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Published: February 8th 2011
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Hello again family and friends! Well I made it safely to Cairns via a couple of hours in a Sydney pub with a lovely guy from South Africa - no wedding bells, don't get excited! People just come and talk to you if you are on your own and before you know it it's time to head back to the airport. I arrived at Cairns airport and was greeted by the first of many bugs I would meet in Tropical North Queensland. I realised I was in trouble given that I don't really like bugs of any kind let alone tropical ones (more on this topic later). Anyway the bus transfer to my hotel was quite terrifying. It was dark, I was tired, there was evidence that the area had been hit by the edge of a category 5 cyclone 48 hours previously, and the bus driver drove at what felt like an inappropriately fast speed up the coast on a very windy road in the rain. Anyway he got me to my hotel in one piece which is what he's paid to do I suppose. The weather here is still feeling the after effects of the cyclone but I didn't
4 Mile Beach
Looks a lot better when the sun is shining let the lack of sun stop me from sunbathing! The sun is extremely strong here and I was advised that I would burn even through the clouds so I slapped on the sunscreen and hit the pool area. There is something quite surreal about sunbathing when there is no sun and having to pack everything up suddenly when the rain starts to fall (boy when it rains here it rains!) but it was warm so it was nice to lounge around and enjoy happy hour at the pool bar. When I woke up the next day it was raining - hard - and there was no sign of it stopping. To get to the restaurant you have to go outside and I was soaked to my undies before I'd had my first cup of coffee - not great! By midday it was still raining and I was bored of my hotel room so decided to just get on with it and go into Port Douglas town. Lovely place but very quiet. I wandered round the shops, went down to the beach (not that great in the rain) and by the time I'd had some lunch the rain had stopped and
it started to brighten up. I went back to the beach again and can see that on a sunny day it would be stunning but it wasn't to be for me. I woke up on the second day and I could see blue sky! This could only mean one thing - I was going to try and get a suntan! I'm still waiting for one but the freckles are coming along nicely. Another day of dodging the showers, lazing by the pool, swimming in the pool and reading my book - bliss! After spending 3 days in the tropical north of Queensland I have come to the conclusion that we are not compatible on 2 counts. Firstly it is so humid here that as soon as I go outside my hair appears to do what I can only describe as an impression of an afro - it goes big, really big! And I'm just not prepared to shave it all off and wearing it up all the time could get really boring. The second reason is the creatures! When I walk to the beach for a relaxing day I don't want to be faced with a sign warning me that
The pool area
Not a bad place to lounge around and drink cocktails crocodiles are about in the water as are marine stingers - the box jellyfish. If you do happen to get stung by one of these invisible jellyfish though they have bottles of vinegar all along the coast so you can rinse the affected area - don't rub though - that will make the tentacle (phew - I spelt that correctly) release more venom. Apparantly no painkiller is capable of dulling the pain from one of these malicious creatures! And there are insects everywhere! I got use to the ants (I even met some green ants of I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here fame). The hotel is all open plan so you get to dine with the insects but they don't wait to be invited to your table - they just join you. The restaurant is very dimly lit which is probably a good thing cos I couldn't see exactly what was around but I saw things crawling along the bar and up the pillars and stick insects crawling across the floor. I don't think I've ever eaten so quickly just so I could get back to my room which had a door, walls and windows to stop the
View from the sun lounger
Nice to get some natural shade from the trees bugs from getting to me. However I'm afraid to say that I accidently took the life of a creature whilst in Port Douglas. I had taken shelter from a rain shower and was walking back to my chair through the restaurant after getting a glass of water and I stood on something. I looked down expecting to see a twig, a stone or something similar but no, it was a beetle the size of a golf ball! I moved on and quietly sat down in my chair. I watched the beetle for some time but it didn't move. I thought maybe I'd stunned it - size wise I'm a bit bigger than it was and it got the full force of my flip flop but it didn't look squashed to me. Anyway it was still there at dinner time some hours later and it was at this time that I realised it wasn't stunned - it was dead! The next morning at breakfast I looked for it and it was lying on it's back about a meter from where it had been. Now I don't know if it found the strength to try and make to safety after coming round
and then finally snuffed it or if a cleaner had just swept it away but I apologise unreservedly to that poor beetle's family. So as beautiful as it is the rainforest is not for me but I am glad I experienced it a little.
And so now I am back in Cairns and tomorrow I start my 12 day trip down the east coast with a day at the Great Barrier Reef - I can't wait. I'm not sure when I'll be able to get internet access while on the trip but I'll try and do some mini updates if I can. There are some more cyclones potentially brewing out at sea but they are miles away at the moment and I'm hoping I'll be well out of the way if they do turn into anything nasty.
Deb, Chris, Emma & Ollie - I met the people from my tour today. The demographic is the same as the group we saw in Port Arthur but I haven't identified any Ron's yet - I'll keep you posted! To everyone else - I will have to wait until I see you to explain this one!!!!!
To everyone who has sent me comments via my blog - thank you. Whilst I am having the time of my life I am missing family and friends at home and it's so nice to hear from you - keep them coming. I'm sorry I don't reply to them - I take too long updating my blog to get round to replying to comments.
Anyway, bye for now .........
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Katrina Hoskins
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Beetles
Conkers don't deter them then?!!!!