Travel Days

Today’s post doesn’t have beautiful pictures or tales of nature, but we like to keep our stories real so we can remember our adventures.

We welcomed in 2024 in Port Douglas at a delightful restaurant, Melaleuca, where we were greeted with a glass of champagne and some tasty freshly baked bread.  Although it was hot and humid, we were comfortable dining outside with fans blowing on us.  The restaurant had a naturally tropical feel, and the service was beyond top-notch.

Port Douglas was kind in that they had two fireworks shows – one at 9:00 and another at midnight.  We were thrilled we were able to see the NYEs fireworks live (9:00 showing), since we are usually fast asleep before the midnight fireworks.

The cyclone from earlier in the month continued to impact the area, with road closures and flight schedule changes. Our original travel plans included an hour commute from Port Douglas to Cairns and five and one-half hours of flying from Cairns to Brisbane to Auckland.  Due to road closures and disruption in Brisbane, our new plans meant a two-and-a-half-hour shuttle bus commute from Port Douglas to Cairns, plus over seven hours of flying time from Cairns to Melbourne to Auckland.  Rather than spending one day (January 2nd) with six and one-half hours of travel, it changed to a two-day trip with over nine hours of travel.  On New Year\’s Day, we took the two-and-one-half-hour-long bumpy ride on the winding, twisty mountain road, where we stayed the night at the Holiday Inn in Cairns, perhaps the best Holiday Inn we’ve experienced. Our ocean-front room with a balcony overlooking the ocean was delightful.

On Tuesday morning, before our noon flight, we found our way to the local Harley-Davidson dealership.  It was a nice dealership where Mark bought a t-shirt of kangaroo riding a Harley for himself and Margo’s brother, John. 

The flights were mostly uneventful except for the seats on Qantas’ 737s are tightly packed.  We both have short legs, and we were scrunched up, with Mark on the aisle and Margo in the middle seat.  Add in the very talkative, somewhat large traveler sitting beside Margo in the window seat, who had four drinks during the flight and was a bit nervous about the storm we were passing through.  We were relieved to get off that plane.  Not sure we would fly Qantas again.  The staff was extremely friendly, helpful, and willing to make everyone happy, but being uncomfortable for long flights was a big negative.

 The thunderstorm delayed our flight from Melbourne to Auckland over an hour; we finally arrived in Auckland at 1:30 am.  As we watched the baggage carousel go round and round and round, with our bodies tired and our eyes seemingly half-closed, we realized that our luggage didn’t make it.  Margo was in line at the baggage service desk, and the lady looked up and asked if she was Ms. Boster.  “Your bags did not get loaded in Melbourne,” the lady said.

We made it to the M Social Hotel at about 3:00 in the morning. Although we were both exhausted, we were thrilled with the very contemporary, high-tech hotel.  They even have a robot named Hari to deliver items to your door.  Hari can operate the lift (elevator) and dial your room phone when it is outside your door.  Meet Hari:

Again, we have a wonderful view from the waterfront room.  The temperature of 73 degrees with low humidity made for a delightful contrast to the heat and high humidity of Port Douglas. 

Now, we wait for our luggage.