Well we're back! Exactly one week away from home, including one night in Melbourne and six in Cairns. We all had a ball I think, with many more ups than downs, and some wonderful memories. This post, I'll try to summarise the trip, with a few insights, and also links to my Trip Advisor reviews, of the various places we visited. Here goes:
Day 1 - Friday
So this was Bab's 9th birthday! As has become the norm of late, he had already received all his presents, so there was not much more to do other than wish him a happy birthday. We did this at the AFL Kitchen in the airport. It wasn't much to rave about, but did the job for dins and for my boy.
That first day we left home late morning and arrived at the airport parking lot about mid-arvo. I chose the Premium Car Park, which was expensive, but well worth it, as it was not crowded, and was convenient to both the hotel and the terminal. Here are the kids at check-in:
That's pretty much it for Day #1. We could have done what V did and drive down on the same day as the flight, but that would have meant navigating the 'roos in the early hours and a no-doubt fractious morning to get everyone up and going in time. This cost a few bucks, but was infinitely more relaxing! Also thanks to hotels.com.au loyalty program, as I was able to use a free night to fund most of the cost of what is a damn expensive hotel in the airport Park Royal. Below are the links to my reviews for the day:
AFL Kitchen & Bar
Park Royal
Day 2 - Saturday
Ok, this was D-Day! Up early, across to the airport for check-in, through security, breakfast and then on the plane. Everyone was most excited! It all went well for the most part, apart from a small issue with the bag drop. Overall though, Virgin's automatic check-in process was pretty seamless. Here's us waiting to board:
It was our first flight as a family since we flew in from KL way back in late 2019! Unbelievable really, especially considering that prior to that, we were flying very regularly, like to the tune of 20+ flights per year! Even me, in my work, have only done a small handful of flights over that period. Below is a super view from the plane, that Babs was very much enjoying:
Somehow, Babs made it known to the staff that is was his birthday - technically it was the day prior, but he wasn't missing the opportunity. In fact, come to think of it, the kids had hatched a plan to go to Maccas in the airport, and try the old "it's my birthday, can I have free fries" routine. My self-consciousness wouldn't allow that, so the next best thing was on the plane. To the staff's credit, they spoiled him, giving him cake, making a special announcement on the PA, and allowing him to use the business class toilet. All very welcome additions to the trip, and something special for him.
What really sealed it though, was when we arrived in Cairns, Babs and his brother were invited into the cockpit, where they met the pilot, and even got to sit in the flight seats! See below. They were both absolutely chuffed with this experience!
So from there, we collected our bags, and then I tried to navigate the instructions from Bargain Car Rentals, to find the shuttle bus pick-up location. In hindsight, it was easy and seamless, although at the time I was a little uncertain. Anyway, we soon got the car and headed to town. Footnote - I highly recommend this car hire mob, although if you opt online for the cheapest option, be aware that this is a small vehicle, and really not suitable for five people with luggage. Thus we ended up upgrading. This cost a bit extra, but not much really, so I was very happy with them overall.
Heading into town was easy, as it was finding out hotel, the Getaway On Grafton. We checked in, and then decided to go for a walk to explore. We found Muddy's Playground, a huge water-play and normal playground on the waterfront. We made a mistake though, in the direction we chose to wander - we basically headed in the opposite direction to all the food and other stuff, finding almost nothing of interest after the park. We eventually found the Cock & Bull pub, which was frankly as rough as guts, and not somewhere I would choose to go after dark! But it did the job for lunch. After that we got back to the hotel, and the kids tried out the pool:
We were bushed by evening, so decided on ordering in some food, a local Vietnamese joint, which was very tasty! Even though our background is in the tropics, we are not used to the humidity these days, so the walk, swim and rest of it had taken it out of us. That was it for Day #2. Reviews below, and onto the first main activity tomorrow!
Cock & Bull
Pho Street
Muddy's Playground
Day 3 - Sunday
Today was the day of our first planned activity - visiting the Daintree. It was also the day we were to meet up with my sister and niece. We started with a simple light breakfast in the motel, and then hit the road. It was a bit over an hour up to Mossman Gorge, which was the beginning of the Daintree. It sounded like a good place to get a taste for it. I had been open-minded about where to from there, thinking we may even follow the rainforest to the north, use the car ferry, and really explore the place. But as it happened, by the time MG was done, we were hot and tired, ready for a swim, and ready to meet up with the others. So it wasn't the huge day I had planned, but it sure was a good one.
Our first stop was a place called Palm Beach, about halfway to MG. It was a lovely beach, albeit narrow from being high tide. There were also heaps of hotels, apartments, bars and restaurants along the strip, so it would be a good place to stay. We were put off by the beware stingers and crocs signs, and didn't at that time realise, that there was a protected swimming area further down the beach from where we stopped. So as usual I was unpopular for not letting the kids swim, but one needs to not learn the hard way where one can avoid it. That's my experience!
From there, we wound our way along the coastal road towards Port Douglas, the main tourist drawcard in the area. Below is an example of a lookout, with a simply magnificent view!
In PD we stopped for a wander in this very touristy town, had some brunch, a toilet stop, and then did some shopping. I had a moment or two, as some of the kids were being jealous of others, wanting to buy god-only-knows-what because others got to, and generally being asses. It is one of the challenges of parenting. Sometimes they are gracious, but others, very challenging. It's only the boys who do this though. I hope they'll grow out of it soon enough.
From PD, we headed to Mossman Gorge, via a visitor centre and a shuttle bus up the hillside. It was lush, scenic, and interesting. The pathways were well-established and maintained, and we enjoyed the walk. As wifey expected, it was cooler in the forest, but because the canopy was not dense, only a little. Thus we sweated our asses off, and were tired at the end of it. Wifey and Lala did the extra walk, while I took the boys to the waterhole for a paddle.
At that point we were buggered, so back to Cairns it was. We were all looking forward to seeing Aunty V and Naomi, and caught up with them at the pool. From there, V took us to the night market, which was a fun experience, but not particularly memorable. She also showed us more of the town than we had found ourselves to that point, which was helpful. Of particular interest was the Esplanade, which we would explore further the next day.
Reviews of our various stops below:
Mossman Gorge
Toast Sandwich Bar
Palm Cove Beach
Port Douglas Market
Cairns Night Markets
Day 4 - Monday
Today was an in-between day, not so much to do in terms of planned activities, but we were keen for V to show us the main part of town. We had chosen the exact opposite way to go when we first arrived in Cairns, hence why we ended up in the hospital district, and at that dodgy pub on Day #1! When walking in the correct direction, we encountered the main part of the esplanade. It was scenic, easy to walk, and enjoyable. It took us past malls, bars, restaurants, and ended up at the marina that we would take our reef trip from the following day.
It also had some cool features, such as parks nestled among the banyan trees, and a lagoon pool, which made up for the lack of coastal swimming here due to the mudflats and crocs. I didn't swim here today but the kids did, and they had a ball. It's a wonderful location, right on the waterfront, and a huge swimming pool, both with traditional and sandy beach edging.
Following that, we were all a bit hot (apart from the kids) and hungry, so we wandered into town to look for lunch. Being a big group it was hard to get consensus, but in the end we decided on Vietnamese. And what a good choice it proved to be! It was wifey's birthday so we spoilt ourselves and had cocktails with lunch, and then enjoyed good quality Vietnamese food that was really well-priced too. It was great!
That afternoon we had another pool swim, some drinks, and then went for Korean / Japanese near the motel. It was an enjoyable meal but nothing to write home about for me. Overall, another fun day of holiday and proof that one can get just as much enjoyment out of just following one's nose as one can from following a set and planned itinerary! The day's reviews as follows;
Cairns Esplanade
Rendezvous Du Vietnam
Goong Korean & Japanese Food
Day 5 - Tuesday
Day #5 was the day we had all been looking forward to the most - our boat trip out to the Great Barrier Reef! The review kind of paints the picture, which is that to be quite frank, it was disappointing to me. It cost basically a grand for the day, most of which was spent in transit to and from the reef. The time we spent there was not as fruitful as I had hoped, with strong currents making the snorkelling an impossibility for us. That none of us were experienced with fins and snorkels didn't help either, but I did feel that the organiser could have done better in terms of catering for families. It is a big undertaking what they do, so I am ok with it. The sub ride was fabulous and made the whole day worthwhile. I did see a little coral, had some massive fish swimming with me when I was snorkelling, and despite the disappointment, it was still a unique and memorable experience.
That evening we opted for some Cantonese fare, as we had not yet been able to have our holy grail, which was yum cha. We found a place just across from the motel, which after all the walking, was a welcome change. The review below says it all but let's just say that to this point, Yum Sing provided the highlight of the trip and was a simply awesome meal!
Yum Sing
Reef Trip Review
Day 6 - Wednesday
Today was a day I was much looking forward to - Yum Cha for lunch! Plus of course, the chance to see Josh again, whom I've seen little of in the last 10 years. I will never forget the trip he, Naomi, V and Ma took to visit us in KL, back in 2012. We had an absolute ball! Those years were a real highlight. V and I picked up Josh from the airport in the morning, got him back to the hotel, and then all wandered down the road for lunch. We had initially considered trying Yum Sing's yum cha, following last night's success, but V wanted to retry the trolley service at a place called Golden Boat, so we went there instead. It was a much longer walk, but hey, when a decent yum cha is in the offing at the end of the road, I am willing to go to some lengths...
As per previously, the detail of our lunch can be found in the linked review below. Needless to say, it was sensational! We all loved the yum cha, it had super variety, excellent quality, and tasted just like Hong Kong. Well done Golden Boat, I will be back for sure!
After lunch the kids wanted to go shopping with their birthday money and savings, so I took them to the central mall, walking distance from the motel. It is a huge mall for a place the size of Cairns, has everything, and presents a nice, cool alternative to the humid heat. We spent a couple of hours shopping there. Afterwards I was bushed though, so no dinner outside, and just a quiet order in pizza at the room to end this day.
Cairns Central MallGiants Pizza
Day 7 - Thursday
This was our last full day in Cairns. We had initially planned to do the cable car, which looked awesome. However, at close to $500 for our family of five, we agreed it was too expensive. By then we had already spent a lot, so figured we'd go for some less costly entertainment options for our last day. For the kids, that meant only one possible destination - the lagoon pool in town.
As previously, this was an awesome experience, and I joined them today too. The lovely clean pool, seaside, and in the bright sunshine, just made for a wonderful time, and we just loved it. Afterwards we had brunch at the adjacent café, did some shopping, and wandered back. Later we had bevvies with V and Co and then wandered down to the marina for a seafood dinner. On the way we stopped at the Reef Eye, a ferris wheel that the kids were dying to try. It was ok, gave them a great view, but nothing special really.
So the last stop was the seafood place V told us about. I was so excited for a quality feed of fresh seafood, so was greatly disappointed by what turned out to be over-cooked and under-seasoned nonsense. And bloody expensive nonsense too I might add..
Still, the company was good, and we enjoyed ourselves. We stopped to buy the kids more gibbets on the way back to the motel, and then settled down for a quiet night, prior to our early start and long journey home the next day.
PJ O'BriensTha Seafood
Day 8 - Friday
Ok so technically this is more than one week, but this day was just about travelling. Early morning wake-up again, filling up the rental car, off to the airport, check-in and breakfast, then flight, collect gear and my car, and drive home. Tedious and tiring as expected, plus with a small up-chucky episode thrown in from one of the kids, but overall a painless trip home. For once, no lights were on in the house when we returned too!
Looking back, this was a lovely family holiday. Interestingly, the best parts were not the tours, although they were good, it was just the wandering, the swimming and the eating. I might try to keep that in mind next time. Speaking of which, where to next? I am always drawn to KL of course, then there is Bali, then there is that Great Ocean Road roadtrip I thought about. Plenty of options really. Cairns was super - hot and humid yes, but really a cool place to visit, and nice to spend some time with V and her kids.
The last review is for our accommodation, which, while not perfect, suited us just fine, and was good value. Next time we might stay closer to the action, but I was ok with all the walking, it was good for my health. Hanging out now, for the next family holiday!
Getaway On Grafton
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