December 11 - Australia: Cairns
Jon got up and ran this morning, and I woke up and did some reading. We had a bunch of administrative things to do today, so I'm afraid that today's journal entry is less than exciting. But I'll try to spice it up!
Running in the morning - Run #27
So this morning I was up at 6am to get out before it started getting hot. By the time I was running along the shore, the sun was up like it was 10am or something. Apparently I was wrong. I decided that tomorrow I would have to get up at 5:45--any earlier and I might have to reconsider this whole running in the morning thing!
After making the decision to get up earlier tomorrow, I headed south along the shore, heading to (and past) the marina where all of the Great Barrier Reef boats were gearing up for their morning trips out to the reef. It was a nice run but I was really looking forward to some shade when this one ended. Not a bad run though, but too hot to try and work on some sort of speed. We'll see how tomorrow goes.
Before we even left the apartment to get started, I was calling some Internet Service Providers when I heard a vicious, "SHIT!" from the other room. I looked up when Jon came into the kitchen. He said, "We forgot to get out money belts out of the room yesterday." So they were still (hopefully) hidden beneath the mattress at the Floriana Hotel. Jon put on his shoes and went out the door to the hotel. While he was gone, I couldn't even make any more phone calls because I was so concerned about it. After 10 minutes, he came back with the money belts in hand. They were completely intact and we were incredibly lucky!
So then we went to run our errands.
Internet Cafe - First we went to the Internet Cafe to check on outstanding emails, contact our banks, contact our insurance company, etc. etc. etc. We also did some large searches for "Cairns Internet Service Provider". After 30 minutes of looking, we found a great deal for about $12/month, unlimited hours with www.myaccess.com.au. Very cool!
Library - Jon dropped me off at the library while he went to a Dive Center and to do a drive-by one of the car dealerships. At the library, I asked about getting a card and they told me that I have to have something with my address on it to prove I lived here. No problem, but I didn't have it with me so I would have to come back tomorrow. I wandered around the little library until it was time for me to meet Jon outside.
Taka Dive Center - Jon went to the Taka Dive Center because we'd heard they were looking for volunteer Dive Masters to man some of their expeditions. Right away, they told him that they required Work Visas even for their volunteers. Well. That settles that for us. So much for that brilliant idea.
Air New Zealand - Jon drove me to the airport and I located the Air New Zealand Offices to change our Syndey --> LA flight from December 17 to April 10. The glorious part of this transaction is that it cost practically nothing to change! I love that.
Grocery Store in mall - Then we went to the grocery store in a nearby mall, just to see if it was cheaper than Woolworth's. It was about the same price, and so we picked up the ingredients for Green Curry Chicken, which Jon wanted to make for dinner tonight.
Woolworth's - The turkeys in the mall were (naturally) pretty expensive, but it inspired us to buy a turkey for Christmas Dinner. Of course, my picky hubby won't eat dark meat, so we bought a turkey breast instead. I knew from my shopping yesterday that they were very affordable at Woolworth's, so we stopped by so I could pick one up. It was SO COLD in my hand as I stood in line to checkout. So I kept flipping it from hand to hand to ease the cold. The man behind me started laughing at me and said, "You obviously don't have to work outside!". I turned to him and saw that he had obviously been working outside today, and laughed with him. I offered to let him hold my turkey, but he declined.
Back "At Home"
I called our new ISP (Internet Service Provider) to continue the setup from our apartment. Then we were online and SO HAPPY!! We spent the next few hours playing around on the Net and wasting time in general. Then, around 6:00PM, Jon started to make dinner.
Green Curry Chicken
This was Jon's favorite meal while we were in Thailand, and it's one that we learned to make in Chiang Mai. So he pulled out all the ingredients and went to town.
Jon Makes Green Curry Chicken
It was incredibly spicy because of the curry paste we'd bought, but it was also incredibly delicious! I think I should hand over my spatula and let Jon do all the cooking from now on.