Yesterday evening, we took a flight from Melbourne to Newcastle, New South Wales. We’ll be spending the next four days here. Newcastle is a seaport in New South Wales. It’s the largest coal exporting harbor in the world. Also known as “Newy,” Newcastle is known for its harbor, beaches, and proximity to the famous Hunter Valley wine region. While here, we’re planning to see and taste the wine region, enjoy the beaches, and also experience the beautiful coastline. Also, we cannot forget the seafood!
While on our short flight over, we were served an in-flight meal. Even in economy class, flights in Australia always give you food to eat, and I tend to forget this since on U.S. carriers, I’m used to getting a simple beverage at most and some crappy packaged snack. Chris had pre-ordered a kids meal for Kaia, which included some sweet we wouldn’t let her eat, as well as strawberry-flavored milk. To date, Kaia had never had any flavored milk before. American flavored milk would likely be too sweet, so we always steered clear of those and kept her away from bottled juices as much as possible given excess sugar consumption. But this time, we let her try some of the strawberry milk. Though she seemed to like it, she didn’t actually want much of it and abandoned it. The flavor of the strawberry milk was nostalgic for Chris, though, so after he shared some with me, he proceeded to finish drinking the rest of it. I will admit: this strawberry milk was far less sweet than the equivalent back in the States, and it was actually pretty enjoyable.
When the flight attendant came around to pick up all our rubbish and food trays, he laughed when he saw that it wasn’t Kaia who was drinking the strawberry milk, but Chris! I’m sure he wondered whether Kaia’s parents had actually ordered the kids’ meal for Kaia… or whether they secretly ordered it for themselves to enjoy as closeted adult fans of flavored milk and kid treats. It was a pretty comical moment during our short flight up.
The other thing I always forget when I fly on non-U.S.-based carriers is how high the quality of service is versus U.S. carriers. On all the flights on Qantas on this trip, the flight attendants have been extremely accommodating, attentive, and kind, particularly to Kaia. It makes me wonder why U.S. airline staff always seems far more entitled than Australian airline staff just on delivering… customer service, which is exactly what their entire jobs are. If you can’t even do your basic job functions well, why are you even choosing that position?