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Let's face it, getting up at 3am for a 6:30 flight was never going to be pleasant. We parked in the Christchurch Airport long-stay; the path took us through the end of the terminal building where they don't mind people "resting" overnight. As it was well before dawn, it was a slightly surreal experience to witness this room of people apparently openly sleeping.
Reaching check-in, we queued for what felt like ages - then noticed there were no desks open yet. Sigh! If we'd known they don't open the desks until 2 hours before the flight (not the 3 hours that Virgin Australia's website claims) that might have influenced our planning... Security and passports were hassle-free, so we had time for a quick nibble before boarding just after dawn.
Four hours later, during which I was pleased to note they observed a minute's silence at 11am in some timezone or other (it was 11/11), we were clearing customs at BNE before transferring to a domestic flight to CNS. There was a long queue at passport control but the friendly chap asked if we were here for the eclipse. It must have been a safe bet for him...
Customs was fast and painless, then we had to queue for another while to drop off our transferring baggage. It didn't take long to reach the domestic terminal and get through security, but still our entire 2.5 hour transit window had been pretty much consumed.
Another two hours of flight later we arrived at Cairns; it was just after noon, and we stepped off the plane into a wall of heat and high humidity. Oof. I've felt this before, in Florida in August. (In the midst of getting a bite to eat at the airport I think I spotted Bruce Schneier.) Nevertheless, we gritted our teeth, picked up our rental car and pressed on to the holiday park. Cairns was quiet, but then it was Sunday afternoon.
We duly checked into our self-catering villa that could "only" sleep six people (hey, it was all we could get when we booked). It was splendid. Once we got the hang of the air conditioning (which only operates when you're in the villa thanks to a neat captive-key system) we were sorted.
The park has an on-site cafe and mini mart which were most welcome, and we proceeded to book some activities for Monday and Tuesday via reception. And so to bed; for while it was only 8pm, it was 11pm by our body clocks, we had been up since 0300, and we were trying to keep to NZ time as it would let us get up early for the eclipse on Wednesday...
Reaching check-in, we queued for what felt like ages - then noticed there were no desks open yet. Sigh! If we'd known they don't open the desks until 2 hours before the flight (not the 3 hours that Virgin Australia's website claims) that might have influenced our planning... Security and passports were hassle-free, so we had time for a quick nibble before boarding just after dawn.Four hours later, during which I was pleased to note they observed a minute's silence at 11am in some timezone or other (it was 11/11), we were clearing customs at BNE before transferring to a domestic flight to CNS. There was a long queue at passport control but the friendly chap asked if we were here for the eclipse. It must have been a safe bet for him...
Customs was fast and painless, then we had to queue for another while to drop off our transferring baggage. It didn't take long to reach the domestic terminal and get through security, but still our entire 2.5 hour transit window had been pretty much consumed.
Another two hours of flight later we arrived at Cairns; it was just after noon, and we stepped off the plane into a wall of heat and high humidity. Oof. I've felt this before, in Florida in August. (In the midst of getting a bite to eat at the airport I think I spotted Bruce Schneier.) Nevertheless, we gritted our teeth, picked up our rental car and pressed on to the holiday park. Cairns was quiet, but then it was Sunday afternoon.
We duly checked into our self-catering villa that could "only" sleep six people (hey, it was all we could get when we booked). It was splendid. Once we got the hang of the air conditioning (which only operates when you're in the villa thanks to a neat captive-key system) we were sorted.
The park has an on-site cafe and mini mart which were most welcome, and we proceeded to book some activities for Monday and Tuesday via reception. And so to bed; for while it was only 8pm, it was 11pm by our body clocks, we had been up since 0300, and we were trying to keep to NZ time as it would let us get up early for the eclipse on Wednesday...