I am very ready to leave this city.
I've been here for a week and I'm running out of things to do.
I've walked from end to end about 30 times, watched every busker, shopped for things I can't afford, watched about 7 movies a day.
I'm also tired of making 'one day' friends, who are always leaving the next morning.
Weight report: I am down 6 kilos. (probably from all the walking and lack of money to buy food)
A couple more kg's and I'll be skydivable.
Justin arrives here early Tuesday morning, which happens to be my birthday (some present)
We are hopping on a bus first thing Tuesday and starting our Kiwi Experience.
I watched some huge rugby tournament tonight with an English girl who filled me in on all the rules. Games are only 14 minutes!
Her boyfriend was at the game, and it was live, so I kept hoping to see him with another girl- no such luck.
The cars here are interesting, have you seen this? They have Cavaliers, but they are made by Toyota.
They have Hummers, but they are made by Holden.
Mid to large size pickup trucks are in HUGE demand here. I saw a 2002 fairly stock looking Dodge Ram for $120,000.
The 'all new' Chrysler 300 STARTS at $60,000.
Weird wild stuff.

Sick as a dog.
Just got back from a 3 day trip up to the Northern tip of New Zealand, to a place called the Bay of Islands.
I did a jet boat tour, sandboarded down some huge dunes, went on a few nature walks...
The trip was great, but I'm suffering from a pretty intense head cold right now.
Australia vs. New Zealand...
It's too early to tell, but there are definitely things I prefer here, and miss from there.
I love how it cools off at night here (Cairns is 35 degrees at 3am) I love being able to swim in the ocean without fear of jelly fish, and I actually prefer the kiwi accent.
I miss exotic birds flying around city streets, warm water temperatures and goon from Aussy.
Hostels and internet seem to be more expensive here, food and alcohol are a bit cheaper.
Another dating disaster.
I met this girl from Denmark at the 'Pipi Patch' hostel in Paihia and we hit it off. We were inseperable for two full days, this girl made me laugh like no other.
One night we're on the computer together and she added me to facebook- she wanted to show me pictures of her girlfriend.

Auckland!
That concludes the Australia portion of our trip.
I'd like to thank you all for coming.
Arrived in Auckland Wednesday night and was pretty surprised.
The hostel they recommended was in the middle of the sex shop, strip club and massage parlour section of town. Not the rolling green hills I was expecting.
Thursday I spent the entire day getting lost around the city. Sydney is very grid based, Auckland is a free for all with streets zigging and zagging wherever they please.
Friday I rented a motorcycle and did an extended tour of the area. There are some really nice beaches here a couple k's from downtown.
I learned the hard way about the hole in the ozone layer right above New Zealand.
Today I jumped on the Kiwi Experience bus for a free tour of the GAA.
We climbed to the top of the harbour bridge and I BUNGIE JUMPED OFF IT!!!
It was great.
The city is nice and all, but I really don't want to sit around until Justin gets here. I booked a tour for monday to the northern tip of NZ.
Last night I entertained two Swedish girls. We might go skiing tonight.

D'oh!
I booked my flight to Sydney the day after my dive- not a good idea.
You need at least 24 hours after a dive before you fly, or some nasty things can happen to your body.
I rescheduled the flight and flew in on Monday.
The dive at the Yongala was great, once I was under water. The dive company was terrible.
I'm in Sydney now, met up with Devon and Kylee last night. Good times.
I fly to Auckland tomorrow, very excited about that.
Talked to Justin, he is doing well. He booked a flight to New Zealand on the 4th of February.
I just realised my birthday is coming up. The big 23.
I'm going to see the Opera House again today.

HUGE DAY.
Last night we got a call from a guy interested in the truck.
I had to work, but Justin met him and another group of guys to show it off.
This couple from the Netherlands gave Justin a pretty reasonable offer and he took it!
The deal goes down today, so I'm hoping all went well. Justin has my phone and isn't answering it.
I finally saw some half decent movies. 'American Gangster' was fantastic and 'I am Legend' was decent. I had a chance to watch the Australian film 'Chopper' and it was pure brilliance.
I left Cairns early this morning.
Let's just say things at work turned REALLY sour and I had to sneak out at 6am today.
Justin drove me to the bus station and I got on the first bus to Townsville.
I can't leave Australia without doing the Yongala dive, so tomorrow, it's on.
Sunday morning I am flying back to Sydney to visit some friends before my flight on Wednesday to NEW ZEALAND!!!
I said my goodbyes to the truck this morning, going to miss the old girl.
Justin is going to stay in Cairns for two weeks and finish his job off.
That leaves me in Aukland for 14 days, no food, no water, no camera crew. Left alone... to survive....

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.