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Published: August 26th 2007
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* August 8th, Wednesday:
Arrived in Cairns and actually had to put more clothes on than expected. I knew it would be winter , but I thought it would be warmer. Slept first day.
* August 9th: Thursday:
Snorkeling at the great barrier reef on a day trip boat !
Boat went to 2 places and at first spot I had to get up before 45 mins were up because it was too cold even in a wetsuit.
At second spot I kept paddeling with my feet to keep warm and moved carefully so I wouldn't get any cold water in the wetsuit and it worked so well that I was the last one to get up from the water 😊
It was nice to see lots of fishes, but it was cloudy so you couldn't see all the colours as well as I would have liked :/
* August 13th, Monday:
Bike ride to a northern beach from Cairns and swimming in front of a shark and crocodile warning sign.
* August 15th, Wednesday:
Walked around botanical garden and the long 5 km rainforest trail which actually was narrow and dangerous.
* August 27, Monday:
A
normal day has been, breakfast, watching movie or chat or internet, going to the Lagoon (big swimming pool at the beach), practice Poi ( kind of joggling, but with a ball on a string), hostel meal at evening, party some hours, feeling tired and going to hostel to sleep, but end up talking to people for an hour or two at hostel before going to bed. Rinse and repeat 😊
* August 31, Friday:
Another friday night BBQ/Pizza night which this time was pizza night where it's all you can eat Domino pizza for $3 and I got way too full. This evening we got some entertainment when a japanese guy and some others did fire Poi 😊
* September 1, Saturday:
Took my bike close to Cairns airport and walked around the Mangrove forest boardwalk. Fortunately almost no mosquitos 😊 Mangrove trees have about 50 % of their mass in the roots ! Take a look at the picture and you understand why.
* September 8, Saturday:
Went for a really sweaty bike ride to Lake Morris, also known as Copperlode Dam, which supplies Cairns with almost all its freshwater.
Once I got to the lake
Morris road is was 16 km of winding uphill road and it took me 2,5 hours to get to lake Morris and only 1 hour back 😊 I had 15 gears on the mountain bike, but still at some parts I had to push the bike up the last bit of the hill. One more reason why australians call a bicycle "push bike".
The view on lake Morris road was beautiful since I got to ride through rainforest all the way and the view at lake Morris was amazing.
The huge lake had big white birds flying over it and it was surrounded by hills covered by rainforest and the highest hills touched the clouds 😊
I read that there was a path to Crystal Cascades which is a waterfall, but it would take 1 hour to walk there and I found some paths, but none with any signs so I didn't dare to go alone into the rainforest and walk an hour just to see if I had picked the right narrow path. Call me a chicken, but I seen to many nature programs of the dangerous and poisonous animals of Australia 😉
* September 14, Friday: Another
pizza night with all you can eat pizza from Domino's for $3. Went later on to see a fireshow at the lagoon, but there wasn't any show and ended up watching a good live band playing instead. However when coming back to hostel people put up an amazing fireshow with 5 people doing different styles with both poi and staff.
* September 15, Saturday: Last day of Cairns festival with duck race, fireworks and live music and lots more that I didn't see.
Things noticed so far:
* Everything cost 25% more then advertised! Price is not shown including the reef tax, fuel levy and other costs. Snorkeling was $60, but of course it costs $75. Why the hell isn't fuel costs included? Don't need to pay fuel levy if I bring my own fuel?
Went for a haircut advertised as from $12 and I had to pay $17 ... and I went for a short haircut so why $5 extra? Cairns rival the chinese in making business.
* There are barely any australians in Cairns, since most are tourists, backpackers working or former tourists/backpackers now owning the shops, hostels etc.
* It's always windy and the wind
seems to always blow from the same direction.
* Pedestrian crossings at traffic lights work pathetically poorly. I saw a well dressed man come from the city council building and immediately walk against red light. If the politicians don't bother, why should we.
* Bananas are pretty expensive, since typhoons last year destroyed many banana plantations. One banana can cost $1 = 6 swedish crowns.
* Lots of german backpackers and they often group up and speak german even if their english is good.
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Hehe, jorå nog blir man mästare i huvudräkning när man måste lägga till momsen hela tiden. Och du glömde väl inte att ge frisören driks, för det ska de också ha.