Cairns Days 1 and 3

Cairns is pretty much what you would call a tourist community. Between my hostel and the ocean, there are no less then five billion souvenier shops. Half of which sell opal jewelry.

The tricky thing is, people don't come to Cairns to see Cairns. They come to Cairns to see the Great Barrier Reef or the Rainforests, or the beaches that aren't in Cairns. Cairns is a jumping off spot for tourist activities in other places.

Basically, to use an analogy, Cairns is to Tourist Hotspot as Independence is to Oregon Trail. Sure, you go there, but you don't stay there.

So, days 1 and 3 were spent wandering around town trying to find cool things to take pictures of. I accomplished this, but I left my camera in my room, which means we get to do everyone's favorite activity: a retroactive post.

But really, there was no special building or statue that was a must see. This was a typical resort town. A few good resaurants, some great places to get a drink, and a whole lot of not much else.

There is the Lagoon, which is a public saltwater pool right next to the ocean. Its free to anyone, and it was fairly busy this weekend.

Oh, and the ocean? Its there, but the beach is this mud flat thing, that while highly attractive to look at (sarcasm) it prevents one from dipping their toes in the water.

That said, its a nice town, and I've enjoyed the stay. And, considering the headline in today's Cairns Weekend Post screamed that there was a man shortage in Northern Queensland (Headline said 50 women for every 1 bloke) I still might move here. I would link to the story, but it appears the Cairns Post does not have a website, because its a subsidary of New Limited. Thanks conglomoration!

Anyway, time to go grab a Guiness from the Irish pub down the street. Mmm...delicious Guiness. Pics of the weekend, plus (and I promise) the vegemite post this week.

Alan