We arrived in Cairns on December 17th—a welcome departure from rainy and cool Melbourne. Stepping out of the plane onto the tarmac in Cairns was like walking into a tropical greenhouse: it was over 30 degrees and very humid. The hotel, Bay Leaf Tropical Retreat, was another welcome change from Melbourne. You’ve seen our other accommodations: they were all a bit spartan, unless you’ve got a thing for bunk-beds or wee bathrooms. But the Bay Village in Cairns is lovely and—not a surprise in the tropical north that is Cairns—filled with tropical rainforest plants. After a tiny bathroom in Melbourne and a bunk bed in Sydney, the room looks refreshingly normal and spacious. And yes, we were upgraded again and have a single bed in addition to the queen-sized bed.
The hotel itself is set up in a hacienda style: a low-rise hotel set around either a pool surrounded by gardens gardens with Balinese statues and wrought-iron lamps. We were upgraded again but there is no bunk-bed this time; instead we got a queen-sized bed and a single bed. As you can see from the picture, the room itself is easily twice or three times the size of our room in Sydney!! And we’re only two blocks from the ocean. Strangely, for a resort town, there is no beach in downtown Cairns. Instead, there’s a long boardwalk overlooking the ocean and surrounded by grass and picnic areas leading to an enormous community swimming pool. The beaches are in the northern suburbs.
The restaurant attached to the hotel—the Bayleaf Balinese—is exquisite. After being drenched in a brief monsoon rain shower during our afternoon walk in Cairns, we decided to try the hotel restaurant. It’s well known in Cairns for having authentic Balinese food and its reputation is well deserved. Very tasty. Blayne claimed that the spicy chicken soup cured him of his fever.
The hotel itself is set up in a hacienda style: a low-rise hotel set around either a pool surrounded by gardens gardens with Balinese statues and wrought-iron lamps. We were upgraded again but there is no bunk-bed this time; instead we got a queen-sized bed and a single bed. As you can see from the picture, the room itself is easily twice or three times the size of our room in Sydney!! And we’re only two blocks from the ocean. Strangely, for a resort town, there is no beach in downtown Cairns. Instead, there’s a long boardwalk overlooking the ocean and surrounded by grass and picnic areas leading to an enormous community swimming pool. The beaches are in the northern suburbs.
The restaurant attached to the hotel—the Bayleaf Balinese—is exquisite. After being drenched in a brief monsoon rain shower during our afternoon walk in Cairns, we decided to try the hotel restaurant. It’s well known in Cairns for having authentic Balinese food and its reputation is well deserved. Very tasty. Blayne claimed that the spicy chicken soup cured him of his fever.
I love the tropical garden right outside the room. We're enjoying staying in a hot, humid climate after the relative chilliness of Melbourne. And reading about "smowmagedon" back home makes us happy we're here! Can one become a refugee from winter storms?
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