The Culture

On the the day we landed in Cairns (25th April), we were advised that there was to be a public holiday the very next day to celebrate Anzac Day. Since then we've endured another two in just over a month of being here - Mothers Day on the 10th May and the Queen's birthday on th 8th June (which we Brits don't even take a day off for!). And get this; even when a public holiday doesn't fall on a weekday, some companies (namely government immigration departments) will take the following Monday off to make up for it. But apparently this any-excuse-for-a-holiday attitude only applies to Queenslanders.

The casual, laid-back 'no worries, no hurries' attitude is something we noticed first about Australians. The Aussies abbreviate EVERYTHING. Breakfast is 'brekkie', photographs are 'piccies', dollars are 'bucks', bottled beers are called 'stubbies', the afternoon is referred to as the 'arvo' and place names are shortened to 'Port Douggie' and 'Maggy Island' rather than 'Port Douglas' and 'Magnetic Island'. They even shorten McDonalds to 'Maccas' on television adverts and strangers feel free to refer to me as 'El' (which only my parents and a couple of close friends back home have ever done). Drivers don't appear to ever use their horns and they even got rid of one and two cent coins (even though shops still price their merchandise in that way) and round the figure up or down to make their lives less stressful.

The People

The first piece of advice we were given by our hostel was to just chill out for the weekend and to enjoy being on the other side of the world. The people we met in shops, bars and restaurants were more cheerful and helpful and I'm pretty sure that the sun has a lot to do with it. We explained to our Kiwi bank clerk that people in the UK are more depressed because they suffer with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) as a result of not seeing enough sunlight, and he laughed as though it were the funniest thing he had ever heard. I'm almost certain that he thought we were pulling his leg.

Another thing that we noticed (perhaps before anything else...) was that the men are so much better looking over here. After much consideration we decided that it was because they are always half-naked and so have to be more conscious of their bodies. Their looks were further enhanced by the girls, who, in comparison, seemed not to be so beautiful, but we figured that this was because they were constantly in and out of the sea and as a consequence they weren't wearing make-up and their hair wasn't GHD'd to the max.

Even if its a corner shop you're just nipping into to buy some milk, the shop assistant will almost never fail to ask you "how you're goin'"; and unlike in England, they do expect you to give them a heart-to-heart response - which is just lovely if you're in the mood, but can be a little frustrating if you're in a hurry (or in a bad mood and don't feel like talking to anybody).

Every single person in north Queensland has a scary tale to tell you about a crocodile, a shark, a box jellyfish or a man-eating shrub of somekind. We think that the reason we hang onto every single word is because as humans we are fascinated by stories like this as we're at the top of the foodchain and therefore shouldn't be attacked by lesser creatures. Plus, we're two gullible English girls who've just landed in a foreign country and so it must be amusing for the locals to frighten us. Aussies take great pleasure in winding up pommies after all. After hearing all of their horror stories, I was certain that Australia would be a perfect place if it weren't for all its humungous, poisonous, deadly creatures, but upon further consideration I decided that it just wouldn't be as great a place. After all, the fact that Australia evolved as a continent entirely on its own and has therefore developed its own ecosystem, the strange plants and animals (a prime example is the duck-billed platypus) is surely something to be marvelled at more than feared. Having said this, however, I must admit that I wasn't overly keen on the thought of venturing into the swamp-infested environmental reserve called 'Deadmans Gully' near Clifton Beach.

The Sights

Cairns provides a gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, so if you're in Cairns it's obviously worth a visit. We booked our snorkelling trip before we left England, so were unsure of what to expect. Whatever it was though, we didn't think we'd be boarding the most rickety, old sea vessel in the harbour. We approaced 'The Falla' with apprehension, but the skipper of the old pearl lugger was funny, passionate and an enthralling story-teller; so much so, that the three hour journey to the reef was an experience in itself. We visited the Coral Gardens reef and a beautiful sand island called Upolu Cay, and although they weren't the best snorkelling and diving sites, a turtle did swim right past Sophie and I. Ok, I'll admit that we ourselves (dumb and dumber) didn't actually realise that the turtle was there, but everyone else saw it and in the end I managed to get a photograph of another, smaller turtle. A little disappointed with the duller-than-expected reef colours (I actually thought it would be as bright as the scenery in the cartoon film 'Finding Nemo'), lack of reef life and the time it took to get out to the Reef, I booked myself onto another trip, with Silverswift, to do an introductory scubadive. The second, more expensive, trip was well worth the money, taking just a couple of hours to get to the outer reef, where the colours are brighter and you can see more fish. This time I saw Nemo, a shark and I swam with a turtle on my own in the sea because the other passengers were too busy eating their lunch. And this time I actually saw it. Because by now it was whale season, with no luck, I spent the majority of the trip home scanning the horizon for signs of humback whales. Since I first arrived in Australia I seem to be constantly scanning the varying landscapes, forever hopeful of seeing whales, dolphins, crocodiles, or any other variety of weird and wonderful Australian animal. I have yet to see even a wild kangaroo and feel rather cheated as it is one of the most iconic symbols associated with the land down under and so I had expected to see them hopping around the countryside aplenty.

Being based in Cairns also gives you a point of entry to Cape Tribulation. Where the rainforest meets the ocean, it's the only place in the world where two world heritage listed sites meet. I won't say that it was the most relaxing trip I have ever been on, mainly due to the dinner-plate-sized spiders lurking in the trees and the crocodile horror stories that were told to us by the two pilots who took us to Cape Trib. For me, spending the whole night in a cabin surrounded by the eight-legged beasts was an achievement in itself. And I'm sure that the seven beers before bedtime are to thank for the snatches of light, restlless sleep that I did manage to get. The next day we took a trip through Daintree and stopped in an amazing little pub called the Lion's Den. I now know what Bill Bryson means when he describes a typical outback Australian pub with postcards and souvenirs (including random articles such as underwear) completely covering the walls.

On the way home from Cape Tribulation, we took a de-tour to Cooktown. We were told that it was only a slight de-tour of two hours. As an English person, I prepare the next day for a drive that takes longer than an hour, but for Australians a short drive can be anything up to four. It's only when you travel around the country that you can truly comprehend how large it actually is. As it was a Sunday, nothing in Cooktown was open so we just drove through to get a feel of the place. Someone told Sophie that the place hadn't changed in 200 years. I think they were probably right.

Having been warned about the Aussie past time of winding up pommies, we spent that whole weekend dubiously listening to what the guys we were with told us. We did, however go into the Greek Taverna on Aplin Street in Cairns to check out whether Peter Andre's brothers did in fact own the restaurant. This turned out to be true. I just wonder - how many of those crocodile stories did we wrongly dismiss? Eek!

Only an hour or so's drive from Cairns, Port Douglas is definitely worth a visit, even if its costly reputation means it's only to sunbathe on the gorgeous 4-Mile Beach. There are a few beaches that are also worth stopping at on the way, such as Palm Cove and Trinity Beach, however jelly fish season (November to May) means that it's only safe to swim within the stinger nets. This is yet another reminder of how deadly Australia can be.

Surprisingly, Cairns has no beach of its own, so tourists and locals make do with 'cooking themselves' by the lagoon - a massive free swimming pool on the Esplanade. At weekends, live performances on the nearby stage give the area a festival atmosphere. As a penniless backpacker in Cairns, there's not much else to do but lie in the sun and enjoy reading a good book, however the cliche of me reading my Bill Bryson 'Down Under' book is nearly as bad as reading Alex Garland's 'The Beach' on the plane to Thailand.

Eating

How many backpackers have been to Cairns and not been to the Woolshed? From 6pm - 9:30pm every night you can get a meal (including steak!), a drink and a dessert for $10. Be prepared to queue though.

If it's steak you're after, Paddywhacks on Shields Street is the place to go. I can honestly say that the eye fillet ($34.50, but worth every cent) is the best steak I have ever eaten.

The locals love eating at Green Ant - a Mexican restaurant on Bunda Street, behind Cairns Central. Some nights they cater especially for locals, but they have special backpacker meal deals too - I would recommend 'Mutha Earth' - a qaesadilla with pumpkin, vegetables and feta cheese. And they even play drum 'n' bass on Friday nights.

With just about every type of breakfast you can think of, another favourite with the locals is Lillipad on Grafton Street. The pancakes with maple syrup and ice-cream are delicious but filling.

Drinking

Obviously drinking is a big part of Australian culture and, lined with bars and pubs, Cairns is a backpackers paradise - a chance to meet people and (if it's your type of thing) dance on the bar and enter pole-dancing competitions.

PJ O'Brien's, with its outside smoking area in central Cairns, is the best place to meet other travellers and locals and share stories. Whilst chatting to someone in PJ's, the best quote I heard was: "I once pissed on a shark's head". His friend then launched into an elaborate tale of how someone, as a practical joke, had once put dead fish in his backpack and sent him scuba-diving so that sharks and other big fish would swarm around him. Now that's far better than the cling film on the toilet trick.

Blue Sky Brewery, on Lake Street was another of our favourite places. As the name suggests, all of their beer and wine is made on the premises and they really look after their customers. After being in there twice, we were considered valued customers and we were given loyalty cards, a $30 bar tab and two free platters of food. If that's not enough to entice you in, they also have a quiz night on a Wednesday.

I won't say that it was the only reason we came to Australia, but one of the deciding factors was definitely that you could get a good quality glass of wine for a decent price. However this proved difficult in Cairns. In our quest to find a pub that didn't charge an extortionate amount of money for the tiniest measure of wine, one Tuesday afternoon we came across a pub called Shenanigans on Sheridan Street. It turns out they have a game called 'toss the boss', where the bar tender flips a coin and if you guess the outcome correctly, you halve the cost of your drink. The possibility of paying $2.50 for a large glass of red? I was definitely willing to give it a go. And even when I didn't win, I was happy to part with $5 for a wine that wasn't served in the equivalent of a shot glass.

Summary

In-so-far as appreciating that we'd just flown to the other side of the world, Cairns was probably not the best place to arrive in. Instead of Aussies we met mostly backpackers, instead of kangaroos, wallabies and possums, the only Australian wildlife we saw on dry land was a dingoe, a gecko, some noisy birds and a few bats and with Cairns being a small town, when we weren't working we became bored quite quickly. Towards the end of our two months in the town, we found that planning our east coast trip was a great way to while away the hours...