Finally Made It to Cairns

It took 21 total hours in the air but I finally made it from Chicago to Cairns, my jumping off point for Papua New Guinea (PNG). On the taxi ride to the Shangri-La, where I will spend the night, the driver and I decided that Cairns was like Hawaii, it is very tropical and laid back. This is also the main city adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef so there are lots of dive shops and dive tour operators. I bought some Aussie $, New Zealand $, and PNG Kina so I'm set for currency for the trip. I have to be at the airport again at 5:00 AM to check in for the flight to Port Moresby my first stop in PNG. I walked along the Esplanade which is a kind of boulevard with parks and shops and lots of people relaxing on a lazy Sunday afternoon. The Cairns Harbor is also here and there are lots of tour boats headed in for the day. My next mission is to find an inexpensive seafood restaurant so I'll sign off for now. Hopefully I'll have the first report from PNG tomorrow.