Honeymoon in Cairns

Honeymoon continued. From Sydney we headed 1,500 miles North to Queensland, first stop: Cairns. Cairns is in Trinity Bay in the Coral Sea, where we were able to decompress and enjoy the warmer weather, which was a nice change.

Kit enjoying a pre-flight Carlton drought. I don't think beers were allowed in the boarding area but no one seems to care. Bonus points for Australia!

Some shots of the Mantra Hotel

Morning Mimosas

Walking into town was a nice 15 minute walk along a boardwalk. Watch out for crocs!

Me playing on the public workout equipment.

Cairns Lagoon is really beautiful. In front of the lagoon you can see the mud flats at low tide. Crikey!

Captain Cook is a legend around these parts.

Pondering brekkie

After brekkie we strolled the esplanade and ended up at the Marina, where all of the boats embark for the Reef. It was gorgeous!

 Cairns Esplanade

We found The Salt House Bar Grille, an easy-breezy open air bar located at the mouth of the harbor. We sipped on Carltons and lounged out on a giant sunbrella covered chaise. The honeymoon is officially underway!

Cairns is a backpacker's Mecca. While Kit and I avoided the foam party scene, we did make a point to explore one in particular. Here is Kit at Gilligan's, a self proclaimed "Backpacker's Hotel & Resort." Wow! It is basically a mega-hostel with it's own sand beach, Lagoon Pool, volley ball pits, Beer Garden, Margarita Machines, and dancehall. Fun!

Bachelor Party getting underway

Later that night, Kit and I found one our favorite restaurants of the trip, Rattle-N-Hum Bar & Grille. Here we are with MORE Carltons.

View from our hotel room

 

Megala Pelicans in Oz are double or triple the size of a California Brown Pelican.