Aug 2006

I left Airlie one fine Friday and set off to Magnetic Island with Em, Andrew and Zac. Full moon party here we come!
We had a really good trip up to Townsville, but there it started to get tricky.. I'm not the only person who's born 15 minutes too late.. We nearly missed the last ferry over to Maggie, but made it in time cause we didn't pay for parking.. Luckily there was no ticket waiting when we came back.. Puh. Then Em managed to forget her handbag on the bus.. Zac to the rescue, she got it back after less than half an hour, with everything still in it! Lucky girl..

The party was good, the island better. Had a great time, met a lot of funny people, but boy it was hard to go back to being a regular backpacker after living in Airlie for so long. Back in Townsville again it was time to say goodbye to the boys. It was quite sad cause I don't know when I'll see them again, but at least we've had a really good time.

Next stop was Mission Beach to do some white water rafting. The highlight of the trip for Em and myself. We had great weather and a good team, awesome day on the river! And yes, we did get wet.. Both Em and I forgot to bring extra shoes, so we had to walk barefoot the rest of the day.. Rafting is something I wouldn't mind doing again! I'll definately find myself a river to raft when I get back home..

Next stop was Cairns, which has sort of been my goal destination in Australia. Beautiful city. Although it didn't quite catch me.. A bit "touristy". It's bigger than Airlie, and that was strange in the beginning, I didn't quite know where to start to get to know the town, but by the time I left again I'd managed not to get lost too many times a day, hehe.

While I was in Cairns I went to Cape Tribulation to see the rainforest. I'm really glad I did, it was beautiful.
I met some nice people and we went sea kayaking and horsebackriding on the beach.

Taking a picture of myself trying not to drop the camera in the water..

Beach at cape trib

Horsie!!

Back in Cairns I didn't really know what to do next or where to go.. But even though Cairns isn't a huge city (it only has about 130 000 people), it was bigger then I preferred at the moment, so I decided to go back to Mission beach again. And here I am! It's small and peaceful and I love it! Didn't really get to see the beach properly the last time, so now I'm enjoying it to the full!

Borrowed a bike. Good fun. More fun if it had an engine..

I have been here for two months now, and really enjoyed it, even though it's the smallest town I've ever stayed in.

I came in to work this morning, just in time as I overslept... (It's amazing how hard it is to go to work after having a weekend off..) I think I was still asleep when I came in today and tried to find my name on a board. (That's how I know where I'll be working that day) I couldn't find it, so I went to my boss and asked where I was going to work, and she sent me home! So my last day at work was Friday. I wish she told me on Friday.. Then I could've stayed in bed this morning istead of rushing in to work.. Ah, well. At least I got up to enjoy this beautiful day!

Part of me actually doesn't want to leave this place now. I know so many people and I know all about this place. Well, there you go, that's a reason for leaving, go get to know another part of Australia! But it will be sad to leave my friends behind.. Especially since I don't know if I'll ever see them again. It's different to leave your home and your friends and family cause you know you'll be coming back to them..

So now I have to go find myself a place to stay. As I do not longer work here and accomodation was part of my paycheck, I have no room anymore. Well, that is: I do, but then I would have to pay for it. I'll go see if any of my friends want a new roommate for a couple of days! I can clean at least, hehe. Don't know about my cooking skills though, so I don't think I have too much to brag about. Yesterday I was making corn cob for dinner and I guess I had it on too hot, there was cooking oil splashing around everywhere, you couldn't see anything because of all the smoke in the room and my cob was black. I had to open the door and put the fan on full to get the smoke out.. My friend was not impressed.. But it tasted lovely, so you didn't see me complaining!

I'm off to the beach now, so I'll write more later, can't stay inside in this gorgeous weather!