End of the road trip

Above:  2393 km of driving in ten days.

Finishing the road trip

Today we drive up to Cairns where we finish our road trip.  Our original perfect plan had been to fly out midday but that flight was cancelled possibly due to poor loads.  The second version of the plan had us flying out last night at midnight but that flight was cancelled due to New Zealand closing its borders to arrivals from Australia.

We packed up and left Kurrimine Beach at 0900 for the 1h40 drive to Cairns.  The scenery was similar to previous days except for the addition of banana plantations to the landscape.

There was a patch of extremely green jungle, complete with a canopy layer like what I’m used to in Borneo.  It appeared to be in a confined area as the scenery reverted to the brownish-green that is Australia.  Incidentally, one thing consistent throughout our drive was that rural properties keep their lawns very nicely mowed.

We arrived at Queens Court motel at 1040 to offload our luggage before returning our car to Apex at the far end of the same street near the airport.  We had chosen this hotel because our next car pick-up was nearby across the road tomorrow morning.

At the car return, we had completed 2393 km over our 10 day trip.  The drop-off went smoothly.

In terms of the RAV4 which we had, Kim was really pleased with it, especially the adaptive (radar-controlled) cruise control. It held the car back at a safe distance from the one in front even though the cruise control was set at a fixed higher speed. He would prefer a lesser car with adaptive cruise than a more premium car without.

Exploring Cairns

We walked from the car return near the airport, back past the motel into the CBD.  It was pleasant in the shade but scorching in the sun.  Along the waterfront, we stopped for lunch at the RSL (like a war veteran’s club).

Even though the sea by Cairns isn’t the prettiest (it is a tidal mudflat and estuary), the city has done its best to make it a pleasant place.  The Esplanade Lagoon public pool is just marvellous.  It’s also a life saver as the waters here can have alligators and seasonal stinger jellyfish.

After the hot and sweaty walk back to the motel, I needed a cool down and rested indoors until dinner at Cairns’ Night Market (the name of the Asian food hall).

After dinner, we had a massage each at the Night Market.  While prices in Australia are normally exorbitant, Rachel’s Chinese Massage charge AUD25 for 30 mins.  Their staff was an unusual mix of young and elderly Asian women, Polynesian, white and Aboriginal Australians.  My massage was quite good, performed by a strong Polynesian fa’afafine but Kim’s foot massage was disappointing.