Flight day between Cairns and Melbourne

August 20, 2009

Got up this morning, knowing that I had to leave Cairns. Didn't sleep well, knowing that it was my last night in a room to myself in a tropical paradise. eh, got up at about 6:45... finished packing and went down to put my stuff into storage while I went back up to Kuranda for one last hurrah.. I got the bus without a problem.. the bus was only $4 each way... hmm.. and three days prior I spent $93 to get up to Kuranda... eh.. guess you learn these things along the way. Though, I think that the skyrail and scenic train were worth the extra money, they really made the trip to Kuranda. in any case, got up to Kuranda, some stuff was just opening. I went to see the bat hospital, but it was closed, so I took a picture as well as I could from the gate. I didn't go down the rain forest trail like the other day, as I didn't have the time.. I wanted to re-trace my steps as best as possible to get the pictures I'd lost. So I went to the Koala lady and the kind soul that she is, pitied me, and let me go in to the park to quickly grab a few pictures. I didn't get one of the baby boy koala, he was too tightly curled into his mum, but I did get some other pictures while I was in there.
I then went to the Kangaroo Fur lady.. she was great too.. she let me take pictures of the Roocycling... scrotum items.. and g-strings.. she was fun, but I had to keep going. I wanted to visit the artist that really touched me and wanted to buy a piece, alas, when I got to the store, it was still closed. So I ended up walking around for a bit (still closed) grabbing a meat pie for brunch and having to catch the bus back to Cairns in time to catch my ride to the airport. All went well, the plane was so full that some of us ended up in the seats for premiere class (without the service of course) but at least the seats were comfortable and we had more leg room. I had an aisle seat and 3 of us in the row. It was a lovely couple who had just finished a tour of the northern tip of Queensland... quite lovely people. We talked about travelling, Aussie movie stars.... my dearest darling Hugh Jackman.. mmm! lol

Plane landed, it was 5:30ish... was dark by the time I got out of the airport, caught a bus into town, then waited at a station for a tram to my hostel. While I was waiting there.. I saw a young guy sit down on the bench and thought I'd check with him on the price and if I could pay the driver cash or if I needed a ticket. He told me I could ride for free... I just had to follow him.. He had a horribly strong accent.. Turns out he was Irish and travelling about Australia for almost the last year. He told me that he spent about $8000 in 6 weeks in Sydney.. by the sounds of his stories.. it was mostly spent in the pubs.. lol.. he was now working here in Melbourne (past 6 months) to make up a bit of money to move on. He and another gentleman helped me to get off at the right stop and I made it to the hostel.

The hostel seems ok so far. I'm across the hall from reception and out my window I can hear the sounds of the kitchen. I'm still waiting for my roommates.. they're supposed to arrive tonight and it's already 10:20pm...

I went out for dinner.. of which I was a bit trepidatious...I'm in a strange city, at night, in the dark, all alone, walking the streets... hmm.. eh, well I found a nice little internet cafe.. spent $2 on a half hour then found a nice little italian restaurant that was filled to the brim (figured it had to be good) dinner .. a plate of Prosciutto Penne and a tea came up to $16. Not a bad meal. I walked a little further and found a 7-11 and bought some groceries. Walked around the corner only to find a grocery store. sigh. oh well. I want to do a bit of laundry and from what it looks like, it's $4 to wash, $2 to dry and $1 for soap. $7/load.. I may just end up doing some essentials...
Anyways, that's about it for now.. I'm tired and I may just watch an episode of Bones, or something... who knows.. I'm not sure if they all made it onto my iPod.. shoot darn!