It’s surprising how you get used to a setting or a way of life. Auxane and I have spent the last several months in a tiny town in the outback where there’s only a handful of streets and once you’ve walked them once you know you’re way around, you’re always only 5 minutes from home and everyone you pass by, you'll recognise, so you can never be lost. After leaving our home there and arriving into Cairns, albeit not a large city, it was still rather a shock to us and we weren’t exactly prepared. We learnt two lessons that day, make sure our phones are charged and don’t split up when we don’t know where we are or where we’re going! Yes we got lost. And separated. And it took an hilarious amount of time to locate one another successfully! It's time to accept, we’re not in our little country town anymore.
Other than our problems with directions, I actually had a very enjoyable time there. Cairns is a city full of backpackers and travellers, therefore, somewhere I couldn't feel out of place. If you listen out it’s not hard to find another language or accent. I spent my first week in Australia in Cairns looking for work. An almost impossible task due to how many people on a WHV are also seeking work in this northern Queensland city. And who could blame anyone for wanting to stay here, it’s got a tropical vibe, the Great Barrier Reef and like minded souls all searching for a new sort of life. It would be very easy to put all us "backpackers" into the same box, the same category and label us. But the thing I love so much about these people is that we are not all the same. We find each other and connect through our similarities, whether its the love of adventure, the desire to escape or the passion for wonderful and new food (no lie, that last one is how I make most of my friendships) but we're all very much individual and I have had the privilege to be challenged and learn and grow through spending time with different people, from different backgrounds, with different perspectives and different voices, from all over the world.
But we have now left Cairns behind us, at least for now, I daresay I might just end up back there at some point in the future! Our road took us, first, north to Daintree rainforest and national park, a place that was much a bigger than we anticipated and, piece of advice if you ever go, be sure to allow enough time to explore. We had a short walk through the mangroves and along the beach before tasting some biodynamic-organic ice cream, some original, tropic, and very delicious flavours were impossible to resist!
And now we have descended back down the coast and onto the A6 route heading into the red centre of Australia, the tropic scenery has been replaced by hot, dry landscapes, but we're very excited to see a different side of Australia and indulge our adventurous exploring desires. Because whether we're full of wanderlust or simply wandering lost, driving that unknown road to a new destination fills us with the joy and satisfaction that we've been longing for.
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