Atherton Tablelands

I had booked a tour to the Atherton Tablelands (a rainforest an hour south of Cairns), not really knowing what to expect. But it turned out much better than I imagined it would for $80. As we began our walk the guide asked “what are you all hoping to see?” I called out “snake” since that was the only animal I could think of that I hadn’t seen in the wild yet and really was hoping to see while in Oz. Our first stop was to a giant fig tree which isn’t too terribly exciting until he opened up his magical bag and out came a python! It was probably 2 meters long and he had found it on the road near his house. Knowing it would never survive there, he decided to catch it and release it on his next tour (which just so happened to be mine)! He let us drape it over our necks and take pictures… clearly I was all over this. He pretty well instantly wrapped his body around anything he touched. He had gotten a decent hold around one guy’s neck but I’m sure the guide wasn’t nearly as taken aback as the rest of us were. The rest of the tour consisted of our guide cracking jokes, and stopping at 3 sets of waterfalls, which included the Millaa Millaa Waterfalls where the commercial for Herbal Essence is filmed. Needless to say all of us girls had to re-enact this shot. Our guide took pictures and I will add them once he uploads them to the website. When stopping for our first coffee and snack break, our guide made real brewed coffee, whipped milk to make froth and even topped up our coffees with coffee flakes. Pretty unexpected when in the middle of a rainforest. He taught us how to crack open a coconut and entertained us most of the drive with random stories of his life. The next morning I made the drive out to Port Douglas for some good quality beach relaxation time.

Trying my luck at solo travelling

After spending 3 great weeks with my family in Brisbane, I hopped on a flight up to Cairns and checked into 'Dreamtime Travellers Rest', a great little hostel with funky decorations and a movie night every second night! I arrived around 4 pm and wandered around the town, looking for a place to get dinner. Feeling somewhat weird sitting in a restaurant all by myself while it seemed like every other person had at least one other person to sit with, it took me a long while to finally decide on the perfect restaurant. At this point I was already thinking to myself 'I have to do this all alone for the next 12 days??!!' But what I have quickly learned is that travelling on my own really isn't travelling on my own at all since SO many other backpackers are doing the exact same thing I am and also don't want to be the only one sitting at a restaurant all by themselves. As soon as I got into my hostel room I met Paul from England and Tom from CDA and Tom quickly cracked open a bottle of wine and pretty well talked non-stop about his job as a lawyer and helping people get Visas etc etc etc. I don't think Paul or myself spoke for a solid hour and Tom didn't seem to get the hint that we had a hard time following his stories. I should say that Tom is in his fifties and lives half-permanently out of backpacker hostels since he works in Cairns but lives on the Gold Coast. Somehow Tom managed to continue his stories until late into the night and we just about had to force him to let us go to bed. The next day, surprisingly and thankfully, Tom checked out. I spent the next two days wandering the streets, sitting by the lagoon, playing cards with fellow hostellers and relaxing. Yesterday our new roomy, Robin, invited me to go to the lagoon with him. I assumed we would walk since it's only 10 minutes away but he insisted on driving (he has been living and working in Australia for the past year and a half). He went through a parking lot but was surprised when he had to take a ticket upon entering, since we were only driving through. Then, as we are about to exit, he was a little irritated thinking he might have to pay so he decided to simply follow the car ahead of us and cross his fingers that the arm didn't close before we had gotten out. Well, needless to say, the arm came right down on top of the car and he seemed very surprised that this had happened. We just kept driving and hoped there were no cops around to pull us over. Today has been another relaxing day, and I may even go catch a movie at the theatre since it's cheap Tuesday with someone from my hostel. Tomorrow I booked a tour to the rainforest, so I'm sure I will have pictures to post once that's over. Cairns has been nice but other than hanging out by the lagoon or in bars, there isn't a whole lot to do, unless you are willing to pay for tours every day. And travelling on my own has proven to be quite enjoyable. I have met lots of new people, been offered a ride to Port Douglas and Darwin and even been offered a job to work on a cattle ranch! I guess if teaching doesn't work out I'll have a back up!