Flying North

We woke up to a lovely sunny morning but could not hang around as we had to be up and out early this morning in order to catch our 9:40am flight to Cairns. Fortunately the fact that it was a domestic flight meant we didn't need to be there quite so early. Flying rather than travelling in a hire car meant rationalising the packing a bit, and making sure our hand luggage was airline compliant. We had decided to go by taxi to the airport, but yet again he wasn't the friendliest of people giving out a hefty sigh every time we got held up in a bit of traffic. Fortunately despite the hour and volume of traffic we got to the airport in plenty of time. We got chatting to a woman whilst we were waiting for boarding who was flying to Cairns to scatter her husbands ashes. I didn't like to ask if he was travelling with her or in with her checked in luggage!

Window seats meant some great views of the city, coast, the Whitsunday's and the Great Barrier Reef.

The flight was just over two hours but time passed pretty quickly and it wasn't long before we were approaching Cairns.

A slightly bumpy landing was only a minor issue on what had been a comfortable flight. Picking the car up at the airport was pretty straightforward, but having been spoilt with an upgrade last time this vehicle seemed a bit basic, but as we won't be doing a massive amount of miles it is no big deal. We were pleasantly surprised however when we arrived at our accommodation at the Kewarra Beach Resort. The staff seem really friendly and helpful and our room is lovely. It's not luxurious but comfortable and stylish and has everything we need and the setting in the rainforest but beside the ocean is perfect. After checking in and getting all of our stuff into the room we went and had some lunch and then a little explore around the bungalows, lagoons and had a look at the two small natural looking swimming pools. We then went down to the beach for a couple of hours.

The sea was really calm and we had been advised that it was pretty safe (although no absolute guarantees) and so we were able to have our first proper swim in the sea since we had been away. It was lovely and warm although not has clear as some of the beaches we had seen further south. We also had time to relax soaking up the sun on the beach before going back to our bungalow to get freshened up for dinner.

We had booked to go to a beach party, popular with both locals and guests. It was great to listen to the music and watch everyone, especially the children, enjoying themselves. The food was pretty basic though, and compared with what we had eaten at lunch, pretty disappointing. I had ribs in sauce which were cold and the sauce just wet and drippy rather than nice and sticky, and Nigel's pizza had no sign of any ham and pineapple and was just strips cut up and put on a plate. There was also no evidence of any eating implements so I had to try to eat the nice Asian style coleslaw with a rib bone! Despite the gripes about the food it had been a really great day and a lovely evening and so we went to bed happy.