Todd M

Ohhh lovely. Bet Canberra won't see it for a while, Brisbane like holding onto the newbies! Will update my lists accordingly.

 

 

Welcome Trent to TAA. I Hope all goes well with your flying, and you enjoy your stay here. Feel free to ask any questions you may desire, and remember to take a look at the Resources, Photo and Video Gallery (Feel free to add to them anytime) and many other sections of the site located in the above links bar!

 

 

Trains for these legs, am currently in Sapporo and will work on the trip report with ANA. Not bad flight, and got to see a Pokemon 747D (Kawaii!). But that will come later.

 

Dep - KyotoArr – Shin-Osaka

Service - Hikari

 

Type – 700 Series

 

STD – 16:16

 

STA – 16:30

 

Just your average 15 minute ride between 2 big cities is all. Not much else to report.

 

Dep – Shin-Osaka

 

Arr – Shin-Kobe

 

Service - Kodama

 

Type – 500 Series

 

STD – 16:38

 

STA – 16:52

 

My first ever ride on a 500 series Shinkansen. They are my favourite by looks alone, with the long, pointed nose, and from what I understand are also the most expensive production Shinkansen made. We were lucky to be placed in the old Green Car, as it is not really required anymore it now just serves as an economy carriage with comfortable seating. It was only a quick 15 minute ride on this train, which is a shame because it is so nice.

 

We took a Cable Car ride to the top of a mountain here, which is rated the best view in Japan. It has a lovely view of Kobe. Cable Cars and me do not really match, I have no proble flying, but anything like Cable Cars and towers just do not agree with me!

 

Dep – Shin-Kobe

 

Arr – Shin-Osaka

 

Service – Hikari Rail Star

 

Type – 700 Series ‘Railstar’

 

STD – 19:08

 

STA – 19:21

 

My first ride on a RailStar service. The seating is very nice, wide and soft. You can easily fall asleep in a seat like this. The 2x2 arrangement is much better than the 3x2 offered on the Tokaido Shinkansen service between Osaka and Tokyo. Once again only 15 minutes back to Osaka, before a Subway ride back to the hotel.

 

Dep – Shin-Osaka

 

Arr – Hiroshima

 

Service – Hikari Rail Star

 

Type – 700 Series ‘Railstar’

 

STD – 08:00

 

STA – 09:32

 

Am currently writing this onboard the Hikari Rail Star bound for Hakata, although I will alight in Hiroshima. I noticed today that the Un Reserved carriage has the same seating as a normal 700 series Shinkansen, am glad I booked a ticket. Am currently passing through Himeji, where before there was a great view of the ocean and factories, aswell as temples and castles. The only problem with the view is suddenly it all goes pitch black, as the amount of tunnel work on the lines is spectacular. Why go over or around, when you can go straight through! Anywho, That is it for me for this part. Not much happening apart from the view!

 

And while I am in the hotel after a along day in Hirsohima.

 

Hiroshima is beautiful. There is no other way to describe it. The wide avenues, tree lined streets and parkland is just amazing. The trams are fun to ride on, and are a flat far of 150Yen within the city. The A Bomb Dome and Peace Museum, aswell as the Children’s Memorial is worth a visit and is easy to get to by tram. Volunteer Guides are also around, those which tell the story of themselves and their families at the time when the bomb was dropped. The guides are also trying to improve their English skills, so they will pick out English speaking visitors to talk to, so they can learn while you learn from them. The hotel we stayed at was the Hiroshima Grand Intelligent Hotel. I felt much intelligent the moment I walked through the door.

 

Dep – Hiroshima

 

Arr – Hakata - Fukuoka

 

Service – Hikari Rail Star

 

Type – 700 Series ‘Railstar’

 

STD – 10:49

 

STA – 11:59

 

Not much to report, just another Shinkansen ride. Did not see where you cross between the two islands, either it is under water or it is the size of a river.....

 

Dep – Hakata

 

Arr – Shin-Yatsushiro

 

Service – Relay Tsubame

 

Type – Unknown

 

STD – 8:15

 

STA – 9:51

 

I Write this after a day in Kagoshima, the southern limit of the Shinkansen network throughout Japan. Kagoshima is a quite city, and is close to a Volcano that smokes constantly named Sakura-jima.

 

A Werid looking train, the Relay Tsubame is. The train sort of looks like it could be a tank, looks heavy and is painted in a dark grey. This train exists to link Hakata with Shin-Yatsushiro, Hakata being the end of the Sanyo (JR West Shinkansen) and Shin Yatsushiro being the start of the Kyushu Shinkansen to Kagoshima Chuo. This train runs as fast as it can on the line it is given, it rocks around a lot, however passes some beautiful scenery. Along the way I was able to see the new shinkansen line being built between Hakata and Shin-Yatsushiro, and it seems to be coming along very well. In most places, it looked as though it was just the overhead to go, and the stations to be completed. Not really an exciting ride (Apart from finding much Engrish onboard), however upon alighting at Shin-Yatsushiro, I spent the quick minute I had to grab photos, as they only leave a 3 minute connection time between the Relay and Tsubame service.

 

Dep – Shin-Yatushiro

 

Arr – Kagoshima Chuo

 

Service – Tsubame

 

Type – 800 Series ‘Tsubame’

 

STD – 9:54

 

STA – 10:33

 

A Fantastic train. Would have to have the best looking interior, and most comfortable aswell. You sit down in the seats and just sink. The seats are a wood panel base and back, with a very soft pad Velcroed onto it. Arm rest contains a fold out tray table, the window blind looked like it was a bamboo shade, and wood tassels hung from the corridor to the little wash rooms. It is very smart and inviting, the train itself is smooth and has a lot of power (As do all Shinkansen’s). Only about a 40 minute ride down to Kagoshima from Shin-Yatsushro.

 

Upon arrival we made our way down stairs and started walking around the Kagoshima Chuo area. We found an arcade, which was pretty much dead. I stopped by the tram line to grab a few quick photos, before we continued our walk in line with the Volcano. We ended up coming across the tram line again, which had a nice backdrop! Continuing further, we found out the street we were on was named ‘Perth Dori Ave’, named after our lovely city in Western Australia, and reading further found that Perth is one of the sister cities of Kagoshima. One of the things David had read up on about Kagoshima was that there were few foreign tourists that venture to the city (So kids are generally intrigued by foreign visitors) and that it is a very friendly city. We found both of those out, seeing only one other foreigner (She was waiting for a ferry) in our whole time there, and the school kids saying hello to us when we were passing through the harbour side mall. When we went to lunch we were welcomed in, and our waitress was an older lady who was very happy to have us as her customer. She had a great conversation with David (And after David was talking about our travel plans in fluent Japanese she mentioned ‘And you chose our restaurant to eat?’ as if she was honoured to have us there) and they even gave us free ice cream courtesy of the Manager. So if anyone is in Kagoshima, it is a Yakiniku restaurant called Nabeshima, down near the port behind Kagoshima Station (Not to be confused with Kagoshima Chuo Station) and has a great view of the Volcano. If you get lost, it is right next to Fuku Fuku. Just a way beyond this there are some fantastic memorials, for the Civil War, the war with the British (The name escapes me now) and to Francis Xavier who landed in Kagoshima. Along with these, there are some nice bridges, and these are very close to the JR Freight depot if you are into Electric Locomotives.

 

We departed here with time to spare and wandered around the mall at Kagoshima Chuo for a while.

 

Dep – Kagoshima Chuo

 

Arr – Shin-Yatsushiro

 

Service – Tsubame

 

Type – 800 Series ‘Tsubame’

 

STD – 16:56

 

STA – 17:31

 

Not really much to report, just the same lovely train as we got before. Very comfortable, cannot wait until they begin the services right from Fukuoka. When this begins, they will complement the 800 series with N700 series trains from JR West which will run Osaka to Kagoshima (Painted in a different livery to the N700 currently in service). This train was more express, it did not stop at the stations inbetween.

 

Dep – Shin-Yatushiro

 

Arr – Hakata

 

Service – Relay Tsunami

 

Type – Unknown

 

STD – 17:34

 

STA – 19:08

 

Another bumpy ride on the Relay Tsubame. I purchased a Bento Box while I was on Kagoshima, and enjoyed that on this train ride seeing it was the longer out of the two. Enjoyed a few beats from my iPod and watched as the towns and cities rolled on by. Apart from that, this is where I am at now, Chris and David went out for dinner at a Ramen Restaurant, however I had filled up on a Bento box so I passed and took the opportunity to edited some photos and continue on my report.

Easy,

 

OOL - Coolangatta or 'Gold Coast'

 

SYD - Sydney Kingsford Smith International

 

NRT - Tokyo (Narita)

 

FUK - Fukuoka

 

CTS - Sapporo Shin (New) Chitose

 

Matt, I am sorry, I did not take much notice of the ride on the taxiway! If I come in or out on that taxiway on my return, I will see how it rides.

 

Thanks for the comments so far. Will try and do abit more onboard the Shinkansen to Hiroshima tomorrow.

 

 

I Believe I neglected to inform a few people that I was heading away, once again, to Japan. However, here is the first part of the trip report. Am currently in Osaka at a hotel in Minamisemba, which thankfully has in room internet!

 

Sydney to CoolangattaFlight – JQ400

 

Dep - SYD

 

Arr - OOL

 

Rego – VH-VGZ

 

Seat – 2D

 

Aircraft Type – A320-232

 

Class - Economy

 

STD – 6:10

 

STA – 6:35

 

A Fairly ordinary domestic flight, really. Was called from the queue as the line was quite long (Got there with plenty of time to spare), and by the time I passed through security my flight was on final call. Being the front few rows, and one of the last to board, the overhead lockers were full. So, I had to give up my camera bag in row 9. Of course, myself being pedantic I was turning around every few minutes to make sure it stayed there! Travel on this day was with two friends, Chris and David, who I went to Marist with for High School and College. This journey was the start of a much larger journey, to Tokyo and beyond.

 

A Short taxi out to the runway, and a sharp turn to the left saw us travelling up the coast for a short flight to Coolangatta, better known as the Gold Coast. I believe the aircraft I was on this day was infact one of JQ’s newer A320’s. I very much prefer the A320 over the 737, the sounds, the look and feel all play a factor in this. The bright and warm LED lighting system, and touch panel announcement system works really well for the A320. JetShop.Cafe was launched through the cabin, and had me partaking in an early morning Chicken and Mayo sandwich and a Hot Chocolate. For a pre packaged sandwich, it was actually quite nice. After this we soon began our descent into OOL, which brought us around the coastline for a runway 14 (?) arrival.

 

Coolangatta to Tokyo Narita

 

Flight – JQ11

 

Dep - OOL

 

Arr - NRT

 

Rego – VH- EBF

 

Seat – 2A

 

Aircraft Type – A330-200

 

Class – Star Class

 

STD – 10:50 (AEST)

 

STA – 18:55 (Tokyo)

 

I am writing this leg of the report from my seat up here in Star Class. Although working for an airline gets me cheaper travel, I decided to pay for this fare outright (And it still came in cheaper than the rest). My two friends have been left behind in Economy class, but I did give them a fleeting visit in between dessert and the snack that was just served. It is my first International Business Class journey, and I am finding it a much better way to travel, however I must not get used to this luxury!!

 

We checked in at the Gold Coast with plenty of time to spare. I was able to breeze through check in, took only about two minutes. Chris and David on the other hand, were stuck in the Economy Queue, which took a little longer to get through. I was happy though, there is a lot to look at in an Airport! Due to a change in flights by JetStar, our previous flight had us arriving with a lot of time to spare. After mooching around for a while, we eventually moved through security, where by I spied a Eagle Boys express pizza shop. Thinking that it would probably be 3 weeks until I have a pizza (Australian/American Style) again, I thought I would indulge in one last fattening snack before departure. We browsed through books and stores at the new Gold Coast terminal, which is very nice for an airport without two stories and any aerobridges. Customs and Immigration was fairly easy, however being pulled aside because my new LowePro backpack has something in the camera section which looks like a bottle! This slowed me down a little, but not by much. I was able to clear fairly easily, and the guy serving at Customs was quite friendly (Unlike previous experience with Customs and Immigration). We arrived into Gate 9, which is the international departure gate for all flights out of OOL. It seems weird, as it is such a small area yet has quite a few flights going out on top of each other in the morning. I had originally been allocated 1K, however was called up (My first ever call up in 97 odd flights), and my seat had been re allocated to 2A. Thankfully, 2B is currently vacant. Star Class was called first, so bidding farewell to my friends I boarded the aircraft with my fellow star classians (Passing two RAAF Caribous on the way, I am glad to see them before they head to that great place In the eternal sky). The problem with boarding first is that you have to wait for ages onboard the plane, however that is subdued by the fact the offer Juice, Water or Champagne for consumption pre flight! Watching all others board, and the Caribous getting prepped for departure, I was the end of the queue and a sense of joy overcame me as I was ready to begin the longest leg of my journey forwards to Tokyo. We had to wait for the bags to be loaded, and the engineers to finish what was needed to be done, and watching as the door closed and in a puff of smoke the engine started……Wait, that was the Caribou next to us! Any who, we started up flawlessly, and pushed back late from the bay. It would have been around 11:20 we eventually pushed back. Taxiing behind a JQ A320, we awaited its takeoff before we were able to get airborne. Flying to the south we made a turn left towards the ocean, and continued to turn until parallel to the coastline. As the seatbelt sign went off the crew leaped into action, and started preparing our meal for the day. Our choices were Pork, Chicken or Vegetarian. I decided on the Chicken, which consisted of Udon Noodles, Chicken (I Hope), a small side salad and chocolate covered macadamia nuts. My side drink was a coke, as unfortunately Bundaberg Ginger Beer was not an option, however she said she would write up about it seeing as though QF have it (And it is a traditional Aussie Carbonated beverage!). The Dessert today was a Cheesecake, and boy howdy was it good. After dessert the crew brought around the portable units used to view movies, games, TV Shows and Music. I grabbed one and although it did not work at first, the CSM’s magic hands made it work and I was able to watch “Up!”, for those of you who do not know it is the story of an old man who made his house fly to a far off location, with a ‘Wilderness’ scout in accidental tow. Another great movie by the guys and girls at Pixar. After this I travelled down to Economy, to have a chat to David and Chris. As it was the only time I would have seen them, I woke them up (Damn I am mean) and had a short chat and bragged about life in Star Class. After this 10 minute chat I headed back to my seat, and just after hooking into Twilight (Might aswell see what all the fuss is about before seeing the Movies), we were served Cheese and Crackers, with a beautiful tasting brea served along with what would have been a cheddar. Basically, this is the point where I am up to in this flight. It is time for me to put away my Macbook and relax a little more.

 

After this, I decided I would watch a bit more of the shows included on the portable unit. I ended up watching Futurama, and one of my favourite cartoons from my Teenage years, Ben 10. After this, I ended up being served yet again with a Meat Pie, and a strawberry ice cream. The Meat pie was well, a meat pie however the Ice Cream was just devine. After this, we were handed out immigration information and watched a video on Japan, with the woman on the video mis-pronouncing the places and various other things in Japanese. Landing was very smooth, and I was watching as an Asiana 777 came in from the side, and then eventually landed behind us. It was only a short taxi to the terminal, as we had landed fairly close to Terminal 2. Alighting, of course, I had to wait for Chris and David to hop off. It was only a short wait and David, Chris and Myself were the first people through immigration, breezed quickly through customs, and then made our way to the NEX and the JR office to exchange our rail passes.

 

I am completing this section of the report onboard a Shinkansen service for Shin-Osaka. It is a great feeling travelling at 275km/h on land. This is after spending a small few days in Tokyo, just wandering around the various districts doing some shopping and seeing a few sights. Tokyo will come again, however, better things await us elsewhere in other cities.

 

Shinkansen

 

Dep - Tokyo

 

Arr – Shin-Osaka

 

Service - Hikari

 

Type – 700 Series

 

STD – 10:03

 

STA – 13:03

 

Actual – Who needs actual times on JR?

 

Not much to report here, if you have never been on High Speed Rail, you should! The countryside flashes past as you sit in your seat, with spectacular views of towns and mountains along the way. I would certainly take HST over air travel any day! Am currently waiting for the trolley man to come back, I feel like some Chip Star chips (Basically Pringles, however they taste better for some reason). Watching the staff work is pretty cool, their job is not easy and they do it so well. Every time they enter or exit a carriage they will bow and upon entering generally call out the service they are providing. Vending machines are provided onboard, instead of having a buffet car like most Australian trains. The only downside is the fact that the machines do not sell food, only drink. However, Bento boxes are available on most, if not all, shinkansen platforms. So an easy meal is only few steps away (If you wish to risk hopping off at stations to allow other, faster, trains to pass yours). Anyway, that is about it for this section of the report. Osaka is not to far away, and the trolley man has just come around. No Chip Star, but he has Pocky. Anyway. Check back soon.

Nice Photos. -VUA now has another decal under the Mile High one, which has a pic of the Black Eyed Peas and there band logo.

 

 

It is apparently really nice, with AVOD inside. -ZQA has a little bit of nose art, I believe for being the 75th 737 for Qantas. One can hope for a diversion, as I don't think I will see this bird in my port for quite a while!

 

 

I should grab myself plane plotter. Have been meaning to do so for a little while now. Too bad it is not Mac compatible so I could have it portable.

 

 

I took a closer look at the new livery on VH-TJO today, and someone stuffed up with the QANTAS Titles. On one side, there is a rather noticable white line about 3 Quarters of the way down the wording which cuts it in two.

 

 

450, yep, what glass?Well lets see if they paint a few more then... eyes open!

450, I got a Canon EF IS 18-55mm and 90-300, aswell as my previous 55-200mm. Oh, and I got spare batteries aswell as spare cards aswell as a UV Filter :P

 

And as for the -400's coming back here *groan*. I thought we were on a roll passing them off to Jetconnect ;)

 

Saw -TJO today, looks nice and shiny!

 

 

Thats what struck me as weird, however you gotta do what you gotta do!

 

One of JetConnects 734's has been repainted, ex-VH-TJP. It looks sleek, however has the Spirit of Australia titles which have never been applied to Jetconnect aircraft.

 

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=6631320&nseq=0

 

 

Just be the stock standard large kick out Kangaroo and Spirit of Australia titles, nothing special! Purpose, I would say the paint was getting to the point of repaint time.

 

(However am still yet to see it in the flesh)

 

 

I have on good word VH-TJO is now in the new paint scheme (Left AVV Earlier). Will have to see it for myself yet (Should hopefully see it soonish, seeing we are the 734 Capital), but if anyone gets any pics would like to see it!

 

 

We do, and until we got a third aerobridge every afternoon there were atleast two on standoff. Now normally only one and a Dash 8, but there are only so many bay's on our small apron! If we had a 767 on Bay 10, that would take out Bay's 10A, 10B, and 11. That is out of 7 Standoff Bays, two of which are used as a last resort.

 

 

The apron only has space for one -300 (Well stop lines for one -300), Two bays I believe can handle -200's at the aerobridges with the bay's next to it out of use.

 

 

Well, today was an interesting day out at the old Aerodrome.

 

Came into work this morning to find 1, count it, 1 aircraft for Qantas on the ground, and 1 aircraft for Virgin. It was a horror fog that rolled in at around 5-6pm and by the time I was to bed it was very thick and hard to see at about 8pm. All overnight aircraft but 1 Dash 8 and I believe 1 Embraer did not arrive, leading to a horror day for both Virgin Blue and Qantas. With no early morning flights for both airlines, connections had to be played with (Some Virgin flights were looking at Midday before uplift), and with more fog rolling in before the first arrivals, they had to be changed and changed again. Each Melbourne and Sydney had a 767 (Melbourne flight QF811 is normally a 767 on Mon Tue Wed, however not always and was filled up), creating more capacity. Looked great having 767's on the ground (Unfortunently only allowed one at a time).

 

BOM Calls for Morning Fog clearing to a partly cloudy day tomorrow, so lets see what action that brings!

 

 

Well, Robbo, if you were looking for a weather app on the iPhone, go into the App Store and look for 'Oz Weather'. It has come in handy for me, and shows you weather, along with radar images from the BOM website and is updated automatically (With a WiFi connection, and I would say a 3G connection aswell). Cost's a few bucks, but the App's are never too expensive (Except the Aviation ones!).

 

Thankyou Wingnut for the website, I am taking a look now and would come in handy for work when I am not near a computer.

 

 

After 30 years as apart of the A.C.T's transport infrastructure Belconnen Bus Interchange is now closed. The last service to serve the interchange was the 7:59pm route 900 Intertown Service from Tuggeranong Bus Station. Seen as an Eyesore, aswell as Isolated from the shopping centre and the rest of the Town Centre, the Interchange has been replaced by 3 bus stations located around the Town Centre. Here are my last photos of the Interchange, before Territory and Municiple Services (TAMS) fenced it off. More photos can be found at

 

 

BUS-300 Irisbus Agoraline - Final Service

 

 

A View of BUS-300 at Platform 16

 

 

A View of BUS-300's Interior with posters and photos

 

 

 

A View of the signage inside the bus

 

The Interchange

 

 

A View of the Interchange Sign

 

 

A View along the walkway

 

 

A View of the Interchange

 

 

A View of the ramp up to Chandler Street

 

 

The Control Room

 

 

Closed.

 

 

Hi All,

 

One of my freinds came accross this on You Tube. It is the V Australia Safety Demonstration video, and it is cleverly done all in Animation. The Video is done very well, and even has some light hearted takes in there aswell. It comes in as my favourite Safety Demonstration video. It runs for about 5 minutes.

 

Video can be found at [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkr2JLeorJ8]YouTube - V Australia Safety Announcement[/ame]

 

 

Was in Canberra from Sunday Night until yesterday afternoon before leaving for Sydney. It will be here on official Russian Business, so god only knows what that will be and how long that will take.

 

Thanks for the photo.

 

 

Found this while searching through You Tube. A pretty good advertisement for its time!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN3tVpX0Mco]YouTube - TAA Ad 1985[/ame]

 

 

Tried that, and everything else! Was a severe case, and god it hurt upon descent. It was the next day that I could hear properly again!

 

 

Canberra to Melbourne

 

Date: 09/02/2009

 

Flight No: QF853

 

Reg: VH-TJS

 

Type: Boeing 737-476

 

Name: Jabiru

 

Seat: 5F

 

Class: Business

 

STD: 13:20

 

STA: 14:30

 

Gate: 12

 

I decided to get a Posse together and head on down to Melbourne for a few days to Photograph some Trains, Trams and Buses. The day started off with a visit to the Doctors, then the Dentist and then out to the Airport. Checked in an allocated myself 5F, expecting a full flight in Business. Walked over to Subway at the Caltex and grabbed a bite to eat, seeing my Friend (John) and myself were at the Airport a tad early. We finished and made the trek back through the maze of construction currently being undertaken at Canberra Airport. Our flight boarded and I found that I was only 1 of about 3 in business class, and seated in the very last row. All good however, had the whole row to myself. We ascended out of Canberra Airport to the North and manoeuvred our way to the south flying over the northern most suburbs of Canberra, and eventually over the Snowy Mountains (Which in winter is a sea of white snow). Lunch today was a Chicken Salad, and choice of drinks. I decided on the one and only Bundaberg Ginger Beer, the best Ginger Beer Australia has to offer. Not much too really say, we passed over bushfire affected areas (The dreaded dark mass of black scarring the landscape) and some bushfires still burning in the parks. We came in from the North to Melbourne with a smooth Landing. However, due to pressurisation my left ear would not pop back (De-pressurise?) So I was hard of hearing for the rest of the day in my left ear! We collected our bags (John had been up the back in Economy for the flight), which came out first (love travelling business) and as I had already paid for our Skybus tickets we boarded our Skybus to the City.

 

Our Skybus today was one of the 14.5m Scania’s (They also have one articulated vehicle). An express 20 Min ride into Southern Cross Station (Spencer Street), which then saw us changing modes of Transport to a Train to Flinders Street which was seemingly closer to my hotel in Little Collins Street. Myself and my friend Mathew who was joining us from Sydney were staying in the same hotel, the All Seasons Victoria Hotel. My friend John had no accommodation as yet, so we decided on the Formule 1. Throughout this trip, we focused on Melbourne’s Buses, Trains and Trams riding throughout the Metcard System riding on interesting vehicles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Melbourne to Canberra

 

Date: 12/02/2009

 

Flight No: QF848

 

Reg: VH-TJH

 

Type: Boeing 737-476

 

Name: Falcon

 

Seat: 16F

 

Class: Economy

 

STD: 10:40

 

STA: 11:35

 

Gate: 9

 

Awoke Early to head to Southern Cross Station to get the Skybus over to Melbourne Airport. Mathew and myself checked out of the All Seasons and walked to Bourke Street to catch the Route 96 Tram to Southern Cross. Hopping on a highly insipid Combino tram, we made our way squished in between people with my luggage. Arrived at Southern Cross and waited out a few Skybus buses so I could see if I could get an articulated vehicle. This did not show up, and I passed it later on when it was leaving the airport. During this waiting period I had received a phone call from my mum to say that my Uncle had passed away in Bundaberg. A Little down I continued onto the airport on another Skybus 14.5m Scania, and with little traffic on the road the journey was the quick 20minutes they state. I checked in with a non-existent queue ahead of me and went into the airport to find something to eat. Found a café in the food court which had a chicken foccacia, so I decided to grab one of those and have a bite to eat. Walked up to the very end of the terminal to my gate, stopping first at an Everywhere Internet kiosk to check my emails and to view a few websites before my flight. My flight was not very full, I was lucky to have the seat next to me free so I could spread out a little. Meal service was started after the seat belt sign was switched off, however I did not have any snack today as the offering was a fruit cake which I am not really fond of (Plus I had already had something in the terminal). My entertainment for this flight was the usual combination of my iPod and Billboard, which is part of the On:Q RadioQ entertainment network. Not much else to really say about this flight, we came in on an approach from the North so the landing was very smooth (Not as many mountains to cause turbulence when arriving from the north). On arrival into Canberra I grabbed my bag and changed for work, which was a few hours away.

 

Canberra to Brisbane

 

Date: 14/02/2009

 

Flight No: QF958

 

Reg: VH-TJJ

 

Type: Boeing 737-476

 

Name: Heron

 

Seat: 2A

 

Class: Business

 

ATD: 17:40

 

ATA: 18:25

 

Gate: 14

 

This journey to Brisbane was only part of a longer journey to Bundaberg, to attend a wake for my Uncle. I left work straight away to travel to Brisbane a day before my parents (As they would have a full car from Brisbane to Bundaberg I opted for the Tilt Train the next day). Once again I was in Business class for this service, and had a lovely crew for this flight who could not do enough for you! With only about 30 people on the flight, service was very personal. One thing I did forget to mention in previous Trip Reports is that Qantas have changed the Safety Demonstration Video. It now starts with the boy with a paper aeroplane, which flies through the air to reveal the QANTAS Safety Demonstration logo. Then a Captain comes on an introduces people to the flight and aircraft, where it then changes to a ladies voice who goes through the safety features of the aircraft. It is not a bad video, probably one of the best out there. Anyway, back to the flight we flew to the south first before moving towards the north, over Southern Canberra. Dinner was served shortly after takeoff, with today’s meal being a choice of a Chicken Salad or a Beef Stir Fry with Rice. Tossing between the choice of ‘Rabbit food’ :P or a Stir Fry I opted for the latter, which came with a small side salad and two Dark Chocolates for dessert. For a drink I just had my old favourite, Coca-Cola, of which my glass was refilled many times during the flight. Landing into Brisbane was the best landing into Brisbane I have had to date. Not one scrap of turbulence. A smooth descent and then a smooth touchdown, so compliments to the Captain and First Officer. I collected my bags which were already on the carousel, and made my way to the Airtrain station. Unfortunately I forgot my Go Card which is the Smartcard ticketing system used in Queensland so I had to dig deep into my pockets and pay for a ticket! I was lucky to get one of Queensland Rail’s newest Interurban trains, which are very nice indeed. I arrived at Roma Street and made the short walk to Turbot street where my hotel, The Ibis, was situated. Described as an oversized room I relaxed and watched some British Comedy they were playing on 7, ordered room service and took a short walk to a 7/11 to get some snacks for the following day. I had an early night, after a long day at work I was more than ready to turn in.

 

 

Brisbane (Roma Street) to Bundaberg

 

Date: 15/02/2009

 

Service Number: QTT501

 

Type: Electric Tilt Train (Walkers Maryborough/Hitachi)

 

Name: City of Maryborough

 

Carriage/Seat: C /35

 

Class: Economy

 

STD: 11:00

 

STA: 15:30

 

Platform: 10

 

I woke up early in the morning, so I could get myself prepared for the mornings travel. Thinking to myself in the process, I might aswell get some photos of peak hour transport. Slowly it dawned on me, it’s a Sunday. So scrapping that plan I walked around the block looking for a newsagent or a Convenience store which sold a Sunday Newspaper, unsuccessfully I only found Saturdays newspaper so I returned with a Breaka milk (For those who don’t know Breaka is found in Queensland and comes in not only Chocolate, Strawberry and Iced Coffee but also Lime) for my breakfast, then just watched TV before checking out. Arrived at Roma Street Station just after 10am and checked in my bag to Bundaberg, and then took a seat at the end of the platform while the train was being serviced. The train today had the carriage placements opposite of what it normally is, with Carriage A facing towards the city instead of the Mayne Yard/Exhibition end of Roma Street Platform 10. When the train pulled in, I found my seat which was an aisle seat midway down the carriage. In the seat next to me was a rather largish woman, which inhibited me from sitting comfortably in my own seat (Why I normally travel business class on the Tilt Train). We headed off through the north with Ticket Checking and Meal orders taking place between Roma Street and the first stop, Caboolture. I ordered myself a Chicken and Oriental Noodles meal, which I had last time I travelled and is quite delicious. This was served at about Nambour, and unlike business class, was served just as the meal with no dessert. The movie was Horton hears a Who, a Dreamwork’s movie based on the book by Dr Suess. We moved through the ranges and ended up in Maryborough, where a few brand new locomotives and refurbished locomotives were waiting in the yard for delivery. After Maryborough the train gets the most 160km/h running in the journey, as there is plenty of flat land. We arrived into Bundaberg on time and I had to fight through the crowd to collect my luggage at the rear of the train. Mum and Dad had arrived only 45 minutes prior (They left about 2 hours before me) and collected me from the train station to our motel which was about 2 minutes down the road.

 

 

Brisbane to Canberra

 

Date: 18/02/2009

 

Flight No: QF961

 

Reg: VH-TJM

 

Type: Boeing 737-476

 

Name: Kestrel

 

Seat: 8A

 

Class: Economy

 

ATD: 15:35

 

ATA: 18:07

 

Gate: 17

 

We made our way down to Brisbane by car, arriving a good two hours before our flight to make sure we had enough time. Mum and Dad were in Business, while I was in economy. I had selected one of only two windows seats left on the aircraft, and I was one of the only people that had a full row! Take off was a little bumpy due to storms in the area, however once we were past the Gold Coast it smoothed out and the rest of the flight was very uneventful. Today’s food service was a snack, this being a collection of Carman’s food products like cookies, pretzels and nuts. Was quite a nice snack in-between meals. Entertainment was the usual, Billboard and iPod. Not much to say about this flight although we did arrive extremely early!

 

 

 

Got to about 17 Yesterday for Canberra, with a cold wind chill aswell. Should get up to 23 then 27 over the next few days. Had a good nights sleep due to the cold weather! However I am not looking forward to -5 wake ups at 4am for work in the coming winter.

 

 

When at work this morning I looked over and noticed a strange sight, a DC-9 at the RAAF Hanger! Before I then noticed, blended into the mountains, was a DC-10. When there was more light I took a closer look and noticed it to be a C-9 from the United States Navy and a KC-10 Extender, from the United States Air Force. The C-9 left while I was working, but I made sure I was out on the apron to watch her leave. The noise it created is why I love jets. It was a sound that made my stomach ripple and shudder from what it was producing. I am glad that in my lifetime I have now sighted a DC-9 in person, and in operation! The C-9 had 'USN 48' on the side, and on the tail a code of 'JT'. The KC-10 was still at the Airport when I left for home, however I have been informed it has since departed.

 

All the exciting stuff happens when you don't have a camera!