A Cairns Weekend

Yesterday afternoon I was sitting in the kitchen/dining room talking with Matthew while eating a late lunch.  We were comparing notes on our foot injuries (his from soccer, mine from volleyball)

This picture actually makes it look pretty good!
I wonder if I can incorporate it into a Halloween costume since it's so gruesome looking?

 and our experiences teaching English, basically just small talk.  Anyway, Tusa was in the kitchen cooking and out of the blue he brings me a bowl of this vegetable stir-fry he had made and asked me to try it.  It consisted mainly of vegetables I don’t generally like, such as celery and mushrooms, but I found it to be surprisingly tasty!  I hadn’t totally finished it when he brings a pan over of another dish consisting (from what I could tell) of tofu, pasta, and soy sauce.  It was also very good.  He didn’t offer Matthew any though, but I shared a bit of the first dish with him so he could taste it.  I’m just curious what it is about me that entices people to randomly feed me.

Oh, and it was confirmed to me yesterday morning while working that the hostel is for sale.  Yeah, that information came as quite a shock.  On Friday two smartly dressed men came in and asked for the keys to some rooms so they could show some people around.  I couldn’t be entirely sure what exactly had been advertised, but had a feeling they were realtors.  Yesterday another guy came in asking to look around and see some rooms and he mentioned that the place was for sale.  I’m doing my best not to be nervous about the business being sold, but I really don’t want my tentative plans to stay until January to be upset.  It’s not much of a plan, but it’s all I’ve got so maybe that’s why I feel so protective of it.

I got the below email from Lesley today - I love having the option of living in the UK at some point, even if it means looking after 2 boys...

Great to hear from you we miss you so much I so wish that Adelaide had more to offer but so glad your having a fabulous time. Boys are great and if you're free we would love you back as a paid aupair.  Sort out your plans and maybe next year we could have you in the UK and the boys in school there.

I finished my biography of John Wayne and found it very fascinating.  I now have a desire to watch a bunch of the films (he’s been in a ridiculous amount of movies though) mentioned in the book, but sadly the library here only had “Big Jake” when I was in earlier last week.  Since I chanced finding the TV room empty yesterday afternoon, and had no plans, I decided I’d sit down and watch it before heading to volleyball.  I really enjoyed it, but John Wayne always makes me miss my Grandpa.  By the time it was over it was time to go to the courts.  For a Saturday night it was very empty when I arrived.  There was one game going on but the teams were full, and only Kaylee and Ben (a British couple who’ve been around for awhile) were there waiting.  Since we had no prospects of a game, and none of us were leaving, Kaylee and I ended up chatting about travel in Australia and the work we did back home.  Eventually Des showed up and then Bal and a few of his friends came so we were able to get a team going.  Towards the end of the night (well, my night since I had to work early this morning) I joined a new team with Peter and Junior.  I wasn’t 100% sure his name was Junior though, so I said to him, “Your name’s Junior, right?”
He gave me an odd smile and said, “Yeah, how did you know?”
“Oh, we played together awhile ago.”
“Ah!  Sorry, I don’t remember your name though.”
“No worries, I’m Abbie.”
“Oh, the famous Abbie!”

I have no idea what he meant by that, but hopefully it’s a good thing.  My name does get yelled a lot during games, especially when playing with or against Wally, Rocky, or Casey…so hopefully it’s for that, not my skills or something embarrassing.  Anyway, I got to chat with Josh for a bit and saw Stephanie & Tyeisha briefly as well before I had to head back.  It was so nice to be back at volleyball after 5 days off.  I’m hoping to stop by after church tonight and maybe get a few games in before I have to call it quits because of my early shift in reception Monday morning….

Catering & Lake Eacham

After job searching on the internet for a few hours in the afternoon, and having an early dinner with Louis on Thursday, I headed off to work for the evening.  I was able to get some one-off work helping serve canapes at an event catered by Alfresco's Catering (Shoko's partner Paul owns or operates the company -not entirely sure which- and they needed someone to help out for the night).  It was the easiest $100 I ever made.  Hand out little appetizers and clear away empty glasses from tables, easy-peasy.  The food that I tried was fantastic, they make some of the best bruschetta I've ever tasted.

Yesterday, after a quiet morning in reception, I headed off with Rav to the tablelands.  He decided I should see the crater lakes and chose Lake Eacham for a visit.  It's a beautiful drive up through the Gillies Range (The Gillies Range is a section of the chain of summits south of Cairns that separate the Far North Queensland coastal plain from the interior Atherton Tableland), if you don't get car sick.

 Thankfully, I do not, but when his family had visited his Mom hadn't fared as well.  We sat and talked a while, getting our daily dose of Vitamin D, took a swim, and then near sunset headed along the path on the side of the lake to watch the turtles.

  I couldn't believe how clear the water was; even though we were several feet above the water we could still see extremely well.  The sun setting over the lake was beautiful, and the drive back down the mountains towards Cairns, with the colors of the setting sun softly covering the fields in a warm glow, reminded me of home.

 Later today I'm heading to Tjapukai to ask about a job opening; Agatha's friend never called me about a job and Agatha told me she's working today, so I'm going to catch the bus out there and see what's going on.

Louis' Dinner Party

Yesterday was a pretty laid back day, I didn't do much.  I'm supposed to be moving rooms in my hostel again, but the room they want me to move into wasn't quite ready.  It came about in a conversation with Lou which they wanted me to move into and he said, "Who did you make mad?"  I just laughed and said I had no idea.  He showed me the two rooms beside the one I'm to move into and said I should tell Tim I want one of them instead.  Of course I couldn't do that, but I did go in to reception to check with Tim or Jay and see what they wanted me to do.  I ended up sitting in reception and using my computer there for most of the afternoon.  I chatted with Jay and Hyun off and on throughout the afternoon and at one point Hyun came over and set a coke and some cookies on the table for me!  I've smiled and said hello to him every time I've seen him for the last 2 months, but until yesterday hadn't really ever spoken with him.  Then around 4pm Jay held up some packets of a Korean-style ramen noodle and asked if I liked them.  I told him I'd never tried it, and he said, "I'm sure you'll like it, all my friends in Houston loved these."  I smiled and nodded and about 10 minutes later got up to leave.  I told Jay I'd see him later and he said, "you can't leave, Hyun is making noodles!"  Korean's are so nice! I sadly had to tell him that I was going to Louis' house for dinner (he knows Louis) and Jay replied, "Just eat a little bit."  It's rude to turn down food in almost every culture of the world, and I'm assuming it's the same in Korea.  The three of us sat down and I tried a little bit (well, I took a little bit and then Jay gave me more) and it was really quite tasty.  

Pukari arrived and we headed over to Emma's hostel to pick her up and head off to Louis'.  We had a Korean style BBQ (much like the one I had at Kimchi & Richy when Sam & Lisa left) on his back porch.  It was a delightful evening with way too much food (especially when I'd already been eating all afternoon!).  Louis wouldn't let me help with the dishes, so the three of us sat looking through the circulars and ads while listening (and sometimes singing along) to Louis' iPad playlist.  Pukari had brought an Ottogi Korean pancake mix, so despite already eating way too much at dinner (and then Louis cutting us some fresh fruit), Louis and I attempted to make the pancakes for dessert.

 The directions were completely in Korean (hence, Pukari couldn't make them by himself at home) and something must have gone wrong in the translating (or the photos on the back are a lie) because the batter didn't turn out like a dough.  You were to make a hole in the middle of the dough-ball and fill it with a peanut and brown sugar filling that turned carmel-y once cooked.  Since we ended up with a batter consistency "filling" the pancakes was a bit tricky.  Louis did an excellent job getting them to have filling in the middle and they turned out quite well anyway.  They were messy to make, as you can imagine, but also fun.  Everyone always has crazy work schedules, but I told them some morning they'd all have to come over to my hostel and I'd make some American-style pancakes (Emma & Pukari both love pancakes).  So maybe next week we'll have a Pancake-Palooza :)

Another Beach Day!!

I was pleasantly surprised when Louis walked into reception yesterday morning as I was about to finish my shift.  He'd just come from church and decided we should go to lunch together before we met up with Pukari and Emma.  I guess I should back up a bit, Caterina was having a birthday party later in the afternoon and Louis, Pukair, Emma, and I were all going to attend together.  Anyway, the sushi place he wanted to take me to wasn't open yet, and since I needed to at least buy Caterina a birthday card (when I'd originally been invited I didn't realize it was for her birthday, I thought she was just getting together with some friends at Kewarra Beach), we headed to Cairns Central.  We had our sushi, bought the card and after browsing the mall for a bit decided to sit and enjoy some coffee at Gloria Jeans.  He can always make me smile, and I had to laugh when he wanted me to explain why I don't like Obama.  His English is limited and he doesn't know how the U.S. government is supposed to work so it was interesting trying to relay my point of view.  I did the best I could, either way it was interesting to hear some of Korea's history from his point of view (that's where our conversation rabbit-trailed from after my explanation).  We ended up talking too long and had to hurry off to Rusty's Market so I could buy some fruit before we met up with Pukari and Emma.

The party started at a little beach bar where we had some cake and gave her the cards and gifts.  It was a delightful little spot that I'm told usually has a live band.  Other than Simona (from the Leukemia event) and Mei (from our dinner at Iyara), I didn't know any of the other guests.  I take that back, I had met Roberto (Caterina's partner) once at volleyball, but it was only briefly and we didn't really speak since I was playing volleyball and he had come to spectate.  Emma hadn't been to the beach yet in Cairns (because the city itself doesn't have one), so the four of us decided to take a stroll along the water.  By the time we got back from our walk it was time to head to the BBQ's to cook dinner.  After dinner we did play a bit of volleyball in a circle, but it wasn't pretty.  It was funny, but it wasn't pretty - lots of feet, knees, and heads were used in place of arms and hands so the ball didn't stay in the air too long.  All in all it was a really fun night and I loved hearing so many Italian accents again and spending another day by the beach certainly didn't hurt.  I do apologize that I don't have any photos, I took my camera, but never pulled it out because Pukari was taking lots of them - I'll have to get them from him later.  The water wasn't as blue at Kewarra as it was up towards Port Douglas, but there were still lots of palm trees, sand, and seashells....

Port Douglas Day Trip

Pukari has been talking about making the drive up to Port Douglas for nearly a month, and Emma and I were keen to go along, but it just hadn't happened.  We finally decided that today was the day, but unfortunately, everyone else had to work (Emma, Louis, and Caterina).  He and I still had great fun, I always find myself more content at the beach and Pukari is so chill it made it all the more enjoyable.  We don't have to talk constantly and we enjoy the same taste in music so it was good.  The drive up there is mainly on a road that hugs the coastline so it gives you the most fantastic views of the water and coast.

Scenic Overlook on the Captain Cook Highway

  Port Douglas's beach, which sadly has the uninspiring name of Four Mile Beach, is beautiful and after stopping at a few different spots along the beach (his friend had a photo of the beach with stairs in it and we were attempting to find the stairs, but were not succeeding) decided to just give up the search.  I had packed a picnic lunch so we decided we'd just eat and go lay on the beach.  It turns out that the spot we picked ended up being the right place after all!! There was a hillside a couple hundred yards from where we walked onto the beach and it had steps leading up to the top.  We can only assume that was the spot of the infamous photo and there were some great views of the beach from the top.

 I did some reading, we took a walk, soaked up some sun...it was a delightfully lazy day.  After a quick walk through some of the shops in town we headed back towards Cairns.  With the sun starting to set the drive back was just as beautiful, if no more beautiful.  We did a few more stops at some little beach breaks on the way back so I got plenty of photo opportunities.  This area of Australia is definitely a tropical paradise.

We arrived back in Cairns around 6pm and since I was already covered in sand I decided I might as well go play some volleyball.  It was a pretty quiet night on the courts (for a Saturday), but I hadn't been there much during the week so that was fine by me.  I had to work early in reception tomorrow morning though, so I couldn't stay too long.  I don't teach next week so hopefully I'll get plenty of time at the courts.

Busy Week

We went to the movies Tuesday afternoon/evening to see "Gone Girl" and I can definitely say that it's not a movie any of you should waste your time viewing.  Not the worst movie I've ever seen, but a very dark (and strange, but at the same time semi-intriguing) story-line and too much sex.  Anyway, I got back with enough time to stop by volleyball for a little over an hour before having to head back and get to bed because I was working reception Wednesday morning.  After my shift in reception I had a lovely phone call with my favorite perpetual 10-year-old, it was hard to believe we hadn't talked in over a month!  I'm not always that good at keeping in contact with people on an individual basis, especially when I'm blogging.  After our chat I then decided to head to the library to write up a blog post.  As you now know, that didn't happen.  I was looking through the newspaper racks to do a quick skim through the current events (I try to stay informed every now and then) I saw Louis, so I took my newspaper over to his table to say hello.  Of course we chatted for a bit, but then I read my newspaper and he started to study - you know, the whole reason we both were in the library in the first place.  I finished my newspaper, turned on my computer and had just started getting ready to type up a post when he asked if I wanted some lunch.  It was about 3:30pm and I hadn't really eaten lunch, but wasn't really hungry either; I tried explaining this to him, but he just said, "Come on, let's go."  Not one to make waves I dutifully turned off my computer and followed him out of the library.  It's hard to talk in the library and he decided talking to me is just as good as reading/studying his English text book.  We had Vietnamese soup at one of his favorite spots and talked until it was time for him to go to work.  He rushed off to work and I rushed off to meet Pukari and Caterina.  We'd decided to participate in the Leukemia Foundation's Light the Night event.  Caterina's friend Simona also joined us and she was an absolute delight.  She has a fantastic sense of humor and her classic Italian accent made everything seem funnier to me.  We had a lot of fun together and really enjoyed taking part in the walk.

 There were White, Gold, and Blue lanterns: white for those with Leukemia, gold for those remembering a loved one with leukemia, and blue for the general supports.

This morning (Thursday) was my last day with Hiro-san.  He's such an enjoyable gentleman to teach and is a very interesting person.  He owns a pharmacy in Kawasaki City and is also certified in Chinese Medicine (trained in China).  He was telling me about some of his patients and what it's like to practice Chinese Medicine in Japan.  He can only do consultations, he can't actually examine the patients, because his license isn't recognized in Japan.  He also loves to scuba dive and has been to Cairns 6 times previously on scuba diving trips.  He has also been to Micronesia, Hawaii, Chuuk,and some others I can't remember, for scuba trips.  He enjoys making short movies of his trips and he showed Shoko and me a couple videos from his previous excursions on the Great Barrier Reef.

After teaching today I spent the afternoon with Rav at Crystal Cascades where we did a bit of swimming in some very cold water.

 On a disgustingly hot summer day in Cairns the water would feel fantastic.  After our visit there we headed to a Holloway Beach and sat talking for a bit.  At times I felt as if I was being interrogated, but in the politest and most I'm-truly-interested-in-your-answer way.  He's very easy to talk with and we definitely have a lot more in common than I would have thought on our first meeting.  He'd like me to meet his friends (or mates, as he calls them - he's pretty much Australian after all) and wants to hang out next week.  I already told him that I've been told I'm a heart-breaker and he knows I'm not staying in Cairns much longer, so I feel as if he's been dully warned.  Well, it's getting late and I'm working reception tomorrow morning, so I guess that's all you're getting for now.

Clifton Beach

I did decide to take Rav up on his offer to go to the beach Sunday afternoon.  This was after consulting my girls and Pukari as to the wisdom of such a move (I'd only known him for 20 min when he first asked me, and then he texted the next day to ask if I definitely wanted to go).  As Pukari said, "Just do it! Go to the beach tomorrow and if it doesn't work out you've make a friend!"  It turned out to be quite fun and I definitely have a new friend.  We have some random things in common (such as an affinity to Florida-Georgia Line and a distaste for clubbing and the TV show Mad Men), it was a very chill afternoon.  He's very intelligent and seems to have a good head on his shoulders for a 22 year old.  Since he's almost a Doctor he gave me a great explanation of the Australian medical system and the difference between private and public hospitals.  On the drive back he asked if I'd like to go to the movies on Tuesday with him and he also asked if I liked trivia.  I haven't been to the movies in a long time so I said yeah that sounded fun, and I love trivia so I told him I was definitely interested in that.  Him and a bunch of his med school mates go to a local pub for their trivia night so he said he'd text me next time they're going and if I'm free I can join them.  If you recall (I'm assuming I blogged about it), I did a trivia night in Adelaide when Jennifer and Tom visited - we had a ton of fun, but were terrible at it because it was mainly Aussie trivia.  I got back in just enough time to grab a super quick shower, make a PB&J sandwich and get to church for the evening service.  From there I headed to volleyball and, of course, had a lot of fun.  It was a great group that I ended up playing with and I never had to sit out a game, so that was nice.

Monday morning (yesterday), despite being the one day I didn't have to wake up early, I was up at 5am (it was raining and there's a broken gutter that gushes water onto a tin roof and it's quite noisy).  Oh well.  I had a lovely chat with the family during my weekly phone call home and had the pleasant surprise of Aunt Cindy & Aunt Rosie being at my house during the call so I got to talk with them as well.  After the two hour phone call it had cleared up and was sunny so I decided to go for a swim.  After lunch I called my lovely cousin-sister Heather and had a nice talk with her; we're making plans to visit Europe when I get home.  By the time 4:30pm rolled around it was raining again - I wasn't sure if they did the volleyball clinic in the rain so I didn't go.  By 6:15 it had cleared up so I decided to go for a run to the courts and if anyone was there I'd stop and play, if not I'd just finish my run and come back.  There were only maybe 5 people when I ran by the first time, but on my way back past Louis, Nina, and Moses were standing there chatting so I stopped to talk.  I ended up sitting there talking with Louis (Pukari showed up for awhile and chatted before he had to go to work and Nina and Moses headed to the Night Markets) until 9:30pm when I finally said I had to go because of work this morning.  Well, I'm running out of time and Rav will be here soon to head to the movies.  I'll have to blog later about my student this week and the movie we're going to see.  I have no idea what it's about, but hopefully I like it.