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Published: April 24th 2008
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Sunset
Sunset across from the Esplanade 11th - 15th April - Cairns
Our flight over here was one of the best I have ever been on. Flying overnight we had a 6 hour flight with an hour stop-over in Darwin. To start things off we arrived at the gate to find James (who had supposedly caught a flight to Cambodia) waiting for us! A delayed flight we thought...not the case! On making his way to the airport he had had a serious think about traveling to Cambodia and decided that this year was about the 5 of us. Cambodia will always be there and he will go there sometime in his life but this time he was coming to Oz with us. How emotional! We were all very glad to see him back on board. Aside from all the drama we commenced on the overnight flight to Darwin. Sprawled across the 3 backseats of the plane I gazed out into the night-sky and I can honestly say I have never seen the milky way so clear! It was amazing and really hit home how insignificant we really are. We also flew past a lightning storm and as the lightning struck the night sky was lit up.
The Lagoon
Evening at the lagoon Amazing!
I'll stop boring you all with details of the flight and move on to Cairns itself! On arrival we were picked up by a merry little fellow who in typical Ozzie fashion greeted us 'Goooday mate!' Everyone we met through the airport was very friendly and we hoped this was a sign of things to come.
We were staying at Caravella 149, a cosy little hostel recommended by our schoolfriend, Kit, who we met up with. After catching up on some sleep we took a stroll down the Esplanade, along the waterfront. The whole area has recently been subject a $10 million dollar renovation project from the government and it has been well worth it! Dotted along the promenade are BBQ's which are available to use free of charge, a skating area as well as a large open water Lagoon. The whole area is perfect for both tourists and locals to come down and relax. It was in pristine condition and I couldn't help thinking that if a project of this sort was undertaken in England it would likely be ruined by a small minority...aka CHAVS! After catching some rays watching the local skaters we retired for
dinner. An added bonus of our hostel was that we received a free evening meal at a local backpacker bar named the Woolshed. This place became a bit legendary over the remainder of our stay in Cairns as what was due to be a 'quiet' night often turned into a free for all.
On our second day we strolled down to the lagoon like many others to chill out. This was after eating cereal and MILK!!! for the first time in 3 months. It was definitely one of the most exciting moments of the gap year so far! Games of cricket and football followed as Kit and several people he had met at the hostel arrived at the Lagoon. This is what Oz is about....chilling out! The Woolshed was the destination for this evenings activity and after playing a variety of drinking games - 'I can name...', which can get very challenging as Jonny found out, we headed down to join the many other travelers partying into the night.
The following day was a very surreal one to say the least. Awakening from our slumber Rick, James and I decided to walk down the Esplanade to the lagoon.
Strolling
Strolling down the esplanade As we were taking in the sunshine a large ginger man shouted from across the street ' Hey bro!' then ran towards us. Unsure of his intentions we turned towards him and within a split second he had punched James! A completely unprovoked attack, luckily James wasn't too badly hurt and as Rick ran one way taking shelter with an aboriginal family, James and I ran back to the hostel. On meeting back up with Rick he had discovered from the family that this guy was a known problem and had only got out of jail the previous week. We spent the rest of the day downtown at the station and after giving statements and undertaking an identity parade we nailed him! The police managed to pick him up and he is now spending a few nights in the cell. After wasting most of the day it was off to the Woolshed again for some traditional Ozzie goldfish racing. A slightly odd sport which consists of the 'jockey' (i.e the highest bidder for the fish) using a straw to encourage the fish across the finish line. Exciting stuff! We ended up purchasing a Scottish fish but unfortunately the world famous
Root beer!
This is the best drink ever Jockey Richard Huntington had his judgment clouded with alcohol...and so did some of the fish! The New Zealand competitor should have definitely been disqualified for using Jim Bean to enhance the fishes performance!
On Monday we had two additions to the group in the form of Emma and Laura (2 school friends who had made their way up from Sydney). It was great to see them and we welcomed them with a BBQ down at the lagoon. Still in awe at how good the meat is here after spending so long in Asia, we over purchased big time...still, it made a tasty breakfast! Where else to finish off the evening other than the Woolshed. Tonight it was the table dancing competition and not being ones to bow out, James and Laura both entered and came very close to winning...and to getting naked! It was a great laugh but the pictures will have to wait for when we get home 😊
On Wednesday we had booked to go up North to the Daintree rainforest and Cape Tribulation. This I will cover in the next entry but for now I will skip forward to Friday and our arrival back in
Cairns. After doing some serious admin with the assistance of our legendary hostel receptionist, Gloria (sometimes a little skatty but she was brilliant) we had finally managed to book our Oz experience bus for Monday. After spending way longer than expected in Cairns, we would finally be leaving! But not before we completed a trip out to The Great Barrier Reef! This we planned for Sunday and after a very early rise, and an amazing sunrise we were on the boat out to the reef. We would be completing two dives, the first one guided and the second one we would be going solo! Time to put our diving skills learned in Thailand to the test! Our first dive was planned as a 45 minute dive at 18 metres. As soon as we entered the water the amount of marine life surrounding us was staggering! On reaching the bottom a massive turtle swam gracefully past us, followed by a stingray. Amazing. There were also lots of seaslugs, nemo fish and angel fish. Resurfacing we were all pretty amazed at what we had just seen. Back on the boat there was a delicious BBQ lunch prepared and after filling up we
were off to the next dive site a couple of miles away. This time we would be on our own! James had unfortunately stayed at the hostel so Ross, Jonathon Rick and I carried out our buddy checks before entering the water. Swimming over to the lagoon, we made our descent! It was a great feeling of freedom not having to follow an instructor or a guide and within just a few minutes I spotted a large turtle resting on the sandy bottom. Swimming over to it we were able to get a great close up look of this amazing creature, until Ross got a little too close and it glided away! After spending 40 minutes in the lagoon we saw mountains of marine life and resurfaced, all feeling very happy with ourselves. The four of us had completed our first solo dives!
On our final night in Cairns we topped it off with a BBQ and some traditional Kanga Bangers! (Kangaroo sausages)...they weren't too different to regular sausages but when in Oz it has to be done! We then made our way to the Woolshed to say our farewells to the Bristol lads (who have also been in
Sunrise
Just before our dive trip to the great barrier reef! Cairns for the past 2 weeks. We have now met up with them in 3 different countries stretching across both the Northern and Southern hemispheres...surreal! It was an emotional goodbye but I expect we will be visiting the South to continue the North V. South banter which was constant during our time with them 😊) So, its farewell for now as we depart on our journey down the East coast....
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Cazza
non-member comment
FISH!!!!!
I do hope that they were not real,live fish you were playing the jockey game with. I would not be impressed and might even be tempted to contact the Oz branch of R.S.P.C.A. Fish have feelings too you know! Think Nemo and Dorey!!!!