Well, hey, its been a hot minute but I'm back with some more AMAZING blogging for you. :)
Last I wrote I was starting work in Cairns. It happened to be at The Courthouse Hotel (NOT a hotel, though) and I was meant to be bartending. It worked out ok. And not to be a chooser, you know how that goes, but I really hated 'sprooking'. That's where they send you out front of the bar on the sidewalk, with menus for the restaurant (when did I sign up for restaurant work again??) and make you talk to EVERY person who walks by, offering dinner or letting them know happy hour was on or whatever dinner was on special that specific night....blah blah blah. Now, if you don't know me, I'd have to say I'm not a big people person. Don't get me wrong, I like people, I just am not a sales person type person. Thus, I HATE approaching people offering something that they could come looking for if they really wanted it in the first place. And I'm not a pusher. If someone says no I'm like, yeah ok. I wouldn't want someone in my face. Probably because that would make me want whatever they had even less. Am I wrong? No, I don't think I am. Anyway, some things I did notice while sprooking that kept me entertained for those 4 hours (and the longest 4 hours of my life!!): there's a large group of bats that come out around 7p (sprooking starts at 5p) that fly overhead to wherever they're going to eat/sleep. And by large I mean both a big group and that the bat is larger than any I've seen in California. They're pretty amazing to watch fly overhead. Now, the Courthouse also has a massive outdoor beer garden where we have a massive screen where we play music videos (and on Thursdays Wii games). Another thing to keep me entertained was watching the couple of aboriginals dancing to the music on the large divider in the middle of the street. I happened to sprook for a few thursdays in a row and they were always there. They could cut a mean rug too. I might just steal some of those dance moves for the future. A short while before the bats came out there'd come the rainbow lorikeets. Gorgeous multi-colored birds flocking to their sleeping tree on the Esplanade. More on the esplanade later. Anyway, they'd come flying over in packs of 10 or so screeching and bobbing and weaving. The only other two things to keep me from pulling my hair out was the ABC license plate game (going thru the alphabet on the license plates that drove by) and seeing how many of the Asian tourists that came by would nod back at me if I nodded at them. Certainly more than ever returned my greeting or came in to the restaurant. But that's neither here nor there. The days I wasn't sprooking I was working behind the bar, getting people 'a beer' when they requested it and cleaning incessantly. Got paid well, and it covered my housing and food and anything else I wanted to do so it all worked out in the end.
About a week after getting to Cairns, I got said job at the Courthouse, and then managed to find a share-house that had 5 other girls in it to live in. It was a good 20 minute walk out of town, and thru a small shady neighborhood, but it was really nice and cheaper than staying in a hostel for the duration of my stay. The other girls also worked so it wasn't a party house, which was really nice. They were Aki, a really nice, quiet Asian girl who took care of the spoiled house cat, Tina; Alex, from New Zealand; Pamela from Switzerland; Theresa from Germany and her always-there boyfriend Stefan; and Jenna, I think she was Aussie but she walked, I mean, stomped around the house all the time making a racket. Luckily she was almost always at her bf's house so I never really saw her. The owners Shane and Tanya lived next door so that was kind of cool.
He replaced our massive tv with a flat screen, mowed our lawn, did repairs to the house and we could borrow DVDs as well. My room was a good size with a full-size bed. The house had a nice big shower, overflowing with girl products of course, and a washer and dryer, which is almost unheard of around here. I walked home from work every night, thru the shady neighborhood, but was very cautious and careful so it turned out ok.
He replaced our massive tv with a flat screen, mowed our lawn, did repairs to the house and we could borrow DVDs as well. My room was a good size with a full-size bed. The house had a nice big shower, overflowing with girl products of course, and a washer and dryer, which is almost unheard of around here. I walked home from work every night, thru the shady neighborhood, but was very cautious and careful so it turned out ok.
Cairns has an esplanade. It goes along the waterfront. Can't call it a beach because its mud and you can't go in it, I think because of crocs, and the water receeds about 300 yards daily. So instead they have a lagoon which was being renovated until a few weeks after I got there. It is surrounded by grass which is nice for a sunbake and is pushed up on the water's edge so is a nice view out across the water when it's around. I had many a sunbakes there with Paul, my English friend who was working in Cairns too, and whichever friends were in town who were traveling through Cairns at the moment. We'd sunbake and play cards, get 50 cent McDonald's ice cream cones and just laze around all day.
The Esplanade also had a small street with the grass and water on one side and shops on the other. The Night Markets were there, which were open from 4-12p nightly and where you could find any little souvenir you desired. I really enjoyed going to Rusty's Markets on the weekends for fresh (cheap!) produce. I'd buy kiwis (my new favorite fruit), Pink Lady apples, oranges, pineapples, stir fry vegetables, 'fancy' lettuce (as the sign said) and anything else I fancied eating that week.
The Esplanade also had a small street with the grass and water on one side and shops on the other. The Night Markets were there, which were open from 4-12p nightly and where you could find any little souvenir you desired. I really enjoyed going to Rusty's Markets on the weekends for fresh (cheap!) produce. I'd buy kiwis (my new favorite fruit), Pink Lady apples, oranges, pineapples, stir fry vegetables, 'fancy' lettuce (as the sign said) and anything else I fancied eating that week.
Paul and I made time to go to Cape Tribulation/Mossman Gorge, Kuranda and snorkeling/diving on the Great Barrier Reef. Kuranda is a small little town in the mountains about a 20 minute drive and 30 minute skyrail trip away. We took the Scenic Railway back. We got to go to the Koala Sanctuary where I FINALLY got to see some crocs, Koalas (so freaking cute!) and I even got to feed some kangaroos. Lazy fellows, but I would be too if people approached me with food all day!
There's not much to do in Kuranda but its beautiful and has a few markets you can go to for souvenirs. The train back was ok. Unfortunately I was put in the middle of the car and was facing backwards so I couldn't see much. The window nearest me faced the mountain wall so I pretty much napped on the way back...mostly so I didn't barf from going in reverse.
Snorkeling and diving was one of the best things I did in Oz. Of course the day we went it was SUPER windy so the boat ride out there I was sat with the other sea-sick kids outside at the back of the boat with my barf bag.
Then when we got to the reef we did the free intro dive first. It was so crazy. With my minimal asthma it freaked me out at first breathing thru the regulator. But I told myself to breathe deep and stay calm and it worked out amazingly! I can't wait to get certified in Thailand. After that I sat in the boat being really seasick while Paul snorkeled. I decided I paid for the trip so I'd snorkel once more before we left and I was really glad I did. I got to see some rainbow fish and all kinds of other really cool fish and coral. It was kind of scary looking down where the coral ended and seeing nothing below. Freaky! Since it was still really windy the ocean was like stewing and wavy and angry. Made it really hard to get around.
There's not much to do in Kuranda but its beautiful and has a few markets you can go to for souvenirs. The train back was ok. Unfortunately I was put in the middle of the car and was facing backwards so I couldn't see much. The window nearest me faced the mountain wall so I pretty much napped on the way back...mostly so I didn't barf from going in reverse.
Snorkeling and diving was one of the best things I did in Oz. Of course the day we went it was SUPER windy so the boat ride out there I was sat with the other sea-sick kids outside at the back of the boat with my barf bag.
Then when we got to the reef we did the free intro dive first. It was so crazy. With my minimal asthma it freaked me out at first breathing thru the regulator. But I told myself to breathe deep and stay calm and it worked out amazingly! I can't wait to get certified in Thailand. After that I sat in the boat being really seasick while Paul snorkeled. I decided I paid for the trip so I'd snorkel once more before we left and I was really glad I did. I got to see some rainbow fish and all kinds of other really cool fish and coral. It was kind of scary looking down where the coral ended and seeing nothing below. Freaky! Since it was still really windy the ocean was like stewing and wavy and angry. Made it really hard to get around.
It's not that I didn't enjoy my time in Cairns but I had to make a decision. The job wasn't ideal, I may or may not have kicked up some drama between the managers and ended up paying the price for it which ended up in job dissatisfaction. It got better in the end but I was really missing having close friends (Paul was the only one I had! even though I met lots of people in and out of work) so it was either stay there in Cairns working at my job I was not particularly liking and waiting until mid-October to go to SE Asia or go to England and be with a great Englishman I met traveling in Oz, and stay with him until we went to SE Asia together. My lovely mother helped me make the (obvious) decision, so in the last week I've moved out, quit my job and moved temporarily to England. It's been amazing so far. Living with Matt's parents has been great, they're lovely. I have also met his group of friends and been invited this very night to a burger and beer dinner with the girls. Something I've been missing since I left CA....the girl time, not the burgers and beer. :)
