the next novel in the series

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Hello hello!,
I think it's about that time, it's been a couple of weeks, and i
have things to write about. Wild, crazy things. Not really.
So i was expecting my emails to become a little more bland now as
i'm not really travelling about, i'm staying put and trying to get
a job, nothing exciting, but, i feel pretty positive about what i
get to write about as i really love cairns and think i will enjoy
my time here.
So, back the truck up. I'm in cairns. I think i ended off my last
email by saying that. That, and that i hated typing and never
wanted to type again, which as you can see is untrue. Another thing
that i said that is also now untrue, is that i was enjoying job
hunting. That sentiment lasted about another hour after i wrote it.
I am still pretty much jobless, and hating looking for jobs. Why am
i looking for a job you ask? For money, duh.
I plan to spend three months here in cairns. I'd like to get a job
to help my bank account out as i have been doing a good job of
depleting it. I have plane tickets to buy, and much more travels to
do. It just so happens that i really like cairns and i'm quite
happy thinking about spending some time here. I figure i'd talk
about why i like cairns. The reasons are many.
1) It's beautiful. It's right up in Norhteast Australia where
humidity (as i've talked about and ranted about, but, it's better
than snow!) is abundant. With the humidity is the lushness (yes
that is a word, and if it wasn't, it is now), and just a general
feeling of being somewhere tropical. A lot of australia just felt
like a hot Canada, nothing too different. Up here in cairns, i feel
like i'm somewhere a bit different. Lots of hills covered with
green shrubs and trees, and exotic flowers grow wild. Someone told
me it reminded them of Fiji, and having spent 14 hours in Fiji, and
now being an expert on the subject, i concurred (that means
agreed). So, i think it's beautiful, surrounded by rainforest.
2) Cairns is small, about the same size as Adelaide, where i spent
my christmas and new years, and i was expecting to be quite quiet
here, like adelaide. Boy, was i wrong. There is a rather large
backpacker community here, and the nightlife is abundant, which is
great, or could be my downfall...
Every night of the week the bars are busy, and being that most of
the clients of the bars are backpackers, who are poor, and grubby,
a lot of bars have good drink specials and on any night of the
week, you can find an economical place to have a couple beers or
eight. I am taking it easy here, as i will be here for some months
so i have plenty of time to soak it in (and then pee it out), but
it's nice to know that after a hot day, you can have a couple beers
and not feel guilty about spending money.
3)Three words:Great Barrier Reef. Bling bling brotha! I have been
meaning to get my PADI certificartion for a while, and now i find
myself at the great barrier reef, home to some of the greatest
diving in the world (i think, i don't know for a fact, but it's
gotta be). Lots and lots of diving shops offering courses, very
competitive prices to attract people, and now it's the off-season
so the prices are even better! Throw it on the list of things to do
on my days off! How great.
4)One requirement i had for stopping somewhere in australia for a
while is that i wanted it to have some mountain bike scene. Cairns,
supposedly, has some of the best, or the best mountain biking in
australia. Coincidentally, i was at a bike shop and the owner was
telling me that there were a couple of riders sponsored by Deep
Cove bikes (north van bike shop, see Kelly K. for more info) in
cairns who were here to ride with a local pro rider.
I thinks that's it, that's my list of why i like cairns. I haven't
really been able to enjoy any of the things that i've talked about
(except the nightlife) as i've been spending my days looking for
work (mostly) and i have a half-job at the moment. Half job you
ask? Yes. So to bridge the gap between the unemployment that i've
been enjoying so much for the past three and a half months, and
getting finding steady work, i've been working at the hostel. I am
the hostel bus driver (finally all of my education and years of
hard work have payed off!). I'm basically on call. I have a cel
phone here, so i just go about my life, and then they phone and say
"can you go to the airport to pick up three people?" and i say
"yes" and then they say "they're at jetstar" and i say "okay". It's
kind of hard to capture the excitement and adrenaline in an email.
I like it, as i enjoy driving, but on the busy days i start to feel
like the hostel's bitch. I get called away during lunch, dinner and
only have a few hours to myself during the day. But, on the slow
days, i don't do much, and it gives me plenty of time to walk
around, hand out resumes, and write obscenely long emails. "But you
must be making fat cash mark!". Not really. I get free
accomodation, which would usually be just over $100/week, $200 a
week, and discounted or free tours. It's pretty good because to do
things like get my PADI is even cheaper now, and i can live cheaply
by not paying rent, but it's not as good as a regular job where i
could make $500-$600 a week, and i'm really after money now. Also,
i'm on call as the driver 6 days a week, from 10:30am to 10pm, so
the majority of the days i don't have the freedom to go more than
15min from the hostel bus, and in one month i'd really only have 4
days to myself. So, it's something, but i'm still looking for a
regular job. It's off season here, so bars and restaurants aren't
hiring,(unless you're a girl) and that doesn't leave too much else
here. I drive kegs of beer back and forth between some major bars
here as the owner of three bars also owns the hostel i work for,
and another hostel, so i shuttle for the whole conglomerate (big
word score again) company, and i thought that by meeting the
managers and staff of these places i'd be able to weasel my way in,
but so far, no dice.
So, what have i been doing? Driving, looking for jobs, and
occasionally enjoying the nightlife. I'm in a 10bed dorm which is
very nicely air conditioned, and there are three other longer term
staying guys (it just flows, doesn't it?) who are swedish, like the
whole rest of cairns apparently. We get along pretty good as a
couple of the guys are constantly quoting southpark, jay and silent
bob, super troopers, evil dead II, and other academy award winning
movies. they also quite enjoy the musical stylings of NOFX and
Millencolin, a couple good punk bands that i also like. So
sometimes we lie around the room listening to music and nursing a
hangover after a night of going next door to one of the
'conglomerate' bars, where i get a discount on beer as i drive the
bus for the hostel (which is ironic, giving the driver more
incentive to drink). Pretty easy going times sometimes, good times.
Another subject i wanted to touch on, but am now getting close to
the "never want to type again" feeling, is vegemite. I don't if
i've mentioned it before, but it is great, all powerful, and kind
of tastes gross, but i love it. vegemite on toast in the morning.
vegemite is a big aussie thing. It's dark brown, a little softer
texture than shoe polish, and tastes like tangy salt. Are you sold
yet? It is also strangely addictive, as i eat it quite a bit, but
don't really know if i like it. But the best thing, the coup de
grace if you will, is it's ability to kill a hangover faster than
you can say "crikey, look at that goana, she's a beauty!". I have
my theory on why: Vegemite is a yeast extract spread which is said
to originate from beer kegs, the scum left in the barrels after
they empty out the fermented beer i guess (I'd really like to meet
the guy who saw it and thought "hey that'd be god on toast!"). So,
it originates from beer. Much like how when you get a bite from a
venomous snake, you get a dose of anti-venom, which is derived from
the venom, vegemite is the beer anti-venom, thus curing you of the
poison from the night before. Others say it's cuz it's full of
vitamin B, which could be true as you pee bright yellow after
eating it (who is this charming young man?), but i like my theory
better.
So, i think cairns and i could have a good time together.
Now i just have to find a fucking job.
cheerio
mark

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