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So leaving Townsville on the Wednesday, we head on up further north to Tully to the home of the 7.9 metre Golden Gumboot to where we intended to stay the night, that was until we received a text message from JJ and Sam to say that they had managed to get us all onto a hugely reduced trip to the Barrier Reef, but only if we could make it up to Cairns by Thursday night, to be on the trip at 8am on Friday morning. So foot to the peddle we made it up to a free campsite just 59km outside of Cairns.
There we met "interesting Steve" who was interesting up to a point! After over an hour and a half of him talking at us and with even the hint of Sasha getting all the food stuff out ready to make dinner, Ollie managed to turn the conversation away from Steve's fascinating tales of his journeys on his mountain bike, to Ollie fancying some booze. Steve mentioned that he had seen a bottle shop in the village and so Ollie took this as a perfect opportunity to take a stroll, and thankfully Steve decided that he had better go and start heating up his beans and rice!
Just twenty minutes later and Ollie returns empty handed, apparently going to the only bottleshop in Australia that is closing down. So instead we settle down to eat dinner and swig on our bottles of water. However, once the Muddwats have wine in mind, it's hard to shift! So then came the thoughts of where the closest place would be to get booze! Looking at the map, we knew we were only 59km from Cairns, the biggest town north of us, and that would obviously have a bottle shop, but then just 25km south of us was Innisfail, the largest town south, and so the weigh up began. Do we travel 25km back, to then drive 25km again to the campsite we were at, or do we travel 59km onto Cairns were we were heading the next day, all just for alcohol?!?! So, within the hour we were in Cairns at a campsite with a nice glass of wine each and poor "interesting Steve" never saw us for dust!!
The next morning we head over to JJ and Sam's place to catch up with them and hear all about the trip we were all going on the next day. Sam and JJ are staying in a great little sharehouse which gives them the privacy of their own room, as well as gives them the advantage of being within walking distance to the town centre. And so it was at theirs that we drove the following morning and left the car at 7am, for us all to walk to the harbour to find our vessel to the Barrier Reef.
We made sure that we arrived nice and early to get ourselves a prime sunbathing spot on the front deck of the boat, and all took full advantage of the free tea, coffee and biscuits on offer before the boat set sail. As the boat was making its way out of the marina, an announcement came over that all passengers must attend a safety talk in the lounge, so off we headed down, leaving our bags on deck to save our spots, and Ollie and JJ both leaving behind their flip-flops. Now, within minutes of the safety talk starting, we should have all realised exactly what we were letting ourselves into when the Dive Master recommended that everyone take a couple of ginger tablets that they had available as it was going to be a choppy journey!! Towards the end of the safety talk, we were quite obviously out of the safety of the harbour walls and hitting the open sea, as the boat was starting to sway considerably! Rushing up to the deck of the boat to retrieve our bags, we find that one of the crew has been on deck and grabbed all the items up there and put them safely away from the boat's side, although he does declare that some items may have been lost to the sea, and that he's pretty sure he saw one shoe go overboard!! Yep you've guessed it! Of all the people on the boat, and of all the items left on deck, the only thing to have been lost to the ocean was one of Ollie's flip flops!! Yep, just the one! So somewhere out there in the Pacific is a turtle having the time of his life surfing on Ollie's giant left flip flop!!
The rest of our journey to the reef at Michealmas Cay was pretty choppy, and was too treacherous to spend on deck, much to Sasha and Ollie's finding when they got drenched by a huge wave that hit the boat. But once moored at our island destination, the waters where a little calmer. As part of the trip, we received a free trip on a semi-sub, a glass bottom boat that took you over the reef area that you couldn't swim too, but a warning was given before getting on, that as the boat was smaller than that which we had already travelled on, it would be subjected to the choppy sea on a greater scale, so while Ollie, JJ and Sam hopped on, Sasha decided to hold back and be sure that she would keep the contents of her stomach. Ollie, JJ and Sam all loved it and returned with great photos! Then was time for a buffet lunch, which of course Ollie ensured he more than got his monies worth from, before heading out to the island for a spot of snorkeling. Unfortunately, due to the choppiness of the sea, the visibility was pretty poor! The sand around the reef had been churned up so much that at times you couldn't even see a person swimming next to you, let alone a fish! However we still got to see some great parts of the reef as you got a little deeper, and were lucky enough to see the most amazing giant clams, that were easily up to one and a half metres in length.
Back on board, and it was time to return to Cairns, again we were warned that the journey back was due to be very choppy, in fact they warned that it was going to be worse that the journey there. And this ladies and gentleman is where the majority of the passenger made their biggest mistake! Knowing that one of the best cures for sea sickness is to be out on deck to be able to see the horizon, the four of us all sat outside at the back of the boat, protected from the crashing waves and wind, but able to see the scenery around us. However, the majority of the passengers headed indoors to the lounge where the windows were too high to see much else than the waves crashing into the boat. So within 45 minutes of our journey back, people started to emerge on deck looking very green around the gills, and for the next hour we were subjected to a puke-athon!! You were hard pressed not too witness someone either with a sick bag held to their face, a full sick bag being thrown overboard, or someone eagerly willing themselves not to be sick! Suffice to say, when the free champagne (sparkling wine!) was brought around for our last half hour cruise to Cairns, when we hit calm water, very few people took up the offer! That is of course except for Sasha, Ollie, JJ and Sam!!
The rest of our time in Cairns was mostly spent searching for jobs, applying online, dishing out our CV's, and registering at Recruitment Agencies, but unfortunately we were hearing the same message over and over again that there was such a high unemployment figure for Cairns (the highest for all of Australia), that permanent residents were being employed rather than backpackers. We also got to visit the very beautiful rainforest botanical gardens in Cairns, and the somewhat spooky Mangrove walk, that warns of crocodile encounters at high tide! Furthermore, we met with Gabbi Newman who went to the same school as Ollie, and who he also worked with at Siemens. Gabbi is now very much settled in Cairns with a fantastic husband, two very beautiful children, and a homebrew beer setup to be in awe of! . . . and to aspire to!
And so, after many rejections, and a few Agencies laughing at us for even thinking that we might get a job, we made the decision that we should start to head back South towards Brisbane, where the prospect of work was more likely. Our initial plan had been to drive to Darwin from Cairns, but that being 3000km away and having the second highest unemployment rate in Australia, this was no longer an option.
Heading back to all our favourite places, those that we knew we could get a free night's stay and on occasion, free internet, we stopped off at Townsville, Sarina, St Lawrence, Gladstone and Gympie.
On route to Townsville we stopped at one particular rest area to stretch our legs, make lunch and enjoy a cuppa, only to discover when returning back to the van that it wouldn't start! After much stomping and swearing on Ollie's part, he soon realises that he had left the lights on, and that they had drained the battery while we were consuming our noodle sandwich. Thankfully we were not alone at the rest stop and a very kind old man helped us jump start the van and we were back on our way!
A return to Townsville gave us the opportunity that we missed out on last time to take a dip in their man-made rock pool, which after a day searching for yet more jobs in the library was extremely refreshing.
On our way to Gladstone we stopped off at a wrecker's yard where we knew they had two Nissan Nomads, as Ollie was keen to get a new window lock for one of the rear windows. Much to our surprise, when returning to the counter with our acquired window lock, the lady allowed us to have it for free! But oh how the mighty fall! From that super start to the day, Ollie then manages to pour soy sauce all over his groin at lunchtime and so looked like he had wet himself, his iPod Touch decided to burn out while we were listening to music in the car, and then we realised that a bolt had come off of the exhaust and so the pipe was rattling around. A couple of cable ties later and the exhaust was securely held, but Ollie still looked like he had wet himself, and was overly distraught with the death of his iPod. To top this off, the very next day, Ollie's old video iPod also departed this life, after experiencing pretty much the same burnout from the car charger!!
Gympie was once again our haven for seven nights while we free camped, and spent the majority of the days in the library using the free internet to search for jobs in Brisbane. And then came the call, on 14th July at 2pm, that Ollie was wanted for an interview the very next day in Brisbane! A mad dash then ensued as we made our way to Brisbane to be at a paid campsite near to the interview location, making it down there by 4:30pm.
The next morning, with shirt ironed (ish), and looking smart (ish), Ollie charmed the staff at Wilson Tackle, and won himself a job, starting on the Monday!! In the meantime we decided to save ourselves a bit of money and spend the Friday and Saturday night at a free campsite 50km out of Brisbane. On our way back into Brisbane on the Sunday we stopped off at the Apple Store to let them have a look at Ollie's iPod Touch and were more than pleasantly surprised when they exchanged it for a brand new one!!
And so now we are in Brisbane, Ollie with a casual job offering approximately 20 hours a week, which pays for us to live, and Sasha searching for a job in the CBD. She has had a great meeting with a CEO of a Brand Protection company, who offered her a job, but that would mean us moving to China!!
With Ollie's downtime we are taking the opportunity to play tourist, although that failed dismally today when we decided to go and experience the free Southbank Parklands and Queensland Museum, only to find when we arrived that parking was $6 an hour!! So a quick return to camp to chill out instead and we will try that trip again, but next time on the bus!! Anyway, maybe now is not the best time for Ollie to be seen out in public!! Especially after yesterday debacle of a haircut!! Ollie had decided that his mullet was getting a little long and that a clipper cut was due, and so while Sasha went to shower, Ollie set up the clippers etc for her to cut his mane off when she returned. However, when trying to use the clippers we found that they were not working. With a couple of turns of the screwdriver to adjust the blades however we were back in action, Ollie using the clippers to test that they were actually cutting by gliding them through the back of his hair, stopping abruptly due to Sasha's gasp!! Ollie it seems had mistaken the grade 3 guard for the 3mm guard! The 3mm guard being grade 1!!! And so, now we have Ollie walking around with grade three cut all over, and a grade 1 two inch patch at the back of his head!!
- comments
Sarni Do love you two!! Xxxx
Ricky Aww you guys! living the life. Don't come back - nothing but bad weather and unemployment. At least you have good weather in Ausland!
Tony If only there was a camera crew following you! Would be fantastic TV!! ;0)
Dee As entertaining as ever ! Nan will love reading this too.
Uncle G Top blog guys............
The Parentals Great blog as usual. This will make a great travel book.Perhaps a possible new career