Arrival in Australia - my first days in Cairns!

Hello everyone, I have arrived quite well in this huge country. At first, I was just glad to have arrived at the small airport in Cairns and to look out at the street without seeing any scooters! The air was pleasant to breathe again and immediately I felt a little more back in civilization. I happened to meet 3 other backpackers at the airport and together we went to the city center to the hostel. The ride took 10 minutes and cost us 5 dollars each.

Arriving at the hostel, I couldn't check in yet, I could only drop off my luggage. So I walked the streets up and down and just wanted to treat myself to a proper breakfast, but it's ridiculously expensive here! So I paid 8 euros for a latte and a slice of banana bread and I was really annoyed. I had already been to the supermarket and got a SIM card, but it was more complicated than I thought and I had to wait 2 days for the SIM card to work. The cherry on top of the enormous cream cake, however, was that not a single damned ATM would give me cash. I felt really overwhelmed by the difficult start, because on the small island of Bali it was much less difficult to find connections. The next morning, I at least wanted to plan my tour so far and decided to go towards Townsville. So I logged in online on the website of the bus company and wanted to book the route, but I kept getting an error message. A short panic attack later, I grabbed my travel details and went to the office of the bus company right across the street. There were 2 super nice (and really attractive!) guys who enlightened me: I had booked my bus ticket from Melbourne to Cairns, but I was in Cairns at the moment and actually wanted to go to Melbourne - so I booked it in the wrong direction! So they called and changed the ticket.

Of course, the two asked me if I had already made my next plans and I took the chance to check out what I should really do in terms of trips, as I had limited time and limited money. So both helped me plan my time and suggested various tours. So I decided to take a sailing tour to the Whitsundays, where there is incredibly clear water with the opportunity to kayak out into the open sea and snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef. The second tour was the Fraser Island tour with camping in the jungle, campfire evenings and zooming around on Beach Buggys on the beach. On that day, my problem with my credit and SIM card was also resolved, so everything was in the green zone.

On my last day in Cairns, I met other Germans and we booked a rental car and drove around a bit. We had a breathtaking view of the Australian countryside as we drove up the mountain on zigzag roads, saw waterfalls, climbed over rivers, and had to wait in the car on a deserted road because a herd of cows crossed the road.

It was only then, when all the problems were resolved and we had to wait until the herd of cows had passed - in the middle of nowhere - that I really felt at home.

I was here, in the vast landscape of Australia, I had made my way here and I was ready to discover more, to take on more adventures, to see and dare more.

On the same evening, I set off for Airlie Beach. I had booked the night bus and was able to sleep quite well inside and was looking forward to a few more days of warm weather, because the further I venture down the coast, the colder it will get. I met many new people and we went out that evening because it was Ladies Night! After a few hours of dancing, I fell into bed feeling pretty exhausted. The next day, the planning continued, because after all, my sailing tour is coming up soon! I can't wait to tell you about how I - little Jennie - spent a night out on the open sea, saw the vastness of the ocean, saw the sun rise on the horizon, and will have even more colorful images in my mind than before. Every moment counts, every moment is amazing and teaches me something new, every person I meet on my tour is like a little puzzle piece in the big picture... I'm just incredibly happy and I still can't believe that I see the vast, colorful world!