Austrailia - Mar 11 - Travel Day

Mar 11 - A travel day

POL:
Early this morning we were booted off the MS Noordam.  And yes, today counted as a day of cruising even though we were off permanantly by 7:45.  We parted ways with Ginny and Bob as they chose not to make the side trip to Cairns.  We wish them safe travels.

On the way into the Sydney harbor we passed right by the Sydney Opera House.  We cruised by around 5:15 AM.  Even though it was dark the opera house was lit up well enough to be seen.  The downtown area was also well lit.  Both made good 'Kodak moments'.
But not to worry, we had booked a shuttle to the Sydney Airport so we could catch our flight to Cairns.  We waited the appropriate amount of time to check our luggage, which was no earlier than two hours before our flight.  So even though we were at the airport before 8:30 we could not check our bags until 9:30.  Unusual, but those were Jet Star's rules.  This was our first ever 'budget' airline.  There was an extra charge for baggage, for choosing your seat, for snacks, for drinks, for quite literally everything except having a seat available.  If you wanted a movie or music you brought your own.  They only thing about the airline that impressed me was boarding.  There were thirty rows of seats.  If you were in rows one through 15 you boarded from the front of the plane using the jet way.  If you were in rows sixteen through thirty you boarded from the rear of the plane by bypassing the jet way and using the steps at the back of the plane that you would access from the tarmack.  Boarding was actually very quick.

Once in Cairnes we checked into the hotel.  The rooms were spacious (especially compared to the cruise ship) and clean.
Cairnes is a resort town.  There are many shops, restaurants, and hotels.  We had a quick dinner at the bar and grill down the street (fish and chips, pizza, and a chicken wrap).  We secured reservations on a couple of excursions.  One is to the rainforrest and another to go snorkelling.  Both should be fun.
We did meet one of the locals.  There are some birds that hang around near the shrubbery.  I paused to snap a photo of one.  It actually growled at us.  So I snapped the picture and we left the crazy-eyed bird alone.
Tomorrow is our rainforrest excursion.  Looking forward to it.

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