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Published: March 10th 2008
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In a Pickle
Here are some seq cucumbers that I was able to handle from the sea floor. My journey to Cairns took a few days. My flight out of Christchurch was delayed a few hours because some mental lady had stabbed a pilot. It was just a small 12 seater plane, but it had knock-on effects for the rest of the flights. I didn't really mind though. My American Airlines Platinum status got me into the lounge, so I enjoyed a few more hours of free food and Internet. Most backpackers dread going to the airport, but I like to go early now😊 I had a night in Aukland before heading to Sydney the next day. Aukland airport has a much better lounge there. I even had a shower there, which was a nice treat after using hostel showers the whole time. I arrived late in Sydney and had one of the first flights in the morning on Virgin Blue, which is a budget airline in Australia. There was no sense in spending money for a bed, so I just slept in the airport. No lounge this time, just a row of seats to call my bed for the night. I was slumming it like a true backpacker for once.
I didn't spend any time in Sydney,
Planning the Dive
Our Dive Master gives us the low down on how its gonna go before we reach our first destination. but I am looking forward to heading there. The view from the air is amazing. I've never seen so much water front property in such a big city. The airport is not so nice. The domestic and international terminals are separated by a large distance. So much so that you need to board a bus to transfer between terminal. This isn't a big deal, but you have to pay for the privilege. It is the only airport I have ever been to that charges money to change terminals.
By mid-day I was up in Cairns, and I could really feel the heat and humidity now. I figured I'd stay a week here to recharge my batteries and plan out my trip a bit. Cairns is a holiday resort that is set right on the ocean amidst rainforests. I had arrived during their summertime, which I thought would be ideal. Apparantly not. Summertime doesn't necessarily equal sunny time in Queensland. This is their rainy season and their low season for tourists. Nearly every day was greeted with intense humidity followed by monsoon-like rainfall. I guess there's a reason why they call it the rainforest.
I didn't mind so much
Giant Clam
They really do clam up when you touch them. The camera case is starting to get a bit foggy here. as I was just chilling out anyway. The hostel I stayed at was recommended by one of my Kiwi Experience mates, Boris. It had a great outside atmosphere, but with plenty of rain coverings. You could watch TV outside while the rain poured down around you. I stayed up late to watch Man City thrash Man U and almost fell asleep while Chelsea drew against Liverpool in an uninspiring game.
Although Cairns is right on the beach, you can not go in the water for fear of fatal jellyfish (or stingers as they call them here) and crocodiles. There are other beaches a bit further north that have stinger nets so that people can swim there, but I didn't go on account of the weather. The hostel had a pool which sounded a lot better than swimming with the crocs. One of the things Cairns is best known for is its proximity to the Great Barrier Reef. The weather looked to be clearing up towards the end of the week and I wanted to try my hand at diving again.
I took a proper refresher course in Cairns. This time in a swimming pool and got comfortable with
everything again. The next day I went out on a dive trip with Christian, a German guy who was also staying at my hostel. The ride out was pretty smooth and my breakfast stayed with me this time. I ended up doing 2 dives and the visibility was amazing. In between we would snorkel, and I saw just as much from snorkeling as I did from diving. I saw clown fish (think Nemo), bat fish, and giant clams. The highlight was watching our dive master feed a sea turtle. I was able to pick up a few sea cucumbers and watched as a giant clam closed up as another diver touched it. Amazing! I still have some work to do on my breathing. I was sucking air faster than a turbocharger. I ended up using my air well before the others did, but I think I was getting better at finding my neutral buoyancy. The day was not perfect though as I lost one of my flip-flops overboard as we headed back to shore. It was my favorite too, Haviannas, the most comfortable flip-flops on the planet! I will have to dip into the budget for another pair. Oh well,
Watch Out for Crocs!
Signs like these are the norm up in Northern Queensland. I wouldn't recommend swimming in the rivers there. as dad says, a bad day at the beach is better than a good day at the office😊
The next day I did a hike in the nearby rainforest. It was a treat to the senses, but the nearby international airport somehow took away from the secludedness of it all. I saw a few wild turkeys, a monitor lizard, and my first wallaby which kind of looked like a big jumping mouse. Some of the guys in the hostel went the previous day and had a close encounter with a brown snake. I was glad not to see any of them on this day. I kept a lookout for cassoways, but did not see any. Just as well; these giant birds are bigger than Ostridges and can rip a man open with their claws if they feel threatened.
Whilst in Cairns, the new Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, took the opportunity on Valentine's Day to appologize to the Aboriginal's Stolen Generation for the first time ever. For 60 years the Australian government and Catholic Church missions sought to civilize the indigenous population of Australia by stealing their offspring, often at birth, and placing them in the foster homes
Lost Again
Not for too long this time. of white people to raise them as their own. In some cases the mother would be told that her child had died at birth and she would never know otherwise. This seems like a policy straight out of the middle ages, but perhaps the most disturbing part of all this is that it occured up into the 1970's, which is not all that long ago (as my birthday would suggest). In 1995, a national Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission was established to look into the problems caused by the policy. A report released by the commission two years later concluded that the removal of children was a "violation of basic human rights" that amounted to genocide, because it sought to eliminate an ethnic group.
Every subsequent Australian government has refused to appologize for the policies of past governments, which is what made this statement so momentous. The government has fallen short of approving retribution payments, but it does seem to allow the healing process to take place and is nothing short of historical for Australia. There is a noticible contrast in how the indiginous populations of New Zealand and Australia have been integrated since colonization began. Maori culture
Rainforest Ramblers
A few Germans, a few Taiwanese, and an American. I think I went the whole week in Cairns without meeting a single Aussie. Everyone there is a backpacker, even the people who work in the hostels, bars, restaurants, and travel agencies. seems to be very much part of the fabric that makes up New Zealand while Aboriginal culture sadly seems to be more of an interesting foot note in Australia.
My campervan was ready for pickup day after the rainforest hike, and with a bit of rest behind me, I was ready to start driving south.
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Aussie Pohl
Hey Pohl, whats up with baldy in the "Lost Again" picture? Did a crocodile eat your hair? Just kidding JP, I got my hair all cut short because of the dreaded male-pattern baldness syndrome Strejceks get.