The First Week Tim's Here

---

Ok, well Tim got here eventually although I had a few problems trying to work out what day he actually arrived because he was travelling for three different days due to the time difference. Anyway mum managed to get hold of me just before I was gonna go on the wrong day (thanks) and so it was all good. Managed to get there at the right time and on the right day. Had to be there at 5 in the morning which was horrible.
After we got back and slept, I played tour guide for a couple of days, exploring the sights of cairns. We spent a bit too long in the sun the first day that he was here and he ended up burning his face pretty badly. Then at night time we had a cheeky barbeque on the sea front with a couple of people from the youth hostel... it was pretty tasty and we got loads of food for about 3 squid each. We carried on at night and went out for an explore of the bars in town but only made it as far as a pub/ club called the Woolshed that is decorated like a sheep barn and is busy all the time with backpackers. Anyway it turned out to be 'ladies night' when we got there and all the girls could get free drinks all night. Obviously it made the place a bit of a magnet and so we thought it would be rude not to stay there all night. Ended up learning some Taiwanese and apparently my name in Taiwan is Ca-Ray-Ge.
The next day we were a bit mashed but due to check out so we had to get up early to find another youth hostel... we got a better one than where we'd been that had a pool and a lot more people there. We went out to an English style pub for tea (the Cock and Bull.. again) and got the biggest meal I've ever seen... fish and chips but with two normal sized pieces of fish and a small mountain of chips- it was invincible.
Saturday and we went on the Ultimate Party again so that Tim could experience it. It was just as good if not better than the one the week before, even though all the same games went on. We played the nut and bolt game again and I found my match and amazingly it was with a girl who lived about 5 mins from home in England... weird. Anyway the prize for finding a match was a free ticket to go on the party again next week so it looks like a three in a row.

Still at the new youth hostel, we decided to go and try out our luck at the local casino.... we took $50 each (about 20 squid) prepared to lose it. Didn't understand most of the machines which are called pokies and are like the one armed bandits you see in american casinos. So we spazzed a bit of cash on them and on roulette as well. Then we decided the wheel of fortune was our game. We both won on it and after a few hours we came out about $10 down so we got the whole night for 4 squid, a bargain.

We've been going out quite a lot and meeting loads of new people... my Aussie mobile is filling up with numbers pretty quickly and I keep finding names in it and not remembering who they are! Also got a few numbers from people from other places in Australia like Melbourne and Adelaide and Canberra where they have said 'give us a ring when you get there and we'll show you round' so its all good.

---

Photos

YHA Cairns Central
The pool at the youth hostel. The 3rd one I've stayed in so far.