The most efficient way for us to get to Cairns is to fly from Christchurch. There are no direct flights and the Qantas computer offers a choice of routes. As we have come to expect with airline pricing, fares seem to be quite random. The shortest flying time, and thus presumably the least cost to Qantas, is via Brisbane. For the dates we wanted, the cheapest options were via Sydney on the outbound leg and via Melbourne to return.
In theory we had enough air points for both journeys, but the points 'fares' fluctuate even more than the cash ones so we had to make it a points plus cash deal.
We had booked well ahead of our travel dates so we were not surprised when Qantas advised a change to the booking. These are often of a flight that has been re-scheduled by 10 or 15 minutes. This time the change was due to the flight from Melbourne to Christchurch being cancelled. The Qantas computer helpfully rebooked us on an earlier flight. So early, in fact, that we were now going to land in Christchurch before we had even taken off from Cairns! We gave the computer 2 weeks to realise it had made a mistake before telephoning. A human Qantas employee very quickly understood the situation and changed the booking to route us via Brisbane. This got us back to Christchurch at about the same time as the original booking, but gave us 2 extra hours in Cairns before the journey started.
The major portion of the holiday was an escorted tour of the Cape York Peninsula. This is new territory for us. We have previously been independent travellers. The Peninsula roads have a reputation of being difficult driving and 4WD camper vans are expensive to hire. The tour was expensive, too, but someone else would do the difficult driving and we wouldn't have to worry about negotiating the roads or finding campsites and places of interest.
Flying from Christchurch is a great reason to spend some time with family there, and we had a very pleasant few days with Eve's brother, Russell, and his wife, Ivy.
I think it was Ivy who had the idea of taking the guided tour of the Botanic Gardens. The plan was to have lunch at a cafe near the Arts Centre and then hop on the little open sided bus that carries you on the tour. But at the Arts Centre Bill noticed a sign advertising an “Open Rehearsal” by a jazz orchestra. It was about to start so Ivy urgently telephoned to rebook on a later tour and we hurried in. They weren’t professionals but they weren’t bad at all. The youngest member of the band was introduced as 14 years old. She had been playing a trombone but she took the mike to sing one of the numbers. Why is she wasting her time blowing a horn when she has such a fabulous voice? For the last 3 numbers they were joined by members of an intermediate school jazz band. The next generation of jazz is in good hands! 😀
In the Botanic Gardens we took the “Caterpillar” ride with a commentary to explain the significance of various trees. Afterwards we visited an unusual bookshop. The Custard Square is a small caravan plus a few bookshelves outside. All the books are second hand and all the books are priced at $5. There seemed to be no filing system, a crime novel might be alongside a book on quantum physics. I found it irresistible.
When we made the Queensland bookings and committed to the trip we did not anticipate the luggage complications that ensued. The tour bus allowed far less than Qantas, both in weight and dimensions of the bags. We would be leaving from New Zealand's late winter and holidaying in the tropics. We only needed to pack hot weather gear, but we shrank from going to the airport at 4am in shorts and T-shirt. The solution was to leave the largest suitcase with the winter clothes in Cairns while we enjoyed the tour.
Getting to the airport was not as ghastly as it had been 18 months ago when we went to Tasmania. The flights to Australia still leave around 6am, but this time we both had a reasonable sleep before the Uber arrived at the requested time.
The flights were on time and uneventful; just the way we like them. The Qantas seating was as uncomfortable for Bill as it was last year. Are there no tall Australians these days?
We had booked a couple of nights at Summer House, a backpackers' hostel, to acclimatise and avoid the risk of missing the tour because a flight got delayed. This turned out to be a good choice. We had a room with a private bathroom, there was a bar/restaurant on site and a free shuttle to downtown Cairns every half hour from 8am to midnight. It set down and picked up at the Night Market. As well as the Market's food court there are eateries of all sorts in the area. Also the Lagoon, where you can paddle or swim without risking an encounter with stinging jellyfish or a crocodile.
The Summer House restaurant didn't do breakfasts. We could self-cater or walk to a cafe. We were given directions to a nearby cafe that provided very nice breakfasts. Eve particularly liked the Avocado Toast.
Our first full day was partly devoted to shopping. There is a Chemist Warehouse in cairns where Eve had discovered via the Internet that quite a few items could be purchased cheaper than in New Zealand. A supermarket provided snacks for the tour. It turned out we didn't need them. The tour catering was frequent and generous.
The 'Birds Seen' list started to grow. Loud, parroty noises were heard around the pool (yes – the backpackers has a pool), but the vocalists remained hidden. The first identified birds were Pigeons (boring), Silver Gulls (BORING) and 2 immature Nankeen Night Herons (tick!).
This is a Torresian Imperial Pigeon. You can see it's a pigeon and, trust us, it is a BIG pigeon. Thus - Imperial. And its wide range includes the Torres Strait. Also known as the Pied Imperial Pigeon.
On the 2nd morning we stowed our winter clothes in the biggest suitcase and placed that in the hostel's luggage room to await our return. Then we sat and waited for Outback Spirit to pick us up.
