When we arrived back in Griffith from our Noosa Christmas trip, we saw that the heavy smoke we had passed on the way, had been an indication of how far the smoke of the NSW bushfires had drifted inland. By the time we reached home we could see it hanging low and obscuring the top of the hill, across the road from the house.
We had one day to sort out laundry and final packing as we would be flying to Melbourne the following evening. We had booked with Sharp, a small regional airline, to get from Griffith to Melbourne on the evening of 5 January. In Melbourne we would take a Qantas flight early the next morning (6 or 7 am) to Perth. Or … that was the plan.
Easier said than done.
During the following day the smoke seeped into Griffith more and more and when we went out to grab a bite to eat, an eerie orange blanket had started settling over the town.
By the time the kids took us to the airport smoke was thick and heavy and when we arrived there, the picture didn’t look too good.
Another regional flight (Sydney – Griffith by Rex) had already been cancelled. We were relieved though when the ground staff confirmed that our Melbourne flight (by Sharp Airlines) had indeed taken off and was en route – be it with at least 1 to 1.5 hrs delay – due to the fire and smoke conditions.
Seeing that it could become pretty late, we said our goodbyes, had some last hugs and kisses and sent the kids home so Louis could be put to bed.
And the smoke blanket kept on getting denser and denser. We barely could see the trees on the other side of the runway. Just to give you an idea of the fires, Jacinta had downloaded an app that constantly updated the status of the fires. The grey areas are where the fires were raging. Griffith is where the number 2 in the light blue circle is situated. Wagga Wagga is about a two hours drive away from Griffith and Albury about four hours.
Eventually the excitement in the departure/arrivals hall started building up when it seemed the plane was near (Jacinta kept us up to date with the status of the plane). Standing outside we could hear the engines of the approaching plane, but we couldn’t see the lights. At odd moments we could see a dim glare, but the thick smoke obscured it heavily. But then … everything came to a grinding halt. Seems nobody had considered switching on the runway lights from the moment the plane had left Melbourne … just as a matter of preparation. The little plane was now circling in a holding pattern over Griffith waiting to land … and no landing lights. Ground staff went out onto the verge of the landing strip to flick the switch but that was a lost cause.
Then we heard they had to go find someone at the council to come to the airport and check the switch. As they obviously couldn’t find anyone to be there within the next 30 seconds … you guessed it … the plane circled over the landing area twice and quit: no lights … no landing. There it went … back to Melbourne. And we were left stranded … so close but no cigar! We were re-booked on a flight the following morning at 11am! Our connecting flight in Melbourne the next morning at 7am all of a sudden became a bit of a problem.
Peter came to fetch us and we went back home. Earlier in the day the kids had started putting down wet towels over all the vents to prevent or at least slow down smoke seepage in the house. When we walked back into the house, it was quite scary to see how much smoke had seeped through – despite the wet towels. A smoke layer hung against the ceiling and the lights were blanketed in a ghostly halo.
The next hour or so we spent on phone and internet in an effort to change our Qantas flight to Perth. With toll-free-number waiting times of more than two hours, we decided to wait till our arrival in Melbourne the next day to see if Qantas would be able to put us on another flight (hopefully without having to pay for a new flight). Eventually we all went to bed and hoped for the best: that the smoke would have lifted and flights could resume normally.
Our prayers were answered and most of the smoke had cleared in the morning – cleared enough to make air traffic possible. After a last bonus breakfast with Peter, Jacinta and Louis, things on Griffith Airport went smooth enough and we took off … to Melbourne Essendon … in the tiniest airplane I’ve ever been in.
It fitted about 18 people (9 each side) and even I (at a medium 1.60m) could not stand up straight. The pilot / co pilot (doing double duty as as flight attendant) had to sit on his knees so that his torso and head could be straight while explaining the safety rules.
It was funny to see that the pilots didn’t even bother to close their door. It was like a “take your child to work” day. The only thing we missed was a running commentary of what was going on in the cockpit!
We arrived safe and sound in Melbourne, still seeing lots of smoke around Griffith when we took off (top 2 pics) when and even more smoke when we got closer to Melbourne but with clear blue skies somewhere above the clouds (bottom 2 pics) and made our way to the shuttle that would take us to Tullamarine Airport for our connecting flight.
Even though we expected the worst (having to buy new tickets and not getting a flight the same day), we were pleasantly surprised by the help we received at the Qantas counter.
Understandably Qantas – and all other airlines for that matter – must have had to accommodate gazillions of passengers missing or rebooking flights due to the fires, but when the lady behind the counter confirmed that our Sharp flight had indeed returned without landing in Griffith the previous day, causing us to miss the 7am flight, there was not even a discussion. Within 5 minutes we were re-booked onto an international flight to London, with a stopover in Perth, which would leave in the next 40 minutes.
I’m always anxious to find our way on an airport that we don’t know as we have learned that signage on airports is not always clear. (Very often we think directional signage at airports is made for those who know the airport and not for first timers). In general we prefer to be at any airport many hours prior to a flight with enough time to go through all the formalities and having all the time in the world afterwards to drink gallons of coffee rather than arriving at the last minute and having to rush. This whirlwind booking didn’t help. I was very nervous to find the right way through security scans and find the right gate, because we had such a small window to get there. Initially I had to go back to the counter to ask the lady to explain again where we had to go and the signage was indeed a bit confusing, but in the end everything went quite smooth and we arrived at the boarding gate with time to spare before boarding. I still had the time to take photographs of the smoke on Tullamarine Airport.
Eventually we boarded and the flight to Perth was smooth and uneventful. We could also see that the fires and smoke dissipated the farther away we got from Melbourne. Closing in on Perth, we had brilliant blue skies.
And then we were there … in Perth, to see Johan, Nel and the two grand daughters Frankie and Mica.
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Before, during and after our 2019-2020 family holiday, bush fires have been raging in Australia. Thank you to all firefighters and volunteers who worked relentlessly to combat the raging fires.
Smoky flight from Griffith to Perth