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Getting to Melbourne
Christmas Day my wife and I didn't do a whole lot. Mostly just final packing a bit of final cleaning, a few loads of laundry and other last minute preparation things.
About 5 in the afternoon we set off for the airport and had no problem getting in.
There had been a hope that maybe flying Christmas Day would mean less people on the plane.
Nope...
According to the posters at Logan airport in Boston, Qatar airlines motto is "Let's leave on time."
I like this motto.
We left on time.
The plane was a new Airbus 350 and had three different cameras you could see outside the plane.
Of course, flying over the Atlantic at night didn't have much to show.
When we reached the English coast and the sun started coming it, it worked a bit better.
Just before we flew over Istanbul, when lots of passengers were still asleep, there was an announcement "would any doctors or nurses on the plane identify yourself to the crew".
One the row ahead of us did and was taken to the front of the plane.
A woman was wheeled on a chair past me a minute later and lots of flight attendants ran back and forth for a bit.
As we were still 4 hours from our stop, I wondered if we were going to make a stop in Istanbul.
But, we flew on. Never did find out what went on. Hope the person is OK.
The mountains in western Turkey are very impressive. But, on a cloudy day it can be hard to know what is cloud and what is mountain.
It certainly looks different than the map.
The camera that looks straight down from the plane is cool, but hard to get a sense of scale.
As we were going down the boarder of Iraq and Iran we were passed by several planes that seemed to have very smokey outputs to their engines.
As we got to Qatar the sun was going down.
You might not realize just how cloudy and fog it was until you notice the plane had its landing gear down and we still couldn't see the ground. So, the clouds/fog was VERY dense.
You could almost see the terminal after we landed and were parked at it. But, we certainly couldn't see anything more of the city or country.
The airport in Qatar is very new and modern. They've got statues, playgrounds, shopping malls, hotels and a tram that runs around inside the terminal.
There is a lot of security. You go through a screening when you land. Then, you wait outside your gate, go through another screening to get into the gate, and then wait to get on your plane.
You weren't allowed to bring liquids into the gate area at all. Even if you had been through one screening already.
It was still foggy.
The second plane was not as nice. The seats were VERY close together, the arm rests couldn't be raised and it was very crowded.
It was not as modern and didn't have the cameras, better maps, or as many games as the first one.
The first flight made me say "that wasn't that bad". The second flight did not encourage the same feeling.
For instance, my reading light wouldn't work. Not a big deal with my iPad.
The reading light of the person ahead of us would flash on and off intermittently.
All night long.
Finally, the flight attendant taped something to cover it up so the flashing wouldn't be so bothersome.
But, off we set.
27 December 2016 9:51:02 Melbourne time, my wife and I cross the equator for the first time.
But, even as the sun came up, there just isn't a lot to see out over the Indian Ocean...
Finally, we saw Australia.
But, we were on the wrong side from where we're going.
It was more interesting to look at out the window.
Eventually, we got there.
I bring cool weather and rain wherever I go. I had wondered if south of the equator that would change.
The person at the rental car place said "I'm sorry about the weather. It's never like this."
Today is supposed to be very hot. So, I will get some of my local weather.
We got our rental car and drove into Melbourne.
We're renting an apartment. Through various emails over several days sent from across the globe, all was worked out with it.
It has a nice enough view.
A small kitchen and living area.
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There are lots of nice restaurants by the harbour, for when you get over the jet lag.
At a supermarket, go to the meat section! They have lots of odd things including kangaroo meat! If you get some to bring back to hour apartment, get a bottle of olive oil to fry it in. It literally has zero fat, and will burn if you do not drench it in oil.
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I make burgers out of it. It's delicious.
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Have fun!
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Some day, I'll travel again.
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Have an awesome trip!
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Thanks for the update and pictures.
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Nice to hear that the apartment did work out
you have a great time
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Glad everything worked out with the apartment in the end.
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As much as I like looking out the window, I switched our seat to the aisle so we'd be able to get up and move around if needed. Hopefully that will make it a bit better.
The thing is, I've had much better experiences on the same model of plane.
When I flew Tokyo to Chicago it was a 777ER just like that one.
On that flight I asked the attendant "did I get a business class upgrade and not notice?"
The seats were big and comfortable and it was great.
So, it is the airline saying "pack in more seats!" Not the make of the plane itself...
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