were not taking off, we were pushing the world away from our plane.  Can you tell I enjoy a good GE90 take off and it has been a loooong time (2016) since I got my last hit.

We took off and it was dark out and not much to see, once we passed 5000ft the crew came around closing the windows, including mine, even though I didn’t really want this, I guess I don’t get a choice.  We climbed out with a fair amount of bumps and the crew got the meal service started quickly, much quicker than I expected and I was happy with this.  I just wanted to get some rest for a little bit.  The meal was great and delicious and hit the spot.  It was a little fancy for me, but not at all too bad.  The dessert was amazing looking.  Food on Qatar gets a tick over Turkish… for sure!

After the meal it took a while for the seat belt sign to come off as it had been pretty bumpy.  Once that was lifted and a bathroom stop was done, I let them know to prep the bed for me if they could and I would try and get some rest.  I finished watching the movie that I was watching and then turned off the screen to try and get some sleep.  While it wasn’t full on sleep it was good enough.  It got pretty bumpy and so rather than try to sleep on my side or stomach, I lifted the back of the seat a touch and just slept on my back, or at least tried.

I got some rest for a number of hours and woke up with about 7 or 8 hours to go, not entirely sure.  I started watching another video and waited for the bumping to stop.  A coffee (iced would help get my body back on a normal time line).  It was very very bumpy for a good period of the flight, it wasn’t awful turbulence, but it was tolerable, apart from the seatbelt sign.  Once lifted I got up and hit the restroom and grabbed the laptop to work on the trip report.  It was just time to watch a movie and chill as we flew toawrds Australia.  Most of the flight was going to be over water, I hadn’t seen any land since we left Doha and the Arabian Peninsula, 

As we flew along I got a snack of some cookies and a sprite and started another movie I kept waiting for the flight to head towards Australian airspace, I was excited yet also confused at the same time.  It had been so long since I had been home to aus, i wasn’t sure just how life was going to be for everything there.  Would the changes be something I was ok with, or would I be too used to life in the states that it would just be too much.  I know that part of me was also missing my wife who was now half a world away (although by the time I land, she would be asleep again probably… lols).

As we got closer and closer to Adelaide, and the Australian coast, they started to serve “Breakfast”.  I get that back in the middle east it was breakfast time, but over here in Australia it would be getting towards afternoon tea.  I selected from the breakfast menu, but to be honest I probably should have selected the “Afternoon Tea” from the snack menu, but o well.  

Breakfast was a multi course affair and I still kept it light having some cereal and a coconut chia pudding, and both were delicious along with a croissant (or at least what passes for one on an airline) and it tasted pretty good.  After cleaning up by we were just passing WA and crossing the Great Australian Bight heading for South Australia.  It was time to start getting ready for arrival into Adelaide.  Time to fill out my arrival card etc.  It was finally getting real.  They came around wanting to pack up all the bedding as well and I let them do that while I got myself sorted for an arrival.

We started to descend and this is when things started to feel strange, as I was sitting backwards and it was going down with me facing back up to the sky, it was a strange feeling for sure.  We descended and I really couldn’t see much without fully craning my neck around but we came in over Adelaide city and touched down on the runway shortly after.  I was back in Australia after almost 8 years.  We took almost the whole runway to stop (not surprising) and the taxi back took forever, and then it was pulling into the gate.  We were the biggest plane on the gate and it looked funny seeing this giant 777 surrounded by 737s or A320s or the occasional Dash 8.  We certainly stood out!

Once the doors opened we were let loose into the terminal and while I was third off the aircraft, someone stepped aside to let me pass and I was behind someone who had been moved off the Brisbane flight and was trying to connect.  They were on an extremely tight connection and part of the reason I didn’t do it!  I had a bit of a conversation with someone at Border Force because I forgot to sign my arrival card (idiot me!) and then waited for my bag.  I declared the date chocolates I had bought in Abu Dhabi and they didn’t really care all that much and sent me down the Green Lane.  Within 15-20 minutes of pulling into the airport,  I was walking into Australia!

I headed across the arrivals area towards the airport hotel for the night.  I wanted to get my stuff stashed before heading downtown to pick up a sim card and crash out for the night!