Booze!
I found out today that staff at my hostel get a $60 weekly bar tab at the Woolshed Pub in Cairns!
A bus comes and picks us up every night, but it's a 25 minute walk back...
The job itself is lame, and the people here make me miss Eurong.
Same deal as Fraser Island, if I quit, they keep my paycheque. If I get fired however, they have to pay me in full....
Justin is working out of town doing renovations on a house.
He has the truck, and I have no way to contact him. Two people now have called too see the Jackaroo. If you talk to Justin, tell him to call me.
Wait, who the hell is even reading this?
I had a beard trimming incident which ended up in me shaving my entire head, Brittney Spears style.
I made a good friend with a girl named Kim from Ireland. Hi Kim.
I finally beat 'Bounce', the game that came on my cellphone.
Ok so slowing down, staying in one place for a while and working is a great way to see an area, but doesn't make for an interesting blog.... all apologies.
Last night at the pub they had fish racing.

GREAT BARRIER REEF!
I smashed another goal in life off the list yesterday THREE times, I dove the Great Barrier Reef.
I was pretty disapointed after the first dive. I got paired with a newby and I spent the whole dive worrying about her- didn't see much.
The second dive was Rick Golden. I got paired up with this smokin Dutch chick. We saw everything! Turtles, rays, a million different kind of fish and even a reef shark!
I was too excited to notice that I was running out of air, so I had to breathe off of Evelyn's backup air to get to the surface. oops.
Third dive was pretty relaxed, saw a puffer fish the size of a german sheppard.
Last night I thought I was invincible after the dive, so we went to the casino.
I lost $100, damn. Lost another $100, ouch. Placed a $500 bet on a hand of blackjack and.............. LOST. Never gambling again.
Scored a HUGE job here in Cairns.
I basically pick people up from the airport in a van, chat them up, bring them to our hostel and help them with any tour bookings or check ins they need.
The catch is, to be able to talk about the tours available, I have to DO the tours. I work 4 days a week, and then spend 3 days doing as many day trip and over night dive trips as I can.
I wish we had more time here, this is my dream job.
We've had two people now call and come see the Jackaroo, still no offers.
I took it to a dealership here in town and the guy offered me a sack of elephant grade peanuts for it.
Justin is doing his first open water dive today.

CAIRNS!
Kinda bummed out, I had two dives scheduled on the Yongala wreck and both were cancelled.
One to weather, the other because the dive boat broke....
Picked up the Jackaroo and the repair bill was way more than I expected.
I have definitely entered the tropics, the weather here is totally different.
Sickly humid and the sun is relentless.
There are signs on all river crossings here about dangerous crocodiles. I'd love to see one.
Today Justin left for his 4 day PADI dive certification course. His first open water dive will be on the Great Barrier Reef. Spoiled.
We had a bite on the Jackaroo yesterday. Some old man called and came to take a look at it.
He said he was looking for something a little more 'original'.
We went to a bar last night that was advertising topless bartenders. Should have known, they were guys.
Every night in Cairns at about 7pm there are maybe a million large bats flying over the city. I have to take a picture of it, it's unbelievable.
We parked under a tree and our truck is covered in guano.
That's it, we've completed the Australian leg of our journey. Sydney to Cairns complete.
As soon as we sell this damn truck we are on a plane to New Zealand!

Score!
I called the mechanic today and the truck will be ready this afternoon.
Yesterday I had a teary goodbye with Jeff and Luke. I think Jeff's final words were 'later, dipshit'.
Yesterday I hopped on a ferry and cruised to Hamilton Island.
Cars and motorcycles aren't allowed on the island, you can only get around by golf-cart.
Michelle had been on the island for 3 weeks, and hadn't done any exploring so I rented us a cart.
We went to this incredible lookout for sunset cocktails. There was a jazz band playing, twas a great moment.
I should have looked at a map before I agreed to drive to Cairns by myself. It's going to take about 11 hours. weak.
I'm going to stop at the Yongala and do a dive on the way up, maybe a night in Townsville.
I made up for sale flyers for the Jackaroo, those are going up soon.
After the bar the other night I threw my Blackberry as high as I could in the air and fell over laughing as it smashed on the ground... It seemed like a good idea at the time, but now my phone is dodgier than a Neon.
Why do I spend so much time on the internet? Because internet cafes are air conditioned and I get homesick.
Keep it.

If you look up the word 'random' in the dictionary, you will see a picture of me, Vanilla Ice, and about 20 hot chicks dancing on stage at a small hostel in Airlie Beach.
That's right, Vanilla Ice.
I didn't bring my camera, I have no proof it happened, but I swear on anything Vanilla Ice, THE Vanilla Ice played a show at Magnums backpackers last night.
He ditched the blond hair, he's covered in tattoos and does shitty rap rock now.
Wasn't the worst show I've ever seen.
Justin called me yesterday, he made it to Cairns in one piece.
He has a line on a couple of jobs, I hope he picks something up.
I went and talked to the mechanic about the truck today. Nothing new, still waiting for parts.
As much as I miss ol Justy, it's kinda nice being alone for a while. I've made a couple of great friends, Luke from Perth, Jeff from Saskatchewan, and Mike from the UK. They had all heard of and love Survivorman.
We hit the bar pretty hard last night after the show.
You aren't supposed to swim in the water here, there are killer jelly fish everywhere, so the town built a huge lagoon/swimming pool right near the harbour. It's a great place to sprawl out and meet people.
Should be a big night tonight, and then I'm off to visit Michelle on the island tomorrow.

Low blow Australia, low blow...
We spent another night in Airlie Beach, waiting for our truck to get fixed.
We were supposed to be on the road today...
Called the mechanic, he tried to do the repairs and found that we had a snapped axle on top of everything else.
It's not going to be too pricey, an additional 100 bucks, but finding an axle for an '89 Jackaroo will be a challenge.
He has to wait until Monday to call a wrecker to see if he has a compatible truck.
If not, we might really be in a jam.
Justin is going to take a bus out of town tomorrow, head up to Cairns and find work.
I'm going to stick it out here, get the truck fixed, and meet him up there.
In between here and Cairns is the Yongala wreck dive. It's listed as one of the top 10 ten dive sites in the world, I'm aching to get down there.
We booked our New Zealand bus tour today through http://www.kiwiexperience.com/
Justin woke up today with the worst peeling skin I have ever seen. Yesterday he was fine, today he has the map of Russia across his chest.
I miss Eurong.

Chips ahoy!
Justin and I have returned safely from our 3 day sailing adventure aboard the Anaconda II yacht.
A typical day went like this. Sail, sail, drop anchor, snorkel, drink beer, sail, drink beer, drop anchor, drink beer, snorkel, more beer, snorkel, sail... by 9 o'clock the first night we were both passed out.
There were 18 people aboard, crew included. The chef was from Grand Bend and she spoiled me with tasty vegetarian food.
This was a true sailing boat, it used to race the Sydney to Hobart race.
Right out of the harbour we hit some super strong winds and almost tipped, Justin loved it.
For new years eve all of the sail boats parked in a calm bay and loaded onto a tiny resort island.
I've never seen 100+ people all cooperating and playing drinking games at a bar.
No fights, no drama, just good ol fashioned alcohol abuse.
At midnight there was a big fireworks display. I tried to sleep on deck of the boat but got rained on.
Trouble in paradise- the Jackaroo had to go in for service. The left rear wheel bearings collapsed and the ol' girl sounds like hell when we drive.
It's going to set us back around 600 dollarydoos and the 'warranty', of course, does not cover it.
I got a sim card for my cellphone, the number is (04) 4983 9051 if anyone wants to prank call me.
We are stuck in Airlie Beach until the truck is fixed, we might try and go see Michelle on Hamilton Island tomorrow.