Being A Tourist - Day 1

On account of the abject boredom and the desperate need for anything resembling Decent Conversation I got to Cairns a couple of days earlier than expected, arriving on the same day as Mum and Dad thus dashing any hope they had of a quite couple of days recovering from jet lag, getting used to the heat and humidity and generally relaxing. I dropped the girls off in town and drove to Palm Cove to meet the pair that spawned me for the first time in 17 months and began three weeks of renouncing noodles and dorm rooms in order to Be A Tourist.

I've broken this down into bite sized pieces to make it easier to wade through, not that anyone is gonna read it anyway, I don't know why I bother half the time. Its a bloody good job I'm just about self centred enough to enjoy telling the world all about me me me regardless of whether they like it or not.

Today we were going to Cairns Tropical Zoo in the morning then we were going to make some plans for the next couple of weeks in the afternoon, we'd get a nice early start, they'd call me when they were up and I'd drive in from town. I gave them until about 10.30am before I called to get them up.
I don't know, parents ay, lying in their pits until god knows what hour, anyone would think they were on holiday. So the afternoon plans were abandonded and instead we just chilled at the zoo. There'd be plenty of time for planning later and anyways, planning is best done over a beer.

Mum And Dad Feeding Roos

Mauling Crocs

The zoo is cool though, its $29 each to get in but you can easily fill a whole day there with the obligatory reptile talks, crocodile shows and cups of tea at the cafe plus you get to manhandle saltwater crocs before they get too big to remove limbs. And and and! I got to cuddle a koala for the first time. I kind of forgot they existed, they don't have koalas in WA or the NT which is where I'd been living, I'd stopped associating Australia with koalas thinking instead about stingers and crocodiles and other things that'd generally keep you out of the water on a blazing hot day.

We Make A Beautiful Couple, So Much In Common.

If I had a totem animal the koala would be it. They're cute and cuddly (oi, stop laughing you fuckers!), sleep for 16 to 20 hours a day and eat food of no nutritional value whatsoever. If they drank I'm sure it'd be goon. So we spent the best part of the day there then headed back to Palm Cove for dinner.

One of the best things about Being A Tourist is the food, no more boiling noodles for 2 minutes in a kitchen which you have to share with 100 other people and probably e-coli. Oh no. Its cafes for lunch and restaurants for dinner.

I wondered how my body was going to cope with Nutrients.

written by

Koala Bear on October 5, 2007 from Cairns, Australia

from the travel blog: Sod Off Great Big Mission Round Oz

tagged LovinIt and ShamelessTourist

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