Our 3 hr 20 flight to Cairns left at a very civilised 1120 and so we were able to have a light breakfast and repack a bit before walking across to the airport. Although we've booked all the internal flights with Qantas the first two are actually with their budget arm Jetstar and so our BA status doesn't get us any lounge access.
Being a budget airline I'd read that they were very hot on weight and size of hand luggage and so before leaving England we'd done a trial pack to see what we could fit in. At the airport we had to self label our suitcases which was a bit of a palaver as firstly we had to wait until exactly 2 hours to departure before we could even access the machine. Then as I'd already checked us in online, I simply asked for luggage labels but somehow or other we both failed to put them on properly and so I tried to reprint them, except then they didn't match the check-in bar code and we had to do the whole procedure again. Eventually it all worked and the domestic terminal was very quiet so we amused ourselves watching new lines being painted on the tarmac outside.
I was glad we'd weighed our back packs carefully as sure enough ground staff arrived at the gate with a portable weighing machine and several credit card machines - 1g over and you're charged!
Boarding was done by rows and fairly orderly, we were mid plane and were most surprised when the FA told us we each had a AUD15 voucher to spend, presumably this is because Qantas actually provide a meal on their flights and we'd booked a multi city trip. Naturally we chose to take the voucher in its liquid form and enjoy a glass of wine and some crisps.
Not having looked at the map before we left, I'd just assumed we'd be flying up the east coast of Oz but in fact we flew inland which was actually the most direct route. A few pictures just before we landed in Cairns (sorry about the fuzzy area on the left, I couldn't get a good angle through the window).
I'd contacted a couple of companies from England who offered city transfers but they all seemed very vague and jolly expensive so we didn't book anything in advance. But one of the companies had a manned desk in the terminal and so I simply walked up and booked and it was a lot cheaper than online. Even better, we were the only passengers so it was more like a private transfer. The driver was a very pleasant Japanese chap who gave us a mini tour of town and a few tips before dropping us at Cascade Gardens. Once we'd dropped our cases off we headed into town for a recky to check how long it took to walk to the marina for our GBR trip tomorrow.
It's a rather odd place; the promenade features WWII vehicles.
And the turquoise water/golden sand I'd imagined just didn't exist; the water is mostly mud with plant life growing and there is no beach.
The other side of the promenade is a public lido which looked quite popular for late afternoon.
I expect it's a popular stop for many cruise ships.
The marina opposite has better size vessels.
This is the boat we're taking tomorrow. We had a chat with one of the senior crew who assured us we'd have a great day despite our poor swimming abilities.
A few birds on the waterfront. Australian Pelican.
A couple of new birds: Bush stone-curlew
A juvenile Nankeen night heron
Walking back to the hotel we suddenly noticed hundreds of bats flying past. We stopped and watched for probably 15 mins and I reckon several hundred thousand must have flown over.
According to the internet they are Spectacled Flying Foxes.
Later on we walked back to "the strip" and had a lovely bottle of wine.
And delicious pizza.
