AUCKLAND TO MELBOURNE ON QANTAS
After flying back to Auckland and spending the night at John Sax's house (I wrote about that great place last week), I hopped on Qantas' 6:50 a.m. flight to Melbourne. Qantas was operating a 747-400 series airplane -- one of my favorites. By the looks of the gate area I thought there wouldn't be an empty seat on the plane, but I was wrong -- that's how big it is. In fact, business class was almost completely empty (I scored an upgrade). The 1,640-mile flight over the Tasman Sea took only 3 1/2 hours, and seemed too short. That's because the Qantas flight attendants are so friendly, and I had a slew of movies to choose from on my individual entertainment system. Breakfast wasn't fantastic, only because they served dishes I'm not a big fan of: French toast topped with salmon, and a mushroom omelette. Hey, at least they offered food. I don't know what it is about flying to Australia, but I always get so excited. Touchdown was smooth, and Qantas (an acronym for Queensland and Northern Territories Aerial Services) lived up to its perfect safety record. Qantas; tel.: 1-800-369-6863 (1-800-DOWNUNDER). For more click HERE.