Qantas 133: Melbourne to Christchurch

Time to get back in the air. A bit of a delay this morning due to the inbound aircraft from Auckland holding its departure to allow connections from the New York flight. Originally a 9:20 departure, first delayed to 10am, then 10:15. Boarding was quick using the priority lane and soon I was seated in 4F, with the whole row to myself. Winner-winner chicken dinner.

“We’ve got 2 passengers that failed to board. They have both got checked bags so we’ve started the process of offloading their bags now. I apologise for the further delay” announces the captain as I watch the ground crew offload bags. I always wonder what happens to cause people to fail to board. Missed connection? Lost in the terminal? (Melbourne is too small to get lost).

Bags offloaded we push back and depart on runway 16 at taxiway E for quick departure to the south. A lovely sunny day to fly, alas with the amazing city views on the other side of the plane. We overfly the south east suburbs and then cross the coast around lakes entrance.

A lunch service is offered as we cruise over the Tasman sea. Three meal options offered include a beef Burgandy, a chickpea and zucchini something and the Moroccan chicken coccus salad. I probably should have gone the salad but I got the beef. Stewy and temperature hot it was ok but just had that fatty, salty, thick textured airline taste.

Quite a long time ago Qantas ditched the meal tray with a starter and a dessert for the single dish main only meal. The marketing spin back then was to be able to offer a bigger main serve. I wasn’t sold then and I’m not now. Bring back the little meal tray with a starter side and dessert. Sure there were some cheese n crackers balanced on top, but I really prefer a proper tray service.

I opted for a glass of sparkling wine with the meal. A cheap Jacob’s creek sparkling - wasn’t great. I regret not having a proper champagne in the lounge instead of this. I washed it down with a coke once the meal service was cleared away.

It’s nice having the row to myself but it would be nice to have a travel companion on some of these trips. Instead I watch some Emily in Paris, To the Manor Born and a spooks episode (yeah quite the varied taste in that mix).

The crew started to prep the cabin for landing as we crossed the west coast of the South Island of Nee Zealand. Even through the scattered clouds covered much of the mountains, I could still get glimpses of the snow capped peaks and rough terrain. As my Uber driver later described it, the landscape here is dramatic!

Once across the mountains (several photos later) we followed a wide river that forges its way through the green plains across the eastern side of the island. A beautifully smooth butter landed and I’ve arrived in a sunny but cool Friday afternoon in Christchurch. Let’s go explore!Read more