The flights over
An relatively uneventful flight from Brisbane to Perth to London and we are now safely ensconced in the flat in Kensington.
The flight from Brisbane to Perth was very good and the cabin crew was excellent. When one of my meal choices wasn’t available, I was offered a bottle of wine to take with me when we arrived in Perth. Sadly, I had to refuse as I wouldn’t have been able to take it on the next leg with me. I thought that the 5.5 hours may have been difficult for Kirby but he was fine with no pain in his legs the entire time.
Once in Perth airport we went to 2 QANTAS lounges. The first one was for domestic use (in Perth QANTAS uses one terminal – 4 – for both domestic and international flights) as the international one didn’t open until 2 hours before the flight. Both QANTAS lounges in Perth were much better than the one in Brisbane. So we sat there and had some snacks until boarding time.
The Dreamliner has 42 seats in Business divided into 2 cabins separated by a galley and toilets. Our seats were at the back of the first Business class cabin and I did worry about the galley behind us in terms of noise but it really wasn’t an issue. The seats were great with heaps of leg room but I have to say that some things were difficult for Kirby to operate as they required some bodily dexterity and he is limited in his range of body movement. I found the seats good to sleep in even though I couldn’t sleep for more than 3 hours being on Brisbane time.
What was disappointing was the service. The cabin crew were mainly British with one Australian – a woman – and the service lacked the Australian efficiency and attention to detail. Maree and I noticed this 3 years ago.
Apparently, they do not turn off the cabin lights for 6 hours after leaving Perth so that this helps people to adjust more easily to the time difference. What this means in terms of service is that the dinner meal is dragged out literally for hours. However, the slowness of service was not the case when we initially arrived on board which felt very rushed.
I had only just arrived in the cabin and was trying to pack things away and get sorted when I was being asked to choose a drink. I asked for them to come back later so that I could be sitting in my seat to enjoy my first glass of champers. So there were 3 staff at once, one offering drinks, another handing out the pajamas and a third asking about the meal selection which apparently i hadn’t completed properly online. Then after this flurry of activity it dried up. Meals, starter, main, dessert took forever to come and the lights were on and people were still being served about 5.5 hours out of Perth. By then it was 2.30am Brisbane time so I just made up the bed and extended it to go to sleep as I couldn’t stay awake any longer. Kirby did not like the bed as it is quite narrow and he sleeps on his side so he couldn’t turn so he ended up listening to music and only slept for a short time.
I watched two movies – The Bookshop which was lovely and actually quite sad. The second one was Breath based on the Tim Winton novel. This one I thought was also good if for no other reason than that Simon Baker was in it and he was also director and producer.
Jan asked me if I would recommend the this new Dreamliner flight. I think I would. I liked not having to get out of a plane at Singapore (or Dubai). Customs and immigration were easy both times – except for me being swabbed but then they did it to Kirby in Perth so perhaps we both look dodgy. The bed is good but not great, food was lovely when it came, alcohol flowed freely if you wanted it but I wasn’t impressed with their choice of red wines. I can’t speak for the Economy experience but Business was good and worth the money. Of course coming home may spoil us entirely as we move up a class. The flight itself has been brilliant – turbulence was minimal the whole way which does help.
All up, even though we were 30 minutes late leaving Perth, we arrived early into Heathrow so a time of 16.5 hours. Apparently QANTAS has broken records in the past at just over 15 hours!
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