Australia: We made it!

We made it safely to Australia. Our travel plans took us through San Francisco for a 30 hour layover, and then through Sydney, on to Cairns, and finally Port Douglas. All total, roughly 24 hours on a plane, another 8 in an airport, and an hour bus ride to top it all off.

We were welcomed to a cold, rainy, windy San Francisco after landing on December 22nd. We caught a cab to downtown, checked in and got a bite to eat at a local place called Oola.

The next morning was still cold, windy, and rainy, but we had a trip to Alcatraz booked. We had missed this on our last visit a few years ago and weren't going to miss it again. Surprisingly, the tours were packed and sold out. After a bumpy, foggy ride we made it to The Rock. No views of the Golden Gate this day. The audio tour was interesting, and we would recommend to any visitors.

The wind really picked up as we were leaving and the ride back had most tourists soaked through.

After the tour we stopped at the Ferry building. This was a unique indoor market that had many local artisianal foods and shops, which sold everything from chocolates, to honey, to "salted pig parts." We bought some dark chocolate almond brittle for the flight. However, the main purpose of this vist to the Ferry building was to eat lunch at Cowgirl Creamery (we had eaten at their original location on our trip a few years back). Their sandwiches and cheese were just as good as Ashley remembered.

We made it to the airport in the evening and waited it out in the large United lounge.  After boarding the plane, we were informed there would be a 45 minutes delay meaning even more time in our seats on top of a 14 hour flight. Following takeoff, the lights went out. Soon, most passengers were tapping their "light" button, which wasn't working. It took a minute or two, but soon we realized that we controlled another row's lights (which was fun for a few). This "feature" resulted in a do not use policy for the remainder of the trip. The 14 hours went faster than expected with several naps, movies, and downloaded shows (now hooked on Downtown Abbey).

After landing Christmas morning, Customs was quick and we were soon checked in to our flight to Cairns. We had 3 hours until our flight so we explored the Qantas terminal, which a large variety of restaurants and boutique shops. We ate at "Pie Face." We then boarded our flight at our own "leisure."
After a 14+ hour flight, three hours was a drop in a bucket. Qantas had the friendliest flight attendants we've experienced on a domestic flight. The highlight of the flight was a mango ice cream bar served just before landing.

It was definitely a different Christmas feel to get off the plane in Cairns with the weather feeling like a midsummer day in Florida.

We arrived in Port Douglas after a one hour bus ride along a scenic, winding road where the rainforest covered mountains met the Pacific Ocean.  We checked in at our accommodation, Le Cher du Monde, along the main street and finally cleaned up after 30 hours of travel. 

Because it was Christmas, dining options were limited, so we walked to a Chinese restaurant called Han Court.  Ashley really enjoyed the authentic spicy chicken peanut dish (think Kung Pao).  They had Christmas music playing lightly in the background, and our favorite was Dreaming of a White Christmas.

Exhausted, we crashed once we got back to our room around 9.  The next day would be a long day snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef.