Flecker Botanical Gardens, Cairns Regional Gallery
Trip Start
Jan 12, 2009
1
5
44
Trip End
Mar 07, 2009
Cairns, Queensland, Australia
Friday, January 23, 2009
Bites - 5
Bumps/Bruises - 3
BrokenLimbs - 0
I still feel like im on the boat and it has got worse the day after, last night I went to the loo then walked into the wall on the way out, the motion is hilarious like being on a great big marshmellow but I slept like a log last night, even in the sweltering heat, I was awoken by a rain storm which persisted for a bit but had cleared up by morning.
Today I got up early to call home, it just reminds me how far i am away and it feels like i have been gone forever but im only nearing two weeks!! After the call I headed to Woolies - im their biggest customer. Got breakfast then headed to my dodgy street spot to get my free wireless and post up a blog. The man in the shop next door took pity on me and invited me in (but only if i was on one of his computer courses that day , which i was not!). They must know im blagging it - but i cant stay long, i cant rest on anything and i only have time to check email and do the blog.
Blagging over I head to the Flecker Botanical Gardens and take my first bus trip - its easy enough and i spot two pasty faced older people who are obviously also going there - we get off together. We start chatting as i get off and they are american, we nerdily discuss return bus times and head in to the gardens. The first wave of paranoia hits me when i see a fly and i hastily rush to the loos to apply my deet 50%, i wise move. As I head deeper into the foliage i am attacked by a miriad of insects, mostly mozzies who take great delight in flying past your ear at high speed - I cannot fend them off and they come at me like i am a piece of fresh meat. After 20 mins i decide to take the first bus outta there and head back to the bus stop. I find the american guy waiting there also after he exited, he wondered how we made it out alive. He then goes on to tell me about the Denge fever sweeping Oz and how the botanical gardens are hit and he really didnt want to come here today but his wife insisted - Denge fever is spread by mozzies and isnt nice. Im pleased i left. I start to be polite and chat to him and ask him some questions at which point he heads straight on into his life story and a not so brief history of his family tree- it was so incredibly boring. Half way through his family tree lecture a mosquito lands on his cheek, a little voice in me wants me to warn him, but the other half wants to watch the mozzie in action, so i sit and watch for a good ten minutes as the mozzie has a very very good face meal and a sly grin appears on my face......payback.
I make it back into town and decide to splash out on taking myself to a gallery, the botanical gardens was free and the gallery was only like 2 quid so i headed in, great choice, the gallery was amazing. Three floors of modern art from the locals and really good stuff too. There are not many people there and i spend a good hour or so enjoying the air con and good art. I head to the shop and spot a good present to bring home, a nice aboriginal fruit weave bowl, but its like 60 quid!! What?!?!? for a bit of wood??!? i give it a miss.
Afer my touristy stuff is done i grab lunch and head to the favoured lagoon for some relaxing. My dive friend Ron contacts me and heads down later and we spend the rest of the afternoon in the park chatting which is really nice as i feel less like i have no mates. We stay there for hours until we get hungry and then he takes me to some REALLY dodgy irish bar. It smells of BO and cheese but the food is reasonable. I order a pint of guinness which tastes utterly gross, like old feet and metal, but i drink it anyway. A girl in the bar is so hammered she cant find the way out and keeps asking people where the front door is - its hilarious and only like 7pm, she makes it to like a meter from the door and then asks Ron where it is and he points her in the right direction but she still cant manage to rotate the right way round. Cairns is a DODGY party town. Anyway the food isnt bad - substantial and passable. for some reason we stay there until late getting drunk and talking and it was a really nice way to pass a friday night, at least i wasnt in the hostel.
The french girl in my room is odd, we tried to talk but her english isnt great. She seems to stay in the hostel all day watching DVDs, which i just dont get - its so hot and sweaty in the room, not sure why you would want to stay there all day. By night she dresses up and vasnishes for a while. Last night she came home and left her heels right on the door and i stamped on them a few times, oops. The hostel is weird, the girls are so unfriendly and dont raise their heads to say hello - so im just seeing it as a place to stop and hope the future hostels are better.
