Gotta love Cairns

I had set my alarm 7 o'clock in the morning and the untrustworthy piece of technology deemed it appropriate to function. Yes, I woke up at seven. I've become a morning person in Australia. I wanted to wake up early to get the most out of yet another marvelous day in the tropical north, and the day has indeed been marvelous. So what makes this city, located in the middle of mangrove swamps and established in 1876 as an export port for gold, such a nice place? Let me explain..

My first thought this morning was to go visit employment agencies but after approaching the first one and noticing they had plastered a note in their window, kindly telling "no jobs for working holiday visa holders" I got a bit disheartened and decided a change in the plans was needed. I had already gone for a morning walk so I started to wander the streets and look for second hand stores. Second hand stores are great places for finding unique things, and unique things I found but not in the second hand store. I found a market place for all possible kinds of groceries!

Rusty's market

I was momentarily worried about my sanity when I stepped in this Aladdin's cave of abundance. But it was true after all, my old eyes did not betray me! They sold avocados, 5 for 2 dollars! Now compare this with Woolie's 2,7 each pricing policy. It is possible that I am a victim in a great avocado scam and the avocados are not real avocados but consist entirely of some unspecified cheaper substance and just resemble avocados, but as long as this can't be proved I'm one happy girl who has plenty of tasty avocados. I feel like making some avocado and cucumber sushi rolls. In addition I got to say goodbye to the idea of buying overpriced Granny Smiths at Woolies because they were 2.5 a kilo at the market.

The next stop was Cairns Asian Market. I'm known to spend lengthy periods of time drifting through Asian markets, reading the label of every second product and experiencing nostalgic longing to Korea. I bought Korean corn tea, a drink I didn't like when I first tasted it but which no reminded me of the numerous evening teas in the scarcely decorated 14th floor lobby at Chung Ang University. The old times will never return.. I also bought Vietnamese grass jelly drink which brought back fond memories of gobbling up this dessert with coconut cream. I love Vietnamese snacks and when I finally find the tea biscuits made of beans I will cry for joy. That is a vision from he food heaven.

Isn't it a bit odd to get so excited about common things like apples and avocados?

And the last but not least reason to enjoy life was a couple of hours in the library reading the back of at least two dozen books. I've almost finished a book about the history of English, having already reached contemporary English in my reading. Tomorrow I'll go back to the library and spend the morning there. It's so relaxing to be in the peaceful and relaxing atmosphere of a library after the constant noise and commotion of the hostel. The only minus is the overactive air conditioning that makes my toes froze and fall off but who cares about toes when you can be surrounded by all the knowledge in the books.

Tomorrow I'll try to participate in a free sahaja yoga practice offered by the city, provided that I get up before seven. Shouldn't be a problem as I've been waking up a six to be at work at seven. Yes, you gotta love Cairns. Maybe it's not such a big city but it has everything I need and I'm so happy to be able to stay here for a while.