Cairns? What can I say but beautiful place, beautiful people. Kind of reminds me of Whangamata or the Mount with more palms, more heat, more humidity, and more tropical reef that’s once in a lifetime diving.
Originally I was going to wait till I had completely finished the thesis before going on a big jaunt, but a final draft is close enough. More than close enough. I reckon that getting the final paperwork and stuff done will be months, so, I might as well look to find that good job in the meantime, and get into it. I had actually planned to go to Vietnam or the Pacific Islands, but changed my mind and am spending the saved dollars on a dive course here in Cairns, Queensland.
Basically, the war between the airlines here has pushed the price for a three and a half hour flight from Melbourne down to an amazing $166 (total, one way). And right there on the doorstep is the barrier reef. Until global warming kills it that is.
At first the plan was to just snorkel around a bit, but this town is positively crawling with operators who love to offer great deals on dives and reef trips. I shopped around and pretty quickly got talked into doing an ‘Intro Dive’ that confirmed my ten year belief that I needed to be an adventuring, underwater kind of bloke. It was the patting the sea turtle and making GIANT clams snap shut that sealed it. Pesky damn gorgeous native wildlife.
The other thing about Cairns is that it has the distinct feel of a tourist trap, but with too much competition. So $100 buys you a trip to the reef (two hours out, four on the water, two back) and one dive to whet your appetite. Once you’re out on the water you get to choose a second dive and shell out more bucks. And there’s the catch. I was so impressed I almost did, but reigned in the impulse and signed on for four dives and certification instead.
A little reward to myself for finishing. And I deserve it damn it.
Those New Zealand crayfish better watch it. I expect to recoup my money in dinners when I get home.
But competition and the high numbers of backpackers who come here also seems to have pushed the price for things like accommodation down to respectable levels. A room in a hostel with stinky toilets and no A/C will only cost $14 per night, about $4 less than Melbourne. However, if you’re a sook about the heat you might want to remember than it seems to be about 30 degrees at 8pm here.
Strangely, very very few mosquitoes though, which is a small mercy. Geckos, giant flying roaches, huge spiders, no mozzies. Sleeping under a fan seems to help, what bugs there are don’t seem to like the wind, making the cooling effect a bonus.
The combination of cheap accommodation, reasonable supermarket prices (the local place at Uluru is daylight robbery), and dive certification means I’ll be hear till Thursday evening, forced to work on my tan and chill out without even spending one minute on the study treadmill.
I would however like to take my hat off to the guys on Noahs Ark Two. They’re the smallest dive company on the reef, but they have a good crew full of Kiwi’s who only gave me the tiniest bit of gib about getting completely sea-sick on the way back in. The good news is that being a smaller boat there were less tourists getting in the way while this particular tourist chased schools of tropical fish, poked at coral, tried in vein to find any souvenir shells, and was amazed at seeing things like giant Trevally. Despite the sickness, worth every damn cent.
I have to go drink beer now! Hee hee.