Flying north

Jane and Lea are still living with us in Toowoomba while they build at Withcott so we are leaving them as house sitters and taking the opportunity to get away again. Travelling out of Queensland is impracticable at present because it would require 2 weeks of quarantine on return so we are off to see more of Queensland. This time we are going north and west from Cairns in a rented camper van.

We were on the road to Brisbane soon after 8:00 am. First stop was to visit Majella’s mother, Dulcie, at Rosalie. She was subdued today, perhaps because she had a stimulating visit yesterday with Jessica and young Dulcie. Majella managed to help her eat some morning tea but it was otherwise a quiet visit.

By 11:00 am we had dropped the car at Andrew’s Airport Parking and were on our way to the airport. With fewer flights than usual the airport was quiet and checkin and security were quick. We waited in the Qantas Club until it was time to board, soon after 1:00 pm.

Our plane was not full but neither were there many empty seats. Advice was to wear masks, your own or those provided, throughout the flight. It took a long time to taxi out to the new runway but once there we were away quickly, heading for Cairns.

We arrived in Cairns on schedule around 4:00 pm. By then our ears were complaining about the fine elastic on the masks Majella had made. We will have to look for ways to reduce the pressure from the elastic if we need to wear the masks for more than a few minutes in future.

Our bags were off quickly and we easily found a taxi to take us to our hotel, Rydges on the Esplanade. Once we had checked in there we dropped our bags and walked a few hundred metres to the Cairns Aquarium where Majella wanted to check details of her adventure which is planned for our return to Cairns in two weeks. Unfortunately the aquarium closed at 3:00 pm but we might try tomorrow before we leave town.

Rather than go back to the hotel we walked along the Esplanade, spending some time watching a Jabiru and some other water birds waiting for the rising tide on the mudflats. We sat for a while and then walked down as far as the pier area before turning back. Neither of us was especially hungry so we bought sushi rolls in the markets and went back the edge of the Esplanade to watch the birds as we ate our sushi.

Back at the hotel we had drinks at the bar before retiring to our room to rest and prepare for tomorrow.