Honestly, the only reason I knew the Superbowl was happening was from people's Facebook feeds and the lovely little advert during 'Constantine' that informed my that Jimmy Fallon would be doing a live show from the venue. I am a bit bummed that I won't be able to partake in any crazy and delicious game watching, however, I have basically transitioned into watching rugby (league) here when I get the chance. (Essentially, when I happen to walk into a sports bar). I got to watch my Gold Coast Titan boys play yesterday, unfortunately, they narrowly lost. Here's hoping they do better when they play down the street.
Okay, time for a recap. No crazy nights out this week, my workouts made sure of that. On a few occasions I passed out before 10 o'clock. Yup, party hardy. We are starting to transition at the hostel right now. Two of our girls are leaving in a few weeks and we are looking for a couple of others to take their places. We were supposed to have a girl come in yesterday, but she never showed or called or anything. This prompted me to be asked to work a few minutes after I should have started. As it was Saturday, I had just returned from aqua aerobics, wet, tired and smelling of salt water and chlorine. Startled, but keen to work and make a little extra cash, I complied. However, first I had to take care of my large toe which had a chunk of skin ripped off of the bottom of it from the abrasive bottom of the pool. Thank you Neosporin for making things better though. The time always seems to go by faster when I'm working anyway. Honestly, I probably wouldn't be doing much during that time if I didn't work, so it's sort of a win-win for me. With the possible new girls flaking, that just means more opportunities for me to pick up more shifts, which I told them I am all for. $30 for two hours of cleaning, vacuuming and mopping works just fine for me.
Getting that extra money is great, getting my extra money from the government is ever greater. That's right, taxes filed and excepted and I'm just waiting for my refund so I can transfer it to my Australian account and book up all my tours. With the Australian dollar continuing to drop, I'm holding out until it bottoms out and I can get a lot of extra cash when I transfer it. Currently it's at 1 USD to 1.29 AUD. Making 30% on my money is perfectly fine with me. I did end up booking one of my tours early due to an online deal. It is the Uluru tour (you know, the big giant rock in the center of Australia, also known as Ayer's rock). I'll be on a 3 day 2 night tour where we will see other formations including King's Canyon and we will get to sleep in swags, under the stars and watch the sunrise and sunset over Uluru. Don't worry, there will be many photos of the adventure. However, that's not until mid April, so ya'll'll just have to wait. (And yes, ya'll'll is a real word).
I've started to find the perfect time to go Rusty's market for my weekly produce run. This time I was able to spend just $3 and I got 8 passion fruit (seriously my new favorite, I don't know what I'm gonna do when I can't get them fresh anymore) and about a 5 pound bag of grapes. When you go toward closing, they often have boxes of fruit that they sell for 1 or 2 dollars. In this case, I got a heaping box of grapes for $1. I had to double bag it just incase. Another perk was that nearly all of the grapes were still in good, edible condition. The passion fruit were a bit smaller than normal, but I did go rather late. Another neat fact about passion fruit, if you don't chew the seeds, your stomach won't digest them... take a guess at how I discovered that one!
As far as outings, I only ventured out briefly Saturday night. The Crown Hotel generally has music from 6-10 or 7-11, basically an earlier start than anywhere else, so I like to hit up that place. It was good that I was coming up on it last night, cuz there was a creeper following me, most likely drunk, trying to get my attention and asking me questions as I was quite obviously not having it. Thankfully, the Crown was just a few feet ahead. I ducked in and snuck myself into the corner. The band was Killerz, and they, well, let's just say they were on the lower end of bands I'd seen so far. They did fine music selection wise, Superstition, Sweet Child of Mine, and of course Dirty Deeds and a few other ACDC songs. I think just because I'm in Australia is the only reason I tolerate bands playing any ACDC. I didn't always have a thing against them, but after the disaster last summer with the tribute band, let's just say I'd rather listen to INXS as the top Aussie band for cover bands to perform. It was actually the loudest band I'd heard too, and not in a good way. The venue is very small, it's in an L shape and probably the total size of a common one bedroom apartment. The band is also stuck right in the corner. They had a few more songs in their set when anther rando decided to come up to me. Once again, two constants remained: 1 - Anytime anyone new talks to me, they automatically assume I'm from Canada. I'm starting to not even correct them anymore. Hey, they'll probably like me more right? and 2 - When ever someone asks if I'm alone at said bar, their reaction is "No! No you're not!" I still don't understand this one. I may just have to start wearing my buffer ring out to the bars and making up a story about a husband or fiancé off somewhere. I tried to continue listening to the band and watching my Titans play, but this guys was awkwardly distracting. Thankfully, they band finished there set and I said I had to leave and meet me friends. I almost literally ran out the door. If my "friends" are the actors on 'Constantine', then I really didn't lie. I also did chat with a few of my coworkers when I returned, so, sure, that counts.
The weather is still balls hot and humid. There hasn't been any really big storms as of late either. Even the wind has died down. I keep confusing myself and long for the arctic tundra when I listen to WJJY and they report that the temperature will bottom out around 0 degrees. What a dream. To actually be cold. I would love that. I'm starting to miss wearing pants, and sweatshirts. I'm sure going down to Tassie and New Zealand later during (their) fall will allow me that opportunity.
Overall, I'm starting to frame my time here in Cairns as an actual summer vacation. You know, the kind you had when you were like 12 and 13. Before you started to work and you could just do whatever you wanted to all day and night long. Not that I'm completely slacking off. I did finish a spec the other day, it's complete and total shit, but at least it's on paper and it's shit I can work with. It's just hard to focus on what projects I need to get done when so many other ideas are clawing for attention. Of course our book exchange shelf is keeping me occupied as well as keeping up to date on all my shows. And soon we get the likes of The Walking Dead back, which I may be pumping myself up for considering the bizarre dream I had about it.
Anyway, things just keep on trucking here. In a few weeks here, I may just make it out to the reef to do some snorkeling. It all depends on how our work schedule gets shifted. I'll keep ya'll updated. Enjoy your Superbowl foods, go Eagles?, and enjoy the cold weather while you still have it.
Cheers,
-Celina
