sfgirl3

We are going to Sydney and Lizard Island in November. So far, our flight gets into Sydney at 8:30am. We would like to make it to Lizard Island that day. So far, the only thing I can find is a Quantas flight which leaves at 9:50am Sydney to arrive at 11:55am at Cairns, and the only Macair flight leaves at 12:45. I would like to go directly to Lizard Island and save the Sydney portion for the return.

1. Is one hour twenty five minutes enough time to leave b/t arrival to Sydney and departure to Cairns?

2. Is 55 minutes enough time to leave b/t arrival to Cairns, and departure return to Lizard Island?

3. Also, we return from Lizard Island to Cairns at 3:50pm. The only direct Quantas flight leaves at 4:10. There is a Quantas flight through Brisbane which leaves at 4:50, but I can't book that transfer flight using my miles. Has anyone flown directly from Lizard Island to Sydney w/o staying over at Cairns who can offer some advice?

Thanks!

pat_woolford

Think you're cutting to too fine on the Sydney-Cairns leg. If Sydney is your first Australian port, you'll have to go through customs and immigration then make your way to domestic airport for Cairns flight (am assuming that the Qantas flight you're referring to is domestic, some do land at Cairns International airport as well). Cairns also has a domestic and international airport, although they are very close together. 9.50am Sydney departure with 11.55am Cairns arrival doesn't sound right, its usually a 3 hour flight.

Lizard Island has only a very small landing strip, so only small light aircraft land there, there's no way you can fly Sydney-Lizard direct.

lizF

Don't forget Pat that we live in the "Idiot State" as opposed to our Premier's idea that we are the "Smart State" because we don't have Daylight Saving therefor the flying time would be right from Sydney allowing for the extra hour because of Daylight Saving.
sfgirl3, if you are arriving on a Qantas flight then you should be OK but I would contact Qantas in any case and put the question to them about connecting flights. Assuming your International flight is on time there would not be a problem - however I would err on the side of caution and 1/ contact Qantas ( note the spelling) but 2/ I think I would be getting a bed at one of the Airport Hotels and getting over my jetlag before heading off on what would add another 7 hours to your already long flight.

pat_woolford

Yep, Liz, I did forget about daylight saving in NSW at that time of year.

Sorry sfgirl, its mad, because Queenslanders voted "no" at a referendum for daylight saving, which puts it an hour out of whack with other eastern states from October-March.

sfgirl3

Thanks for your replies. Since we are getting into Sydney in the morning, we had thought that spending another 7 hours traveling would be a good way of using a wasted jetlagged day anyway.

Are there a separate domestic and international airport at Sydney and Cairns? I hadn't paid attention to which airport our flights were going in and out of, but I had better check. Thanks for the heads up!

lizF

100% of the country bumpkins in Queensland who believe that curtains will fade more if we have daylight saving voted for not having it but 80% of the Urban populations voted to have it - problem is that there are far too many country bumpkins in Qld!
sfgirl3: Sydney has Domestic and International and they are apart but only 10 mins away - Cairns does as well but only seconds away.

Neil_Oz

Yes, the transit timing in Sydney is tight, and apart from anything else relies on your inbound flight arriving on time. As mentioned, you have to go through customs & immigration, then proceed to a transit lounge to be ferried to the domestic terminal by tarmac bus - about a mile - then board your domestic flight. (The separation of Sydney's domestic and international terminals was always a very bad, cheap and shortsighted idea and hasn't improved with time.)

Is your international travel on Qantas? If so, and they ticket you through to Cairns, I guess that represents a commitment to do their best to get you onto their SYD-CNS flight - but it sounds iffy to me.

SnRSeattle

Since you say you are using FF miles, are you flying first class on Qantas? If so, you might well be rested enough for another 7 hour flight. That sky-bed is awesome!! If not, not! You will never want to see the inside of an airplane again (well, not for a few days anyway.) If you are seasoned coach travellers, ignore all above. We landed in Sydney (flying in aforementioned skybeds)felt great, and immediately got a car and drove to Jenolan Caves (in the Blue Mountains). We could have flown for 7 more hours, but it was great to get in the fresh air and feel like we had really landed in Australia by seeing the suburbs and the countryside.
Sally in Seattle (it's raining here, for a change)

Shari

My husband and I must have been lucky because we easily did what you suggested. I don't see any problems with what you suggested. We flew to Sydney and had a short layover before hopping a plane to Cairns. The Cairns airport is small and we easily made it on the MacAir to Lizard. Coming home, we couldn't find anything other than spending the night in Palm Cove and then catching a 5:30am flight out of Cairns. Does this help?

sfgirl3

How long was your layover exactly? I just changed the reservation b/c of everyone saying that 1 hr 25 minutes was just not enough, and now am on the 7pm flight to Cairns, with a lot of dead time inbetween. I was hoping that if we got in early enough, then maybe Quantas would let us fly standby on the earlier flight.

Shari

True, maybe Quantas would let you get on the flight as stand-by. We had a 1 1/2 hour layover at Sydney airport. We flew on Virgin Air to Cairns. At Cairns, we had 45 mintues before the Lizard Island flight. I am sure you are doing the responsible thing, here. Maybe we just got lucky? I mean, everything was flawless. We didn't even worry about missing the connecting flights.