Or more if you count the cabin crew.
Predictably, the place filled up substantially in the final bit, but still, once we were aboard there was an abundance of vacant space.
After the excitement associated with Business Class on the way over, the return leg was, to put it bluntly, a bit of a disappointment, not that there was ever any likelihood of substantial wow factors on an overnight leg.
Before we were seated and fastening the seat belts there was a little change of routine that would have implications about eight hours later when it came time to disembark.
I’m the first to admit I’m a creature of habit, and I like to get myself organized so I know where everything is. I was planning to do a bit of reading and tapping on the iPad while we waited for dinner, and once the seat-belts sign was off I’d be looking to enjoy a soundtrack on the iPad until it was night night time.
With that in mind I was going to stow the backpack under the seat in front, but someone made the helpful suggestion that I stow the thing in the overhead locker after removing the things I wanted. She’d stow anything that needed to be stowed in her bag, which was going under the seat.
The result of the suggestion was that I removed Pad, Pod and earbuds from the backpack and assumed they’d all gone into the Little Red Travelling Bag. As it turned out I didn’t get around to needing the iPod or the ear buds, and that was the cause of a little confusion after we landed.
In the meantime, having seated ourselves, I took a squiz at the menu and accompanying wine list, not planning on a hefty session, but interested to see what was on offer this time around.
The wine options on the way over had me slavering in the manner of Pavlov’s dogs, but the return leg was, to put it bluntly, disappointing. There was a Tempus Two Chardonnay, which looked like a reasonable match for the sweet and sour on the menu, but that, as far as Hughesy was concerned, was it.
Actually, what with the relative lateness and all, a single glass of wine was quite enough, thank you, but it would have been nice to be left on the horns of a vinous dilemma once I’d checked the Halliday Companion app on the iPad. The Chardonnay was the only item out of four that rated a 90 or better, so the Chardonnay would have to d, wouldn’t it?
And the sweet and sour, thanks to the presence of pineapple was much more familiar than the previous night’s version, which was, by the way, a far better option...
In any case it wasn’t that long after dinner that I found myself in a darkened cabin pondering how much sleep would be possible under the prevailing circumstances.