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OK, I shall now get completely up to date by telling you all about my trip from Alice to Cairns. I wasn't expecting too much of the trip, given that we had to drive about 2300 km in 3 days on a big bus, but I figured it would be better than flying or getting the Greyhound, and for the same price. Turns out I was pretty much right. I left Alice at about 6am (the early starts were beginning to take their toll by now) along with the other 24 people on the bus. The first day was going to pretty much consist of a big load of driving, so there'd be plenty of opportunity for sleep, for which I was very very grateful. The bus was quite comfy and so I managed to catch a fair bit of shut-eye. We had lunch at Jervois cattle station, which is something like 1.5 times the size of Switzerland. Cows need absolutely tons of space in the desert because there's not exactly very much to eat. Most of the cattle stations we passed through are the size of small countries - luckily there's a fair bit of space to go round in the outback! I'm just looking at the brochure for the tour, and it looks really, really boring. I guess it's not the outback's fault that there's nothing out there. In the early evening, one of the highlights was a 'nothing walk' - that probably gives a good indication of how little there is to do on the tour! It ended up being quite good, though. Basically, we all got dumped in the middle of the outback as the sun was setting and all walked off in different directions so that no-one could see or hear anyone else, so that we would get a 'feeling of remoteness'. It was pretty odd, and a couple of times I forgot that I was surrounded by people and worried that I'd have to fend for myself in the middle of nowhere! Thankfully, the driver picked all of us up. Our accommodation for the first night was on another cattle station, and we had proper mattresses and duvets! I was very happy. I hadn't had such luxury since I stayed with Steve and Lauren. I still dream of those comfy beds.
Up at 5.30 the next day (even though there's nothing to do on the tour, we still had to get up absurdly early. I think the tour companies enjoy making backpackers suffer), and our first stop was at a pub in Middleton, which has a population of 2-6, depending on how many pets and grandparents are alive/visiting at the time. It's odd how places will suddenly spring up in the middle of nowhere - you could be driving for hours without seeing anyone or anything and then suddenly a little town or community will spring up. Had a barbecue for lunch, which was a bit of a treat, and had a look at some rock art in a very picturesque setting. In the afternoon, we drove to a tiny town (population 300), which has two quite impressive claims to fame. Number one is that Qantas set up its first office there, and number two (more impressively, in my opinion) is that it is the home of the hotel in which Waltzing Matilda was first performed. A little piece of Australian history there. It seemed to me like every place in Australia has its own little claim to fame, no matter how trivial it may be. Another tiny town we drove through broke the world record for the longest road train a while ago - very worthwhile, I'm sure. Just as I was thinking that the tour group was a bit disappointing, things livened up during the afternoon drive. The tour guide had brought along some plastic skittles, so we had the International Ten Pin Bowling Championships (On a Bus). Naturally, the atmosphere changed from boredom to utter pandemonium - this was the excitement we had all craved. I was volunteered to be the commentator, so I had to sit up the front with my microphone and add to the general brilliance of the event. In the end, Canada stormed home with a score of 19/20. I came in at a respectable 6th. After all that excitement, we arrived at our accommodation in Hughenden, where we stayed at a hotel! Excellent! Very comfy beds again. Had a huge tea before the evening entertainment of killer pool. Out of about 18 of us, I used all my skill and luck to finish 2nd, finishing behind the luckiest girl in the world and ahead of the four real-life cowboys who joined us. For my brilliant showing as Highest Placed Male, I received a stubbie holder and a beer opener. Not bad.
Third day: up at 5.30 again. We drove to Porcupine Gorge, which had some nice views, then to the smallest bar in Australia. It really is tiny. It's basically a cloakroom with a piece of wood in. If four people were in there, it was packed. Our last visit on the tour was to the most photographed waterfall in Australia (I told you they had to have the biggest/best things in every town). I declined to swim there because it looked absolutely freezing. And that was pretty much it! We arrived into Cairns at about 6pm. I enjoyed the trip, mainly for the food and beds and the opportunity to watch The Bourne Identity on the bus. Have to say, the tour group wasn't the best in the world - everyone had their own little groups and couldn't/wouldn't speak a great deal of English. Even the four native English speakers didn't seem to speak much. Never mind - it was still a good trip.
I've spent one full day in Cairns and it's raining - I'm not impressed. It's still very warm, though. Apparently the cyclone sent the weather all funny and it shouldn't really be wet at this time of the year. Cairns seems like a nice place - there's a restaurant approximately every 4 metres. They're all remarkably expensive though, which is why I'm grateful to be staying a few metres away from the night markets in which there's a handy food court. I'm enjoying being by myself at the moment after a couple of weeks being surrounded by people. I shall try and take advantage of my lack of anything to do by finally finding myself a job (this time I really think I need one). In the meantime, I think I shall treat myself to lunch. Speak to you soon!
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