Rhonda Bracey: At Random

The flight from Melbourne to Los Angeles was on a new Airbus A380. Woohoo! Man, is that plane HUGE!!! When we were taxiing out at Melbourne, the windows of the upper deck were level with the tail exhaust of a 747…

In his welcome, the Captain said it would be quiet — he explained that this new aircraft had lots of extra soundproofing and that it flew higher than 747s. He also said that some 560 tonnes of weight had to be lifted off the ground!

How well did this new beast measure up? Well, the take-off was MUCH quieter — there was very little rattling and shaking that typically happens on a 747. Though we didn’t seem to be doing a great speed taxiing down the runway… I wondered if this beast could get into the air, but it did, though I suspect that it had to use the entire length of the runway to do so!

We took off 40 minutes late — we were told we were waiting for some passengers, so perhaps someone was held up on a late connection.

Dinner was fillet steak, green beans, layered creamy potatoes — like last night’s meal coming over from Perth but WAY more palatable (I wrote earlier about that horrible meal on the Perth to Melbourne flight). Voyager Estate Shiraz.

As of now, I’ve officially given up on ever trying to sleep on a plane. This time I tried a hypnotic suggestion MP3 — it’s meant to drop you into a deep state in the 15 minutes. I listened to it 6+ times in a row. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. No sleep. This plane even has a fully flat bed — that didn’t work either. I can usually get to sleep easily any other place — but not on planes. I think it’s the continually drumming/humming noise and the echoes of people walking up and down the aisles all night, and the kids in front of me begin wide awake and chatty with their parents, and the air conditioning, and who knows what else. Even with ear plugs in and noise cancelling headphones on, I STILL can’t sleep. I’ve tried doctor-prescribed sleeping pills previously — they didn’t work either. So I’ve now given up. I’ll just have to learn to occupy myself for the 13+ hours flight time.

So I watched a couple of films: Slumdog Millionaire — parts of it were heartbreaking but the human spirit is an amazing thing and really well highlighted in this movie; I really enjoyed it. And Vicki Christina Barcelona — I watched this ‘cos it was nominated for an Oscar. But I really didn’t see the point of it. I did like the ‘Dick and Jane’ style narration though!

I also read three online books (one on CSS and IE8, a Q&A one on Seth Godin’s Tribes concept, and most of another on web design), and watched a heartwarming episode of The Secret Millionaire, on a lady called Gill Fielding.

The first part of the journey is over — I made it to Perth despite quite a lot of roadworks along the way. The next step is the flight to Melbourne, due to depart in less than an hour. I stay overnight tonight at the hotel at Melbourne Airport, then fly to Los Angeles arriving some 4 hours before I leave! 😉

On Saturday, after a couple of days with my uncle and doing some shopping, I fly to Seattle for the conference and to catch up with ‘all me mates’!

Update: The flight from Perth to Melbourne was smooth and, despite leaving 10 mins late, we arrived 5 minutes before the scheduled time. It took only 25 minutes from touching down to getting inside the hotel room! Then I immediately left the room as the smell of cigarette smoke was overpowering. Some 10 mins later and I was in a new room across the hall — one that had no odour. By then it was well after midnight, and after a fitful night’s sleep, the alarm woke me at 7:00am (5:00am Perth time!). I’m currently in the Qantas Lounge at Melbourne Airport, waiting for the flight to LA.

Oh, one other thing. The flight over was uneventful, but the meal was atrocious. It was served 2 hours into a 3 hour 10 minute flight (why so late? the meal was on board as were the passengers, and the flight left at 6:20pm), and the beef tenderloin I had, while tender, was overcooked and grey. The green string beans were also a lovely shade of grey, and the sliced potatoes (which I think were meant to be in a creamy sauce) were burnt on the edges. It would have to be the worst meal I’ve ever had on Qantas — in Business or Economy class (and I was in Business last night). The only redeeming thing was the wine — an Icely Rd Sangiovese from Mayfield Vineyard, Orange, NSW. Very nice. Very smooth. And the female steward who was bubbly and friendly.