Fishing in Portdouglas to Deleafing Banana trees in Inisfail. Kinny's coming... Hide!!

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Current mood: Relaxed.... My arse!!

Portdouglas to Innesfail

Well… Waking after the night out in Cairnes was a weird feeling! Did I say Waking… erm I actually never went to sleep. We left the woolshed at around 5am and walking down through the town we came across the Lagoon. Basically In cairns you cant really swim in the ocean to my knowledge, so in its place is a monster out door communual pool accessible to all and his dogs! Apparently after many attempts at getting near the water we were persistently told if we were to enter the pool before 6am we would be fined and possibly arrested. Something to do with preventing boys and girls getting up to no good in the pool after a session hahaha so Brett, Anne, Troy… (Bretts brother) and lidey.. (bretts Brothers Mate) all decided to creep back in to our room that wasn’t payed for to get a few Zzzzz’s. My self and Anne lost sight of the lads so we decided to hit the hay! No such luck. As I was jumping into my rolled out swag on the floor the boys come back in to jump about abit so myself and Brett decided after loads of messing about to go get some brekky and to check out that pool I mentioned earlier!

Down to town we went for a smack on 6am opening time to the Lagoon. Man that water was cold… however we swam about for a good bit just to try and wake our selves up! Now cold and hungry we decided to roam about the town before heading back with out nosh to get our bags and do one from the room before the hotel realised there were an extra three people staying. Down to the garage we went to be greeted by troys jeep that was too much fun to be driving around in! fully loaded up we made our way in the direction of Port Douglas with a slight detour to pick up a car rental at the airport. Not to much hassle later we were well under way to the port driving along some lovely ocean roads that made the whole bus trip from tenant creek worth while.

Arriving at Troys house my only plan was to crash out. I was knackered. Not a chance… Anne being Anne stuck to her guns and said shed be hitting the hay but troy had other plans for myself and Bretta. We were going sight seeing so without further addoooo we were on our way on a fishing trip filling the car full of beers before snagging some live bait and pulling in some beauties!

The fishing spot was a treat.. We got out well over these rocks to where we set up our eski and got the lines in!! I had the catch of the day as you can see!! Infact… I think I had two hahaha sorry lads.. the boys just watched in awe! So far to me Portdouglas is looking good.

Sunburnt.. pissed.. and hungry for fish, we decided it was best to head home to see what the guys were up to. Surely they’d be starving and with my great day at sea id be filling their bellies. Getting back Anne had got up to see the delights. We had to sort of get a catch today as Annes lack of Carnivorous ways prevented her from eating to much.. Vegetarians and there fussy moods ay!! Hahahah the fish was for her.

So back at bretts were all just really chilling about the place deciding how to cook the grub but to be honest with all of the beers in me and my lack of sleep over the last few days I wasn’t up for anything but sleeping. Sitting on a bean bag in the tv area put an end to me. A few hours later I woke up to find everyone had hit the sack. I quietly got up and headed in to get some proper sleep!

The following day Troy and Lidey were both off to work so myself Anne and Brett decided to get our arses out and about in an attempt to rent cars and have a swim! Portdouglas is great for swimming at this time of year. No stingers and super calm tides. On getting to the beach I couldn’t wait to have a dip!! This will be me for the next few weeks I was thinking.

So In between eating Brumbies Pies (nearly better than the PUKKA) and drinking around Portdouglas we did manage to get out and hire a Mini Moke to get our selves up towards Cape tribulation and Mosman Gorge. Due to terms and conditions though with the rentals we never got as far as Cape trib but Man was Mosman a good laugh! In port Douglas there is an excess of rainforest areas which was great to see after spending soo much time walking through them on Melville island. Mosman Gorge basically runs through a massive stretch of Rain forest so it was bizarre for me to see cars and such heading in and out of such protected areas. These were so much different to those on the islands. They were very inhabited though a great tourist adventure as it wasn’t overly packed. Hearing of a few spots myself and and Me old mucka Bretta all set out down a trail to the gorge. The place was amazing. The gorge was really refreshing and the rainforest grew thick and high!! What a day! We got out to see the Daintree river and also have a dip at a few other coastal spots before heading home to introduce Anne to the art of fishing! Myself and brett shot out to get the live bate rounded up before Triy and Anne came down to join us on the rocks! Words of advice to all the keen fishermen out there!! Don’t take an avid vegetarian graphic activist with you to any spot. All you do is jinx your self hahah sorry darling but not catching anything had to be your fault hahaha.

Well Portdouglas is a fairly small place and with leisure time running short for Brett and mine and Annes inevitable plans to move down the coast Anne and I decided to hit a Backpackers not so far from Bretts Called Dougies! The idea was to get back in to scene of back packing again and see who was who and where they’d all be going! So down we went to Dougies to figure out a plan.

Dougies backpackes was a mental place. It’s the type of hostel where everybody knows everybody as there are a lot of long term occupants. After checking the bags in a setting up out tent beds all I wanted to do was take a swim and grab a cheaky beer! Sitting down with a well earned Magners near the pool side we were to meet Tom. It was to be the beginning of the east coast! Tom introduced us to a good gang of guys up at dougies so typically one or two days turned into a week of partying! One day in particular we all got up and dcided to get a kick about sorted down at 4 mile beach. So on route we all wobbled passed the bottle shop deciding to get our selves a couple of bags of Goon which is basically boxed wine! Not good for anything to be fait. In playing various Drinking games we got to meet a good few guys.. the night led to me becoming uncontrollably pissed and now have vowed to never dring the stuff again! Later that week there would be further sessions with the Dougie premises. Brett popped down a few times which was sweet and we got on a few good sessions with a few girls from Melbourn! Shout outs to the gorgeous Rachel and Claire. See you both in Melbourne. With all the partying the inevitable was to happen. People decide to move on and for myself and Anne it was also time to get a move on too! After meeting some of the now ledgends.. Lewy, Richard, Kev and Brummie Katie we were all set to head down the coast to see what it had to offer.

After booking a hop on and off ticket for the east coast our first port of call would be back to cairns to see what it had to offer. After a great last night at Dougies myself and Anne woke up to get the free dougies bus to a Backpackers called Calypso on the outer streets of Cairns. This wasn’t to be as good but I guess we got to tick it off the list!

Myself and Anne spent a week there basically looking about and just chilling trying to line up work on the farms somewhere. There were many options but in the means time we were just busy with meeting guys from the backpackers and generally wondering about the place. Plans changed fast and after being on the phone to a few friends we were to be joined by a mate from Darwin called Kim and me old mucka Lewy from port Douglas. We had all decided where we would spend our next few weeks. Innesfail.. and the Banana farms. Kim arrived in cairns and her first night was spent drinking and meeting a few mad yanks going by the names of Cody and Sarah! With hangovers we had decided to move on again but this time for work and not play! I guess it was time!

At the grey hound Bus stop in Cairnes we were greeted by Lewy which was sweet. The feeling was work would be a pain but with the money myself and the gorgeous Kiwi Kim (fancied her in Darwin) had ideas of Skydiving. I couldn’t wait. Before hand though the grafting had to be put in. after sitting and chatting with a girl at the Bus stop (Martina) about Banana farms we were all miserable about what we had signed up for. She basically told us banana farms were like putting your Fingers in a shredder. Absolutely miserable!!! Nice one Martina.

Well with ideas of what to expect and after speaking with the owner of the place where would be staying I wasn’t looking forward to the job at all! Luckily the trip wasn’t too long. An Hour south of cairns Innesfail is the place that pretty much produces the entirety of Banana stock around Australia. Around five years ago I believe there was a massive cyclone that devastated the farming industry which led to a massive loss to the Farmers in that region! Bananas on the shelves sky rocketed in price. On hearing this you sort of got the feeling that even if the work was crap you’d at least be helping the industry get back on its feet! It was well underway anyway but any extra help doesn’t go a miss! It would also help Anne with getting her Second Visa qualification! Happy Days.

So arriving in Innesfail we were met by Kinny.. the owner of the Codge Lodge. On first impressions over the phone I understood she was going to be tough. She knew what she wanted and wouldn’t take any messing at all! Meeting her in person backed all of my thoughts right up! Myself and Kim set a challenge though! We would see who could become her favourite. This would be a ball breaker of a time hahaha but the challenge was on. (you all know the old girls love me)

So we get to the codge lodge on the Sunday ready for a Monday morning start. The Balcony outside the Lodge was full with other Bacpackers who would stay there! The deal with the lodge is that it’s a working set up only. You would stay there for $140 PW, work Monday to Friday and get your weekends free! We had said we would do two weeks minimum. If in the case it was good work we would all stay for longer. That evening we didn’t get upto much. Me, Anne, Kim and Lewy were all put into a dorm room together which was sound. It just meant the girls could dump there stuff all over the room leaving not to much room for me and Lewy to walk about in! we went out to do abit of shopping getting in some food for the working weeks ahead then chilled in the room after a few cheaky beers in a pub around the corner from the digs. Monday was to be my first day in work for a good few weeks! Goodnite!

So the first day at the farm was an interesting one! We basically stood next to a long water bed with bananas floating past for sorting! We would dispose of Bananas that were bruised, slightly ripe, Siamese, scratched and pretty much anything else that wasn’t considered as perfect! I was shocked at the amount of waist within the farm. This job was boring, backbreaking and giving me the urge to leave pretty soon! Id had enough of it by lunchtime but stuck it out looking for ways to get to another more demanding role withing the shed if not at least out in the farms. I wanted the sunshine work as after all this is Australia right!!?? I want to be outside!

So day two led me away from the sorting line and out to the chains where I met the biggest twat of a bloke who took his job far too seriously! Cant even remember his name but what a dick. The good thing was that the foreman took a shine to a few of us for how we got stuck in so he quickly let us know his thoughts of the lazy hitlatic idiot! He also let me outside for the rest of the week! I spent my time working and hanging out with Kim on the farms from here on in which was cool! Shes a top chick and we were getting on great. After a few days of palnting and deleafing in the fields the weekend came along and we had two days free to do pretty much what we wanted.

We had all sorts of ideas in treks and stuff but we settled for beers and fishing local to the Lodge on Saturday and on the Sunday there was a day trip to a coast line which turned out to be wicked. We did learn that Kinny was abit mental though! She had already displayed signs throughout the hostel that were quite disturbing. The sort of signs that let you know the rules of the gaff in no certain terms. Example: ‘do not knock on my door unless you have been raped or murdered’… nice one. Other than her also Hitler like ways Myself and kim were hitting it off pretty well and having Anne (me bezzy mate from home) and Lewy with me too was mint. Lewy is a geeza.

The following week would be slighty more scattered. I worked two days before coming down with some freak flu or something. I dropped abit of weight pretty quickly and my energy hit the dirt. I took a few days off whilst the guys would continue to work. Kim stayed home with me one day which was nice. We just curled up and slept. As the work was going well for Lewy and Anne they decided to stay a week but myself and Kim had earned enough to get out and into the Drop zone baby. So on the Saturday morning we decided to head down to Mission Beach for a sky dive where I had already decided to take two weeks off to celebrate my birthday. I would plan to spend a good week chilling before my birthday and a good week recovering afterwards on the Whitsunday islands. It turned out that a lot of the work was drying up on the farms so Anne and Lewy would come and spend the week chilling out with me too before my 26th.

Well guys ill be intouch again soon to let you know what happened on my holidays so until then stay tuned as im sure it will me a good laugh!

To all of you guys at home I love you all loads… stay tuned

To Jodie, Kieran, Ashley, Danielle, Harry, Melissa, Sam, Aaron, Zac and Calum… I love n miss you the most.

Love from a Brummy

Niki

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Photos

Me
at the codge lodge

Comments

[Neri]

Ah I want to live there xxxxxx