Cairns

Good afternoon! Well its afternoon for me on Tuesday. most of you are still experiencing Monday as I write this. It is my second full day in Cairns. I honestly haven't done a whole lot but that will change soon.

I booked a tour to go out and snorkel around the Great Barrier Reef on Thursday. Its a pretty long tour. 90 minutes out, then four hours out there, then another 90 minutes back. I paid $5 extra so they will let me do an "introductory dive" which basically will be my first scuba dive going down 12 meters. I'm pretty nervous about that part because I always liked keeping my head above water. But for $5 and the fact that there will be experienced divers down there with me, I think I'll take a chance.

Traveling up here by myself isn't as easy as it was traveling to Sydney. No doubt, I've done some solo trips in my day, but usually there is a group or a couple people waiting to see me at the final destination. Here I know nobody, even my host family here isn't that outgoing so its really in my hands to make my Cairns visit what I want it to be. I'm not saying this isn't a good time, it is just a bit more challenging to walk up to strangers, strike up a conversation. I did meet a guy from Vancouver, Canada today. He's doing the same thing I am. Good to talk to any North American. I might take a Calm Water Cruise tomorrow. It is a 14 foot catamaran tour that travels to the Trinity Inlet (I don't know what that is either) and also goes to a Crocodile farm. For $50 it isn't a bad deal. Plus it is cheaper than those Carnival shore excursions so I can't complain. And I could say I've seen the Aussie Crocs!

Did I mention Cairns is hot? Its wicked hot. The humidity is amazing, I just have a thin sheet on my bed and don't really need that. I'm getting bit by mosquitoes. Small bugs, but big bites. So Cairns is about experience, not neccessarily comfort.

My hosts are nice people. Dave is in his 50's, Aran is around 40 I believe. Aran is a chef and Dave is a guy who does odd jobs. Fixes bikes, paints, does whatever really. We spent last evening just talking. They told me lots of stories. It was a pretty good experience. Actually neither of them are Australian, one is English and the other New Zealand.

Alright, I will post again after I survive the snorkel adventure.