Sweating in Cairns and lots of cars

On Monday evening we finally arrived in Cairns. At the airport, the first thing we did was put on shorts. Although we were greeted by drizzle, the high and unusual temperatures were more pleasant than annoying to us. On the website of our hostel, we had seen that there is a free airport shuttle. However, after a short call, we found out that it is no longer offered. So we had to find another way to get to the hostel. A bus doesn't really go to our hostel and even the taxi drivers recommended taking an Uber. Essentially a taxi provided by private individuals. But even this 10-minute ride cost us 25 AU$.

Upon arrival at our new hostel (still NJoy, soon MadMonkeys), we were greeted warmly and even got some food from the free BBQ, despite the late hour. Krissi got 2 burgers and Kenny even got 3. : D

On Tuesday morning, we tested the hostel's own pool and met two Swedes. After some time, Kenny escaped from the "cold" pool, while Krissi passed the time playing volleyball with the Swedes.

Kenny had seen a post on Facebook that Mich - a Dutch girl - would like to explore Cairns together. We agreed to meet in the city center for lunch. After some searching and walking around in the blazing sun, we finally found each other. Together, we then met Nick (from China). We went directly to Kuranda in his car. Allegedly a super cute artist and hippie village near Cairns, but unfortunately it has become very touristy. While looking for art, we found a small studio where works by Aboriginal people are exhibited. However, Nick was more interested in the gallery owner. Mich quickly exchanged phone numbers for the two of them. (They apparently had a date the following weekend, but we still don't know how it went)

< figcaption>Lunch in Kuranda

For lunch, we had crocodile curry. Surrounded by big lizards, we exchanged thoughts while eating before heading to Barron Falls. Unfortunately, during our visit, they were more like a small trickle than a roaring waterfall. The view was beautiful, but we had much higher expectations from the Google images.

Then we went to a smaller waterfall somewhere between Cairns and Kuranda. The last time Nick was there, there was a small crocodile swimming in the water, but this time there was none and we were able to swim in the clear, cool water and climb around on the rocks in the waterfall. Mich has the photos on her phone, but she hasn't sent them to us yet. :(

On Wednesday, we spontaneously decided to visit a car dealer. When we arrived, we found out that the car was in the workshop to get the Road Worthy Certificate. This is comparable to a German TÜV inspection. In Australia (except Western Australia), cars cannot be sold without this certificate. So we went back to the city.

Exhausted from the long walk, we spent the rest of the day at the Lagoon. In Cairns, you cannot swim in the sea because of crocodiles and jellyfish. The Lagoon is a large city pool right by the sea that can be used free of charge for swimming.

In the evening, we discovered a small festival in Cairns. The Arts & Cultural Festival accompanying the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. During the day, there are various stands, as you would expect from a typical city festival, and in the evening, there are various concerts, also free of charge.

On Thursday morning, we had an appointment to inspect a car. The Mitsubishi Pajero V6 from the backpackers Vroni and Marius with a built-in bed and camping equipment. So far our absolute favorite. Although Kenny noticed some flaws, the two of them went to the workshop the next morning, and the issues were supposed to be fixed by Monday. Then we looked at another SUV a bit further away. However, it was quite dirty and the paint was severely damaged by the sun. Coincidentally, there was another car there that Kenny had already seen on the internet. We spontaneously took it for a test drive. However, it stopped halfway. The tank was simply empty, and Kenny had to push the car with the owner while Krissi waited for them. But everything went pretty quickly. On the way home, Kenny saw another car. The Toyota that wasn't at the dealer the day before. It was parked in front of a workshop where Krissi and Kenny asked directly for the key. So we spontaneously made a short inspection and then continued walking home. Kenny spontaneously fell in love with another car, a Toyota Prado from the dealer. Condition-wise, it was the best of the whole day!

In the evening, we met Lisa - a school friend who happened to be passing through Cairns. Krissi became aware of it through a Facebook post from Lisa. What a coincidence. :) We spent several hours at the Esplanade, talking about Australia and remaining friendships from school days. On the way back, we discovered a huge playground right on the Esplanade. We were particularly attracted to a large hamster wheel. :D

On Friday, we went to the airport to look at another car. It was well equipped for off-road trips, but hadn't been repaired in a long time. Too bad. After the viewing and test drive, we had some time until the bus back to the city, so we walked around the village a bit and discovered a large sunflower field. However, the highlight was not the many beautiful flowers. Krissi spotted a woman with a baby kangaroo in her arms. Fortunately, she simply approached her and was even allowed to hold the little one herself. It had lost its mother, is currently 3 months old, and will be released back into the wild when it is 1 year old. We can't post a photo because the "owner" didn't want it.

Afterwards, on the recommendation of other backpackers, we went to the Botanical Garden. However, we initially walked around the surrounding parks by mistake - it was nice, but not really a botanical garden.

With time, we became quite hungry, and that didn't help us appreciate the beauty of the plants. After a shared portion of fries, we finally found the right Botanical Garden. As Kenny likes to say, "They're just plants."

During dinner, we met Ellen and Joachim. Siblings from Germany. We sat together for a long time, and since Ellen wanted to buy souvenirs before her departure on Saturday morning (she only visited her brother for 3 weeks), we went to the Night Market. We didn't find any souvenirs, but we did find a large box of Asian food for 5 AU$. After that, the four of us went back to the playground. At the hamster wheel, we met local children who wanted to race us while running, supposedly for the first time in their lives. To their misfortune, Kenny didn't fall during the duel, even though the pace was really fast. Some older children joined us later, who apparently had not only been drinking alcohol..

On Friday, Joachim went to the Zoom with his sister - a reptile house in Cairns. They raved about snakes, crocodiles, and koalas. Since one entrance ticket allows access for the next 4 days, we wanted to try our luck with their ticket on Saturday. However, Kenny felt uneasy on the way. When we arrived, we stood helplessly in the room - we had ended up directly in the shop and only saw the exit sign. After a few minutes, we anxiously left the shop again and went to the city pool, where Joachim joined us again. When he asked us, we explained our mishap and found out that we had been right - opportunity missed.

On Saturday evening, we met up with Vroni, Marius, and Joachim to pre-drink before the hostel at their campers. We had beer and cheap white wine from a box, called Goon here, mixed with Sprite to drink. We only arrived at the Gilligans club around 2:00 am. We had until 3:00 am to dance to Black and Electro, then the party was over. All guests left the party peacefully and gathered in front of the club. We headed to the city pool, where Marius and I wanted to swim. After a few seconds, a stranger joined us in the water and immediately shouted that security was coming (a single, older, extremely slim man... :D ) - so we got out of the water and walked along the promenade in our underwear. Our next stop was the playground and the hamster wheel again. :D Despite the club closing early, we didn't get back to the hostel until 5:00 am.

On Sunday, we spent the day sleeping at the hostel and at the city pool.

On Monday, we finally sat down to do our tax return. Yeah :(

In the afternoon, Vroni and Marius returned from the workshop, and after a short test drive, we finally decided to buy the car - from Wednesday onwards, we can proudly call ourselves owners of a Mitsubishi Pajero. :)