Blogs from Cairns City, Cairns, Queensland, Australia, Oceania - page 3

I know it's been a year and I have totally failed at keeping everyone updated as we travel oz, however I want to write as much as we can remember and share it with you all now. Our Australian adventure began when landing in Sydney and meeting the beautiful Pimenta family. They're generosity and advice was overwelming and completely invaluable. We visited Sydneys big tourist spots including the zoo, the opera house, Sydney fish market and caught the stunning views of the harbour from the Westfield tower. When finally putting together a loose plan, we booked flights to the tropical shores of Port Douglas in Queensland with the idea of chasing summer for as long as possible. Unfortunately Port Douglas was a bit to quaint and we struggled to find work and accommodation. We soon regrouped ... read more

Attended a lecture this morning given by a fellow passenger and author named Betty Jane Wylie, from Canada. She has a quick wit and was full of inspiration for me. She instilled some confidence that I am on the right track as I go forward with this blog. After all, who am I trying to impress? I just want an semi-interesting, somewhat witty account of what we are doing and experiencing on this trip. Am I achieving that? I think so but you can judge for yourself. Arrived in Cairns (pronounced cans) this afternoon. We walked several blocks from the wharf and found a liquor store to purchase a couple of bottles of prosecco to bring with us to dinner at the home of a couple we met two years ago on our cruise around South ... read more

Hi All, A rest day in Cairns was on the itinerary today; having a lie-in until 8.30am was definitely needed. We also needed extra sleep after the disturbed night due to this drunken German girl getting into our room claiming she had lost her phone but she went after about 15 minutes. This morning we cooked scrambled eggs and bacon on toast in the hostel kitchen then we sat in the common area drinking free tea, chatting, and planning the next week down the east coast. We’ve selected our next two bus journeys with ‘Premier’ (stopping at Mission beach and then to Airily Beach). We’ve decided to only take one of the free nights accommodation that came with booking a tour through the hostel as it would mean spending an extra day here so losing out ... read more

Having flown from Christchuch to Brisbane I was greeted by my old friend Kirsty at the Airport. The intention was to drive the length of the east coast from Brisbane to Cairns in a campervan. As the drive was well over 1500km it seemed appropriate that both of us should be able to drive or take over if the other-one felt a little tired. As I arrived late there was no possible way I could legally drive her ( the name of the campervan was a Juliette Hightop so naturally we referred to it as ‘ her’) so we resorted to sleeping on the road outside the campervan place which was on the middle of an industrial estate so I could sign the paperwork. We made the most of it though, we had a few drinks ... read more

Hello everyone! We have now been a little more than 2 weeks in Australia and are currently in Richmond, Queensland visiting Jamie and Gayle. We spent the first week in Cairns which offered heaps of sun and loads of nostalgia for us. We started the week by getting ourselves some Australian phone numbers and opening Australian bank accounts. After all that was done we stayed two days in Cairns to get rid of the jet lag and to just take it easy for a little bit. Unfortunately the communal pool (lagoon) was closed for renovation during the total period of our stay so we had to enjoy the sun without cooling of in the water. The first two days contained of walking around in the city and visit familiar places such as "woollies" and "the wool-shed" ... read more