Thursday 14th March

I had an average nights sleep. I did wake up at one point early in the night and thought it was morning as the 2 Hong Kong girls were dressed and packing, it wasn't long before I realised it was only 11pm and they hadn't been to bed yet. I woke up a couple of times due to bites being itchy. I did have half a plan to go for a swim early, but when my alarm went off at 7.30am, I decide against it and that sleep would be better. I woke at 8.15am and got myself showered and stripped by bed. Once clean I had breakfast of yoghurt with banana and tried apricots, with tea and a glass of milk. I was angry my crumpets had grown proper fluff now so I binned then. After breakfast and washing up, I went I sort and pack my bags, which was quite an easy challenge. I also said bye to the two girls from Hong Kong, they were nice girls, very friendly roomies.
Once I put my bags in storage for the day, I checked out and then headed out into town. The plan for the day was to relax and look to sort travel itinerary a little more. Wicked wasn't open, so I sat in McDonald's and used their wifi for a bit. I had a little wonder around town, then sat by the lagoon, and then went to Wicked to use their computers. I sent a good 3 hours there looking at routes, buses, possibilities, worrying about money, looking into sofa surfing and looking into New Zealand. The man I saw came into the shop and I lied and said I was waiting for a fiend before booing. To be fair for the time I was sat there I hadn't actually sorted a huge amount (but I did sent 2 cards) and was still non the wiser. Later that day I realised worrying wouldn't help things, just see how things go ad be careful with the pennies and such. I then decided I would get outside and sit in the sun again by the lagoon (still planning and writing email replies). I sat for about 30mins, but it was so hot in the sun I was starting to overheat. I went to McDonalds for my 30c ice cream to cool off.
After my ice cream, I checked and sent my emails using Wicked's wifi and asked some advise about the coast. The man said there was nothing to do in Port Maquire or Newcastle and that surfers is a party town under a bit of construction so maybe skip it. This gave me some thinking time and maybe some more flexibility.
After my ice-cream I headed to Cairns museum, I had seem it a previous day and at $5 I thought it might be worth a look. By the time I got there, I only had 45min before it closed, but I joined onto a tour (Cliff was the tour guide) around a few things (iron, fridges, phones). He museum seemed to contain anything old from Cairns. From information about World War Two, old household items, animal bones and skeletons and information. Cliff was entertaining and I looked around most parts briefly. All the staff there (3 people) were very help and friendly. It was a quaint museum full of old bits, just a little more like a jumble sale at times.
Once the museum was closed, I headed to Woolworth's to get a few more food bits (crumpets, tuna, noodles and fruit), I even treated myself to some juice for the bus trip. I then headed back to the hostel. I sat there for a while, forcing my self to drink water, looking at plans (making myself relax more about it) and writing emails for people to maybe stay with in New Zealand. At 6pm I collect by bags from luggage, put my new food in them and then tried to head to Peter Pans, I knew it would be a painful walk, with a bag on the front, back and side. The first 5mins were fine and they didn't feel too bad, but the last 10mins were painful and the bags felt very heavy and uncomfortable. I eventually made it to the shop, tire and sweaty. Chelsea was there and told me to put my stuff behind a banner. I then quickly went on the computers to check emails again, before leaving just before 7pm. I was going to go the the Woodshed again for dinner, but this did not start until 7pm, so I had a wonder around the night markets and bumped into three people from the Rainforest trip, we had a nice little chat about what we had done and what were doing the following days. It was nice to see faces that weren't complete strangers. After my little walk, I headed to get dinner, I was hungry now. There was a queue outside the bar so I had a little wait I get in. I chatted slightly to the couple behind me who were from Devon. I choose to have the Red Thai Curry this evening with lemonade, the meal was nicer than they day before and had a little kick to it. I didn't hang around long after I'd finished, as it was getting busy with dinner and didn't want to be the loner sat by themselves. I headed back to the markets and brought a couple of items (shorts and boomerangs)...I knew it was silly to buy thing as I would have to carry them around and I would be able to get similar in Sydney, but I lost the battle of wills. Once I had my purchases and had another little walk, I headed back to the Woodshed as it was gone 8.30pm and the Peter Pan party would be there now. As I arrived I found a large group of youngsters sat opposite the bar. I looked frantically to see if Chelsea was there, she wasn't but the new guy was there and said hello. He offered me some larger but I declined and brought myself an orange juice. For a while I stood at the bar watching everyone talk and drink. It took me a good 20mins to go and sit down next to all thees strangers. As first there was silence, but a nice English guy started talking to me and we had a nice chat about travelling. The pub played a game called 'Meal or No Meal', although very loud it created something to watch. During this game the Peter Pan staff brought out some pizzas, so I managed to steal 3 slices...cheese tasted so good. Chelsea left in the middle of the game and came to say bye and I've a hug. After the game finished people started to disperse and I was left on my own again. I spent the last 30min watching people dance and chat. I kept an eye on Phil who would be the one who would let me back in the store to get my bag. At one point he disappeared and I got a little worries he had forgotten and left. But alas he turned back up. At 11pm I asked if I could collect my bag and he kindly opened the store. I then headed back toward McDonalds and sat in there for 30mins and treated myself to an apple pie. I felt self conscious walking around with my massive bags. Around 30mins before my bus I left to find bay 14-16. It was easy to find as there about 10-15 other people there all with massive bags. I had around a 30min wait for the bus, but this was easily passed people watching. We put our bags into the bottom of the bus in some vague order of when we would be getting off. The driver then checked us in as we boarded the bus. We were given a seat allocation and I was happy to be near the front. Not only to help with feeling crook but also there were some stoned people and I had a feeling they wanted to be the rebellious school kids at the back it the bus. We got going around 12.40am and after the driver spoke (it did feel he was talking for ages) for a bit saying about stops and breaks he soon feel silent and I plugged my music in and curled up into the empty seat next to me. It wasn't too long before I feel alseep.