Cairns

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Our first day in cairns (27/3) was definitely a stressful one. Kennedy and I had planned to do our farm work when we got to Cairns because we had been told that there are more farms up north than in the southern states. With this in mind we got up raring to go and find ourselves a job. We went into Peterpans and spoke to the job search guy in there who basically said there are no farms up here looking for workers at this time of year. The best place for farming right now is a place called Bundaberg which is a fourteen hour drive down south, or to go inland from Brisbane which is even more South. He gave us some options for farming in these places but the work was 4/5 days a week and to get a second year visa you have to do 88 days; I worked out that if I worked 4 days a week, 88 days work would be longer than four months which is more time than I have left in Australia. So our whole plan had basically been thrown out the window and now I had to figure out what the hell I was going to do- and fast because I was running low on money! When we got back to our hostel I had a bit of a panic meltdown for about ten minutes and then Kennedy and I decided to start looking for normal work in cairns instead. We spent the afternoon on the computers in cairns looking at job websites and sorting out our CVs.
Seen as it was Friday and we'd had one hell of a day we decided we would go out this evening because there was a paint party going on at the hostel bar. We had dinner in the bar because they had a cheap meal deal on and then we pre drank in my room with some of the other girls who were coming out. I saw Fliss for a little bit because she is flying to Darwin tomorrow so I won't see her again out here. There was free champagne for girls between 10-11 so me made sure we made the most of that because we couldn't afford to buy drinks. I was expecting the paint party to be amazing, like the ones you get in Ibiza and places like that, but there was hardly any paint and it just got pretty boring after a while so we didn't stay out that late. Saturday was spent again on the computers looking at jobs and then we walked around asking in places if they are hiring and handing in some CVs. We went into a bar/restaurant called Outback Jacks and asked if they are hiring. The woman asked what we can do and Kennedy said straight away she can carry six plates when serving and clear ten- because she has worked in the Celtic manor she is really good at waitressing. The woman gave her three plates and a bowl to pick up and carry as if she was serving somebody and Kennedy could do it easily (I wouldn't have a clue!). She took Kennedy's CV and said she'd past it on to the manager. Within two hours Kennedy had a phone call asking her to go to a trial this evening for a few hours. She worked for five hours and In the end she got the job. We couldn't believe it, that was the quickest job search ever! Sunday we went down to the lagoon to chill out. Now Kennedy has a job she's sorted so I needed to decide what I was going to do. There isn't many jobs going in cairns and it seems the ones that are available aren't going to be any good for me. Kennedy's boss said she never hires backpackers but she was so impressed with how many plates Ken can carry she got the job but has been asked to stay six months. I can't afford to be living in cairns for weeks looking for a job that's unlikely to come up so I thought about going down to Sydney because quite a few people have said there's more job opportunities there. Kennedy got paid $40 for her trial last night because they kept her longer than intended so she wanted to go out for dinner and insisted on paying for both of us. We went to an Irish pub and had a Sunday dinner for the first time since I've been in Australia. It was no where near as good as the dinners at home but I was just so happy to have a Yorkshire pudding and gravy I didn't mind. We went back to Peterpans after dinner and I started applying for jobs in Sydney. I skyped with mum and dad this evening to talk to them about what I should do and I decided that Sydney is my best option so I can stay with my family there while I look for a job. After a two month holiday travelling the east coast, getting to cairns completely skint and without a clue where to go or how to get a job definitely made me miss home so I can't wait to see them. Monday morning we had to check out of Gilligans so we moved to a cheaper hostel two blocks down which was actually opposite the lagoon which was cool. Kennedy had to go to work for some training so I went to the travel agents to book my flight to Sydney. I then met up with this girl we'd met in Gilligans and went to the Jobsearch Australia office together. The lady there confirmed that there are very little jobs in cairns at the moment and reassured me that Sydney is full of job opportunities which made me feel like I've definitely made the right decision so I'm happy now. Tuesday morning we got up early and went to a free exercise class. It was like boxercise so I really enjoyed it but it was so hard because my fitness is almost non-existent now. I had to wear my vans because I have no trainers which really hurt my toes so I definitely need to get a new pair. Once we'd showered and eaten we went to the shopping centre to look for trainers because Kennedy left hers in Sydney and mine were stolen so we both needed a new pair. However neither of us had the money in our accounts yet so we couldn't actually buy any. Tickets at the cinema are half price on Tuesday's we decided to treat ourselves to watching a movie because I actually miss being able to watch movies. We watched Cinderella which was so rubbish- I am so annoyed I wasted the little money I have on that film! The only good bit was when Rob Brydon appeared in it for a few minutes. Kennedy was off work Wednesday and Thursday and my flight to Sydney is booked for Saturday so I spent the rest of my week relaxing at the lagoon. It's going to be a lot colder in Sydney so I wanted to make the most of my last few days in 30 degree heat which I've become used to now. Wednesday evening we met up with some guys that were on Kennedy's Whitsundays boat and went to a backpackers travel agent because they were supposedly giving out free beer and pizza. We were split into two teams and given a list of things to do in 45 minutes such as get one of the boys to dress as a girl and busk outside McDonalds, take a group photo that shows you're in cairns, get as many people from the streets to join your team. Once we'd all finished we went over to the bar across the road and got out free pizza and beer, which turned out to be cider so we were chuffed because beer is gross! They had goldfish races going on which was so strange. There was 8 fish which people had to bid for and then in twos they would race each other to the end of a tank while the people blew through a straw to hurry the fish along. The prize was an all paid for trip to the Great Barrier Reef so Kennedy's friend Sebastian paid $12 for a fish and entered but he didn't win. We finally got ourselves some new trainers today. Mine were only £16 so I was over the moon with how cheap they were. Our afternoon was spent at the lagoon of course and then we both tested out our new trainers. Kennedy went for a run and I did a metafit workout which absolutely killed me but made me feel good for doing some exercise. Once we'd showered and had dinner we met up with Sebastian and his friends down by the lagoon. They let us have a couple of their drinks because they knew we wouldn't want to buy any which was nice of them. Kennedy has work Friday evening so this was our last evening together so we wanted the cheapest night out we could get so it worked out well. We ended up staying out until half 4 just chilling in the park by the beach which is so much better than going to a nightclub because we can't do that at home. Despite not actually doing any day trips or activities in cairns this week has felt the most like being a backpacker. Having little money has been interesting and now that I'm on my way to Sydney I can look back at this last week and laugh about it. I wouldn't want to do it all the time but living in a cheap hostel where the springs stuck out of my mattress and the kitchen had so few chairs we had to eat standing up sometimes was an experience. We also basically turned into scavengers taking any food from the kitchen hostels that was in the free food section. One night our dinner was woolworths value super noodles that we'd found in the free cupboard, another night we found a bag of rice so bought a jar of sauce for $1.50 and got two meals each out of that, we even found an almost full box of weetabix which provided us with breakfast for a few mornings. Other than that we've lived on toast because a loaf of bread is 80c- eating that much bread in a week is definitely not good for us!

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