Qantas QF1936: Alice Springs to Darwin

The charming Bathsheba at the Doubletree organised the airport shuttle to pick me up. The price in Alice Springs is $33 return.

I wasn’t expecting a Crocodile Dundee lookalike driving a 1970s school bus!  He seemed full of charm nonetheless.

As usual, I’m not designed for sitting in a child-size seat, being around 6′ tall!

Alice Springs is a little bigger than Uluru airport, but not by much! When the gate opens, you have a leisurely stroll along sunlit paths to the aircraft.  While waiting, our old friends, the Outback Flies, were out in force!

Aboard QF1936, I wasn’t expecting any service as it’s a pretty short flight at under 2 hours.  So I was surprised when a light lunch service was announced and this Roast Pumpkin and Feta Tart showed up.

Although I find feta a weird choice for a hot lunch (surely cheddar or mozzarella would make a more appetising tart?), I suppose it won’t leak all over the place as it keeps its shape when heated.

This was welcome as I hadn’t been hungry in the airport and there were a good range of soft drinks available (included). I thought I’d try out the Bundaberg. Quite spicy!

One thing I had NOT expected when landing in Darwin was the beautiful colour of the coast line as we came in to land. Nor indeed the clouds!

We tracked around as one of the runways was closed as we came in to land due to excessive windspeed. It was a bit of a bumpy landing.

Once landed, it was a quick transfer down to baggage claim but it took an AGE for bags to arrive.  Some local Darwinians changed from passengers to ramjets as they grabbed their bag and pushed forcefully through waiting tourists.

Two minutes later and with some calming humid air in my lungs (gosh, it was 35 degrees and 75% humidity), I was in a taxi and ready to find some air conditioning at my downtown hotel.  I didn’t figure on the unusual smell that would go with that AC – but that’ll keep for next time!