Cairns Part 2 and Gordonvale....

The night after the boat returned from the GBR we were all to meet at a local bar in town called the Rattle and Hum.  It's huge bar with lots of food, drink and people wondering about.  We all met up around 8pm and were just having a good time getting to know each other better, talking about the trip, laughing heaps and drinking quite a bit too. We thought for a bit that the crew had just told us to meet there and that they had no intentions of coming, but they did show up "fashionably" late.

All of us at Rattle and Hum

Julia (Canada), Arek ( boat Supervisor), Me and Vivian (Holland)

Adrian (France/The Chef) and Vivian

Me and Jeff ( The Skipper)

So as you can tell by the picture above "the skipper" and I sort of hit it off and really enjoyed each others company from the moment we met.  It's good to know that there are actually good men still out there!  After we were all sauced up we headed to another "infamous" bar in Cairns called the Wool Shed.  We had only been there to eat dinner previously as our hostel gave us "free" meal vouchers that we just couldn't pass up.  The food was terrible but the bar was lots of fun.  The drinks kept flowing and by the end of the night our stomachs hurt from laughing.  It was one of the best nights I have had in Australia for sure.

I was scheduled to fly back Brisbane the following afternoon, but The Skipper asked me to stay and I thought you only live once so why not.  I called the airline to hopefully get some tiny credit and cancel my flight.  Someone up above was giving me approval to stay, because the women at the airline informed me that there had been an "error" and I wasn't booked on the flight and my card was never charged! SHEW! That was a tiny bit of fate that worked in my favor.  Jeff lives in a gorgeous town right outside of Cairns called Gordonvale.  The first day I was there we went for a swim in this cold, but beautiful river, cooked some good food, drank a few beers and relaxed.

He had to go back to sea in two days, but again we decided I should stay until he returned so we could spend more time together.  While he was away at sea, my friends Vivian and Ralf from my dive class came back through Cairns and came to stay out in Gordonvale.   Jeff graciously let us stay in his home and when he came home from sea took us on the best sightseeing day. 

The view from Jeff's truck on our off-roading adventure!

Ralf, Viv, Me and Jeff....Can't remember the name of the mountain

Jeff and I at Lake Eacham after our picnic and XXXX Gold's (Beer)

Lake Eacham

Ralf and Vivian left for the rest of their trip down the Australian east coast.  And Jeff had to go back out to sea.  Now, I am not one give a play by play account on my blog, but I will tell you that I do really enjoy Jeff's company and hope that we see each other again.  When he left yesterday to go on the boat it was sad, but I do know if things are going to work out they will and then need to happen organically ( that's for you Kev :)

And that also leads me to the next part of my story.  Before I left Cairns, I scored two job interviews and am fairly confident I will have a job tomorrow after I interview with one of the restaurants.  I have been applying for jobs for weeks in Brissy and nothing has happened.  And since I love Cairns, living on the water and want to dive as much as possible Cairns seems like the perfect place for me.  Plus I will have work finally!  I am flying back up tomorrow and will stay at a hostel for a day or two until I can find a more permanent place to live.  I have a couple places to look at tomorrow when I get there as well so maybe sooner than later. 

So again I feel very lucky to be here in Australia and making so many awesome memories!  I will keep you posted and promise to be better about writing!

Lots of love from Oz!

Cheryl