Australia day 19: A mission to Cairns, 23rd October 2009
Saturday, 24. October 2009, 23:25:23
On our last hours in Byron Bay, I packed Gabriel and Kirsty off to the beach, as I wanted to go on a drive. The plan was to take Elva somewhere interesting and have some father/daughter time, then pick the others up at lunch time and make tracks for Brisbane airport.
It didn't quite go to plan, but it was still pretty damn fun. I first set my GPS to go to Nimbin, but then realised that I wouldn't have time to drive there and back. So then I set my sights on Ballina, but failed to find anything picturesque before I needed to make my way back to Byron. Instead I arsed about round a bunch of industrial estates getting lost, and Elva slept through the whole lot. But in spite of this, I had fun - I managed to see some beautiful scenery on the way, and listen to some loud rockin' tunes.
Anyway, we made it back to Byron to pick up the others, had a quick lunch, then headed back towards Brisbane airport to catch our flight to Cairns. The next few hours proved to be a bit of a nightmare, as I felt very sleepy on the drive home, then we got lost finding the hire car drop off point, then we rushed through the airport check-in and security with about 28 minutes to spare...
..phew.
Anyway, we made it, and after a couple of hours in the sky, we got to
Cairns with enough time to make the check-in deadline. When we got to the hotel, the reception lady was really wonderful, and not only gave us our key, but also helped us with directions to the nearest food places, shops, beaches, etc. We got settled in, had a bit of food and then settled down to sleep. I was quite impressed with the Tropical Queenslander - simple but clean, and we got a family room with bathroom and cooking facilities for £40 a night!
It didn't quite go to plan, but it was still pretty damn fun. I first set my GPS to go to Nimbin, but then realised that I wouldn't have time to drive there and back. So then I set my sights on Ballina, but failed to find anything picturesque before I needed to make my way back to Byron. Instead I arsed about round a bunch of industrial estates getting lost, and Elva slept through the whole lot. But in spite of this, I had fun - I managed to see some beautiful scenery on the way, and listen to some loud rockin' tunes.
Anyway, we made it back to Byron to pick up the others, had a quick lunch, then headed back towards Brisbane airport to catch our flight to Cairns. The next few hours proved to be a bit of a nightmare, as I felt very sleepy on the drive home, then we got lost finding the hire car drop off point, then we rushed through the airport check-in and security with about 28 minutes to spare...
..phew.
Anyway, we made it, and after a couple of hours in the sky, we got to
Cairns with enough time to make the check-in deadline. When we got to the hotel, the reception lady was really wonderful, and not only gave us our key, but also helped us with directions to the nearest food places, shops, beaches, etc. We got settled in, had a bit of food and then settled down to sleep. I was quite impressed with the Tropical Queenslander - simple but clean, and we got a family room with bathroom and cooking facilities for £40 a night!
WIDGETIZE