So today was a very good day especially for a Sunday. I slept much better last night than the prievious 5 days. Still as typical it was a early morning starting at 7. I attempted to sleep til about 8:30 and by that time all but 1 of the 11 other people in the room were gone.

I got up and had my typical breakfast of toast with jam, cheese and water. To be honest it is pretty filling but my body still yearns for the eggs, bacon, and toast breakfast I maintained for a good month before leaving Welly.

Queensland is absolutely gorgeous and this morning was no exception. I only had a few goals for the day, mainly ice/compression for the foot, laying out, and booking my cruise for tomorrow. So I made it to the chemist and bought a bandage, icepack, and some instant icepacks for my foot. I wrapped the ice pack to my foot and set off. I got some weird looks but I chalk it up to being such an attractive guy, rather than the foot.

I walked along the esplanade or the espy as the locals call it towards  the marina to book my cruise for tomorrow. I was also spotting for places to lay out. It is about 2.5 k all the way along the espy and it is filled with exercise equipment, bike trails, anzac memorials, and a kids park. There are also about a dozen cooking stations which are very, very nice.

I made it to one of the fingers and headed out to look at the yachts. They were baller. One had a full size (about 20ft) boat that ran up under the other boat in addition to three jetskies and one skiff. Man the superrich, what a burden. There was also an sailing ship from England that was absolutely gorgeous. Three masts and long as anything. They were sailing to Indonesia tomorrow.

I then headed back, put on some sunscreen, and made my way to the ferry booking offices. I went to the one the nice Americans had recommended in Rotorua but they were full so I went to the next counter. I booked it for tomorrow and am hella excited. They even had a $50 student concession! How awesome is that? BTW the buzzcard needs an expiration date so it can be used as a concession card.

I then headed back to the espy near the large triangle shaped pool and found a spot to lay out in the grass. The locals don’t layout on the artificial beaches along the waterfront because of the bugs. It was nice and there were some good looking girls around so that made it even nicer. I read and generally relaxed myself and my foot for around 3.5 hours.

My foot was feeling much better then as I had determined it was only a severe bruise and the pain medication and compression from last night helped bunches. Sitting here right now it doesn’t hurt. There is a little pain after lots of walking.

But anyways I decided to go play volleyball. Jumped into and played for 4 solid hours. My foot didn’t hurt but I didn’t jump too much anyways. Had some really legit games with some good people so that always helped me get in a good mood. Near the end a light rain came and I decided I was tired. There was a beautiful rainbow that was the most complete I had ever seen (the bottom color was turquoise, which is like seven layers down).

I walked back, ate dinner, and just took a shower. Volleyball always makes my day better. Tonight I am going to work on a scholarship application for Tech, and then maybe just go to bed. This was my relaxing day.

Did I mention Cairns is a hugely internationally city. It seems more likely to hear another language than English. It is pretty cool. Volleyball was with some Estonians (I don’t know where that is), some Italian girls (the few that travel apparently travel here), French, and of course Germans. I had a really good team with another American and two Canadians.

The city really makes me hungry. There are dozens of delicious looking and smelling restaurants, cafes, bars/pubs, and dessert places. Tomorrow is my eat out night so I am going to have a hard time choosing!

The accommodation here is also very cheap due to the high supply, so that is really nice. It’s about 30% cheaper per night compared with the other places I have stayed!

Cairns also has a variety of indoor/outdoor markets and mall type places with food courts. I love me some food court food.

At low tide there are a variety of crabs that can be seen and a lot of locals fish. This seems to be typical of Queensland though.

Anyway looking forward to good weather for my snorkeling adventure tomorrow! And approximately 60 hours til I am home!

Sincerely all the best,

-Mathias