9/11 Revisited

Most of us can remember where we were and what we were doing on September 11th 2001.

I’m no exception, and recall watching the television coverage until the early hours of the morning. To visit the site of the event which shaped the beginning of the twenty first century was impactful.

The museum that has been built to commemorate the event is an amazing example of the cooperation of many agencies, and its presentation and interpretation of the 9/11 story is mind boggling.

It also serves as a memorial to the 2977 people who were killed and the more than 6000 who were injured.

It’s also a remarkable piece of engineering. The new One World Trade Centre that replaced the twin towers is a spectacular example of contemporary architecture.

I was surprised to run into an Australian working as a volunteer. His accent gave him away.

Last of the Jumbos

This dear reader, is the fifteen year old 747-400 which got us to the big Apple. Excuse the pole in the middle. It was the best I could do.  Registration is VH-OEF.

 It is difficult to photograph an aircraft when you’re sitting in it.

Our plane was one of the four (I think) 747s remaining in Qantas colours. They are being phased out in favour of 787 Dreamliners, but frankly, I was OK with the big bird. Our plane was roomy, refurbished, and comfortable. Surprisingly, it also wasn’t full, and we had empty seats in our row.

It also had state of the art in-flight entertainment which occasionally reset itself. Mostly it was great, with heaps of late run movies.

This is a bad pic of the range of entertainment options.

Qantas tucker is OK. This is lunch (Cuban beef) with mashed potato.

And this was breakfast. Long distance air travel is probably the closest human experience to that of a battery hen....

Brisbane International Musings

This, gentle reader, is not our aircraft.

Our aircraft is a 747. This is an Airbus A330 which is parked on the Qantas flight line where our plane should be.

Our plane is westbound somewhere over the Pacific, running two plus hours late.

Let’s hope the hotel in the big Apple has 24 hour check in. We will be getting there somewhere around 3am tomorrow.

Or is that today?

The time zones do my head in.

This is a great terminal, and the Qantas staff very helpful.

The face scanner threw a  hissy fit when I rocked up. I know I’m ugly, but this was ridiculous.

 I had to front a real human being who compared my passport photo with me.

It was me.

Apparently the technology has problems with beard colour. It doesn’t like grey. If I had known that, I would have dyed it in the interests of efficiency.

Now it’s hurry up and wait. Reminds me of the army.......