Cairns

Aug 14th:  We woke early to head back to the mainland.  I really didn't want to eat breakfast, since I'm gaining too much weight. ... Aw, who am I kidding - 'Extra spaghetti, please!'

Looking south

We continued north, hugging the curvy coast, through Bowen, where Baz Luhrmann's AUSTRALIA was filmed, then stopped in a small coastal town for a quick lunch and short stroll along a deserted beach.

Maybe not so deserted.

Please, no pictures ... I'm on holiday!

Cairns lies 631 km north from where we were this morning.  It's a port town, but earns most of its money from tourism.  We came in late in the day, already in darkness, but things were kickin'!

There was a huge concert playing along the waterfront.  The streets were packed and, after spending most of the day in the bus, we were anxious to drop our things at the hotel and explore.

We walked the esplanade from the Cairns Hotel to the indoor Night Markets.  Most of the wares for sale we'd already seen along our travels:  boomerangs, jewelry and aboriginal paintings.  We walked through to a food court and enjoyed some Chinese eats.  

Afterward, we decided to explore the markets.  It had a decidely asian flavor, with more to offer a tourist than we originally thought.  Kangaroo claw back-scratchers, haircuts and massages given behind privacy curtains ('You like haircut, suh?  Good massage, here!  You like velly much!') and - UH OH - snakes!

Goran is terrified of them.  He can barely look at a picture of a snake.  If we go to a movie and a snake is featured, I get punched and accused of not warning him - as if I should have screened the film first.  I rarely see a movie twice, so I'm always taking my chances seeing something with him.  (Note:  If it's a Harry Potter film, I get someone to sit between us.) 

We walked past the curtains and, since I was walking ahead of Goran and Sharie, I was the first to see the woman with a dozen snakes draped around her neck.  I quickly turned to Goran.  It was too late to steer him elsewhere, so I told him, 'DO NOT look to the right!'  And, of course, he looked to the right. 

He yelped, 'Ah!' and ran off into the crowd of shoppers.  Sharie caught up to me and asked, 'Where's Goran?'  I explained what had happened and we went on the search.  For over an hour we looked through the markets, along the waterfront - not a stitch.  We finally just gave up, assuming he'd make his way to the hotel.

Which is where we found him.  Sharie and I attempted a psychological consultation, trying to reason that the woman wouldn't have brought dangerous snakes into such a crowded, public place.  He grew frustrated with us, told us to, 'Shutting it!' and that ended our first night in Cairns.