Adelaide
Breakfast at the adorably rustic Peter Rabbit Cafe was excellent, with a banana french toast that was a delicious work of art, then a quick stroll down to Rundle Mall in a futile effort to find the limited edition Mangoes and Cream Tim Tans.
Had a decidedly less smooth bus ride to the airport afterwards (yay for delays), which ate in to precious lounge time; decided to head straight to the international gates, where there was no wait for immigration or security this long before the flight (fifteen minutes later was a different story by all reports (!)). The international gates were as spacious as promised two days before, Captain Champion, along with Captain Karl, FO Chido, and FO Phil were our pilots again, and flight attendant Dave also graced us with his presence again as well. Both the managing director for Asia-Pacific Airport Operations (Sam) and regional manager for Australia (Susan) for United Airlines were around to make sure everything was running smoothly-- it felt like almost as much high-level attention as the inaugural itself. It was soon time to board for UA 208, Adelaide to San Francisco.
Decidedly smaller group on UA 208, ADL-SFO, today. Some of the group had done the immediate turn on the 12th, while others were making a proper vacation of it and staying a week or more. Warren, Erick, Carl, and myself I think were the only four onboard, along with the inaugural flight crew, who were returning as well after two nights of well-deserved rest. Most of the group took up the bulkhead seats in the rear mini-cabin, while I opted into the front cabin to enjoy the delicious of flight attendant Dave Ishmael's superb skill in the galley (beef cooked a proper medium on United is possible and delicious!).
With a much smaller group of #AVgeeks on board, plus the second return not being anything special (aside from getting to fly with the inaugural flight crew again, including Vice President and Captain Marc Champion), it was a smooth and efficient return, and some time to catch up with friends, both frequent fliers and crew alike.