Day 1: 9/6/13
Welcome to my new blog!! 7 weeks of reading ahead of ye!!
I was up at 5:15 this morning to sort myself out before the shuttle bus was due to come at 6. I had everything packed the night before, but even still I was double checking everything as I had been so long in that room I was afraid there was anything left behind! Of course the light was off so it was hard enough to see anything!!
They had said the shuttle bus would take an hour to get to the airport. I wasn't collected until 20 past 6 but I was still at the airport at 7! I was one of the last en route. I had booked the flight with Tiger airways, which is the Ryan air equivalent! That means the terminal is out the back arse of the airport and its tiny! I was dropped at terminal 3 but it was only a short walk to terminal 4 where Tiger is. I was thinking my bag wasn't that heavy but I wasn't sure. You had to buy a bag anyway and it was only 5 extra to have 30kg so I bought that. My rucksack only ended up being 21 though, about the same as it was when I left Ireland! I don't know how I managed that. For the first time ever I had to weigh my hand luggage which I thought may be heavy as my laptop was in it as well as some books. But it was only just over 5kg- maybe their scales were broken?!?!!
There was nothing in the room where you check in so I went straight through to departures hoping for somewhere to have breakfast. When I got in through security it was just 7am and the screen said our flight was delayed from 9:30 to 10:30. So, I was earlier than I expected and was going to have to wait longer!! There was one cafe there which had tea and a toastie for breakfast. Then there was just a newsagent type shop, thy was it. There was no nice duty free to wander around or anything!! I passed some of the time watching a programme on my laptop- it was a good job I copied some stuff of people in the hostel a few weeks ago!!
At around 9 they announced that the flight would be delayed further to 11, but then at 10 they decided we could board. By the time everyone was on and we took off it was 11 anyway.
The flight was about three hours long. I started reading a book at first but at that stage I was really tired after being up at 5 am so I tried to sleep. I dozed for a good while but didn't really sleep. I forgot that on the cheap airlines they don't give you anything for free so there's no meal to break up the journey!! I didn't find it too long- maybe I did fall asleep for a while.
We landed around 2 anyway. I went to the bathroom and by the time I was out my luggage was there. There was a queue for a shuttle bus so I joined that and bought a ticket for a shuttle bus into the city. She said it would leave in about half an hour but it was way longer! It was 3:30 by the time it came and then it took a while to get everyone and their luggage on board. Of course I was the last to be dropped off. It took a few minutes to get me checked in and then I'd to lug the bag up two flights of stairs so by the time I'd readied myself to explore a bit it was 5 o clock. I was supposed to land at 1- there's a big difference between 5 and 1. This was kind of my only day to see Cairns so I didn't have much time.
The hostel wasn't great. The girl who had booked it told me it was a little bit away from the main strip but it was still near everything. I don't know why she booked me away from everything! She said it was really nice and it had its own pool. It did have a pool but I wouldn't call it really nice. It was dingy enough. I was in an 8-bed which was split into two fours and we had our own bathroom, so that was good.
I went down to reception to get a map anyway and see where I was headed. She told me it was a twenty minute walk, which wasn't too bad. The first thing I met was a corner shop so I got myself an ice-cream and a drink. It's really humid although its quite cloudy and the sun isn't shining at all. The map they had in the hostel was a big massive poster thing so I was trying to fold it up to the bit I needed while I was walking and somehow I managed to drop my ice-cream! Then it started raining, which I wasn't dressed for!! And went I opened my drink I managed to spill it on me!! Things weren't going well!!
I got to the esplanade anyway, the walkway by the sea. There were a lot if people there and all the traffic was blocked off because there was an iron man competition on and they were running past. Thinking about it afterwards, I bet that's why I'm in the a accommodation Im in. She only booked it a week ago, so I bet everything else was booked out.
Anyway, I walked along there. There was a nice view of the sea. There wasn't really a beach though, just kinda muddy sand. I got some food and then looked around some markets at jewellery, hats, souvenirs, etc. I need a new hat but all of them looked ridiculous!! It seemed like a nice enough place. Every other door was a bar, restaurant or souvenir place. It reminded me of the main strips in the canaries. I forgot though that it gets dark earlier up here and it was dark at 6. That hadnt left me with much time to explore!! Unless I was going to go drinking on my own, there wasn't much else for me to do!!
The road back to the hostel was a main motorway with not very much on it. I didn't feel very comfortable walking there on my own. I walked a bit if the way hoping I'd meet a taxi but when it started to get bleak I turned around to the main roads again and just waited until a taxi came along. It's a bit of a disaster not being in the main strip- I presume it's just because this competition was on. This week is a long weekend over here aswell for the Queens birthday. So it's probably busier than normal. Even though, the streets weren't packed with people or anything, maybe the rain kept them in.
There were two girls chatting in a foreign language in the room and one guy on his own. But I didn't bother tryin to talk to them - I just went to bed. I think the 5am start has taken its toll! I have another early start tomorrow- I've to leave the hostel by 7. Tomorrow better run a bit more smoothly than today!!