A Visit to Cairns – Part 1 – Getting There and Back.

In the midst of a busy period I took time out last December to visit relatives in Cairns in far north Queensland, travelling from Melbourne's (mainly) temperate climes to the hot and humid tropics.

It worked fairly well catching a suburban train to Southern Cross station and then taking the Sky Bus to Tullamarine Airport (approximately 20 minutes). My only criticism would be that the driver could have made an announcement at each stop at the airport as to which terminals and airlines were being covered rather than just one general announcement as we were approaching the airport.

I am not a fan of Jetstar (having had several previous adverse experiences) and was travelling with them again for cost and convenience reasons only. However, I am pleased to report that on this occasion it was an uneventful check-in and journey, with merely a few minutes' delay in departure and subsequent arrival to contend with.

The flight back to Melbourne was uneventful (well, until the kicking and screaming child in the seat behind me started up). Jetstar were efficient and even started boarding before the advertised time! I went to present some ID at the bag-drop desk together with my boarding pass and was told that this wasn't needed, which surprised me! At Cairns Airport there is no departure lounge past the gate, so everyone waits in a large hub area prior to boarding the flight. The short-term car parking costs $4.50 for even a short time, which also surprised me. I was lucky in a way seat-wise - I booked an aisle seat but I was one of the last people to board the 'plane, and someone (possibly an overseas visitor from Asia) was sitting in my seat but the row behind was vacant. So, rather asking the person to move, I loitered around for a short time to see if anyone would come to sit in that row. As no-one else came I hopped in and had the whole row to myself, and it was nice to have the window seat and not be 'hemmed in' by other people. There was a rather lovely view over the ocean and parts of the Great Barrier Reef (punctuated only by a few fluffy white clouds) until we crossed back over the coastline and headed south-west.

Getting home involved the Skybus back to the city and then catching a suburban train home. This worked fairly well, but it was after 8pm by the time I got back to the city it took a little longer to get a train home. Overall not too bad and certainly a lot cheaper than a taxi or leaving the car in the long-term car park!