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.
'Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.' Robert Frost
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Thursday, March 15, 2007
On Top of Oz
Yesterday I flew from Adelaide in SA to Cairns, in Northern Queensland. Cairns is the major starting point for backpackers making their way down the East Coast, which is famous for, amongst other things - the Great Barrier Reef, Whitsunday Islands, Fraser Island, Gold Coast and non-stop parties. I plan to enjoy/see all of the above over the next six weeks!
Upon arriving in Cairns I met Seva, my latest Helpx host - it turned out I am her first helper and she is absolutely lovely and v. undemanding with regards to chores. Anyways, I had met this girl on the plane to Cairns who was running somewhat short on cash so when Seva mentioned she had a spare bed if Rachel was interested I went back into the airport and dragged Rachel along. Since it was evening when we arrived, last night was just a relaxing night at Seva's.
It is'THE WET' in Cairns at the moment and so it poured last night by the bucketful, but I get the impression it is a good thing it rained as the climate here is tropical and without a rain it can be sticky, muggy and unbearably hot.
I was supposed to head to Port Douglas tomorrow morning, but I've decided to stay in Cairns for a couple more days as Seva is so nice and so I can sort out what I want to do with regards to touring the Daintree rainforest.
I can't believe I am leaving Australia in less than 2 months!!!
Note to all at home (PEI) - if you know of any jobs/places to rent in Ch'town please let me know, I will need both a place to live and a place to work when I get back in June.
Upon arriving in Cairns I met Seva, my latest Helpx host - it turned out I am her first helper and she is absolutely lovely and v. undemanding with regards to chores. Anyways, I had met this girl on the plane to Cairns who was running somewhat short on cash so when Seva mentioned she had a spare bed if Rachel was interested I went back into the airport and dragged Rachel along. Since it was evening when we arrived, last night was just a relaxing night at Seva's.
It is'THE WET' in Cairns at the moment and so it poured last night by the bucketful, but I get the impression it is a good thing it rained as the climate here is tropical and without a rain it can be sticky, muggy and unbearably hot.
I was supposed to head to Port Douglas tomorrow morning, but I've decided to stay in Cairns for a couple more days as Seva is so nice and so I can sort out what I want to do with regards to touring the Daintree rainforest.
I can't believe I am leaving Australia in less than 2 months!!!
Note to all at home (PEI) - if you know of any jobs/places to rent in Ch'town please let me know, I will need both a place to live and a place to work when I get back in June.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Back in Adelaide
Free at last! Yay - Sara and I left the vineyard this morning and made the trek back to Adelaide. We're spending two nights here before we part ways (sigh) - I head North East to Cairns and she heads West to Perth. We are looking forward to eating and drinking well and having some free time to ourselves.
To be perfectly honest, the vineyard was getting a bit old over the past few days. No need to go into details, this is about my adventures not my misadventures!
In any case, we did have some enjoyable experiences on the farm - namely when we left it to explore the area. The highlight by far was last Friday when we were given the day off (yah - but we worked 10 hours the next day doing cooking/catering).
We decided it was the opportune time to do our cycling tour of the McLaren Vale cellar doors. Cellar doors for those of you who are not familiar, are vineyards where you are invited to sample many, many wines grown locally.
For some reason I figured we would be able to handle six or seven. Sara just laughed at me and rightly so, because after our first stop I was in dire need of some bread to soak up the alcohol. It didn't help that it was 11 in the morning, I hadn't drank in two months and we had just finished a 10 km cycle! Anyways, we cycled on from Penny's Hills to Richard Hamilton/Leconfield Winery where we sampled some lovely wines then on to the town of McLaren Vale where we took a well deserved break from drinking and turned to almond sampling and lunch.
After lunch we hit up Hardy's, Beresford's and Hugh Hamilton's amaszing vineyard with 360 degree views of the area. By this time my ability to cycle 'may' have been slightly compromised. We headed back to Leconfield so I could pick up a bottle of Merlot then raced back to Penny's Hills so Sara could buy Almond Liquer (mmmm!).
Back in Willunga we decided a couple more drinks couldn't hurt us before we made the final leg of our journey home!
In total I think we cycled around 30 kilometres on our tour and drank at least 9 full glasses of wine. It was totally worth it...and it was absolutely free :)
Other highlights from our time on the farm include learning how to make pasta from scratch, making pizza crusts and doing a catering stint at one of the Fringe Festival shows in Adelaide. We also shovelled a lot of cow poo, which, it turns out, was surprisingly light and non-smelly. In fact, the shovel was much heavier than the poo so we all started picking it up with our hands (gloved!).
Well, time is wasting away and the sun is shining so will love you and leave you all for now.
Ooooohhhh - just a note - if you want to read more about our adventures or maybe see a pic or two, just click on the link to Sara's RTW Blog (see panel to your right)
To be perfectly honest, the vineyard was getting a bit old over the past few days. No need to go into details, this is about my adventures not my misadventures!
In any case, we did have some enjoyable experiences on the farm - namely when we left it to explore the area. The highlight by far was last Friday when we were given the day off (yah - but we worked 10 hours the next day doing cooking/catering).
We decided it was the opportune time to do our cycling tour of the McLaren Vale cellar doors. Cellar doors for those of you who are not familiar, are vineyards where you are invited to sample many, many wines grown locally.
For some reason I figured we would be able to handle six or seven. Sara just laughed at me and rightly so, because after our first stop I was in dire need of some bread to soak up the alcohol. It didn't help that it was 11 in the morning, I hadn't drank in two months and we had just finished a 10 km cycle! Anyways, we cycled on from Penny's Hills to Richard Hamilton/Leconfield Winery where we sampled some lovely wines then on to the town of McLaren Vale where we took a well deserved break from drinking and turned to almond sampling and lunch.
After lunch we hit up Hardy's, Beresford's and Hugh Hamilton's amaszing vineyard with 360 degree views of the area. By this time my ability to cycle 'may' have been slightly compromised. We headed back to Leconfield so I could pick up a bottle of Merlot then raced back to Penny's Hills so Sara could buy Almond Liquer (mmmm!).
Back in Willunga we decided a couple more drinks couldn't hurt us before we made the final leg of our journey home!
In total I think we cycled around 30 kilometres on our tour and drank at least 9 full glasses of wine. It was totally worth it...and it was absolutely free :)
Other highlights from our time on the farm include learning how to make pasta from scratch, making pizza crusts and doing a catering stint at one of the Fringe Festival shows in Adelaide. We also shovelled a lot of cow poo, which, it turns out, was surprisingly light and non-smelly. In fact, the shovel was much heavier than the poo so we all started picking it up with our hands (gloved!).
Well, time is wasting away and the sun is shining so will love you and leave you all for now.
Ooooohhhh - just a note - if you want to read more about our adventures or maybe see a pic or two, just click on the link to Sara's RTW Blog (see panel to your right)
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