Cairns

Just past 2weeks in Cairns and not really a lot to tell.. ..pretty much cause of I was hunting for work and was running fairly low on money so couldn’t really party, not that I really even wanted. The first weekend I really didn’t do anything at all, I was just relaxing either in my bed or lounge sofa, road trip had taken pretty much all my strength and now I just wanted to lay down and do nothing. On the next week I started my first job hunting, without any results.

During the weekend I participated as a volunteer in Cairns Challenge, a triathlon around the city. Initially I was supposed to be stationed in Cairns city on Sunday but I was called to Yorkies Knob where the transitions from swim and bicycle run was gonna be. I was stationed to males changing room, helping competitors to get rid off their wetsuits and giving them whatever help they needed/wanted. After the transition from swim it was quite a long wait for us since competitors were riding 180km on the coast. Bloody hell, what a distance.. Transition from bike to run was a bit more easier for us, just helping guys with sunscreen and giving them a bit of water. After that we headed back to city and I volunteered to stay a bit longer, I was stationed at t-shirt booth where competitors got a finisher shirt. The next day we headed back to Yorkies Knob to clean the place. Later that night we went to help in athletes party as well. All in all, the weekend itself was a great experience and athletes thanking for our help was a nice feeling, we even got few free drinks from them in the party, neat.

At the next week it was again time to start hunting for work. Few close calls but nothing comprehensive and I was starting to get a bit nervous. At least one agency signed me up on the phone but that didn’t produce anything. Next weekend was gonna be a bit longer cause of Queens Birthday, Monday was gonna be extra bank holiday, so one more day wasted not being able to hunt work with full power.. On the next day I saw a advert in Gumtree that one job replacement agency was looking for banana punters asap. I wasn’t really making any hopes since I had been signed up for that agency for 1,5wks without results. Anyway, I decided to give ‘em a visit and - I got a job, oh yeah. Fairly quick call though, I was supposed to hop onto bus same evening and head towards my farm in Walkamin, about 70km inland from Cairns, between Mareeba and Atherton. I wasn’t really bothered, I just wanted to work. One thing that also annoyed me a bit was since this wasn’t a ’proper’ agency, just an extra addition to travelling agency, they charged me 90$ for the membership.. Cause of this quick departure I didn’t have time to take much of photos from Cairns and I couldn’t get any refunds from those 2nights that I had already paid upfront in my hostel but hey, work is work.