Flight check: Melbourne to Auckland on Qantas

Australian chef Neil Perry.

Miriyana Alexander flies QF155 from Australia to NZ.

The plane: Boeing 737-800.

Class: Business.

My seat: 3D. Roomy and comfortable, as you'd expect.

Price: Auckland-Melbourne return business fares start at $1709.

On time: About 15 minutes late taking off, but made up the time in the air.

How full: The 12 seats in Business Class were all taken, and economy looked chocka too.

Fellow passengers: A lot of tall men were making their way to Economy, which must have made for some interesting contortions. The NBL Perth Wildcats were on their way to Auckland, where they would go on to be beaten by the Breakers. (Sadly, that was about as good as the Breakers' season got).

Entertainment: There were 26 new release movies on offer, but I have a not-so-secret crush on Will McAvoy so I watched one of the best episodes of The Newsroom. That one where Will goes on air wasted to break the news that US Special Forces have killed Osama Bin Laden. What a scoop. OK, I know it's not real.

Service: Impeccable. From the glass of bubbles as soon as I sat down, to dinner, more drinks, dessert and chocolates, it was speedy and generous.

Food and drink: The menu is Rockpool-inspired, designed by top Aussie chef Neil Perry. Of the five main course choices, I tossed up between the Korean beef noodle salad and the pork Madras curry, before eventually landing on the chicken kiev. Tasty, and followed by Maggie Beer ice-cream. Amazing selection of wine, and plenty of top shelf bubbles.

Toilets: Clean and tidy, as they should be really on a short-haul flight in business class.

Airport experience: Don't get me started. In Melbourne, I was treated to a visit to the Qantas First Class lounge, where Taittinger and silver service dining at proper tables made for an extremely agreeable start to the trip.

Would I fly it again? Absolutely. Even without that Taittinger entree.