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Day 14: Cairns (Round 2)

 Day 14 was a travel day. We packed up on Fitzroy Island and took the ferry back to Cairns. We then had a couple hours before we needed to head to the airport for our flight back to Sydney. 



In Cairns, a couple people volunteered to stay in one spot by the pier so we could all leave our bags. We did some final souvenir shopping and got lunch at a really cute restaurant by the water. We then gathered all back together to load into taxis and head to the airport. 

For our flights to and from Cairns/Sydney our tickets were bought in groups of 6 so we needed to check in together and have our bags weighed as a group. My group was very thankful for me and my 15kg carry-on size wheeled bag since they all brought bags much bigger and heavier! Thankfully we did not have to pay any extra baggage fees. We also got to sit together (in our groups of 6) on the plane which was nice since I was stuck with the middle seat both times. Unfortunately our flight back to Sydney was delayed so we spent quite a bit of time at the airport on day 14. After our 3 hour flight, we landed in Sydney around 10:30 pm and headed to a nearby hotel to sleep. 6 people in our group were on early flights home the next morning, so we said farewell to those we wouldn’t see again. 

I am very grateful to have had this experience and met these people, joined together through Saint Mary’s.  We had many conversations about our various SMC experiences and I think, despite the pandemic affecting some of their college years, there are still some things we all experienced which join us together. I look forward to hearing where life takes the other members of this trip as they finish their college years and head off in different directions. 

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