I've been in Australia for a bit over two weeks now, and have been managing to write bits and pieces on my laptop. Most of my internet access, though, has been courtesy of other people's computers, so getting any of it online hasn't been very practical. This probably isn't very interesting to any one else, but it does mean that blog posts about this trip are going to be less of a holiday diary and more of a collection of various memories and experiences, in somewhat random order. I'm sure you'll all cope.
One of theser experiences was the unexpected discovery of the simply marvellous Brindabella Airlines.
My flights for this trip were all booked using Qantas frequent flyer points. The advantage of this is that it was extremely cheap; the disadvantage is that the internal flights in Australia have been pretty nightmarish as a result. Perth to Melbourne via Adelaide, Sydney to LA via Brisbane, and so on. I wasn't too worried about this when I booked; I figured I’m on holidays, not in a desperate rush to get places, and have brought plenty of books, along with my laptop and a stack of DVDs with me. "To be honest" (I thought to myself at the time) "I actually quite like the idea of sitting in an airport with a cup of coffee and a good book or a couple of episodes of Peep Show".
I’m going to visit my little brother* who lives in a tiny costal town near Newcastle (which itself is a pretty tiny town about three hours drive north of Sydney) and the flights in and out of Newcastle both involve stopovers in Canberra. What I didn’t count on was the fact that a large international airline like Qantas might not fly between small country towns in northern New South Wales. Instead, they hand passengers over to other, smaller, airlines, who do fly those routes.
Brindabella Airlines is one of them; my plane had room for 20 passengers and the hour long flight was, I think, my favourite air-travel experience ever.
The best things about this flight, and the airline in general are:
1. When we checked in, there wasn’t a gate we had to go to. Instead, anyone on the flight had to ‘make themselves known’ to the staff at the appropriate time. The staff in question was a man with a clipboard, who collected us all together like a class on a school trip, and walked us out to the plane. He turned out to be the co-pilot.
2. The plane was so small I wasn’t allowed to take my carry –on hand luggage into the cabin; it had to be stowed in the tail of the plane.
3. The same co-pilot handed us a packed lunch as we climbed on board. This consisted of a packet of crisps, a tub of water, and one Mintie. For non-Australians, who might not appreciate this, a Minty is a chewy, mint flavoured sweet. Their marketing campaign, which has been running for as long as I can remember, revolves around the “it’s moments like these you need Minties” concepts, featuring people in all kinds of dire situations suddenly feeling much better once they unwrap a Mintie. I couldn't help but think it was an appropriate choice.
4. There was a stick-on sunshade in the seat pocket. No blinds on the windows; just the sunshade to stick on if needed.
5. They played us a beeping noise which we were going to hear throughout the flight; just to reassure us all that if we did hear it, there was nothing to worry about. I have no idea what the beeping noise signified, and although I did hear it a couple of times I'm not sure I would have been too worried. But, it was nice that they cared.
6. The laminated safety instructions. You know the ones that are pretty standard in all planes, with diagrams of what to do in an emergency? Like most people, I don’t normally bother reading these, but I’m glad I looked at this one. There is a photo coming; I promise you it is worth the wait.
7. The comedy gold in this safety laminate pales into insignificance once I discovered the IN FLIGHT MAGAZINE. I could write a completely separate blog post about this joyous publication; in fact I loved it so much I kept a copy. So perhaps one day I will. For a start it has a total of twelve pages. Then there is the exciting cover story tag line : “Infidelity, exploitation and sexual conflict. In an Australian Bird!” (I didn’t add either the exclamation mark or the bold for emphasis, by the way) Plus the fact that the editor's letter was penned by the actual owners of the airline; who appear to be a husband and wife team.
8. Still on the subject of the glorious in flight magazine, the photo of what I can only assume are the entire airline staff (about 20 people) wearing Santa hats on the back cover alerted me to the fact that this was the Nov/Dec edition of the magazine. I flew on the first of March.
9. There was something which I’m pretty sure was a dead moth trapped inside my window.
Two days later on my return flight, we had a bigger plane (30 seats) which had an actual air hostess and everything. She kept herself busy during the hour long flight by giving us tubs of water, and crisps, and a Mintie (have you spotted a theme?), plus she took our orders for tea and coffee. By writing them down on a napkin.
If you are ever in this part of the world, I would highly recomend a flight from Canberra to Newcastle. Not only could you visit the fantastic Long Boat Cafe (yes, for those slow on the uptake, that WAS a blatant plug for my little brother's restaurant) but you too could have the Brindabella experience. Don't forget to pack some Minties.
*I say little; he is 35, 6 foot tall and owns a house, a restaurant, three dogs and a ute. But I’m still the oldest so I get to say it.
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