Cairns
Trip Start
Jun 18, 2008
1
59
72
Trip End
Ongoing
Cairns,
Queensland,
Australia
Thursday, October 30, 2008
And so we hit Cairns, with some mixed feelings. It was the end of the road, at least for the driving part of the trip, and the sign that it was time to think about going home.
We hadn't planned to do anything in Cairns, it was simply the last town in which we could drop the Van off, back to it's real owners. Beforehand, we spent hours cleaning it inside and out, which was great fun - we spent $8 on a Jet Wash, $6 of which was spent trying to get each other with the spray. We also found $2 in loose change down the back of the bed, which was nice. Then that was promptly spent on more Jet Washes.
Dropping the Van off was a simple task
Cairns Lagoon
. They took one look around it, saw that is was full of Petrol, nothing had happened to the Van itself, and that it was in good nick, and away we went - homeless. I was a bit annoyed that they hadn't congratulated me though on how awesome the Van looked. We had even cleaned up the shit the previous renters had caused. Even the wheels were gleaming. That alone had to be worth a free rental, for say another 5 months? With a sad goodbye (The Van waved goodbye to us - at least it's radio aeriel was swaying), off we went to find a place to stay.Which is where we had our first Cairns surprise - it wasn't very busy. As the main stopping off point for the Great Barrier Reef, plus being a bit of a budget travellers mecca - great weather, loads of bars and clubs, farm work to be found all around - we assumed it would be heaving. It wasn't. We went to loads of Hostels, asking for prices, and each one said they were not busy at all.
We settled for one about 10 minutes walk from the main city centre, and then off we went to explore Cairns. Our second surprise was that it was cheap. Even the Tourist Tat stores were good value for money - The night market, especially so. We assumed that being this far north, and so popular with travelers, that it would therefore cost a fortune to do anything, but in comparison to most places along the east coast, it was cheap
Entertainment at Queensland Government BBQ
.So we simply wondered about the shops, getting a few little gifts for folks back home; eating lots and drinking more. With our flight due a couple of days later, we spent most of our time either chilling in the hostel, watching various poor films; or down by the Lagoon, a very large public swimming pool right on the beach. Pretty much everyone in town went there, basking in the sun.
As luck would have it, our visit coincided with the Queensland Government coming up to Cairns, to hold parliment sessions there. In celebration, they held a large free public barbeque with entertainment thrown in to. So on a lovely, balmy spring night in the tropics, I was given a hotdog by the Governor of Queensland.
I can't say my local MP has given me anything. Apart from excuses.
With the hotdogs flowing, and a really cool atmosphere, the entertainment was spot on - lots of different groups from Aboriginal Dancers to School Bands. Yet again, the Australian hospitality won us over. As the Governer said - this is Democracy - Queensland style. I liked it. As darkness descended, thousands of Flying Foxes flew overhead, giving it just that little bit extra of "exotic" flavor.
And that ended our eastcoast trip. It was then time to jump on a flight to Melbourne.
