Bitten by the Bugs

It's been a week and a half since I arrived in Cairns. I am finally leaving today....to head a whole 45 minutes south! I've really enjoyed my time in Cairns (more about this in a bit), but, to be honest, my delayed departure has more to do with excess baggage I had to lose than it does with my being enamoured with this Queensland city.

I mentioned previously how I was staying with a great Help Exchange host, who hd kindly offered a bed to the girl I met on the plane up here. Turns out Rachel was very fortunate as her transfer of funds took another 5 days and her $40 would certainly have been gone by then. Anyways,I was not up for having a 22-year old narcoleptic Welsh girl travel with me for the next month. Yes, that's right - narcoleptic. I go from travelling with Sara, who's an insomniac, to Rachel,who falls asleep every 15 minutes or so and, when she is awake, has no energy. Anyways, it turns out I wasn't the only one who found her presence a bit tiring (pardon the pun) and Seva took it in hand to ensure she headed on her way.

Right, so now she is gone and I am heading to Lynn & Aaron's. THey are friends of Seva and own a Nature Refuge that borders the World Heritage Rainforest - apparently snakes, spiders, birds and bats abound. Lynn is from Michigan (US) and met her husband, Aaron, whilst backpacking round the world during her twenties. Awww.

OK, so I realise Ive neglected to say what I've been doing with my time here in Cairns. Aside from helping Seva out around the house and lounging in the pool, here are the main highlights of the past week and a half:

On Tuesday morning I joined the Cape Tribulation Connections bus tour, which takes travellers up to the Daintree Rainforest, with stops along the way at Mossman Gorge and a Wildlife Sanctuary. Cape Tribulation is situated in the heart of the rainforest - it is unbelievably, specatcularly beautiful up there. The Daintree Rainforest is one of the oldest rainforests in teh world, surviving from a time when there were only two super continents on this planet. The diversity of plant and animal species is amazing.

Anyways, once up in Cape Trib we were dropped off at our accommodation of choice. I decided to stay at the Cape Trib farmstay upon Sara's recommendation. It turned out to be a great choice, particularly given the large basket of exotic fruits we were given for breakfast. I only recognised one of the fruits - papaya. They were all very yummy and interesting looking. I think the Jakfruit was my favorite, just because it was so pretty!!

While up in Cape Trib we took a few walks through the rainforest and went for a swim in a safe watering hole - most are not safe to swim in because of the crocs. As it is the Wet season at the moment there were plenty of heavy rainfalls during the three days we were up there. WHen it wasn't raining it was bloody humid. I mean seriously muggy - like nothing I have ever experienced before. I don't know how people live up there on a permanent basis to be honest.

Upon returning to Cairns Thursday evening we joined Seva at the Yacht Club for some live jazz music and watched as couples danced swing and jive. Afterwards we went across the street to the Casino and enjoyed Motown classics courtesy of Lisa Hunt and her amazingingly talented band (they didn't hurt the eyes either)!

The rest of the weekend was pretty quiet, but I don't mind. One doesn't have to always be 'doing' something to enjoy a place. That is one thing I find frustrating - why do so many people think a place has to have Things to DO in order to be interesting. Isn't just being and seeing enjoyable enough in itself. Why do we always feel the need to be entertained and on the go??? Relax for feck's sake. It's Australia after all, not New York or London.