So...Australia

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It is markedly hotter here than NZ. Cairns is an odd city and I can't really describe it.
There are bats (large ones) in the trees by the city library and they screech like a mixture of pig/baby cries. There are hundreds of parrots that gather at dusk in the city center. Didgeridoos are only $25!
I'm sitting in a "Kwikmart" type of store, paying the cheapest fees I can for internet ($3.50/hr). This is across from a large hotel/casino/rainforest dome, called the Reef.

The hotel we're staying at Used to be called Inn The Tropics and I was surprised TravelBlog actually had it in their locations list. It is, by far, the jankiest P.O.S. place I have stayed at. It reminds me of Mexico in a way. The hotel is also trying to be a restaurant, but it's like an aside thing. The center of the hotel is a patio with large tables for the restaurant. At night, at 7:30, they play a movie there. At SEVEN in the morning, they start blasting the radio. For the restaurant? To chase away customers? To WAKE EVERYONE UP? I have no idea. We can't use our sleeping bags because the whole city is terrified of bed bugs, which is fine since it's way too hot here. We have to keep all food items, even crackers, in the fridge.

No pics yet, as I'm not on my own laptop. And since we're headed to Orpheus Island tomorrow, for the next 5 days, I probably won't have internet. We'll be doing lots of snorkeling. =)

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