A brand new continent, a new atmosphere and a new purpose for my travels.
As soon as we landed in Australia I was on the hunt for a job to help finance the last few months of the trip. Luckily the hunt didn't last long, before even having had chance to clean my teeth or change my clothes since the overnight flight I found myself with a trial shift at P.J O'Briens, an Irish pub in the centre of Cairns.
At P.J's I take the food orders (which all come with a choice of chips&salad or mash&veg, unfortunately for me) serve and clear up. This can be easy at times but mostly it's absolutely hectic as hundreds of backpackers flock in every night to use their $5 meal deal vouchers (of which I am one on my days off as it's just such a good deal). Whilst taking orders from backpackers I am often recognized from my other employment cleaning their hostel toilets every morning in order to get free accommodation there myself. I have been asked quite a few times how many jobs I have. It is only two but some days it feels like more.
The atmosphere here is a far cry from South East Asia. Unlike the general rule in Asia that anyone you encounter will be happy to help you, here, most people seem annoyed when you ask them any simple question, especially those behind reception desks whose job it is, surely, to answer your questions. Saying that my new colleagues at work are mostly very friendly and my ever-changing room mates have all been lovely.
As for my impressions of the place, when Counting Crows played on my iPod the other night I couldn't help but agree with the lyrics that 'they paved paradise and put up a parking lot'. Not that Cairns is a parking lot, but it does feel like a lot of concrete has been dumped in the middle of the jungle to create this very strange place. It is a city but the centre feels about the size of Rasen (with a shopping centre and huge public lagoon, so not quite the same). Oh and the weather is a little better too! I have ventured out to the suburbs in order to attempt to find non-hostel accommodation for my working holiday here. I was expecting Ramsay Street but instead I found wooden huts reminiscent of the hill tribe huts of the Chiang Mai trek.
I dread to think what it's like in the outback, where Louise has just started her new job. It is a strange new experience to be in a foreign country without her. After 3 months of each others' continuous company we were starting to tire but, after 2 days, I am missing her already. Counting Crows are right again - 'you don't know what you got till it's gone'. I intend to try and appreciate all the great things about Australia whilst I'm here before I have to leave, and avoid them being right again.
I'm afraid there are no photos to accompany this blog as Louise has run off into the bush with the photo uploading device so you'll have to wait until she returns.
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