When I first moved to Australia, I planned on going to spend a bit of time in Cairns, check out the Great Barrier Reef and scoot on down the east coast over the course of three or four months. I told everyone that I'd be home in February (that's February 2013). What really happened went more this this:
-Move to Cairns
-Realize Australia is freaking expensive and if I need to stay for more than three weeks, I need a job
-Got a job on Reef Experience
And it all went downhill from there. The crew I met on Rexy were/are amazing. I met so many incredible people who are now some of my best friends/family. Even when I stopped working there, I still found myself at the Pier Bar at least two or three nights a week hanging out with all the blue shirted Rex crew. I've seen a lot of people come and go from that boat, and from the other boats in Cairns. I've met some of the most amazing people from all over the world and I'll remember them forever and ever. I love Cairns and the dive life there... I love knowing that if I show up at the Pier Bar any day of the week around 5 or 6 when the boat crews get off, I'll find a couple people I know, if not a million. Now, maybe that makes us alcoholics, but where else can you find something like that?
I can't wrap my head around that my time in Cairns is over. The people I lived with and worked with and met along the way have just been incredible and I love you all to bits. I've been lucky enough to have the best work mates and house mates ever... even if my work mates throw me in the marina or dye my hair blue and my house mates turn all my bedroom furniture upside down. Haha. I've had some great adventure days... It's hard when you have to decide in the morning which waterfall you want to go on any given day. I'll miss so many things about Cairns, but it's the people I'll miss the most. My heart aches because I know it will be a long while until I make it back, but I know I'll bump into everyone along the way. Thank God the diving world is so small :)
My last week in Queensland was brilliant. Mike and I roadtripped down to Townsville to (finally) dive the Yongala, a passenger ship that sank in a cyclone in 1911. They call it Australia's Titanic... it was a fancy pants ship and all the passengers died at sea. Since it's been down there for more than 100 years it is COVERED with creatures. I've never seen so many fish in one place in my life. Not to mention the sharks, sea snakes and giant Queensland gropers. Beautiful dives... I took lots of video with the GoPro, so stay tuned for an youtube masterpiece.
Me and Mike hanging out on the Townsville Strand
We hung out in Townsville for basically three days. But got to stay with my friend Heather again. We met long long ago in the Turks and Caicos and we managed to hang out in Australia! Like I said, the diving/marine bio world is very small, so I know I'll bump into all these amazing friends somewhere else crazy in the world. Madagascar or Bali or South Africa or maybe even Florida ;) We also checked out the aquarium in Townsville (where I have been before, but Mike hadn't so I gave him the grand tour).
I may have had too much fun at the aquarium....
On my second to last day in Cairns, I went out on Mike's boat, the Falla, an old wooden sailboat where he works as an instructor. It was an absolutely idyllic day. Really doesn't get any better than that. AND I saw an octopus. :)
So the Cairns leg of my adventure might be over, but I'm on to new and exciting things, I hope! Sydney for the next few days, then off to Thailand. Flying into Phuket on Tuesday and bopping around for a couple weeks until Mike meets me out there! I'm really sad to leave Cairns, it's been such a good home to me for the past year, but I'm also excited about the new adventures to come. To my Cairns family, I love you to pieces and I can't wait to see you on another journey. Thanks for an amazing year guys.
Love and fishes.
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