And so it begins...
Trip Start
Nov 11, 2007
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3
26
Trip End
Feb 11, 2007
Cairns,
Australia
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Well the eagle has landed...or rather I have lol! Arrived in Cairns a little ahead of schedule about 8:10am yesterday after quite a short flight, thank goodness (and yet another aeroplane breakfast!) After a brief stop at immigration where they made me declare my softmints as food and my ibuprofen as medication I walked through only to be stopped by a further customs lady who preceded to want to know everything about my trip! I was convinced she was gonna ask me when I last went to the loo or something, she was that thorough. Or maybe she was just nosey! After that I was sniffed by the cutest sniffer dog ever - a little beagle - I picked up my bag that was thankfully waiting for me on the carousel. PHEW! I was petrified it wouldn't be there.
So after a total of 18 and a half hours in the air in total, 4 meals, 5 different security check ins/scans-having to remove my belt and small plastic bag with "liquids" in each time and a scary moment in singapore where I thought they wouldn't let me on the plane, needless to say airports are not one of my favourite places right now! Oh my scary singapore moment went as follows: Leanne gets scanned and beeps (again). Hands in her boarding card and is puzzled when the asian lady directs her to another lady saying that it isn't right (Leanne nearly faints). Even more confusing they all start conferring, checking her passport and boarding card for a while - all in a language she can't understand! Leanne is very relieved when she finds the problem is only that her seat number is wrong! What a palaver! Ah well all is well!
Ok so the girls met me at the airport - was great to see them - and I was also met by a lot of RAIN!! Argh! O and the most incredible wall of damp, oppresive heat as I walked outside!
My first impressions of Cairns/Oz - from the air
We flew into Cairns from Darwin and I was slightly disappointed at how cloudy it was but I managed to get a few glimpses of the area and this is what I thought:
1.Cairns is very green and tropical looking - beautiful even thought it was raining!
2. This country is a vast expanse of space - the guidebooks weren't lying when they said there is hardly anything going on away from the coast! I saw lots of small towns and cities clustered around the coasts, then further it's just landwith a few farms dotted here and there and is all split up by some very straight roads and occasionally a meandering river. What an amazing place!
3. If the glimpses I got are anything to go by, the reef is gonna be beautiful!
The girls had booked me into a hostel - JJ's backpackers - which is nice and clean and we're staying in a 4 bed dorm at the moment! Got tonight there and then we're heading off down the coast tomorrow morning! We dumped my stuff and I freshened up - much needed - and we headed into town to see what Cairns had in store my our stay! The girls vaguely knew there way around as they got here on sunday (11th) so we wandered and browsed round a shopping centre then grabbed some food in the food court. I had the biggest hot dog ever - huge sausage!! Lol! The shops here are really nice and there is a lot I could buy but unfortunately for me, I have no room in my bag! Then we wandered round woolworths - which is like a supermarket here - and sat and had a drink on the street in a cafe! It had stopped raining hooray! My view of Cairns is that there's not much to do here really! People seem to use it as a base to go on trips further north! Or come and get drunk but I shall get to that shortly!
When back in our room we decided to form a loose plan for the journey down to sydney! Sounds like we have a plan now so I'm happy! Off in the morning heading for Townsville and there Magnetic Island and a date with a koala awaits! Going via a stop off in Tully for a few hours to see where the boyfriend spent his time - soppy i know lol!
Got a free evening meal ticket when I checked in the hostel as this is part of the deal. This meal is in the Woolshed! So the decision was made to go out and eat then stay out for the night! Woop! Party party! We showered etc., then headed for tea where the selection was a tad limited lol - Chilli, spag bol, veggie pasta, veggie spag bol! I plumped for Chilli which was nice actually! It was then that we were all surprised when my friend from school, Selina, wandered past our table! I shouted her over and we hugged and caught up! Weirdly she's ended up in cairns and is doing the east coast like us so we're hoping to catch up again soon! I knew she was in oz but had no idea she'd be in cairns, I thought she was west coast! Crazyness! Was nice to see her though and we swapped numbers.
Then the drinking began! Few bottles of wine, a few vodkas and we tried PJ O'Briens and Gilligan's out! And we ended up back in the woolshed to dance the night away! Anyway the pics shall follow shortly on facebook and I shall let them do the talking!
Can't wait to start 'travelling' down the coast now! So much I wanna see! Anyway I'm off cos we've gotta book our bus ticket for tomorrow and I've already gone over my hour - plus the girls want chips (I don't I feel a tad ill lol)!
Hope everyone's ok, O just to cheer u up it's hot and sunny here today! Lots of love, Smiffy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
