Sydney to Cairns

Monday, Dec 14

We woke up bright and early (4AM!) on today in order to shower, pack and get downstairs for the airport shuttle to take us to the airport to catch our 6:25 flight to Cairns. When we got there however, we found ourselves in the middle of a HUGE mess, as our airline was having major computer problems and was resorting to manual checkin for ALL flights! We didn't think it would be that bad... until we found ourselves still waiting in line to checkin, barely having moved 10 feet, by 6:15... Finally at around 6:20, their computers came back online, and the lines began moving smoothly.. We were only delayed about an hour and a half.. Good thing we didn't have any fixed plans in Cairns!

After an uneventful flight, we landed in Cairns around 9:30 and caught a shuttle to our hostel. We weren't too sure what to expect, so we were blown away by the very cool atmosphere, the beautiful pool, and the plethora of rooms it had to offer. I would definitely have to say that this is one of the best hostels that I've ever stayed in! Not too mention, it's about $25 per person per night which really can't be beat! After checking in, we immediately booked a trip out to the Great Barrier Reef for the next day, then changed into our bathing suits, and headed for the beach.. Only to find that there is NO BEACH in Cairns!

Turns out, they have this amazing public pool instead, right on the ocean, that is designed to look like a beach, with sand and a horizon that lines up with the ocean! We spent our afternoon there, soaking in some of the Aussie rays! At first we found it shocking that such a town wouldn't utilize it's true beaches, but later we found out that due to the Irukandji (sp??) and other jelly fish as well as the supposed presence of crocodiles, NOBODY swims at the beaches.

After grabbing our "free" hostel dinner that consisted of a plate of spaghetti with a teaspoon of sauce, we headed back to the hostel, and passed out nice and early!

Getting to Oz...

Friday Dec 11th to Sunday Dec 13th

Pictures on Facebook

Our flight down under was unbelievably long! After a long 6 and a half hour flight to Los Angelos, we hopped on our even longer flight to Sydney. The Sydney flight ended up taking over 15 hours, which is by far the LONGEST flight I've ever been on. But I made good use of my time, catching up on recent new movie releases, and getting about 8 hours of on and off sleep, despite the one small child who was adamant about making ear splitting shrieks everytime I had fallen into a comfortable sleep. When we could finally see land, we saw the shining beautiful coast of Sydney. And as we flew over downtown Sydney, we saw a beautiful view of the Sydney Opera House, the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the downtown financial district. It was absolutely amazing!

After touching down, we picked up an Aussie sim card for my phone and made our way to the hotel, which was conveniently close to the airport. So, after over 28 hours since leaving Niantic, we decided it was time freshen up, and make our way into downtown Sydney! It was about 90 degrees out, so shorts and t-shirts were definitely in order... too bad we forgot about the sunscreen!

We hopped on a local train and made it into downtown in about 15 minutes. Downtown Sydney was gorgeous! Much different than New York. The streets were clean and lined with beautiful trees. There was a monorail that weaved up and down the streets, and it was quite hilly, very much like San Francisco!

The front desk guy at the hotel had told us where we should head for some nice places to grab a bite, so we made our way over to Darling Harbour. It was beautifully done up, including a Christmas tree, which definitely looked out of place in the beautiful summer weather! After ordering some fairly over-priced burgers, we made our way through downtown Sydney, ending up in the Royal Botanical Gardens, and finally at the Opera House! We snapped some pictures, then headed around to Circular Quay (pronounced "Key") and finally to the foot of the Sydney Harbour Bridge!

We explored a ton of the small side streets from there, and finally made our way into a train station to head back to the hotel. Not a moment too soon, I might add, as we hadn't been back long enough to order some pizza before I was passed out! The pizza, came, we chowed down, and passed out.. at 8pm! I guess jet lag had finally hit!