This blog really has well and truly been abandoned...but here's an attempt to bring it back...with a post from 2015! Yes, I did go to Japan twice in a year, but there was nearly a year in between so don't judge.
This was my first international trip with no parents attached, so we were both super keen. But considering we're both not that lucky, we were first hit by a changed itinerary a while before our departure date. But that was no biggie, we adjusted our plans and soldiered on.
When we got to Cairns, we were hit by delay after delay with no hint as to whether there was even a plane for us to board. Seeing the later flight to Osaka take off gave me slight regrets for booking to Narita instead. But both Peo and I were set on that as long as we left on the day, we wouldn't complain regardless.
But we totally jinxed it - the next announcement we heard was that we had to head back and collect our luggage, meaning that there was no hope of us flying that day. After collecting our luggage, we had to go get informed of what hotel we would all be staying at as well as collecting the meal vouchers for the day.
And this was the queue we faced...from memory there were only 2-3 counters open. That's how sad Cairns airport is. It is from this incident that I have sworn that I will not be flying anywhere if I have to transit through Cairns!
As we lined up, we heard a whole range of different hotels that other passengers were being sent to, so we were freaking out if we would be sent to a dingy little motel since there wasn't much in Cairns anyway.
Every time our bus stopped we would have a little freak out if the place looked the slightest bit dodgy.
But here's when things took a good turn: DoubleTree
The second before we saw the sign, we drove past a line of dingy motels and hostels which seriously scared me and to make it worst there was a bunch of roadworks happening which felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. But this sign was seriously reassuring.
Since it was still early, we did a bit of exploring in the hotel and nearby.
The hotel buildings circle around this middle water feature/pond/tropical rainforest thing which houses some massive fish. Didn't manage to grab a picture of it.
The buildings were all circular and they all looked the same, so I think it is quite easy to get lost in.
Having explored enough of the hotel and we were unprepared to use the the other facilities of the gym, we headed out. The hotel was near the beach and there was a shopping centre near by, but one thing I forgot was that Cairns is super humid and we were dressed for Japan weather...GG
The boardwalk is nice, but I still think Sydney has better beaches #sydneypride. What was surprising was that all the trees along the side were mango trees and a lot of the mangos had actually fallen off and rotted....
What's also hidden in these tress are BATS! Like heaps and heaps of bats...we didn't notice at first, but once you see them...cannot unsee
Like look at them...waiting to poop on you any moment...We unnecessarily crossed many roads to avoid the bat-infested trees on the way to the shopping centre. The shopping centre was nothing special, so no photos there. Since Jetstar already had meal vouchers for us, there was no need for us to go through the Coles for food, and I wasn't exactly looking to buy anything before I got to Japan.
Our dinner for the night! Had to make full use of the vouchers right?! Food was alright - the burger was good, nasi goreng super salty and the dessert was a bomb!
I just realised that hotels never seem to have enough lighting...like what is with all these shadows???
But that's nothing a bit of photo editing can't fix~
Now, this flatlay is insta-worthy!
That ends our rollercoaster day as we headed back to the airport early next morning. More on that later~
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