Sunday, October 25, 2009

getting settled

Hey folks. Glad to see so many of you are checking in on me. My first week here was a fair balance of productivity and recreation. I found an apartment, became a certified bartender, got a job, submitted for a tax file number, and opened a bank account. It’s amazing what a bumbling backpacker can accomplish here in a week with a fresh haircut, a stick of deodorant, and a healthy pair of legs.

I got a job as a bartender at a somewhat shady bar in town with a strictly locals clientele and a reputation for being rough. Fine by me. I figure if I will be dealing with sloppy drunks, they might as well have character. Besides, I have been told that finding work as a bartender in Cairns without experience or lying on your resume is an accomplishment roughly equivalent to finding work on the lunar surface. So either the manager was taken aback by an applicant whose honesty equaled his stupidity, or he needed a bartender who weighed more than 95 pounds. Either way, fate was with me.

My apartment is within a short walk of downtown. I live with a fellow Colby alum, Kendra King. Now Colby has a fairly good reputation for a strong alumni base around the world, but imagine my surprise when I learned an old classmate worked as a dive instructor in my first planned stop, and that one of her roommates had just moved out. I’m not sure if this is a good omen or if I just used up all my luck in one fell swoop.

We share the apartment with a young Belgian couple who can speak more languages between the two of them than most college language departments. They have both been overly polite and friendly, but sometimes I wonder what they are saying to each other when they speak Flemish in hushed tones.

Kendra has done her best to integrate me into her circle of friends, but they have seen enough backpackers in Cairns to know that I won’t be around for long. She will also punch my ticket to the Great Barrier Reef. I’ll get a free diving certification (provided I am not prone to swallowing dangerous amounts of water upon submersion) and will benefit from a generous discount on her dive boat.

Sniffing out these sorts of discounts has become a routine in my travels, mostly because I am my mother’s son, but also because Australia is an alarmingly expensive continent. Dinner entrees range between $20-30, going to the movies is $16, and a 30-rack is usually just over $40. With the Australian dollar nearly equaling the American dollar, those figures are a bit troubling. That said, there is free coffee at the local casino, I got a haircut from hairdressing students for $10, and Tuesday is a terrific day to go to the video store. At least there are a few things in this strange place that remind me of home.

3 comments:

  1. Hi Conor,

    I met you this summer at the Rye Farmers'Market with your Mom, and just a few hours ago, I met your Dad at the RiverRun Bookstore in Portsmouth, who by way of answering my questions about his many sons, asked me for my email so he could send me a link to your blog. Now I have joined your small group of followers which I am sure will keep growing as you keep wandering. I look forward to reading more of your adventures and I am impressed of what you have accomplished so far.
    Dominique -- Selling baked goods at the Rye Farmers' Market and mother of Nathan (Nate same grade as Casey) and Hannah who both attended the Rye schools.

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  2. Glad you'll be checking in on me Dominique. Those Farmers' Markets were the best part of my Wednesdays. I hope they are still going strong! Thanks for tuning in.

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