Quite a nice little week here in Cairns. I'm now picking up some consistent extra paid hours at the hostel, so it's nice to have a little bit of extra walking around money. This also coincided with my move into the larger room at the hostel. It's quite spacious, no more bunk beds, and plus I get a balcony, sitting area and small kitchenette. Basically, WINNING! The rain still persists, but it wasn't able to put me off all of my activities. Most of the activities are able to be moved to the covered band shell at Fogarty Park. It worked out quite nicely. In most cases, such as my yoga and Pilates class, we go the class going then a nice downpour of rain came on through. We were even able to do out circuit training on the stage. The biggest drawback of this however, is that it's all on concrete. Thanks to all the sit ups I did, I have some nice fist sized bruises on my left shoulder blade and hip. I probably look like I got beaten. Oh well, at least I was able to get some activities in during the gloomy weather.
I hadn't really noticed just how much the rain kept me cooped up. I wanted to go see a band that I like, but wasn't sure if I was going to make it. I used a brief break in the downpour to sneak out on Friday night and head over to the Grand Hotel to see Jusfa Kicks. It wasn't until I heard them play that I realized how much I missed live music and that I was going through a slight withdrawal. Jusfa Kicks are a local cover band in the area, and truth be told, they're my favorite. They have a nice sound, a good song selection ('60s till now), they play well and know how to play well together, and they have a nice rapport with the audience. Basically, I've adopted them. They have sort of adopted me as well. On Friday night, the drummer, Maz, started to befriend me. I had a random guy come and talk to me about how the bar was basically filled with humanoids, or zombie people, or something odd like that. I did my customary laugh and stare off into the distance at people or TVs, but he still kept rambling on. At one point, Maz and I gave each other a look along the lines of "I know..." It made me laugh. Luckily I was left alone shortly after and the band got back on for their last set. I enjoy seeing people at the Grand because they have an earlier start and end time. Usually 7-11 Friday and 6-10 on Saturdays. That, and being only two blocks from my hostel makes for a great venue.
Saturday it decided to be a bit less monsoon-y outside, and just have random shorter showers throughout the day. The Grand had a jam session from 3-10 with seven different bands, including Jusfa Kicks to end out the night. I didn't make it round 'till about 8 due to the rain and internet distractions, but I was able to catch one band before Jusfa Kicks. They were more of a harder rock group, lots of ACDC and that sort of thing. It was all part of the Cairns Music Makers group. (You can find them on Facebook to get an idea of what kind of events they are a part of). Two of the guys in Jusfa Kicks, Maz the drummer and Tim the bass player, are part of the crew. They actually brought out a FOH board for the show. Just a small little Peavy board, nothing too fancy. I did notice that they put the vocals first, then the drums and other instruments. To each his own. As soon as I walked in, Tim and Maz were both behind FOH and spotted me. They seemed genuinely excited that I was back to listen to more. I was a bit tickled by this. I got to talking to them about their gigs, our production company, and other music stuff. They had apparently pegged me as German the night before. So, apparently if people just see me, they assume I'm German, and if they talk to me, they think I'm Canadian. I can live with that. Anyway, back to the music. Thankfully, I didn't have anyone bother me that night, I just got to listen to my music. There were a lot of fun dancers out as well, so plenty to keep me entertained.
Another perk of The Grand Hotel (besides getting 'Smoke on the Water' stuck in your head every time you say their full name), is that there are acoustic music sessions outside on Sunday afternoons. Currently, that's where I'm writing from. They guy is pretty good. He's got a nice selection too, some Maroon 5, Ed Sheeran and the like. They have a nice little covered deck to hang out on, it's quite pleasant. And the weather if trying desperately to stay partly cloudy, but a few showers pass by here and there. Basically, it's a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Relaxing to some acoustic music, writing away and letting the breeze cool you down. Sorry to everyone dealing with -25 degree temperatures out there, it's 25 here... just Celsius. Don't you worry though, when I head to New Zealand in May it'll be a bit cooler for me and I can somewhat feel what you're going through. (Not really though, because I think the low around that time it 0 Celsius, which as we know, isn't really that cold).
Other than the music shenanigans and working, it hasn't been that busy of a week. We've basically got the new girls trained in at work, and they're feeling pretty good about the work. It's still supposed to rain and storm all week, though I may try and sneak out to the reef on one of my days off. Even on an overcast day, the reef underneath is quite vibrant. If you go on certain cruises, they can take you to two different outer reef locations to snorkel around. That sounds like a good plan to me. I'll catch ya'll up on that once I go out there. There's supposed to be some Chinese New Year celebrations going on this weekend, so I'll probably try to see what all that excitement is about.
This week brought on some good Skype conversations as well. Since my brother and nephews are at my parent's place, I got to talk to them and watch the little ones try and grab my face on the tablet. A good way to kill some time and get the low down on out upcoming gigs this summer. We're going to be busy once again, imagine that! At least all the rain was helpful in catching up on all my shows that started back up again. I was in fact able to catch the midseason premier of The Walking Dead, though it was a bit of an odd episode both visually and storytelling wise. New Girl continued to be a little off the walls. Forever brought out some good character moments. Supernatural went back to it's roots. And Constantine answered some questions while leaving others open for their second season (I'm very hopefully about this, even if it moves to SyFy, it's better than just scrapping it, it deserves more). If the likes of Gotham, Arrow and The Flash are getting more, I think Constantine deserves a proper go as well. More than anything, I think I just wast more Matt Ryan. We all know what a disaster the Constantine movie was, and the TV shows gets the tone much better and Matt Ryan captures the character perfectly. Okay, TV rant over.
Well kiddies, until next time, when I'll be officially over half way through my time here in Cairns and all that closer toward my more mobile traveling and adventure time in Australia. Happy Valentine's Day to anyone for whom it is still Saturday.
Cheers,
-Celina
