Travel to Cairns

About this point in the trip, Don commented we did not have nearly as much downtime as he was expecting. We made up for some of that on day 15 when we flew from Melbourne to Sydney, then Sydney to Cairns. 

Our flights were on Virgin Australia. When I tried to check in using their self-serve kiosk I took too long searching for my frequent flyer account number (no way was I giving up potential frequent flyer points!). When I went  to an agent to sign in she said my class of ticket included a checked bag, but Don's did not. That's odd. Fortunately, I was smart enough to not argue.

The issue was that unlike in the United States, in Australia there is a 7 kg (15 pound) weight limit for carryon luggage. Something to do with if the flight attendant needs to help you, they do not want to get hurt. While I understand and applaud the concern for their well being, When the carryon weighs half of that empty, there is no chance of it sticking to the weight limit. We were able to shuffle around the items and get Don's bag within the limit, so he carried his bag on the plane and mine was checked.

We checked out the airport LEGO store before boarding our flight. Unfortunately they cannot stamp the LEGO passport, either because they are not owned by LEGO or because they have not yet (but will soon) received the stamp. The answer varied from airport to airport.

This was my most miserable flights because I had the middle seat between two Alpha males who insisted on filling their space allotted and part of mine even though we were in the larger economy seats. Don was back a few rows next to a chatty person.

Unlike when we flew Air New Zealand, Virgin Australia did not provide any food. We grabbed lunch in the airport between flights. 

The second flight was more enjoyable. I was between a college student going home and a woman who works in the travel industry who works one month in Cairns and the next month in Sydney.

At the Cairns Airport we struggled with figuring out how to travel the seven miles from the airport to the hotel. Google Maps recommended a car service called Didi. Uber was another option. The line for Uber seemed very long. 

Then we found a ground service. We tried to book a return trip for 36 hours later, but they said they couldn't do that. We had to book online. Sounded simple, until we tried to book online and they needed to confirm before we could play, but their confirmation came while we were on the boat studying the Great Barrier Reef. We felt as if we were the first people to have be in this situation. The end result was we ordered our first ever Uber for 4 AM. It was a positive experience, one we may repeat again someday. Cannot and will not recommend the van service at the airport despite having a wonderful experience with Shannon "Shan" our driver.

Choosing a room was a bit of a challenge. There were a number of hostels we could have stayed in, or high-end hotels, but I wanted the Goldilocks of hotel experiences. I found a place about a 10 minute walk to the boat that perfectly fit our needs. That was until I received the email saying check in was between noon and four, and our flight arrived at 6 pm. Again, you'd think we were the first people to do this. An email to them straightened it out and they left a key in a lockbox for us.

The room was wonderful. Much more spacious than most of our rooms. It even included a small kitchen and an electric kettle.

This was the first time on our trip when we felt we were in the tourist district. Cairns has a small downtown district that is solely for the benefit of tourists. It is full of restaurants in every price point, and at least half a dozen ice cream places. All within a two block rectangle across from the beach. The atmosphere was like we expect we would feel at an island resort -- everyone is on vacation except for the locals working to make sure we feel we are on vacation (and I, suppose, leave tips according to that feel). It felt fake to me. I could be reading too much into it, but none of the places had the local vibe we felt in every other spot the first two weeks into our vacation.

Don had a Hawaiian Pizza and I had a burger and a salad. We topped the evening off with gelato.

After dinner we strolled from the tourist zone to the local Wooly's (Woolworth's) to pick up yogurt and Mueslix for breakfast.

Unlike in Melbourne, it was quiet. We had a good night's sleep, and were woken by birds whose calls are unfamiliar to us. We were ready to see the Great Barrier Reef up close.