Like many who live in the south of Australia, getting away from the cold to Australia’s north is somewhat of an annual tradition. It’s also good if your luggage accompanies you!

Getting to Port Douglas in Far North Queensland from Adelaide involves approximately 4.5 hours of flying , across 2 flights. A direct flight other than by a budget carrier isn’t  available. 

Once in Cairns it’s an hour’s drive north, along the picturesque coast to Port Douglas. It’s nearly 3,000 kilometres by road from our home in Adelaide. That’s a solid 32-hour drive — long enough to remind you just how vast and varied Australia really is.

To put it in perspective: a 4.5 hour flight from London would land you in Athens, Corfu, Venice or Lisbon. For us, it’s simply a journey to another state that just happens to share a border with South Australia—albeit at the far end of it.

That’s part of the charm of Australia. It’s huge, and every corner is different.

Adelaide was a chilly 7C when we arrived at the airport for our early morning flight; Port Douglas greeted us with a humid 28°C. No wonder Far North Queensland is such a magnet during the winter months.

While I do enjoy a good road trip, a four or five day drive to get there isn’t something I’d put myself—or my favourite person—through willingly. So, we fly. This time, via Sydney, which, despite the hassle of transferring through an eastern seaboard hub, remains a pretty efficient way to travel around the country.

It’s good for your luggage to accompany you!

However, one thing a driving holiday does have in its favour: your luggage stays with you.

That brings me to the bump in this travel story.

While sitting on the tarmac in Sydney, the pilot came over the PA to explain the delay. There was an issue with excess baggage.

He said, ominously, something along the lines of, “We’ll load as much as we can.”

My favourite person immediately muttered, “I hope our luggage makes it.”

I didn’t give it much thought again—until we landed in Cairns.

As we reached the baggage carousel, a text arrived: “Your luggage did not arrive with your flight. Please see baggage services.”

We joined the growing queue and were told that, due to the Cairns triathlon that weekend, the airline had made the understandable call to prioritise bikes over suitcases. Logical? Yes. Frustrating? Absolutely. Especially since we were dressed for Adelaide’s chill, not the tropical heat awaiting us outside.

Still, it made the check-in at our hotel a breeze:

“Any luggage, Sir?”

“Nope.”

Not exactly how we planned to start the holiday, but thankfully, Port Douglas has no shortage of shops. An emergency T-shirt purchase, a relaxed dinner overlooking Anzac Park and the Coral Sea, and a much-needed shower later and we were starting to unwind.

Before bed, I rang the airline. I was told our bags had arrived in Cairns, but there was no ETA on delivery to our hotel. We’d had an early start, so we retired early, hoping they’d magically appear overnight.

And they did.

A pre-dawn text confirmed that our luggage had been delivered to Reception, and soon we were happily reunited with our belongings.

The whole experience was a timely reminder of one simple rule: always pack toiletries and a change of clothes in your carry-on. It’s something we’ve always done for international travel care of a similar experience on a trip to Europe, however we had grown a bit lax about when flying domestically. That’s about to change.

Lesson learned. 

Note: the photo or our luggage was from a trip to Europe where our luggage arrived a few days late