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| Leaving Longreach |
That small town girl part of me
that made herself known while I was in Longreach is dead. The city girl that has always existed asserted her dominance and killed
the idiot. She got drunk at 3am (because the bars were still open)
then got in a taxi that ran small town girl over (because taxis were
available 24 hours) before having a celebratory kebab (because she
could get food after 8pm at night). Do not get me wrong, small town
girl had her fun but was ultimately weakened from the
lack of city conveniences and seeing the same few hundred people day
in and day out – city girl knows how to live and live well.
By the time I was finally leaving Longreach I was humming 'The Great Escape' tune. It was not that I had a
bad time but by the last month I had snapped; tourist season was over
due to the temperature hitting 40 degrees every day so work was mind
numbingly quiet most of the time; there was nothing to do other than
go out drinking and since there was only one pub in town worth going
to even drunkenness was becoming mundane; I missed the sea,
buildings taller than two storeys and night life that did not involve
nocturnal animals. I loved the people and the small town atmosphere
but there was a whole big world out there that was calling me – I
finally understood the true meaning of all those Journey songs.
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| Whitehaven Beach |
The bus to the coast took 9 hours and travelled along the Tropic of Capricorn to Rockhampton,
a township that as far as I can tell is only there for people to
stop over between fun places. Still there were mountains, Maccas and
more people than I'd seen in months – it was glorious. With just a
day there I hit the overnight bus up to Airlie Beach, a party resort
that serves as the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands. It was just
what I needed. In a hostel with other backpackers, I spent my days
lazing by a giant lagoon overlooking the sea and my nights drinking,
dancing and on one occasion having political debates
with a U.S. Republican and gay rights debates with a mid-west pastor.
I may have physically pulled out some hair but it still had its merits. To see
the islands themselves I booked onto a raft boat known as 'Big Fury' for a day cruise and got to sunbathe on world famous Whitehaven beach and
snorkel in a shallow bay with some coral. Pure bliss.
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| Airlie Beach |
Just when I thought vacations could
not get any better I went to Cairns. Not only was I in a proper,
honest to goodness city (!) but my hostel was more fun than would be
appropriate to write about on the internet and what was that other
thing? Oh yeah, I visited the Great Barrier Reef! In spite of being mid-recovery from a foul case of food poisoning (added delight at having such a condition while in a hostel aka top bunk and communal toilets) it was one of the most magical days of my life. I spent the trip out to the reef huddled up at the table closest to the toilets, popping ginger tablets like they were Smarties and sipping at Vitamin Water which was the only thing I had been able to keep down for two days. Nothing was stopping me from making this trip - I was doing my first ever scuba dive, a prospect that would have filled me with a manic excitement even if I had just broken my leg and was diving into a dirty pond in Grimsby (swimming underwater was my childhood raison d'être) so I still felt like one of life's winners by diving the Barrier Reef with food poisoning.
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| Christmas Cairns style |
As I sat there on the edge of the boat's diving platform, my feet dangling in the warm water and the sun shining down on me, a sort of serene calm washed over me...then I realised I was about to willingly plop myself into deep water with a tank of air strapped to my back and weights attached to my waist - actual madness. But the instructors and set up were excellent with underwater bars attached to the back of the boat to allow you to get used to the gear, underwater pressure and practice the basic skills. Then we were off! Initially I swam with my arm linked with an instructor but I was thrilled to be the first person in the group to be given the signal to take off on my own (provided I always stayed within the sight of the instructor). No amount of hyperbole would be sufficient to describe the sensation - it was beyond what I expected and the sheer diversity of the marine life was incredible. I will never be able to name pretty much anything I saw but between the dive and the afternoon snorkelling I must have spotted hundreds if not thousands of types of fish in addition to sharks, stingrays and best of all - sea turtles. One particularly giant turtle which had been nibbling on some coral on the sea bed spotted me and another diver as we worked our way down to him but rather than swim off, the turtle was a friendly fella who came up to us. One of the instructors appeared from nowhere and picked some of the spongy coral (for the record we had been explicitly told several emphatic times not to even touch the coral) and put a little bit in our hands. Well the turtle invited himself for lunch and nibbled it out of my fingers. I had to resist from actually pinching myself.
Unfortunately I have no photos of this part of my Aussie adventure. I came pretty close to buying an underwater camera but ultimately decided that this was one of those moments I should experience first hand without worrying about taking a picture. Besides there is no way I will ever forget that day (Under the Sea was stuck in my head for over a week) and if I do, I will be old and senile and if that's the case chances are I would have lost the photos a long time ago anyway.
