Cairns Baby!!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

I woke up to some man and girl talking. Drifted in and out of sleep to their voice until I finally woke up at 930is. There was a shuttle bus provided for free by our hostel, Njoy!, and I wanted to catch it before its lunch break at 1130. I got up and gave Anu a wake up call--- she didnt answer. I proceeded to get dressed and someone came in. Her name is Emma and she is my hostel mate along with her boyfriend, Scott . They are from England and they decided to come for the year to work. Emma had just gotten back from the market to pick up some groceries for Scott. Apparently, they wanted to work on a banana farm but the farm didnt need them, Scott found work this morning but she didnt have anything lined up. We exchanged stories while I got ready for the day. She said she would bring us to the city center because she needed to go back. I proceeded to bang on Anus door and then we walked down together. (fyi- alyssa was scuba diving so she was gone for the day. I couldnt afford the scuba trip so thats why I stayed back). Njoy hostel and Anu

Cairns isnt a big city like I expected. Its really very small; one mall, no beach, a cute marina, lagoon for swimming, 2 museums, some shops and restaurants and well thats kinda it. But i like it. It took me a bit to warm up to it but it was a cute place, real relaxed and laid back. Heaps of Indigenous.

Emma dropped us off at the mall and pointed us in the proper direction. We walked around a bit for a while, down Spence St, till we met the "water", more like where the water was supposed to be. It had started pouring rain and we were both hungry (it was about 11 am) so we decided to grab a bite (hamburger and chips for me) and wait till the rain stopped. Anu apparently hates the rain but she was willing to get up after we were done and brave the rain which was in the form of sprinkles at this point.

In cairns there is an Esplanade- not for swimming for there are crocs. I expected it to be filled with water but it must have been low tide and so you could see the bottom with heaps of crabs chillaxin.
L: crabs close up. M: view to the Left. R: view to the right.





On the coast side they have a man made beach so that I guess you dont get tempted to go swimming with the crocs. It was mad cute, with these adorable fish.
We walked down to the marina next. It was really cute. I thought it would be fun to walk around the board walk for the boats. After a bit it decided to start pouring. We kept walking, hiding under my umbrella. I got a phone call from Dell that they would be delivering the part tomorrow to the house (yay). After a bit it stopped the down pour and the sun came out. At this point we had reached the end of the boardwalk. We walked back to land, trying not to slip and fall on our arses (we had flip flops on and it was crazy slippery). View from the marina at the boats

We walked around the coast and sat down for a bit and just got to know each other a bit. We really didnt know one another at all. She had gone to some study abroad dinner I went to and we meet briefly but that was all I knew of her until this point. More crabs on the rocks near where we sat.

It then started to rain (again) so we got up and made a move to walking under cover. Walked to the shopping center that we were originally dropped off at by Emma and grabbed a choc top for 1$ (god, why dont we have these in the state???). We ate outside and then walked back to the hostel. A sign I encountered on my walk back to the hostel.... rum bar, sounds like a cool place...



Anu decided to take a nap but I didnt want to waist my time so I decided to (first take a shower and then) read in the main room of the hostel instead. I started a book I borrowed from Peters private library, A Sight for Sore Eyes by Ruth Rendell (i do not suggest it). I read for a good while till Alyssa came back and then talked to her because I wanted to hear everything. I havent seen her in ages and it was nice to be reunited again. We went upstairs so she could get ready for the arvo and chatted with Emma. While Alyssa was in the shower Scott (who I had not really meet yet) came back from work. He was all nicely burnt so I let him have some cocoa butter and we got to know each other. Both of the hostelmates are mad sweet. Once Alyssa got done in the shower we chatted a bit, woke Anu up, and then went to dinner.

Part of Njoy is that it offers a free dinner at a local restaurant/pub. We all walked to it together and on the way encountered a good heaping amount of bats.
We got to the Woolshed for dinner and ordered our food (pasta bolognase for me) and ate. They were having a deal that night, 20$ for 5 drinks so Alyssa, Anu and I decided we would come back at 9 when it was going down. Scott and Emma went to use free internet at Mackers while we decided to check out the night mall.
Its kinda like Victoria Market or Paddys. A variety of Aussie stuff for cheap. I found a great prezzy for Briana there (cant say what it is) and found some interesting food (didnt buy tho).
Emu, crick, kanga, and beef jerky--- yumm.
After walking around we went outside to chat for a bit until it started raining again. Alyssa and Anu dont know each other, they just know me. Alyssa and I in the rain, Anu didnt want to be in the photo.

Once the rain started we decided to head back to the Woolshed for our drink deal. Anu didnt feel like drinking so only me and Alyssa got em. Drank mostly vodka cran and vodka sunrises (introduced Alyssa to them,hhehe). We ran into a girl I had meet the first day of Orientation, Nadia, along with Zoe and Caroline (remember them(bitt po)). We chatted with some guys from England among others. There was a goldfish race where they had racing lanes and you blew bubbles through a straw to make them get to the finish line. Very interesting. Five drinks and 2 hours later I was a bit pissed and Alyssa and Anu were ready for bed (I could keep going but that was another matter). We all walked back and I was too pissed to remember how to get back and the only thing on my mind was peeing (hahaha there were a few bushed I considered). We managed to get back along with a good amount of giggling from Alyssa and I. and then it was bed time.