About an hour’s drive north of Cairns

[Maybo]

About an hour’s drive north of Cairns, Port Douglas is the northernmost main access point to the Great Barrier Reef.
(Queensland by Sea: Vivid experiences on and under the water by Jessica Korteman)

I have a question about direction.
Does the underlined part mean the drive starts from somewhere in north of Cairns and if we keep driving north for an hour, we can get to Part Douglas?

 

[emsr2d2]

If you start anywhere in Cairns and drive in a northerly direction for one hour, you'll reach Port Douglas.

 

[Tdol]

The most likely place to measure this from would be central Cairns if you want to be that precise.

 

[Maybo]

Is "towards" omitted from the sentence? Is it "About an hour's drive towards north of Carins"?

 

[Rover_KE]

No.

 

[Maybo]

No.

Is anything omitted? Actually, I'm not sure about the part of the speech of "north" in that sentence. Is it an "adjective" or "adverb"?

 

[5jj]

Nothing is omitted. It's an adverb.

 

[jutfrank]

I'm not surprised you're having trouble with this very difficult structure. I think you should try to understand this as a combination of two patterns. Let me break it down for you to see if that helps:

Pattern 1

X is ...
twenty minutes north
four hours west
five miles east
200m south-east
... of Y

Pattern 2

X is ...
a four-hour train journey
a ten-mile hike
an hour's drive
... from Y

 

[Maybo]

I'm not surprised you're having trouble with this very difficult structure. I think you should try to understand this as a combination of two patterns. Let me break it down for you to see if that helps:

Pattern 1

X is ...
twenty minutes north
four hours west
five mile east
200m south-east
... of Y

Pattern 2

X is ...
a four-hour train journey
a ten-mile hike
an hour's drive
... from Y

Is "north" in pattern 1 still an adverb?

I just consulted the dictionary and found a sentence:

Our farm is a few miles north of the village. (source)

"north" is an adjective in the above sentence. If it is an adjective, how do we combine the two patterns and make the "north" into an adverb?

 

[jutfrank]

Is "north" in pattern 1 still an adverb?

I just consulted the dictionary and found a sentence:

Our farm is a few miles north of the village. (source)

"north" is an adjective in the above sentence. If it is an adjective, how do we combine the two patterns and make the "north" into an adverb?

I don't know and I don't really care, to be honest. You don't need to ask such questions. Just learn the pattern.

You could try making some sentences of your own and posting them here, if you like.

 

[Maybo]

Is it correct to say "Mountain B is about an hour's walk west of mountain A"?

 

[jutfrank]

Yes. Good.

 

[GoesStation]

Is it correct to say "Mountain B is about an hour's walk west of mountain A"?

Yes, but it's very imprecise. Some people walk much faster than others. You could also say a one-hour walk with no difference in meaning.

 

[Tarheel]

Is "towards" omitted from the sentence? Is it "About an hour's drive towards north of Carins"?

It takes about an hour to get to Cairns. You go north to get there.

 

[Tarheel]

Is "north" in pattern 1 still an adverb?

I just consulted the dictionary and found a sentence:

Our farm is a few miles north of the village. (source)

"north" is an adjective in the above sentence. If it is an adjective, how do we combine the two patterns and make [STRIKE]the[/STRIKE] "north" into an adverb?

No "the" before "north" there.

 

[GoesStation]

It takes about an hour to get to the place in question from Cairns. You go north to get there.

The phrase says the place is north of Cairns. It doesn't say Cairns is north of the starting point.

 

[Tarheel]

The phrase says the place is north of Cairns. It doesn't say Cairns is north of the starting point.

 

[GoesStation]

I myself once made a mitsake.