Cairns

“What a wonderfully venomous and toothy country”

– B. Bryson

Stepping off the plane at Cairns Airport I was in a daze. I just spent over 12 hours on a plane from Hong Kong. Still recovering from the culture shock of Hong Kong I was looking forward to hearing the English language again.  Australian English would have to do. Cairns was hot that day (36C), at least hot to a Canadian boy.

I reached the YHA hostel on McLeod and was shown the room I was to share with 5 others for the next week. The look on my face when I saw how small the room was must have been priceless. However, all was great after a few days and I’d like to thank my hostel roommate Mike from Sheffield, England for befriending me and making my hostel stay less painful.

Cairns was to be my starting point for Cape Tribulation and The Great Barrier Reef as well as my trip southwards down the coast. I had seven days until I picked up my car rental. I hurried out of the hostel room after carefully locking up my backpack. Like a kid in a candy store I was so anxious to explore my new surroundings. I remember it taking me at least 4 days to climatize myself. I was drinking 6- 8 liters of water every day for those first few days. So I was hot in pursuit of some bottle water when I hit the main drag in Cairns.

I came across an art gallery that sold some pretty amazing opals and Aboriginal artwork. A short walk further down revealed the sale of Didgeridoos. You can also buy crocodile parts of every variety. These are farmed crocodiles raised just for this purpose. Some pictures here are a walk through the town centre of Cairns itself. I realized I was in Oz when I saw the menu for Croc and Kangaroo Steaks.

The pictures near the bottom are of my rental car and my supplies for camping.  Interesting to note is the sticker on the inside of the rental car warning me to stay left.  Driving on the left side of the road in the right hand side of a car was an adventure in itself. I was called a few choice names. Lucky for me it was early in the trip and I had not grown accustomed to Aussie slang.  Otherwise, I might of been insulted.

In Oz the Burger Kings are called Hungry Jacks. Someone already had owned the trademark when Burger King arrived in Oz.