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May 18th - 22nd. Cairns.
- Planning panic and the curious and disgusting case of my knee
After the unexpected trial of the previous night it was good to touch down in a place where I actually had an outside idea what the plan was...we even had a hostel booked! The airport shuttle dropped me off right outside of Dreamtime Travellers Rest and in spite of the reception being closed I was able to get my room key from within a safe which we'd been given the code of...a system that could erase all the pointless waiting around I've run into elsewhere (Bunbury I'm thinking of you!) It's immediatly a contrast to the lovely place I'd been at last night, small with a welcoming aethetic (it looks like they spent more than ten cents on the place) and a laid-back friendly vibe, plus the room had the excessive luxury of its own fridge...which I immediatly made good use of by storing energy drink and ice-cream in there. Due to there being no cheap flights from Fiji today (hence why I travelled from there yesterday) I've now got a massive 6 hours to fill before Liz arrives, after doing some thrilling basic upkeep stuff like grocery shopping and picking up some phone credit I turn my attention to what I optimistically hope will be a quick simple task, finding us a working hostel within a reasonable distance to head over to in the next few days. The last time I tryped this the only place I rang was Busselton and that worked out great, plus I've got a whole list of places to ring this time...so what could possibly go wrong...
Pretty much everything really. That afternoon and over the next couple of days we rang tonnes of hostels in places such as Atherton, Innisfail, Cardwell, Ayr and Bowen to a host of unwanted replies - no beds for weeks, no work, ridiculous work lists, work for men but not women, women but not men and so on. As an alternative we started to email some WWOOF places in the area but didn't hear back from any of them. It was getting a little stressful, just sitting around watching our cash bleed away was neither of our idea of fun. That was until we spotted a place on the original list (panicy research had sprewed up several more lists since) that hadn't picked up the phone first time around and for some forgetful reason we'd not tryed again. With the echos of all the previous calls in my head it was with disbelief that I discovered they had room, there was (allegedly) a fairly decent chance of finding work and the rates weren't even a ripoff. So within five minutes we went from clueless to heading out to book coachs down to Tully that Saturday, we didn't really know where we were heading or what we were getting ourselves into but at that moment details didn't seem to matter, we were going somewhere and for now that was enough to make us happy.
There was, of course, more to Cairns than the internet and my phone...although truthfully we didn't see much beyond that! We're planning to head back up aroundabouts the start of July so hopefull we'll see more stuff then worth mentioning! We did wander around a little bit, along the shorefront where instead of beaches they have muddy banks where we passed some time watching thousands of crabs skuttling about and to some night markets where we one night decadently got some takeout food. We planned on having a look in the marina...but as is becoming a frustratingly recurrant theme we found it closed for restoration work...maybe it will be open again when we head back. We strolled a bit beyond, up a pier where we half-careingly looked at boats and then had some crazily tasety Italian ice-cream. Yep, next time we're there we'll have to do more!
The most entertainment found happened not outside in the sprawling metropolis of Cairns but inside the hostel itself...which just goes to show what discerning travellers we have become! The Wednesday night saw an assortment of things happening, starting with a BBQ that allowed me to stave off the pasta diet for yet another day. There was also a chance to try both Kangaroo and Crocodile meat...they were both decent enough but I think the Kangaroo kist about takes the prize. After that there was a fireshow, which was amazing, and then the evening ended with a digeredoo contest that almost stired some faint national pride as the English contestant easily won. It was a decent night, made all the better by a cheap yet good bottle of wine, and perhaps served as an OK introduction to Australia for Liz...she's only been in the country a couple of days and so far its just been stress about where we're going...not really the best way to spend your initial days!
On the Friday, our final full day, we had planned on catching a bus to the beach, you know, actually doing something with our time here. However my knee had other plans. Mosquittos - theres a lot of the little scamps in Fiji and despite an unhealthy cloud of mossie spray we were both caked in itchy red bites by the time we left. These all slowly receded as time moved on...apart from one on my knee...in fact it seemed to be growing. I'll spare you the blood and puss specifics but by this Friday it was looking bad enough, and walking was becoming painful enough, for me to veer into the pharmacy we'd walked past everyday and ask for some advice. The responce - go to a doctor...now would be a good time. Thankfully there was a doctors attached to the pharmacy and they were able to fit me in in less than two hours time. My appointment took around 2, maybe 3, minutes, the prognosis straightforward 'yep, thats infected' and the solution a load of giant penecilin pills which I was to take four of daily for the next five days. One benefit of this was that after so much practise I've now learnt how to swallow pills, a damning retort to any cynics who might have claimed I'd gain nothing from this journey! After being handed a 60 dollar bill I also have a renewed appreication for free healthcare! There's a reciprical aggrement that means I can claim most of it back but it did involve locatin the medicare office, queueing several times more and filling in more forms...really a day spent in beaurocracy land is more exciting than one on the beach anyway...
And in case your wondering I still have my leg...so here's to penecilin!
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