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Our plan to see the sunrise again at the lighthouse failed, Nicola said it was too cloudy, I think that was an excuse to stay in bed a bit longer. We heard our final dawn chorus before leaving the house asleep in Byron Bay for the 2 hr drive to Brisbane Airport. The original plan had been to have 3 nights in Byron and 1 night near the airport but this would have cut out most of the day by the beach and we were not sure of the quality of hotel we would find in Brisbane so an early start with light traffic levels was much the better option.
The early start was also a consequence of a decision in Cairns about the start time of the car rental. We had high hopes to be in the Daintree Forest early so we booked the car from Avis for 08:30. In the end we only managed 10:00 however had we not returned the car by 08:00 there was a chance we would have to pay for another 24 hrs for even a minute over. Oh well we will be more realistic next time.
The traffic meant we managed to get to the Domestic Terminal by 07:10 but we then needed to hunt round for a petrol station to fill-up and get the car washed These tasks done we returned the car at 07:40. Altogether we have driven 2212km from Cairns (excluding the Daintree excursion) not bad over 3.5 days.
The early drop-off meant we had plenty of time to chill in the airport and work out how the self check-in system works again. It's a bit like the self checkout at the supermarkets now, once done a few times it is relatively easy but the early tries are a bit disconcerting. Once completed however it does make you wonder what those check-in staff did for all those years!
The time in the airport was also filled by a number of calls wishing me Happy Birthday on this auspicious date 11/11/11. Thanks to all of you who called and texted. I don't often get such a fuss made of my birthday and it was very nice.
Onto the plane nice and chilled then we experienced the in-flight catering. For those who know me, you know I love the food. Not on this trip. Qantas must have heard about Nicola's desire to put me onto a diet. By the time the trolley made it to Row 21 seats E & F we only had the choice of a small egg sandwich. I had the pleasure of looking across the aisle at the last meat pie being consumed by a vegetarian in seat C as they had seen the size of the sandwich!!
I did have a window seat to view take-off and landing and also see the terrain during the flight. It really is fascinating to see the well cultivated land extend for a few hundred miles inland both at Brisbane and Adelaide but still the vast red soil between with straight roads and sparse vegetation. Not too far from Adelaide were a number of lakes and what I took to be mining but I could be wrong. I will have to look at Google Earth sometime.
Landing at Adelaide and clearing the airport was straight-forward. Our trip into the city was by taxi and we had an interesting conversation with the Indian taxi driver who had been studying here for a year. He found the country very friendly.
The old city of Adelaide is very compact and surrounded by parks that separate it from the residential suburbs. The hotel is just at the residential edge of these parks so we had a short walk before discovering town. Our object to find (so we give the enterprise some goal) were razor blades. Once found Nicola had her own mission to find the 'Apothecary 1878 Wine Bar'. To say the wine list was extensive (Sybil you wouldn't believe it) was an understatement, 30 pages! So much choice. We enjoyed wine and tapas in the early evening, followed by two small portions of fried rice, freshly made in front of us, from a fast food place called 'wokinabox'. The chef never stopped. Early night but a full and exciting schedule planned for tomorrow (and you will never guess who is coming to town.....)
- comments
Sally and Sophie What a Cliff hanger!
George Cressey (son) Happy Birthday Dad! If this come through late, its down to the time difference! :)