Friday, 3rd July 09
I know it’s the other side of the world, and I knew it was going to be a long journey, but nobody prepared me for just how much flying was involved! We left Dublin at 6PM on Tuesday, 30th June and finally stepped out into the 30 degree Cairns sunshine at 1PM on Thursday, 2nd July (Australia is 9 hours ahead). After numerous reheated, barely recognisable airplane meals, many in-flight movies, trying to catch some sleep here and there (here, I’d like to say a special thanks to my inflatable travel pillow!), security checks, quarantine, immigration and not to forget being sprayed with insecticide before leaving the flight at Sydney!, we finally emerged bleary eyed into the Cairns sunshine longing for a good shower and a nice bed where we could finally stretch our legs. Luckily, our bags made it too, after a good rescue by us when we mysteriously saw them doing the rounds on the luggage belt in Sydney, when they should have been checked through to Cairns. Phew!
photo credit: Sarah M Stewart
Thankfully Cairns airport is only 7KM from the city centre, so we hopped in a cab which transported us to our basic and slightly old-fashioned, yet clean and air conditioned hotel where we had our badly needed showers and had a marathon 16 hour sleep! We had brekkie the next morning and strolled around Cairns, a lovely relaxed place. Just waiting on the bus to pick us up to bring us to Port Douglas and ‘Parrot Fish Lodge’ hostle, which will be our home for the next 3 days. Going to do some tours from there, so looking forward to it. Until next time…
Jeez… you never told me about the bags on the carousel! good spot… that would been a nightmare if you lost the cases at that point! Looking forward to the next update.
Great idea havin this set up! Really impressed. Enjoyed reading all about your arrival. Mental journey. Lookin forward to hearing more. Oh a few pics would bw cool too.