Flying from Singapore into Brisbane airport, there was only enough time for a quick snack from Hungry Jacks (Australian Burger King) before our connecting flight to Cairns. The flight was short but great, with a collection of luxurious foods offered throughout the flight and an interesting chat with a kind local guy who had an intense dislike for flying.
Once landed and through customs, I did the stupid thing of trying to haggle with an Australian taxi driver. Not in Asia now! Deciding bus was the cheaper option we finally arrived at our accommodation for the next 4 nights, a four bed dorm room at Tropic Days. Our initial instinct was of slight dislike compared to the comforts of Singapore, however our opinion was soon to be changed by the end of our stay with it going down as possibly the best Australian hostel we have stayed in.
To say that dorms was a learning curve is somewhat of an understatement. Jo really didn't like them from the off and to add to her discomfort we were sharing with a weird guy from the outback who had a liking for knives and didn't shut up. He even had the cheek to steal $100 AUS from our wallet. What a twat! After he had gone on our second night, we started to relax but had learnt to keep ourselves to ourselves a bit more and to keep our stuff locked away!
Amongst all the drama we did meet some really cool people here including Sean, Scott, Ethan (or Erwin as most people called him, Jo just called him Edwin?), Julia and Bjork amongst many. We didn't really get up to much here though as most of our time was spent drunk in either the Woolshed (free dinners), Gilligans bar or PJ O'Briens drinking Goon (cheap wine) or XXXX. However we did get to lounge around by the pool at the hostel, I learnt to play the didgeridoo (thanks John) and we hung out at the esplanade lagoon which was pretty damn awesome.
The Great Monday BBQ. The main reason we decided to stay at this hostel. To say it was amazing is an understatement. Getting to try Kangaroo, Emu, Crocodile and Baramundi the hostel provided us with such a great evening, accompanying it with a selection of salads and sides and even putting on some great games and live music before heading down to the local pub 'The Woolshed'. One of our best nights on the trip so far!
Managing to get a days work labouring on a building site through the hostel, it provided Jo with a days peace and me with some great Aussie Vs Pomme banter and some rather sore blisters on my hands. I'm not going to say it was easy in the 30 + degree heat but it was worthwhile as I met some nice guys and managed to get paid $160 AUS for the days work, recuperating the $100 AUS we had stolen.
All in all, a mixed start to Australia but one with an awesome place and hostel, one I would highly recommend and return to if we ever came back to Cairns. I really did like it here.
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