I heart Port Douglas

I’ve been here in Port Douglas for a little over 3 weeks now and I apologize for not updating my blog more frequently, but truth be told, I haven’t had that many crazy adventures as of late (unless you include being pushed down the street in a shopping cart by 3 drunk Americans). It’s been slow at work as we are just coming into busy season now, so I’ve been spending an inordinate amount of time sitting on the beach, hanging out at the pool, and playing (losing) chess. I’ve also been working on a photographic project that I’m hoping to have exhibited in one of the main shops in town, and my hostel owner discovered that I’m an artist so he put me to work drawing on large chalkboards for the lobby. I got a few nights of free accommodation for these little beauties:


Now chalk art may not be my calling, but I’m pretty excited to say that I will soon be putting my atrophying paining skills to good use. The hostel is undergoing major renovations and I guess I got here at the right time because they have asked me to paint some huge murals on the walls. I’m really excited about the project because it’s a hell of a lot cooler than cleaning the toilets to score free accommodation, and the walls will equate to some of the largest canvases I’ve ever painted on. I’m doing the sketches now and I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing. Yikes! But I can’t tell you how happy I am to get the chance to do something creative at last. I’ve been feeling rather like a piece of dust in the breeze, questioning everything, and it just feels so good to have some creative energy running through my blood again.

In other fun news, I went out to the bar I work at for karaoke night a few nights ago and sang a few songs. I had met these really cool guys from Sydney who were here in Port Douglas for the weekend and was so busy chatting to them that I failed to realize that I was a finalist in the karaoke competition (I hadn’t even been aware that there was a competition on in the first place). The winner would score a trip to the reef and I ended up coming in 2nd place to a guy who was singing Madonna (he was actually really good). I did, however, manage to land myself a free day trip to Mossman Gorge and Cape Tribulation (2 beautiful rainforest areas about an hour north of here). Turned out the guys I was talking to were headed up there the next day and they invited me to come along with them in their car. At least I didn’t come away from karaoke night totally empty-handed!

They picked me up the next morning and we went for an aboriginal tour through native forest. It was a really cool walk (even through the guide seemed to be using the group atmosphere as a forum to vent about her divorce/life woes). She showed us how her ancestors survived in the rainforest and walked us through several survival skills ranging from making paint from the ochre in the river to washing our hands with soap leaves (when you rub these leaves in your hands, they actually lather up and clean as well as a bar of soap). I have no idea how people figure that stuff out; their breadth of knowledge about medicinal properties of plants was astounding. After the tour, the three of us ventured up to Mossman Gorge where we went swimming, and following that, we drove up to the Cape to check out the views. It was a cloudy and chilly day, so I didn’t bother taking any pictures, but try to imagine a beach. That's what it looked like. Oh well, had the weather been better it would have been much more impressive, but that's ok, it was a great day anyway. We got back into town at around 6 and I was so exhausted that I was in bed by 8. Now all I have to do is win that reef trip and my title as queen of the freebie will be sealed!

Things are looking up! (fingers crossed)

After leaving Magnetic Island, I had a few days to kill before arriving in Cairns, so I made a 2-day stopover at Mission Beach for a white water rafting trip. In all honestly, had I not booked the trip the month before, I probably would have opted out of the rafting due to my current financial situation, but it was a great time (and now I can say I went rafting on one of the most technically challenging grade 5 rivers in the world). Within the first 5 minutes of the rapids adventure, the girl sitting next to me on the raft lost control of her paddle and it landed squarely on my lip. This pic was probably taken moments before the swelling began in earnest.


It was rather painful (it’s been a week and my lip still hurts), but luckily she didn’t manage to knock out a tooth as well. You can get seriously injured on those trips due to people falling out of the raft and landing on your head, getting wayward limbs wedged in between rocks, etc… it’s a rough sport and made my NZ rafting trip look like a walk in the park by comparison.

Anyway, after Mission Beach, I headed directly up to Cairns for 4 nights (2 of which I barely remember). The first night, I drank boxed wine for the first time since college, and now I know why I continue to fork over the cash for alcohol products NOT made out of fish eggs. Yes, the ingredients boggle the mind. I literally could not even make it out of the hostel... the stuff is poison. The next night of partying was even worse…I have no idea why I drank so much, but I think it was a result of several days of stressing over jobs and where to go next etc, and having a ton of people I’ve met up the coast all in one place (namely our balcony). Something in me just wanted to really, uh, let loose I guess. Once again, I only made it to one bar before having to call it a night. So lame… not to mention pretty embarrassing.

Well, when I wasn’t out acting like an 18 year old by night, I checked out the job scene in Cairns by day and it was looking pretty grim. Everyone there wants a job as it’s pretty much the end of the line for most travelers, and it’s really difficult to get work of any kind. I met a cool girl in my hostel there that was headed up to Port Douglas (a small, beautiful town an hour north of Cairns) to look for work, so I figured I’d join her. After all, there was no use spinning my wheels in Cairns for another few weeks looking for that elusive job like I did in Byron Bay. We planned to leave Cairns 2 days later, but before I left, I had to get some sunset shots. by the esplanade there (I also set my alarm for 5:30 am for dawn pics, but that didn't really work out so well).





So we arrived in Port Douglas 2 days ago, and within 30 min of being here, my friend got both a job at the hostel working for accommodation and a bartending job at a local bar. I couldn’t believe how quickly things had fallen into place for her, and although I was happy for her, I was getting more and more depressed about my own joblessness. But that afternoon I did another round of resume dropping and, much to my delight, one of the managers at a really cool bar/restaurant offered me a trial run. I started my shift at 5 last night and was totally thrown into the deep end, but it was fun and I got along great with all the staff, so I think it’s all systems go. As I was walking back to the hostel after my shift, I met some locals who offered me a room in their place for $100/week (which is insanely cheap). I also might be working some days at a crocodile farm! (Details on that will be made available if/when the job comes through). I thought the night couldn’t get any more eventful, but at around 11:00 a few of us went down to the beach as we’d heard rumors of a big bonfire party. When we arrived, there were only a couple other people milling about looking for a fire that just did not exist. So instead of going home and conceding defeat, I started gathering some firewood and brush from the trees along the beach and convinced the 6 people there to start our own bonfire. Within 30 min or so, we had a pretty good blaze going, and an hour later there were at least 100 people there playing music and talking. Insane. I got home at 4am and I might now know half the town. All in all, it was a pretty awesome night for a sleepy little vacation town. I think I’m gonna like it here.