SIA A359 to Brisbane (SQ255 SIN-BNE in Y), and the Sky Deck at The Star Brisbane

[yflyer]

In Melbourne, I stayed at the Victoria Hotel at Little Collins Street (Covered in previous TRs), and revisited several favourite restaurants and bars, including Kakilang at Bourke Street for their wonderful version of Penang Char Kway Teow...



...and the Apollo Inn, my current favourite cocktail bar in Melbourne.



The day after my visit to Apollo Inn, I had wanted to head there again, but when I went through the door the next evening, in the passageway leading into the bar, all I saw were several very glamorous looking folks posing for pictures, blocking the way into the bar.

"Sorry, we are closed for a private event today...", said C, one of the warm and affable staff there, as he greeted me on the way in.

He must have seen the stunned and disappointed look on my face.

"There is another bar, Caretaker's Cottage, not far from here. You can go there! It's one of the best bars in Melbourne right now. Sit at the bar and tell them C sent you. They'll take care good of you...", he suggested.

Which is why I found myself in line at the Caretaker's Cottage, which was literally that: a church caretaker's cottage right smack in the city, now converted into one of the hottest bars in town. I had not heard of this place. What a brilliant recommendation!



Caretaker's Cottage had a no reservations policy, and it was buzzing.

It was a Friday night, and there was a 30 minute queue to get in.

The host managing the line saw that I was a single guest in a queue comprising mainly of groups. She came up to me and said she would be able get me a seat at the bar when one became available, and that it wouldn't be long.

Not long after, she came up and showed me to my spot at the bar...



Wow, what a lively place, with loud music playing from a large vinyl collection adding to the vibe.



The atmosphere here was quite different from the Apollo Inn, younger and louder, rather than the quiet, intimate vibe at the Apollo Inn.

It was a refreshing change of scenery, and a decent alternate to divert to if the primary was unavailable!



And I was really well taken care of by the wonderful staff!

[yflyer]

It was now the weekend.

I had relatives in Adelaide, from both sides of the family, who were overdue for a visit, so I headed there for the weekend.

I flew from Melbourne to Adelaide on a Qantas FF point redemption. While I no longer have any meaningfull status on Qantas, I still had a stash of FF points from previous trips on QF and OW carriers, and it was fairly economical to use these to redeem domestic flights and upgrades on QF.

My flight was a Qantas codeshare operated by Jetstar, JQ776, MEL-ADL. This was a 7am departure on Saturday morning, operated by an Airbus A321.



The flight was completely full. Flight time was just 56 minutes, which got us into Adelaide at 7:34am in the morning. I was surprised to learn that there was a 30 min time difference between Adelaide (GMT+9:30) and Melbourne (GMT +10).

I visited my cousin at his home in a suburb just south of the city.



Gardening was one of his hobbies, as was wine collecting. He showed me around his garden, which was abundant in fruits and vegetables. What beautiful lemons he had growing in the garden!



It was now winter, but at other times of the year, there were apples, nectarines and other fruits too.

He pulled a bottle of Wendowree Shiraz from his cellar. This was a beautiful South Australian wine from the 2002 vintage that was still drinking well. I was amazed that this wine had such aging potential. It must be nice to live so close to the Barossa Valley, one of Australia's premier wine regions.



That evening, I was treated to a spectacular sunset, which I could admire from my uncle's home in the suburb of Beaumont, where I stayed the night.



The next day, I headed to South Glenelg, by the sea, with a cousin and her husband, for a morning walk along the beach.



What a scenic part of the country. In the distance, I could see planes on final approach to Adelaide Airport.



This was a popular beach for runners and walkers...



...as well as a great place to let your dog run around...



I didn't have time to do a run along the same route. I had to head to the airport for my flight to Sydney that afternoon, but I would definitely want to head back to Glenelg for a run by the sea the next time I was in Adelaide.

[yflyer]

My flight out to Sydney was Virgin Australia VA429, a 4.30pm departure out of Adelaide Airport.



Once again, I made a lowball bid for an upgrade to business, which came through.

Before my flight, I spent time in the Virgin Australia Lounge.



This was a very pleasant lounge to spend time in.



The lounge felt airy and spacious. I found the ambience here better than the Virgin lounges in SYD or MEL.



Table and bar style seating were available.



Work desks.



Showers were available.

[yflyer]

There were good F&B options available.



The beer selection...



I began with glass of sparkling wine...



...from Tatachilla...



...before moving to the Grant Burge red...



Cheese and crackers...



Wraps and cold starters...



DIY toasties...



Hot selections included vegetable soup...



Moroccan tagine...



...and spicy sausage rice...



A very tempting spread. I had to resist stuffing my face as there would be dinner onboard the plane.

[yflyer]

Operating VA429 ADL-SYD today was Boeing 737-800 rego VH-YWD, a 7 year old aircraft.



This aircraft had a newer interior and J seat product than the Virgin 737 I flew on my previous BNE-MEL sector.



Sparkling wine before departure? Yes, please!



Nice views of the coastline as we climbed out of ADL.



Dinner service began shortly after take-off. Two choices today, Asian style chicken with rice, or Gnocchi, which was vegetarian, but which could also be served with chicken. I opted for the chicken with rice.



This was served with my choice of beverage, a G&T...



I found the meal quite tasty, and had another G&T before it was time to prepare for landing.

Flight time was 1 hour 30 minutes. We landed in Sydney at 6:44pm, 6 minutes ahead of scheduled arrival time.

This was a good flight. These days, I fly mainly Virgin Australia for domestic sectors, mainly because of their affilication with Singapore Airlines and Krisflyer. While their 737 domestic Business Class seat product is nothing special, my flights have been on time, and I have always found Virgin Australia's cabin crew to be consistently excellent, and their catering and lounges are very good too.

From Sydney Airport, I caught the train to the city, and checked in to West Hotel Sydney, a Hilton Curio Collection property, near Darling Harbour.

I would spend a few days in Sydney before flying home on SQ222 SYD-SIN, an Airbus A380 service. A couple of days before my flight, while I was managing my booking online, II was pleasantly surprised to be offered the option of a paid upgrade on this sector, from economy to premium economy, which could be paid for with points or cash. I decided to go with points, and so found myself flying home on A380 PEY -- my first time experiencing this cabin since SQ introduced new enhanced catering to their PEY product.

I'll be covering the SQ222 SYD-SIN sector, in A380 PEY in my next TR, here.

Thanks for reading!

[SQ218]

Haha no more Lulu's?

[yflyer]

Haha no more Lulu's?

Kakilang was very close to the Victoria Hotel, where I was stayjng! But maybe next time I'll head to Lulu's just to see what the standard is now!

[RedEyeflight]

Nice TR yflyer! I see you're quite a regular on VA. I've always been curious about domestic flights in Australia. Are they similar to domestic flights in the US? Those pancakes look quite substantial. Certainly more appealing than what UA or DL or the likes would serve on a 2 hour hop.

[yflyer]

Nice TR yflyer! I see you're quite a regular on VA. I've always been curious about domestic flights in Australia. Are they similar to domestic flights in the US? Those pancakes look quite substantial. Certainly more appealing than what UA or DL or the likes would serve on a 2 hour hop.

Thanks for your note RedEyeflight! Yes, I fly VA a lot because of their relationship with SQ Krisflyer: I get miles for flights, and KF Gold gets me Lounge access and priority checkin / boarding. That said, for domestic flights in Australia, both QF and VA are very good, with many flights available, and good lounge facilities.

The domestic flight experience in Australia for full service carriers, both QF and VA, is very good. Most airports in Australia have the new luggage X-ray/scanners which don't require you to remove laptops and ipads from your bags before scanning. Even liquids like bottles of wine are allowed on domestic flight (but not international).

Almost every domestic flight I have flown in Australis has been 100% full (SYD-MEL is one of the busiest flight routes in the world).

If in economy, boarding and deplaning is quite quick because for domestic flights, they usually board narrowbodies (737 / A320) from both front and rear stairs (Front is aerobridge, for rear, you walk down to the tarmac then take stairs up the rear aircraft door).

For domestic flights in business class, you have a hot meal and complimentary wine and liquor. I find meals and cabin service on QF and BA to be very good on domestic flights. Note that the J cabin for narrowbodies (VA operates mainly 737 with a few A320, and QF operates 737) are 2-2 configuration, with non lie-flat seats that don't recline much. Some domestic QF sectors are operated by widebodies, e.g. A330, and these have excellent lie-flat J seats, which are superb.

I haven't flown domestic US flights in a while, but from what I remember the experience in Australia is a little bit more organised and slightly smoother. Meal-wise, I don't have first hand experience, but even on short domestic sectors like SYD-MEL (1 hour 35 min) you get full hot meal in J.