Monday 18th March 2024
Woke up this morning relatively early with my alarm for the first time of the trip in Australia (usually I kept waking up before it) and new that today was the day I started the domestic part of my vacation. I was flying Qantas domestically in Australia for the first time since 2016 when Heidi and I flew from Melbourne to Brisbane after our overwater flight. It was pouring down rain when I woke up and that was not to big of a deal as I was going to be inside the house, then in a car, then in the airport so not an issue.
Had some breakfast, got ready and then headed to the airport. This time rather than use Uber to get to the airport, I was going to use DiDi. They are kind of like the Lyft of the USA in that they are one of the alternatives to Uber doing pretty much the same thing. They were better pricing as well and gave me a heap of discount rides to use. Happy with that! It took me a bit of a roundabout way, but it was peak hour so that was to be expected if it was going to make all of the back streets the best way.
Eventually made it to the airport and was dropped off by the driver in the right spot. I walked into Check in and it was pretty busy. Security looked like a shit fight, but that was to be expected for a Monday morning. I had not seen the check in machines before as they looked different, and I just needed to print a boarding pass. I was wrong. Apparently I printed a bag tag instead which I didn’t need as I had my old Qantas Qtag. So I had to find a staff member to see what I could do and they told me it was too late to use the Qtag, I had to use the printed bag tag that I had gotten. O well. So I dropped my suitcase off in the baggage drop and they printed me a boarding pass (on real card stock!). Off to security I go!
Security was still a bit of a shit fight, but I was sent down to the lanes with the Walk Through Metal Detector which meant I could keep my belt on (no one needs to see my pants come down) but all of your tablets and laptops have to come out and go in their own trays.. *sigh*. Then just as I am about to walk through a Qantas Staff member came through shouting “Wait please, Wait please, these people need to be scanned right now” and there was a group of 10 following him. So he moved them all the way to the front and they all looked confused as they made me wait and I just had to stand there waiting for all of them to figure out their lives and go through. Of course when it was finally my turn, my backpack got pulled aside to be stripped apart again. *sigh*
Once I had finally gotten my stuff back together, it was off upstairs back into the terminal. It looked different but also strangely familiar. The Qantas Pub.. i mean Club was in the same spot and so was the food court (although all the stores had changed). I found a working bathroom and then just headed off to the gate. I sat down with a good view of the runway and just chilled out waiting for my flight. Unbeknownst to me a friend was actually at the gate next to me waiting for his flight and I didn’t find out until AFTER his flight pushed back. Damn it!
Qantas Airways – QF521
Brisbane to Sydney
1015-1250
Boeing 737-800 (VH-VZR)
Economy Class (Seat 18A)
Boarding: 0952 (Gate 21)
Push Back: 1015
Take Off Roll: 1024 (Runway 01R)
Top of Descent: 1214
Touch Down: 1239 (Runway 34R)
Shut Down: 1248 (Gate 3)
Eventually they started getting all of the wheelchair passengers sorted and called boarding for business class. Then in true Qantas style, the economy cabin was called and it was a bum rush straight for the one person scanning boarding passes. Qantas is now using double door boarding in Brisbane so that was a shock and it made the boarding so much easier. I headed down the steps to to walk out on the ramp and thankfully the rain had stopped. Across the ramp, up the steps and then try to snap a photo without getting caught as I come in the back steps and them swim upstream to my row right in the middle.
I took my seat and got situated before my two seat mates arrived. This flight was full to the brim so there was not an empty seat anywhere on board. I swear it felt cramped as hell but it was only for an hour or so in the air and made it tolerable. The aircraft was fitted with wifi AND seat back entertainment so I got my headphones plugged in and started watching something as the plane began to fill up further. We pushed back right on time and started taxiing out. It was a slowish taxi as there was a few planes ahead of us, but still no luck with getting the new runways 🙁
We climbed out towards the bay and quickly turned south and kept climbing up quickly. I had forgotten how quickly seat belt signs come off and they allow you to do stuff. The staff were up and getting themselves going quickly as they had a plane to serve with drinks and a “snack” of a lemon myrtle slice. I wasn’t hungry so kept it for later and took a Bundaberg Ginger Beer just because they had it.
We really were not up in the air all that long as by the time they finished service and then went back through collecting trash we hit top of descent and started heading in towards Sydney. Sadly we got diverted way out and around but that was fine as I was still watching the show I had selected and when that ended I just unplugged my headphones and it connected via bluetooth to my phone. Easy as!
We touched down out on the small runway and that meant a bit of a taxi through to Terminal 3 but that just meant plenty of opportunity to plane spot as we went around. We pulled into Terminal 3 in the low number gates right up next to the Qantas Engineering and there wasn’t much in the hangars (there was a 787-9 though). As we pulled in they did not allow the use of the back door so it meant a long time waiting for everyone to get off and eventually I was able to move.
Out the door of the aircraft, up the jetbridge (find a bathroom) and down to Baggage claim to wait for my suitcase. As usual for this trip it was one of the last ones onto the belt and then once I had it, off to the train station for a ride into the city. Time to explore Sydney for the first time in over a decade.