Well, here I am. Sitting drinking my first Australian beer in the West End of Brisbane, QLD at a place called Archive. Couldn't tell you one person's name around me as I watch across the street from my sidewalk adjacent outdoor patio a group of young hipsters in weird clothing setting up different sets and props with a blue couch and red different color Asian sun umbrellas. They are all laughing and seem to don't have much a care in the world. Asked for a hoppy beer with a smooth finish and that is exactly what I got. More on beer later.
So the flight was awesome. After a nail biting wait in the ticketing area of LAX, finally on the second group my name was called to come forward to retrieve thy boarding pass and very quickly check my very large and heavy backpack. Met some great middle ages people while waiting for this auction-like feeling of tickets and that feeling of "who is going to make it who has to dwindle off into Los Angeles to buy a hotel room and try again tomorrow." Before arriving to Australia I could tell I liked the men and women. This came from the people I met while waiting to get on the flight and also the flight attendants. You know how on flights in the USA sometimes you get that feeling that "oh shit this stewardess is having a bad day", or "well she is a real bitch isn't she?" Perhaps you get that feeling that they are only doing what they need to do and don't want to go any extra miles? Well, I can tell you, that the service on V Australia, and I would assume all Australian service on an airplane, is the EXACT OPPOSITE. The best way I can explain it, after years of working in hospitality/weddings/catering/etc, is that they all seemed to be working the 320 passengers as if a very large, end of the flight, tip/gratuity was involved at the end of the flight. So eager to help, always smiling, and, if for some small reason they can't help you with your request and it is out of their hands, their apology is SINCERE. More on the people later.
Flight surprisingly went fast. Please quickly note that the 16th of September never did exist for Ryan McLeod and 319 other passengers as we took off late on the 15th and landed in the morning of the 17th. Watched some inflight entertainment for awhile which flowed into a hot and delicious pulled beef meal with mixed veggies and mashed potatoes. The fly time is 13 hours on the new ER-300 (extended range) model of Boeing's 777 series. I waited until about 3 or 4 hours in to take my bar of Xanex...........WOKE UP to the unparalleled service mentioned above awake and active and blasting hot eggs and coffee to everyone in all classes of the plane. My first thought was "Do these people ever quit? Where did they sleep? Um, they just served 320 hot dinner meals and now they are serving 320 more for breakfast?" It was a great wake up to go back to my movie and have some hot tea and a nice meal. I did actually find out where they sleep (these are things that go through my head) as I was using the lavatory before landing. There was a door in between the back row of the plane and the bathrooms that said "CREW ONLY MAX OCC. 8" What blew me away is initially reading this door I thought it was a god damn storage closet! After blinking a couple of times at it and the size of it I couldn't believe they could fit 8 adults in there...it has to go below deck. It has to. The point I guess I am trying to make here; is that while waking up 12 hours into an overnight flight and looking around to hair tossed and drooling people who maybe slept some...there was the dolled up gorgeous and cordial Virgin Australia team looking exactly the same and just as on point as they were when we had dinner. V Australia = Two Thumbs Up.
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