2018 – Part 70 – Sydney to Bali

Flight Report Garuda sydney to bali

After leaving the lounge our gate was a short walk away, however the hope of walking onto the plane form the terminal vanished once our route to the boarding gate required us to take an escalator down to a large waiting area under the main level of the terminal.

On this lower level though, it is well setup where once we were past the gate agent it was a short walk onto a bus.  The buses, backed into their spots were well designed as loading was performed by a set of large doors at the rear of the bus.  With these doors not used to unload once at the plane, there is no desire, nor incentive for passengers to hang out near the entrance to the bus.  Instead people orderly filed into the bus.

Being Sky Priority did have its benefits as we were provided a dedicated bus along with families to board the plane first.  The upside to being driven to the plane was the chance for more photos of the airport before boarding:

Boarding was by a covered staircase to door L2.  Our seats were the first seats after the door, so being on the first bus was excellent allowing us to settle into our seats before the next bus arrived and would expect quick passage by our seats.

Seats & Menu

The seats were the same as the ones we had on our Jakarta to Sydney flight.  These nearly lie flat seats provided us with plenty of space to relax, however being in the bulkhead row there was not a lot of storage space around the seat.

Next up, the menus (gallery is food, followed by beverages menu)

The only downside to us being in the second section was due to the other passengers in this 12 seat area.  Of the 12 seats 8 were occupied by a family, complete with a small child. To round out our section was one lone non-family person behind our seats.  This count was noteworthy because throughout the flight another 2-3 people, from the main business class section, joined the group to sit, stand and talk during the flight.  Part of me thought why the whole group wasn’t seated in this area to allow them to have a vacation flight altogether?My frustration was with how the group (parents, aunts & uncles, and grandparents) treated the child.  When the child wasn’t napping in the bassinet, the little one was under the bassinet or in the aisle.

Yup.  In the aisle.

A small child hanging out on the floor, right in front of the curtain, where staff were working in the galley.

Full credit to Garuda staff as they never once fell over or ran over the child.  I highlight this as both of us, and the lone passenger (behind us) were being served lunch when this happened.  I got frustrated on behalf of the staff as they would carefully scan the floor before stepping into the aisle to do their work.

Service and Meal

Twenty minutes after take-off crew took our lunch order.  With the beef option not available, she opted for the chicken, and I requested the barramudi.  In total, the food service from amuse bouche to dessert was 95 minutes.  Being a daytime flight we weren’t in a rush and the pace was fine.  We both enjoyed our meals, and happy in our choices.  That also gave us the chance to sample even more items from Garuda’s catering.

Amuse Bouche

Soup

Ready for the starter

Scallops

Chicken

Barramudi

Dessert

Dessert, 2nd option

As we settled into our movies, I couldn’t help but notice that our flight path was tracking more to the south than the original straight line.  Soon the moving map made it apparent as to why:

That’s right, our flight was able to route over Uluru, and I was excited as we had lucked out to being on the side to see it one last time.

Here’s a gallery of the pictures that turned out.

With these pictures it completed all the ways one could see it when visiting Australia.  From up close, to take-off & landing, to now cruising at 38,000 ft. this was a great treat to see during our flight.

Snacks!

Yes, a 6 hour flight offered us snacks as there was no formal meal service prior to landing.  She was able to grab some nachos and cheese sauce, and I ate my chicken satay before I took a picture.

The food didn’t stop with some warm snacks, but also a selection of packaged snacks.  Seeing the flavour of this bag of chips I had to try: 

Soon enough our flight began its descent into Bali, and we landed smoothly without delay.

Once off the plane we had to choose what to do for our 6 hour layover in Bali, transit, or be a tourist?

Read more about our trip by clicking here.