I didn't mention in previous posts about the vans that picked us up at each hotel and airport. We got quite a kick out of them! Every single one of them has an itty bitty trailer with it for luggage! This is a picture of the van that picked us up in Sydney. How cute is that trailer?!
I forgot to post earlier about our flights within Australia. Here, we have an app on our phones for all our Delta flights and can check-in, etc. We didn't have that for our Australia flights and weren't sure what we had to do. Of course, it was Abby to the rescue! She figured out the kiosks and printed our boarding passes and luggage tags at each of the airports! (This picture was actually taken in the Sydney Domestic Airport, but we had to do the same thing in Brisbane and Cairns.)
Time for some selfies! Here, we are at the Brisbane Airport waiting to board for our flight to Cairns. Abby is smiling in the picture, totally belying the fact that she wanted absolutely nothing to do with my numerous selfies! Oh well!
All our flights within Australia were on Virgin Australia (founded by Richard Branson). I must say, Delta could learn a thing or two from them! All our flights had FREE WI-FI available, not just messaging -- I could surf the internet and Facebook while on our flights, which was nice to help pass the time. Boarding was also quite different. They basically divide the plane in half. If you are in the back half of the plane, you actually go outside and take the stairs up to the plane. It allows for much faster boarding, to be sure! Obviously, that would be hard to do in the northern half of the states where it gets so cold out, but is definitely a thought for other parts of the country! There were plenty of employees watching over everyone to make sure we all stayed safe and no people with nefarious intentions boarded our plane!
And just to make Abby even happier, we had to take a selfie on the plane! You'll notice that I was kicked out of my usual window seat!
Our flight from Brisbane to Cairns was 2.25 hours, so not too bad. Abby was watching out the window the last half hour or so and took these pictures of the Great Barrier Reef! How incredible is THAT?! We were totally enthralled!
We arrived in Cairns!
Unfortunately for us, they were experiencing a record-setting heat wave! It was 110 degrees the day we arrived and by golly, was it HUMID! The heat and humidity hit you like a brick wall when you left the airport! We are in the tropics, but holy heat, it was hot! Our shuttle driver called it the "great equalizer" -- meaning that with that much heat and humidity, everyone looked like hell! HA! (She wasn't lying!)
Unfortunately, the United States is not the only country to deal with wildfires. There were more than 100 bushfires burning across Queensland while we were there and we could see a lot of the smoke from the planes.
Sadly, the record setting heat was affecting the animals, too (probably not too surprising). When we walked out of the airport, there was a couple of people standing around this little bird that was suffering from what appeared to be heatstroke. The wetness is from a spray bottle filled with water that they were using to try to cool off the poor little thing.
Eventually, they got more help and some workers came with a box and a lovely older woman who worked in the offices put the little bird in the open box and took it inside. I don't know what happened to the bird, but it was so heartwarming to see these folks so concerned over this poor little bird that was having such a hard time in the heat.
I'm trying something new here because I just have way too many pictures that I want to share! Below is a 1-1/2 minute "video" of pictures from our one hour drive from Cairns to Port Douglas. So much easier to watch this than for me to post so many pictures! This is best viewed in FULL SCREEN.
We stayed at a beautiful little Villa in Port Douglas that had a separate room for me and Greg (Abby got the pull out couch) and even had a little kitchenette! That was great, because we were there for three days, so were able to buy some food at the local grocery store (Cole's) and really felt homey! The Villa San Michele is definitely someplace we would recommend and stay at again!
One thing we noticed was that none of the hotels have exhaust fans in the bathrooms. Seems odd to us! Also, every shower in every hotel room only had half a door! VERY hard to get used to!
The Courtyard from our balcony.
A couple more views of the courtyard.
They have two pools here!
All in all the drive from Cairns to Port Douglas was beautiful, and we had a fabulous driver, who was very knowledgeable about the area and was fun to chat with on the hour-long drive.
Port Douglas is a beautiful little town with lots of activities! We thoroughly enjoyed the hotel and the staff were wonderfully nice and very attentive!
Next entry will be full of pictures and information on the tour we took to the oldest rainforest in the world!
Love, Peace and Prayers to all!
Julie and Greg
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