How to fly to Cairns for $12.50 per person

STEP ONE: book a trip on the Tilt Train using your pension concession card and companion card. Total cost for caree and carer: $25.00.

STEP TWO: arrange for the Tilt Train to breakdown somewhere just north of Bundaberg. It's a nice touch if the train is no longer able to move in a forward direction, but is still able to move backwards. Gratefully accept the free breakfast offered by Queensland Rail.


STEP THREE: convince Queensland Rail that you can't very well travel to Cairns on the buses they have provided for your fellow passengers. Tips to achieve this include (a) having a wheelchair; (b) needing enough floor space to change a teenager (c) needing regular meals and snacks due to said teenager also having insulin-dependent diabetes (d) having a connecting flight booked, which happens to leave before the buses are due to arrive in Cairns.

STEP FOUR: gratefully accept the tickets to fly to Cairns instead! Two thumbs up to Q Rail and particularly Mark in the Bundaberg office, who worked very hard to make all the arrangements - right down to a wheelchair-accessible taxi to the airport.


STEP FIVE: HUSTLE!!!
Important Tip: make sure you know how to fold up your teenager's wheelchair so that you can do so gracefully under pressure. Wear suitable clothes.

STEP SIX: Fly from Bundaberg back south to Brisbane. Wave to family as you fly past.


STEP SEVEN: Now fly from Brisbane back past the Sunshine Coast (wave to family), over Bundaberg (wave to Tilt Train)... all the way up to Cairns! YAY. Congratulate each other for getting to Cairns a full four hours before the train was due to get there.


STEP EIGHT: choose movie, choose room service, settle back and enjoy!

Tilt train troubles

After four hours sitting still on the train track between Bundaberg and Gladstone, we are now back in Bundy. It's now 5:37am and we're waiting for buses to be arranged. This is going to be far from ideal. We shall see how the rest of the adventure unfolds.

Cairns, here we come!

Christopher and I are heading up to Cairns on the Tilt Train together. Packing has been a challenge, as I will only have two hands to carry everything we need PLUS push the wheelchair. I've tried to keep things to a bare minimum - astute readers may note the extent of that when looking at the pictures of our gear.

My contribution (see photo above) is quite modest, I feel. Christopher's needs are more complex, so his share of the luggage is suitably greater than mine (see photo below). Unfortunately a critical part on the wheelchair broke last week, and the welding is only a temporary fix. I'm taking along a spare harness strap and some tools *just in case*.

Picnic Area Project

The boys are working on a new project this weekend... here are a few photos and a snippet of video to set the scene. The idea is to create a timber platform that's at a comfortable height for feeding Christopher in the wheelchair. The setting is a shady area under a few well-established mango trees, with a beautiful view towards the rain forest. No doubt Garry will describe the project in more detail on his own blog.