Cairns

6am arrival in Cairns.  Wonderful night of sleep on the bus?  Only in Wonderland.  But the world evens itself out.  We checked into a decent hostel (Koala Beach Resort) and talked to the guy at reception into giving us a four-bed, full bath and half kitchen with air conditioning! (it’s very important here folks) all to ourselves for only $15 per person a night!  Talk about a steal.  We then napped for an hour and got picked up by Patrick for a day tour. 

If you don’t remember, or if I forgot to write about him earlier (most likely), I met Patrick when I was in Rwanda.  At first I didn’t like him.  He’s a cynical sap who, on first inspection, doesn’t seem to like much in the world.  He doesn’t have really any appreciation for nature or conservation, doesn’t joke or smile a lot, mumbles when he talks, smokes like a freight train, can drink with the best of them, and takes offense easily to jokes about male inferiority.  You’d think we’d get along about as well as Barbie and GI Jane.  In Rwanda, however, our paths kept crossing and as I began to spend more time observing him with the locals and getting to know him, I developed an appreciation for his oddness.

For work he lives on a boat with fourteen other men for eight months of the year diving in the ocean from sun up until after sun down catching crawdads, or something similar to our massive lobsters. When he first told me this I found it fascinating but he shot down my enthusiasm with a quick remark about how he hates it.  No women, no family, no going out at night, stuck on a boat.  He stays because he can make upwards of $3,000 a day!  Holy smokes!  Kick me in the shin and call me a turnip!  That is darned good money!  But, despite what you might think of me and my gold digging ways, that’s not why our friendship developed.  Now, after I’ve spent so much time with him, I can tell you that he is so kind, generous, intelligent, interesting, and one of the most loyal and family-oriented people I’ve ever met.  For example, when the boat comes back into port after weeks at sea, most of the boys jump straight into the bars for a night of drunken debauchery and women with all of the money they’ve saved up.  Patty does it a little different.  He is well known for, at 27 years old, taking his mother and siblings out for a nice dinner instead.  And they deserve it!

 

After Patrick picked us up and spent the day showing us the lake, river, and winery gems of the famous Atherton Tablelands rainforest, he welcomed us into his home for dinner with his family.  Marion, his mother, is a beautiful woman who followed Patty (her oldest) to Cairns with her two youngest children of seven.  They are all originally from an apple orchard and saw mill in Tasmania where her husband and other children still reside.  It was finally nice to put a face to the woman I had been speaking so much with on the phone, as Patrick had offered their home as a place where I could have my passport and New Zealand visa sent to after I applied in Sydney.  Connor and I enjoyed the company of a family and a living room again, had our first home cooked meal in ages and enjoyed the delicious mango wine we had picked up earlier that day.

I loved this day because it reminded me so much of being home.  In addition to the beauty of the Tablelands, I got a thrill out of Patty’s vicious driving through the steep and winding roads to and from that is very similar to my mountain driving in Colorado.  I also realized how much I missed having a home cooked meal, sitting in a living room, and giggling with a family.  The following day was Australia Day when, much like our 4^th of July, Australia celebrates its independence.  It was also Patty’s last day in town before he loaded the boat for work.  One would think that he had had enough of us and would want to go out on the town with his friends but he invited us back to their home for another home cooked meal of kangaroo steaks.  There was no way I could turn that down and greatly looked forward to another taste of home.