Harbour Bridge from the other side
At about 4pm I had decided I had seen enough and of course had enough photos so I walked back to Circular Quay train station and bought a ticket back to the airport, this time to the domestic. Had about a 5 minute wait, used the free Wi-Fi at the train station.
Sydney Airport
Another 20 minute trip on the train and arrived at the domestic station, had a 5 minute walk to the Qantas terminal. The day before at 7:05pm I tried to check in for QF548 (as soon as check in opened) but I couldn’t, so I decided I would just do it in Sydney. I was going to go to the check in counter but then saw the check in kiosks, about 10 of them with only 1 being used so decided I would give them a go. It is so easy, I just entered my booking reference, selected the passengers I wanted to check in, selected my seat (I had requested 40A a few months ago and managed to get it, had a look to see if there was anything closer to the front but nothing) and then it printed off my boarding pass, only took about 2 minutes.
Then went to security, no one in line so went straight through with no problems. Had two and a half hours to kill, decided to get some photos before it got dark.
VH-TJU was at Gate 1, VH-OGB pulled into Gate 2 (unfortunately she was off to Melbourne, I was hoping I would get her as she is the oldest B763 in the fleet and I am assuming she is next to go), VH-ZXG was in Gate 3, VH-OGF in Gate 4, VH-OGU in Gate 5, VH-OGM in Gate 6, VH-OGG in Gate 7, 737s in Gates 8, 9 and 10, VH-OGN was also there but can’t remember her gate. Here are some photos.
A332 in the hangars
VH-OGB pulling into Gate 2
A few aircraft were over at the international, 2 Jetstar A332s (one was VH-EBC from HNL), and also FedEx MD11, UPS MD11 and Qantas Freight B763F VH-EFR were at the freight area. Some more photos.
UPS MD11 N286UP – UPS34 from Louisville via Honolulu
FedEx MD11 N588FE – Not sure where she came from, somewhere in the US via HNL? And also Qantas Freight B763F VH-EFR
Spent maybe an hour sitting down looking through my photos, had well over 1000, but managed to get it down to 900, still need to delete some more. Had a look at the gates to see if there was anything that had arrived that interested me, it was dark by now so couldn’t see much at the international.
VH-VZM was the only aircraft that caught my attention; she only entered service a few days earlier.
Had a look at the departure screens and saw that my flight would arrive from Melbourne at about 6:30pm and would be at Gate 3, so I took a seat at gate 3. Have only flown on a B763 twice before that I know of, BNE-PER and PER-BNE back in January last year, both were on VH-OGE (Orange), Josh said when he was n the Qantas transfer bus he saw OGE in one of the hangars, so I was hoping she stayed in there all afternoon. After about half an hour of waiting I saw a B763 taxiing over, it was in the new livery so was hoping she was mine. And it was, and VH-OGP was the rego (Forbes).
VH-OGP at the gate, taken just before boarding
May 22, 2011
Qantas
QF548
SYD-BNE
VH-OGP
Seat 40A
Boarding commenced on time, I was tired and just wanted to get on board quickly and not wait in line so as soon as I heard the boarding call I went straight in line. Was one of the first to board. Made my way down to seat 40A, interior of OGP is wonderful, nice new seats and plenty of leg room.
Inside OGP
Spoilers up
Pushed back on time
Passing my good friend OGE who was now out of the hangars and also Josh’s new friend ZXF
The captain said that we were in for a long taxi to RWY34R. Took a good 5-10 minutes. Lined up on RWY34R, no aircraft to wait for, so we roared down the runway. Love the sound of the 767, so good!!! Got a great view of the international terminal when we got up, unfortunately no photos. Flew right over Sydney which looked amazing.
My attempt at a photo of the international would have turned out alright if it wasn’t for the reflection.
Got to our cruising altitude of 37 000ft, was served dinner which was a chicken and vegetable korma (got this very same meal on QF598 from PER-BNE in January 2010) with a little bread roll and a small piece of chocolate and also my choice of drinks, I just took a can of coke.
Dinner
Just watched Q for the rest of the flight as there wasn’t anything to see outside. On descent I tried to get some photos but just turned out the same as the departure in Sydney. Got a good view of the Southside and also the Brisbane CBD. Flew over Josh’s house at about 2 000ft.
On finals for RWY01 over the city
Flew past the international terminal and saw Malaysian Airlines A333 9M-MTA in the new livery parked there. Looked great! Also saw all the other normal internationals at that time of night, SQ, EK and maybe a few others. Touched down and taxied to Gate 24 at the domestic got of and grabbed a few photos of OGP at the gate who would overnight in BNE and then return to Sydney the following morning.
Forbes at the gate
Called my parents, they were waiting for me at the pick up area, found them after about 5 minutes and then we had the 30 minute drive home and that was the end of my awesome Sydney daytrip.
Conclusion
Had a fantastic trip, already want to do a daytrip to SYD again on QF8. Love the 747 so comfortable especially with only 100 people on board. Also nice having the PTVs to see the flight map. If you need to fly BNE-SYD I definitely recommend QF8, I know I will always try to use it if I go to SYD.
Observation Deck was good, just very smoggy in the morning. Got better later on in the morning. Would have been better if RWY16L/R were being used. Still had an awesome time there. Would like to go to the mound and the beach next time I’m in Sydney.
Centrepoint Tower and the harbour was great. Probably wouldn’t do the tower for a while though as I’ve seen everything but would walk around the harbour again.
Flight home was very comfortable love the 767, awesome aircraft.
Hope you enjoyed reading my report!