Zoe: G’DAY MATE!! And so we make it to Oz, but only just. Knowing full well that the flight from Bangkok to Cairns via Singapore was to be no easy task we felt we had prepared ourselves for the million hour trip.... WRONG! The flight from Bangkok, whilst a little delayed, went fairly smoothly, we were fed well, but had made the decision not to sleep for the 4 hour flight trying to keep ourselves awake so we could sleep from Singapore to Cairns. Excited about a new country we arrived at a very impressive Singapore airport for the 7 hour wait for our connecting flight. We were also looking forward to the luxury of a Quantas plane after taking a number of budget flights lately, but no such luck. We checked in to find that not only we were flying via Darwin but we were flying the budget Jetstar airline! Oh well, the time passed in the airport, albeit slowly, and as we prepare to board another flight disaster struck again.... K lost her valium, her essential companion when flying. Having searched her bags, she opted to run to the chemist for any kind of equivalent and after running for gate, the gate number changing, people telling us different things about the length of the flight, and what we do in Darwin, we got seated on the plane and we took off, K doing surprisingly well on her herbal equivalent at this point. As soon as we were airbourne, we felt the need to sleep... but due to the (completely inefficient) staff were served last for food and drinks, despite telling them that K needed to sleep asap or else she would cry (she cried). Now wound up by the events of the day sleeping proved hard, but after the stop in Darwin, getting off the plane for an hour at ridic o’clock am and reboarding, we finally arrived in a very sunny and gorgeous looking Cairns. Woohoo! Well done K!
So Cairns.... situated on the north of the East Coast of Australia it is hot, humid and tropical! We checked into our hostel (the reality of which is rooms costing more than 5 quid...booo!) and headed out to check out the town... which basically consisted of a cross roads. Despite maybe expecting a bit more to be going on, we soon grew to really like Cairns. The first day, having recovered from our flight, was filled with exploring, country music, many a mullet, and WINE! We headed out for dinner, offered free by the hostel in a local pub, which was to Kathryn’s delight, Spaghetti Bolognaise! Not sure if it was to be a big night for us, we washed it down with a glass of delicious wine, and then a bottle, and then... we found out it was ladies night, meaning free ‘champagne’ til 11pm for the ladies, hmmmm. Tell 2 London girls at half ten they can have free champagne until 11 does not only sound like a must do.. but a challenge. Having met a nice group of people that night, I decided to prove my drinking skills, and with Kathryn fraternising with the enemy telling me that I only had ten minutes left, which was not true, I must have downed 5 champagnes in 20 minutes... all in the name of saving money of course. The rest of the first night in Cairns was a bit of a blur... there was lots of dancing, some of which was on tables, and late night food... or was that early morning, as we didn’t crawl back to the hostel til 4ish. A sign of things to come for us in Australia?! Perhaps!!
After recovering from our first night in Cairns, we spent the next 2 days organising our first few weeks in Australia and the activities we wanted to do along the East Coast. The wonderful travel agents (Peter Pans) became our 2nd home and we’re soon recognised as the girls they couldn’t get rid of! They loved us really, and we made a great friend.... so much so that we have began a business venture in collaboration with our new pal Bucko! At the moment, all we can say is Slap the Goon!!
Despite our hangovers, we still managed to go out on our 2nd night, this time sampling the legendary goon (wine from a bag) and enjoying a free meal from another local pub (we thought we should not show our faces in the pub from last night!!). That said, it wasn’t long before we were again making fools of ourselves in another bar... or maybe that was just me. Having won the “raffle” I was asked, amongst others, to head up to the stage... but not to receive a prize, but instead to participate in some crazy bar games.... I felt like I had returned to uni! After passing a few of the initial tasks I failed on the getting an empty glass from the crowd, proved as such by having to empty the contents of it on my head. Nice! Some more shenanigans..... and then home for an earlyish night.
Nothing really interesting to report in the next few days, we were excited about the diving we had booked on the great barrier reef, and the trip to Cape Tribulation but first had to waste some lazy days in Cairns. Unlike the time days of glorious sunshine which we had spent in the travel agents, these days were overcast and mostly pouring with rain, it is the wet season here after all! Most of them were wasted by reading books, a little shopping, and me being ill in bed... but finally the day came! Diving on the Great Barrier Reef!!
So Cairns.... situated on the north of the East Coast of Australia it is hot, humid and tropical! We checked into our hostel (the reality of which is rooms costing more than 5 quid...booo!) and headed out to check out the town... which basically consisted of a cross roads. Despite maybe expecting a bit more to be going on, we soon grew to really like Cairns. The first day, having recovered from our flight, was filled with exploring, country music, many a mullet, and WINE! We headed out for dinner, offered free by the hostel in a local pub, which was to Kathryn’s delight, Spaghetti Bolognaise! Not sure if it was to be a big night for us, we washed it down with a glass of delicious wine, and then a bottle, and then... we found out it was ladies night, meaning free ‘champagne’ til 11pm for the ladies, hmmmm. Tell 2 London girls at half ten they can have free champagne until 11 does not only sound like a must do.. but a challenge. Having met a nice group of people that night, I decided to prove my drinking skills, and with Kathryn fraternising with the enemy telling me that I only had ten minutes left, which was not true, I must have downed 5 champagnes in 20 minutes... all in the name of saving money of course. The rest of the first night in Cairns was a bit of a blur... there was lots of dancing, some of which was on tables, and late night food... or was that early morning, as we didn’t crawl back to the hostel til 4ish. A sign of things to come for us in Australia?! Perhaps!!
After recovering from our first night in Cairns, we spent the next 2 days organising our first few weeks in Australia and the activities we wanted to do along the East Coast. The wonderful travel agents (Peter Pans) became our 2nd home and we’re soon recognised as the girls they couldn’t get rid of! They loved us really, and we made a great friend.... so much so that we have began a business venture in collaboration with our new pal Bucko! At the moment, all we can say is Slap the Goon!!
Despite our hangovers, we still managed to go out on our 2nd night, this time sampling the legendary goon (wine from a bag) and enjoying a free meal from another local pub (we thought we should not show our faces in the pub from last night!!). That said, it wasn’t long before we were again making fools of ourselves in another bar... or maybe that was just me. Having won the “raffle” I was asked, amongst others, to head up to the stage... but not to receive a prize, but instead to participate in some crazy bar games.... I felt like I had returned to uni! After passing a few of the initial tasks I failed on the getting an empty glass from the crowd, proved as such by having to empty the contents of it on my head. Nice! Some more shenanigans..... and then home for an earlyish night.
Nothing really interesting to report in the next few days, we were excited about the diving we had booked on the great barrier reef, and the trip to Cape Tribulation but first had to waste some lazy days in Cairns. Unlike the time days of glorious sunshine which we had spent in the travel agents, these days were overcast and mostly pouring with rain, it is the wet season here after all! Most of them were wasted by reading books, a little shopping, and me being ill in bed... but finally the day came! Diving on the Great Barrier Reef!!
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