Aussieland Day Eight: Non-Revving Cairns-Sydney-Honolulu-Los Angeles-Seattle

Our last day in Australia put us in a very interesting non-rev situation. The night before we left Cairns, we tried to check in for our flight from Sydney to LAX only to find out the entire flight had been cancelled. Not only were we not going to get on but 200+ people who had actual tickets for that flight were now being rebooked on every other possible option we had to get home.

We got up extra early to take the first flight to Sydney we possible could in hopes that we could catch an earlier flight that other passengers may not have been aware of. What we didn't account for was landing in Sydney's domestic terminal and trying to get to the international terminal. I've never been to an airport where you had to buy a ticket to take a bus from one terminal to the other. The bus didn't run very often, it stopped in a bunch of places along the way and we ended up missing the first flight.

Take me with you!

We sat in the airport for 12 hours trying to hop any flight that would get us back to the west coast but everything was well overbooked. We racked our brains and tried to find any flight on any airline that would move us in the right direction. Finally, that evening, we got tickets from Sydney to Honolulu. We were told that because of the flight being cancelled there were people displaced for days, so somehow this flight to Honolulu must have gotten overlooked!

We made it to Honolulu the next morning, went through customs and out of security, grabbed our next set of standby tickets and went right back through security. I got in a couple of deep breaths of sweet tropical air before getting right back on a plane bound for Los Angeles. From Los Angeles we were able to catch the next flight to Seattle and we were home that evening. Overall, it took 30 hours to get home. I was exhausted and in dire need of a shower but we made it! Breaking up the journey by traveling through Honolulu was really nice and I recommend it to anyone who's feeling a little leery about a 14 hour flight to Sydney from LAX!

Aussieland Day Seven: Cairns

Our last full day in Australia ended up being my absolute favorite day of the entire trip. We woke up in the morning, grabbed our swimsuits and towels and headed to the marina. Just past the lagoon at the end of the boardwalk is the marina where there are tons of boats just waiting to take you out on an adventure! We booked an all day snorkeling and diving expedition on the great barrier reef with Reef Experience. They were well priced, they feed you a great lunch and their staff was warm and friendly. We rented an underwater camera. They had a photographer on board taking photos but it was a large group for just one photographer and we really wanted our own camera. They also sold pouches to make your phone waterproof which would be a good slightly cheaper option.

We spent the morning in one reef spot and then retreated to the boat for shade and lunch while they took us to a second reef spot. We both took an introductory dive which was absolutely amazing! If you've ever thought about trying to scuba dive, you can't go wrong with the Great Barrier Reef!

One thing the staff did not go over was what kind of things you would see. We saw tons of different kinds of fish and we know there are turtles but unfortunately, we didn't see any. However, we did see a black tip reef shark. He wasn't huge by any means, about 3-4 feet long at most and skinny. It was startling to see and it definitely got my heart racing!

It was a full day at sea and I had the sunburn to prove it. If you ever have the chance to go to Australia, the great barrier reef is an absolute MUST! I discovered diving wasn't really my thing but I love to snorkel and reef is so shallow that snorkeling gets you a front row seat to incredibly diverse and colorful sea life.

Aussieland Day Six: Cairns

We woke up in the morning and headed to a village up in the rainforest called Kuranda. What I love about this village is the way you get to it- by gondola. We had a couple of morning times to choose from and I highly recommend picking the earliest one! There's actually quite a lot to see up there and the village shuts down by mid-afternoon so go early!

The gondola ride provided awesome views as you headed up the side of the mountain and into lush rainforest. We opted for a glass bottom gondola so we could see the tops of the trees below our feet! They offer a couple of stops to get off at and explore a little and they have guides there to tell you about the plants and wildlife.

We saw the biggest spider I will probably ever see in my life. His body was about the size of my palm and his legs could've easily covered my entire face. It was terrifying and awesome all at the same time. If you have an extreme fear of spiders, just don't look up!

One of the main reasons I wanted to trek up to this little village is I had heard that somewhere in that village, you can hold a koala bear. I wasn't disappointed! At the Kuranda Koala Gardens you can hold a koala bear, feed kangaroos and see all kinds of other wildlife. It's not cheap to hold a koala bear but it's a once in a lifetime experience that I was more than willing to pay for!

After going through the koala gardens, we did a little souvenir shopping, grabbed lunch and headed down to the train. You can take a gondola back down or you can take a vintage train back down. My husband and I wavered a bit and considered taking a gondola back down (we're not big into trains and they have no air conditioning) but ultimately decided to take the train for the experience. If you're into trains and a slow, scenic route, this is for you. If you're not that into trains and all you want is A/C after being hot and sticky in the rainforest all day, take the gondola.

By the time we made it back to our hotel it was about time for dinner. We changed, headed to the boardwalk and sat down at one of the many amazing restaurants to eat at. We were feeling pretty adventurous so we ordered what the restaurant called "Hop, Skip, Jump and Swim" which was four of the most Australian meats you can eat- Kangaroo, Emu, Crocodile and Burrumundu (white fish). The emu was our favorite! After dinner we took another walk through the night market to pick up a few souvenirs for home.