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December 12 - Australia: Cairns

Running even earlier in the morning - Run #28

It's 5:45am and the only thing going through my head, other than the thought that I could use about 2 more hours of sleep, is that if I don't get out soon it'll be as hot as it was yesterday.  I stumbled into the bathroom and was sure to leave the light off for fear that I would frighten myself and be tempted to head back to bed.

I made it out faster than yesterday and decided to head toward the Botanical Gardens, which I knew should be pretty well shaded because for some odd reason the sun seems to rise at some ungodly hour here in Australia.  It was probably about 2.5 km to the gardens, where I ran about another 5km then headed back.  Nice place to avoid the unshaded paths that are along the shoreline back at the beach.  The trip back would have been uneventful if it weren't for the bird that decided to follow me.  

This bird was possessed or something, as near as I can tell.  I heard this squawking behind me and figured it was just a bird, but then it didn't get any quieter and was actually pretty close to me.  I turned around and here was this bird about 2 feet from my head, following me as I ran.  It was a bit Hitchcockian, I mean he was flapping his wings and squawking up a storm like something out of "The Birds", and was about the size of a Blue Jay or something.  I ended up wiping my brow and flinging the resulting sweat toward the little bugger before finally convincing him to leave me alone.  It ended up being rather amusing so I knew then I had to include it in the log!

We did more errands today, while simultaneously catching up on our Dive Regulations for the dive shop and the area.  Australia's very strict when it comes to the diving industry, and it actually borders on bureaucracy.  But if we're going to work on dive boats then we have to know the rules and regulations.  So we spent a few hours reading and doing errands on-line.

Back to the Library

I headed back to the library with my "proof of residency" so I could get a card.  I didn't have any problems with it, although the library workers are less than friendly.  Actually, I might describe them as surly.  They don't smile, and don't talk to you unless completely necessary.  But who cares because I just want a book or two.  Jon had asked me to pick up an Elmore Leonard book for him, but the only they had he'd already read.  So I went for a drive to some of the other branches to see what I could find.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find any Elmore Leonard books but I did get two things for myself.  After an hour of driving around, I headed back to the apartment.

Phone Home!

At the Internet Cafe, we figured it was worthwhile to invest in a pre-paid calling card with "Global Gossip" (www.globalgossip.com).  They have some really nice rates as long was we stick to the off-peak hours.  So we called my parents and Jon's Mom to surprise them and say "Hello!".  It was nice to hear their voices.  Jon and I were saying to each other yesterday that we don't feel like it's Christmastime at all.  But after talking to the families, I realized just how much I'm going to miss the whole Christmas experience this year.

Jon Hits the Car Lots (Again!)

Jon made another round of the car lots, this time looking at cars as well as 4 wheel drive vehicles.  But still no luck.  He came back and we toyed with the idea of buying two bikes instead.  While that would definitely save us money, we would be limiting ourselves to the vicinity of Cairns.  We'd really like to take some overnight trips around northern Australia while we're here.  But we'd need a car to do that.

Phad Thai Again

We made Phad Thai again because we had an open package of tofu and some bean sprouts that were "marked to sell quickly".  So we wanted to use it all before it went bad.  We also managed to get scallions this time, which I'd forgotten about when I cooked it two nights ago.  It made a significant difference in the recipe, and this dish was much better!

Swordfish

We settled in and ate dinner in front of the TV, because the movie "Swordfish" was on.  The television here in the apartments is connected to the VCR in the management office.  They have a list of movies we can request at 7:00PM or 9:00PM, and it looks like Jon and I are practically the only people in this complex who care about watching movies. 

Lame?  Maybe.  But we're just excited to have some down time right now.

The movie was good - a typical John Travolta blow-em-up movie.  But we like those on occasion.  Afterwards, we read and went to bed.

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