RAINY EVENING

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

BACK HOME

Although it's nice to travel, coming back home is so good!

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

TRAVELLING

I am away from Melbourne for a few days this week, travelling for work. It's been a while since I travelled and on the one hand it is good as I am remembering past trips and amusing stories, and it is bad as the tiring and hectic part of business travel hits home. For the next few days you'll be getting archival photos, so not exactly farm-fresh, but freshly frozen photos...

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,

and also part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,

and also part of the Through my Lens meme,

and also part of the Seasons meme.

FLYING INTO MELBOURNE

As one approaches to land in Melbourne Airport at Tullamarine, one can appreciate not only the enormous area of Melbourne (Greater Melbourne Metropolitan area 9,990.5 square km), but also the beautiful countryside around it. The skies on this occasion put on quite a show with their cloudscapes...

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Friday Greens meme.

AIRPORT SKIES

From a recent trip interstate, where quite a lot of cloud cover and a little weather promised a rather bumpy ride. It turned out to be fine in the end...

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

AT THE AIRPORT

Melbourne Airport, also known as Tullamarine Airport, is the primary airport serving the city of Melbourne, and the second busiest airport in Australia. It was opened in 1970 to replace the nearby Essendon Airport. Melbourne Airport is the sole international airport of the four airports serving the Melbourne metropolitan area.

The airport is 23 km from the city centre, and is adjacent to the suburb of Tullamarine. The Melbourne–Sydney air route is the third most-travelled passenger air route in the world and the third busiest in the Asia Pacific region. The airport features direct flights to 33 destinations in all states and territories of Australia in addition to numerous destinations in Oceania, Asia, Africa, Europe and North America. Melbourne is the most common destination for the airports of five of Australia's seven other capital cities.

Melbourne serves as a major hub for Qantas and Virgin Australia, while Jetstar Airways and Tiger Airways Australia utilise the airport as home base. Melbourne is the busiest airport for international export freight as of August 2011, while second busiest for import freight. Domestically, Melbourne serves as headquarters for Australian air Express and Toll Priority and handles more domestic freight than any other airport in the nation.

In 2003, Melbourne received the International Air Transport Association Eagle Award for service and two National Tourism Awards for tourism services. The airport comprises four terminals: One international terminal, two domestic terminals and one budget domestic terminal. Most recently Melbourne Airport was awarded by Skytrax for having the best Airport hotel in the Australia/Pacific in the World Airport Awards. Melbourne Airport was also ranked the 43rd best airport for 2012. Melbourne reached 30 million passengers for the first time in the 12 months ending July 2013.

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,

and also part of the Weekly TopShot meme,

and also part of the Scenic Weekends meme.

FLYING AWAY

I had to do quite a bit of travel to Sydney lately and it's aways fun trying to take some photos through the plane windows. Here are some dramatic skies, typical of our changeable season.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

FLYING OUT OF MELBOURNE AIRPORT

I recently went interstate and took these photos in the morning just before flying out of Melbourne. It was a typical Autumn day with some clouds in the sky threatening rain, but once we flew off the flight was good.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

FLYING HOME

Flying home after a trip interstate, I enjoyed this play of sun and shadow on the farms to the North of Melbourne. The evening light with its golden tones is especially beautiful when seen from the height of a plane...

This post is part of the Shadow Shot Sunday meme.

FLYING IN TO MELBOURNE

There are many varying forms of transport in Australia. The nation is highly dependent on road transport, but because of the sheer vastness of the continent and the great distances that separate urban centres, there is a great reliance on air travel. There are more than 300 airports with paved runways. An extensive rail network for passengers connects many rural areas to major metropolitan centres. The mining sector is reliant on rail to transport its product to Australia's ports for export.

I recently had occasion to fly interstate for work on several occasions and got these photos from my window seat. I was particularly pleased with the view of Melbourne CBD and the Bay beyond as shown int he last few photos.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

QANTAS

Qantas Airways Limited is the flag carrier of Australia. The name was originally "QANTAS", an acronym for "Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services". Nicknamed "The Flying Kangaroo", the airline is based in Sydney, New South Wales, with its main hub at Sydney Airport. It is Australia's largest airline, the oldest continuously operated airline in the world and the second oldest in the world overall. Qantas headquarters are located in the Qantas Centre in the Mascot suburb of the City of Botany Bay. Qantas still retains a 65% share of the Australian domestic market and carries 18.7% of all passengers travelling in and out of Australia.

I was in Sydney for work and only returned late tonight, but had the opportunity to take a few photos from the plane. Most of them turned really bad because of the darkness and the motion of the plane, however, I give you two. The first as we were approaching Melbourne Airport to land, and the second after we landed, waiting for the doors to open. The Qantas logo of course features the "Flying Kangaroo".

This post is part of Lesley's Signs, Signs meme.

MELBOURNE AIRPORT

Melbourne Airport (IATA: MEL, ICAO: YMML), also known as Tullamarine Airport, is the primary airport serving the city of Melbourne and the second busiest in Australia. It was opened in 1970 to replace the nearby Essendon Airport.

Melbourne Airport is the sole international airport of the four airports serving the Melbourne metropolitan area. The airport is 23 kilometres from the city centre. The airport has its own postcode—Melbourne Airport, Victoria (postcode 3045). This is adjacent to the suburb of Tullamarine. The Melbourne—Sydney air route is the fourth most-travelled passenger air route in the world and the second busiest in the Asia Pacific region.

The airport features direct flights to 33 destinations in all states and territories of Australia in addition to numerous destinations in Oceania, Asia, Africa, Europe and North America. Melbourne is the most common destination for the airports of five of Australia's seven other capital cities.  Melbourne serves as a major hub for Qantas and Virgin Australia, while Jetstar Airways and Tiger Airways Australia utilise the airport as home base. Melbourne is the busiest airport for international export freight as of August 2011, while second busiest for import freight. The airport comprises four terminals: one international terminal, two domestic terminals and one budget domestic terminal.

As I do a fair bit of travel for my job, I am often in Melbourne Airport and I love the window seats on aircraft as I can take photos with my trusty pocket camera...

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme hosted by the lovely Sylvia and friends.