Lounging Around MEL and SYD

Here we sit in the MEL RCC. It's a snug spot, especially after an unusually long wait standing in the "crew and express" security line (rank does have its privileges) behind folks taking as many as four tries to pass through the magnetometer. It can't be their first time in a security line if they're standing in this one, can it?

The shuttle to SkyBus picked us before 8:10 a.m. We stepped out of the mini-bus and onto a large articulated bus that left almost immediately and whisked us out to the airport rapidly on this rainy Melbourne morning.

We board for SYD in another half hour or so, fly to SYD, and then transfer to our longest flight, SYD-SFO, after hopefully spending some quality time in that wonderful Air New Zealand Koru Club.

So far so good...

Updated to 1:00 p.m. The Air New Zealand Koru Club looks as good as ever after a quick and smooth flight from MEL. In passing, we always notice that the flight attendants are particularly cheerful on those short flights, since they have the rest of the day off in Sydney before working one of the long flights to LAX or SFO.