After a mere 23 hours in the air or on the road (COP Cashe to Bagdhad, Bagdhad to Kuwait, Kuwait to Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), Abu Dhabi to Sydney and Sydney to Cairns) I have made it to Cairns. Pretty nice place, I think it is smaller than Fayetteville, but much, much nicer. Definately a tourist destination, but very well maintained and set up. I am staying about a block from the Esplinade, a boardwalk that runs around the lagoon to the harbor, very cool place.
I checked in at the dive shop, they had the camera that my sister sent, so I am messing around with that some.
On the plane from Abu Dhabi I ran into an Irish lady that lived in Australia (she is a contract instructor at the Australian University in Kuwait) and she gave me some info on the city, things to watch out for, etc. Her points: This is the cyclone season, why on earth are you going there? (Great Barrier Reef, HELLO?); Oh, you are a diver, watch out for the jelly fish, this is their season (thanks, I will); don't swim in the river, there are crocodiles there (yeah, I saw the movie, thanks); Check out Port Douglas (sounded like a nice place).
I am now in a country that has indoor plumbing, people regularly pick up their garbage, has an under ground sewage system and most everyone speaks english. I can also drink out of the tap without really worrying about it.
On the flight I read an awesome book: A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. He was a child soldier in Sierra Leone (my last Africa mission was to train Nigerian, Senegalese and Ghanian soldiers to go into Sierra Leone with the UN), very well written, kind of graphic, but I think everyone should read it so folks will see how parts of the rest of the world are. I couldn't put it down. Very gritty, you really felt how the child soldiers were recruited and brain washed. Happy ending, though. Please check it out.
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