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After the eclipse we were a bit short on things to fill our last day in Queensland, so we drove to the little town of Mareeba (pop. 6800). Boasting 300 sunny days a year it's easy to see why some eclipse chasers had headed there, but (just six hours after the eclipse) the place was pretty quiet. We picked up some lunch, but there wasn't much to see there so we continued with our other plan, to go see Emerald Falls, 8km down a dirt road and a further 20 minutes walk on a bush path. I bet it's unbelievable in the wet season, and I also reckon the dirt road would be impassable without a 4x4.
On the way back we stopped at the lookout point near the top of the road through the rainforest, which had been shut earlier. You can't see anything of Cairns, as it's hiding on the other side of Mount Whitfield (on the right of the pics), but you can just make out the airport.
So that was pretty much that. We filled up the rental car, got some dinner, pre-checked-out, then got up early the next morning (3am local time) to get to the airport for our 6am flight. Domestic-to-international transfer at BNE was at least as fraught as it had been in the opposite direction, thanks to the long queues for security and passport control being in an area that was not well air-conditioned.
Finally, getting back to Chch, came a bonus that we hadn't previously experienced. At passport control, the "locals" queue covers NZ and Australia passports, and NZ residents. We got to use the short line, and were welcomed home!
On the way back we stopped at the lookout point near the top of the road through the rainforest, which had been shut earlier. You can't see anything of Cairns, as it's hiding on the other side of Mount Whitfield (on the right of the pics), but you can just make out the airport.
So that was pretty much that. We filled up the rental car, got some dinner, pre-checked-out, then got up early the next morning (3am local time) to get to the airport for our 6am flight. Domestic-to-international transfer at BNE was at least as fraught as it had been in the opposite direction, thanks to the long queues for security and passport control being in an area that was not well air-conditioned.
Finally, getting back to Chch, came a bonus that we hadn't previously experienced. At passport control, the "locals" queue covers NZ and Australia passports, and NZ residents. We got to use the short line, and were welcomed home!
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