Our first night in Australia was a restless one. We went to sleep early around 9 and I woke up at least 3-4 times during the night. The view out our window was of the Sydney Bridge. Jet lag is not fun. Our flight to Cairns was scheduled for 11:15 a.m. and we had set an 8:30 a.m. pickup for a shuttle (trying to save a few dollars).
At 6:45 a.m., I got up and hit the shower and got ready. We packed our suitcases. Yes, as discussed in previous posts, I have packing issues. And though I did quite well considering I will be on this journey for 30 days, I still have too much stuff. 22 kg in my checked bag and my carry on is a heavy duffel and my purse. C’est la vie. I know I can handle it. My travel partner did bring 7 pair of shoes, so in my mind she beat me. I only brought 3 pair.
We went to a little cafe next to our hotel called “the fine food store” and had greek yoghurt and poached fruit. “What, pray tell, is poached fruit?” I asked the young man at the counter.
He replied “it’s fruit that is cooked in sugar”. I asked him if there was anyway I could get plain fruit or fresh fruit. He gave me a quizzical stare, “no we don’t have any”. I thought, what a ding dong is this? How do you get poached fruit without having plain fruit first.
Walked around the Rocks a little. We saw cockatiels in the trees, what’s up with that? I didn’t expect that but they were pretty.
Went up to the roof top of the Holiday Inn and the view was awesome -- the Opera House, Quay and Bridge.
How many ways to get to the airport???? Three ways for sure:
You could walk -- maybe we should have tried this. You could take a shuttle (to save money) - we did try this (Shuttle driver a nice older gentleman who used to drive “road trains” from Sydney to Darwin) but a shuttle broke down (only us). You could end up in a taxi with our shuttle mates -- a very nice couple from Auckland (nurse and airplane mechanic). The Kiwis were a little standoffish at first and then by the time we got to the airport, they all but hugged our necks when we left them.
Our first domestic flight experience was interesting. You check in at kiosk, go to baggage drop off. They didn’t ask for our passports or any form of ID. Then in security, I took out my laptop. But they didn’t want liquids, our shoes, our belts, or ANYTHING including our ID and boarding pass. The girls at security started laughing when we stood there in disbelief and were about to take our shoes off.
In the airport, we met a young man from Brisbane (he gave me lots of tips for when I go visit in a couple of weeks). They had a Subway, so I got a sandwich. :) yum. FYI they don’t sell chips (aka crisps) or apple slices at the restaurants here.
I have seen many an interesting site at the airport, but the below picture takes the cake. His girlfriend was very young and pretty, so we were guessing he had to be loaded, because she wasn’t going out with him for his brilliant style.
The plane was delayed leaving Sydney. I sat beside Nanny, who was a grandmother from Laguna - a suburb of Sydney. She was traveling with her husband, daughter, son-in-law and two precious granddaughters (they were as well behaved as they could be under the circumstances). This family was extremely nice and friendly.
Now the young boy in front of us, was a horse of a different color. He kept hitting me with a book and kicking the seat in front of him. I just sat there and his mother kept apologizing and I said, “he’s only a little boy”. But the lady in front of him, stood up and paid the mother out well. There was a nicer way she could have done this, but yes the mother had not even once corrected the little boy. I did feel for her as he was a handful.
The worst part about it was the father (who was a little older) ignored his wife and children, and flirted with a pretty little teenager while he exited the plane, can we say sleeper sofa?
Got to Cairns and it was hot, felt very reassuring as it was like home -- humidity here we come. Two Frenchmen came and got us at the airport. The Balinese Hotel provides free airport transfers. It was close to the airport and the people were very nice. The rooms were decorated in Balish decor, but oddly enough they have old crown molding with roses on it -- not very beachy. Go figure.
We took off for town for dinner and to see what Cairns had to offer. Our street was a little seedy -- but it was pretty close to town. Tons of backpacker accommodations and junk shops.
On the main strip we ended up at “Spicy Bite - a new era of Indian Cuisine” - whatever that means. We had chicken (mild) and kangaroo (medium) curry - passed on the croc for now :) The kangaroo looked like roast beef and was a little chewy. We were told if you got it too well done it would be tough. It’s a more rare meat. There was a very severe looking lady at the restaurant with us in the entertainment industry who used to live in New Orleans. Think Annie Lennox from the Eurythmics -- but extremely tan.
Walked around the square - extremely high end shops here - Louis Vuitton, Cartier, etc. No, I didn’t go in any - they were closed. We went in Woolworths instead and bought $15 bananas (yes, $15 for 6-- we didn’t look at the price before we got them).
Instead of walking back through the seedy neighborhood, we strolled along the Esplanade and saw many people out. A dad was teaching his daughter how to rollerblade, it was funny. The water was very murky and crocs live in the area. No one swims here. The walkway was very well lit and extremely nice. They have a nice public water park area also that is a vanishing pool into the other water but doesn’t touch it.
We were exhausted when we got back to our room as we had walked and walked and walked.
We booked our tours for the weekend -- Saturday - excursion to Green Island in the Great Barrier Reef -- Sunday - excursion to Cape Tribulation area.
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