CAIT AROUND THE WORLD

April 24, 2023 — I woke up just in time for checkout in the morning (most of the places in Australia where I’ve stayed it’s been ten a.m., and Gilligan’s is no exception). I had my alarm set for 9:00am and basically ignored it until 9:40, at which point I simply had to get up and stuff my belongings away, then head downstairs to turn in my key and store my bag for a few hours.

I met up with one of the girls I’d been on the Uncle Brian’s tour with a few days earlier and who had also been hanging out at ladies’ night. She was checking out as well and catching a bus headed down the coast. After we’d both checked out, we headed upstairs and chatted in one of the common rooms until she had to go.

After she left to catch her bus, I headed up one more floor to have some breakfast. Fuelled up and ready to go, I headed out with a plan to find a coffee shop and some wifi to do some work on the blog. I didn’t really want to sit in the hostel — too boring. I also had some running around to do since April 25 was Anzac Day and I’d seen a sign the day before at Woolies that said they would be closed. I assumed that other places would be closed too, given the circumstances, and that’s one reason I actually turned out grateful that my dates for the Great Barrier Reef had gotten mixed up. I wouldn’t have had time to get some rather important things otherwise.

I wound up at Kathmandu first to find a warm base layer since one of my planned activities in Indonesia was hiking Mount Rinjani in Lombok. It’s a very high peak and temperatures can plummet at the top. Given that we were also going to be camping there overnight, I wanted to make sure that I would be able to stay warm enough and I didn’t pack much in the way of cold-weather gear before leaving home. (I follow a travel Instagram with the handle @maskedtravelsx and she said in one of her posts that she always travels with thermals. I can definitely understand why!)

My next stop was Woolies to pick up a tube of mascara. I don’t wear makeup on the daily and I brought absolutely nothing with me, but I was feeling like I wanted something to dress up a little bit with if I happened to go out with friends I met somewhere at some point, or if I just wanted to feel fancier after days of living in backpacker grunge.

Finally, I stopped at the ProDive shop to pick up a waterproof case and a postcard. The waterproof case because I wanted to be able to take pictures underwater and I planned to do some snorkelling in Indonesia; the postcard because I needed one for Cairns and I hadn’t gotten one yet.

Then I made it to Envy Espresso, just a few blocks down from my hostel. I wanted a warm coffee. Even though it wasn’t cold outside, it was raining. I’d also seen a guy that morning with a mug of hot coffee and it looked so incredibly good. I’d stuck to mostly iced coffee for quite a while: time for a change.

I sat, enjoying a vanilla latte with my iPad/laptop configuration out, working on the blog when I finally managed to connect to Cairns City wifi (the availability of which might have had something to do with me sitting practically directly across from one of the government buildings.

Eventually 2:00pm rolled around and I was able to check into my new room at the hostel for my last two nights. I got into my room, settled, and continued working on the blog and various other things until my iPad got down to 3%. (Side note, because I don’t think I’ve mentioned this yet: I purchased the Arteck Bluetooth Keyboard with Folio Case (find it here) for my travels because I wanted to be able to prop my iPad and its keyboard on my lap and do whatever I needed it to do: I wanted it to be a laptop. I found this case and not only is it perfect, it’s also rechargeable. I purchased it about a month before I left on my trip and the keyboard is rechargeable. I leave it on all the time and I’ve only had to charge it once in about four months. I was really impressed with that, and for that as well as functionality, I highly recommend acquiring one if you’re travelling and want laptop capabilities with an iPad.) Now back to our regularly scheduled programming — with my laptop on charge, I headed out to find lunch.

I didn’t have to go far before I found a nice little Chinese spot in one of the little walk-throughs between city blocks. I didn’t have anything specific in mind and the menus can have so many options — this one certainly did. I asked the woman behind the counter what I should have and she recommended the wonton soup. It sounded good and I’ve never had it before, so I went for it! I got it to go, brought it back to my hostel, and it was delicious.

After about an hour of digestion and relaxation, I went out to try to get Indonesian currency at the exchange around the block. Unfortunately, a couple beat me to it and cleaned the place out! (Thankfully, this turned out to be a non-issue a couple days later.)

Later that night, I did some laundry, then went out for Dominoes one last time before leaving Australia. I have to say, I love the price and options of pizza in Australian Dominoes locations. You can get mini pizzas — which I did in Brisbane — for about $3.00, and they’re a perfect lunch size. You can also get a large, which is about the same size as a medium in Canada, and they’re only $8.00! It seems like it could be expensive to order enough for the whole family in Australia, but as a single it’s perfect!

I chatted with mom and dad on my walk there and back, then settled in with my pizza and my streaming channels to lay back and relax some more before heading to bed for the night.

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