Day 14 continued: The Night From H. E. Double Hockey Sticks

I arrived in Cairns without any problems. In fact, we landed 10 minutes early despite leaving 10 minutes late. The cab ride to the hostel was a little more expensive than expected. I began to wonder whether the driver took the long way.

When he pulled up in front of Gilligan's Backpackers, I began to worry. It looks like something you'd see in the heart of Myrtle Beach. And it smelled like New Orleans during Mardi Gras in the wee hours of the morning after most people had gone indoors, the street cleaning crew hadn't come through yet, and you didn't even want to think about what you were walking through.

I checked in thinking that was just the bar area downstairs. When I saw the room, it was ok, except for the stagnant air and people's clothes hanging and lying across anything bolted down. The roommate (5 of them) who was in the room didn't respond when I said hello. In fact, she didn't say anything, no smile, just looked at me and then went back to her book. I thought to myself, I've made a terrible mistake. I saw the refrigerators in the kitchen and knew I had another 5 days of eating out in my future. There's no way I would eat anything out of there, even if I put it in the same day. It was 10x worse that the frig and sink at base camp in WV, which can get pretty bad before someone gets fed up and starts throwing things away.

I sat down in the TV room with some other people to watch an old episode of Friends, anything to take my mind off of the nights ahead of me. A few minutes later I heard over the PA system (yes, PA system; with 500+ beds, it's a huge hostel): "1/2 price off of rum & coke, get them before they're gone." Huh, ok. 15 minutes later: "1/2 price rum & coke and $8 domestics in the bar, come on down." 15 minutes later... well, you get the point. I walked down the street to dinner and to look for another place to stay. The YHA at Cairns Central (a very unusual mall that contains a Target and a grocery store with no outside entrances) was full but had space Sunday through Tuesday nights. I reserved them. They recommended www.wotif.com. I returned to Gilligan's long enough to search for a hotel room on wotif. I cringed and swallowed hard as I clicked submit on a $145/night room at the... ha ha... Holiday Inn! Gilligan's was nice enough to refund my stay for all but the current night, even though I had only spent a total of 2 hours in the place and hadn't so much as sat the bed.

I pulled on my backpack, my day pack, grabbed my souvenir bag (now as heavy as my backpacker... about 17kg), and started walking. An hour later I was still walking. A mistake on the google map, and I had walked about 14 blocks the wrong way. Thanks to a couple of bar maids in a French cafe, a park security officers, and a guest outside the hotel, and I was finally checked into my room... full-sized bed, clean shower, tv, and very small ants. But I didn't even care. I fell into bed, knowing that I would have to get up early to walk back to Gilligan's to catch my ride to dive class.