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.
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