Re: Race around Brasil - two mad weeks in search of good food, architecture and wildl
Friday 16[SUP]th[/SUP] June, Sao Paulo - Brisbane
We were checked out and in a taxi to the airport at 5:30am. We could have got the shuttle but it would only have got us to terminal 2 and we were flying to Santiago from terminal 3.
Check-in was an unusual experience. As a Qantas Gold/One World Sapphire I should be able to check-in at the business class counter. I saw the line and even though it said LATAM business, premium economy and One World Emerald I thought I’d give it a go. No sir, please go round the corner. We were directed down the ‘Preferente’ Lanpass line, and there we stood, and waited, and waited. More people joined us and eventually after a good 15 minutes a couple got pissed that we were going nowhere and went and spoke to who I guess was a supervisor. Next minute we were directed back around to the business check-in where we should have been allowed to check-in in the first place. No-one else though, so I’m not sure what had been said.
It was only as we walked away that I noticed our seats had changed on the flight to Santiago. Not that it’s the end of the world but we weren’t even sitting together. I asked if we could be moved at the very nice (and huge) LATAM lounge
but there were only single seats. Why we’d been split I have no idea. So much for One World status.
Amazingly the flight left on time but somehow lost 20 minutes on the way across to Santiago. A kind of three course meal – crackers and cheese, a ham and cheese bun and some fruit salad. It also came with butter and jam. I have no idea where we were supposed to spread either.
I've hit my photo limit so it's just words for the rest
We again had no issues with the ‘international transit’ signage at Santiago. Maybe we have a habit of looking up? Through security in minutes. This time we knew where the lounge was and it was very quiet compared to previously.
As we boarded there was an additional liquids screening. We had nothing, but unless you had your duty free in a sealed bag everything else over 100ml was being taken.
Our upgrade to business wasn’t successful but Qantas premium economy is pretty good. I’d picked bulkhead seats (36 J/K) when we originally booked and when the plane changed I contacted Qantas to get them back and was given – 34 A/B.
Welcomed on board with a glass of bubbles but somehow I managed to knock it over on to my seat. Luckily the toilet was right in front of us so I jumped up and grabbed a huge pile of the cloth towels they have in the loos. They worked a treat. I resisted asking for another glass!
It was a long and seemingly slow take-off. Santiago isn’t very high but it’s surrounded by mountains so I watched with much interest as the wings flexed as we climbed.
The Qantas PE seats are really comfortable and of course the front row even more so as no-one can recline into you. Saying that, I think the ‘new’ Air NZ PE seats are better, and their soon to be retired Space Seats better again. I also think the wine served on Air NZ in both PE and Business is better but of course wine is a very personal thing.
I started off with a vodka and ginger beer, then another and, well, maybe even another. I even got Al to give them a go. Hooked!
The flight back from South America is an odd one. You start with dinner, then many, many hours later you second meal is, well dinner. We both had the lasagne with spinach and ricotta for first dinner and it was really nice, and huge! The green salad, the same one served in business is hilarious - half a dozen green leaves plus some vinaigrette. Chocolate mousse in a plastic container. Just a bit budget.
I didn’t bother with a movie and chose sleep instead. I managed to get quite a few hours but Al said he hardly slept a wink. To make it worse they woke us too early for the second meal. Tim, one of our FAs, said everyone was awake so they thought they’d do the second service a bit early. Not really the right answer…
Because we were behind the business class galley we knew they had dinner a long time later.
For second dinner I had seared miro with herb butter, yellow squash risotto, roast pumpkin, almonds and broccoli and Al had braised chicken with sweet potato, sauteed spinach and corn. The same hilarious salad and this time another dessert from the Coles refrigerated cabinet – banana bread (?), chocolate mousse (again) and dulce sauce.
The view as we flew over the NZ Alps with the sun setting on them was quite beautiful.
We arrived late into Sydney.
Maybe because we’d been to Brasil we couldn’t use Smart Gates so immigration took forever, the bags the same. So much for priority tags.
At least we didn’t get our bags searched. There was nothing in them, well apart from our clothes and some very clean shoes, but it seemed if you came in on QF28 chances were you got searched.
We’d upgraded to business for our last flight. It’s amazing that Qantas have no flights between 5:30ish and 9:45 on a Saturday night. It’s a whole lot of waiting but if you’re going to wait, you might as well do it in a lounge with a view.
Adam Liaw was busy on his laptop beside us until his flight to Perth was called.
And so it was time to board our last flight. It had been an incredibly long day but why cut the food and drink off. Al declined dinner (it was after 10pm!) but I had a surprisingly delicious salmon with green beans and mash, washed down with a full selection of what was available. Even with all of that alcohol in us we had the worst night’s sleep, and continued to for the next week.
It was such a different holiday. Some fantastic experiences. I’d been so busy with work leading up to it I’d spent no time doing any reading of what we’d been doing. Maybe that was why I came home a bit underwhelmed. I didn’t know what to expect and therefore expected more than I got. We spent more per day than on any holiday we’ve taken and I suppose I was, and am still, wondering where it went.
The Brasilian people were the highlight for me. Such a great sense of humour. Such huge smiles. So friendly.
I’m glad that we finished with the Lencois Maranhenses. It was beautiful and is the one place I would willingly return to.
It’s a long way away but bring on our return to Japan in May 2018. Like we’d been warned, once you fly business you don’t want to fly anything else, so of course we’re flying business, one paid seat and one points seats. We’re looking at it as two business seats for the price of one because points are free! Also looking forward to trying the Qantas business suites in the A330 as the Sky Bed is really not that great.
