So this is the end of my blog for now. After 3 months away from home I am looking forward to seeing my daughter and my friends. I am also wondering if I will find my house in a jungle of its own!
I spent the last few days mooching about Cairns with Maya (Chinese). We went to the Eco Fiesta, ate Tai, ate Japanese and I tried a taste of the wasabi paste she had brought from China. God it’s hot, it cleared my sinuses for sure! I introduced her to Mediterranean salad and she really loved balsamic vinegar. It’s funny what you do and do not know based on your experiences, she thought vinegar is only made from rice wine!
We visited Rusty’s Market and I wish I’d found it earlier, it was amazing. For Maya it made her nostalgic as it’s very like Asian markets, full of fresh produce, colour and spicy scents.
Maya seems a very spiritual person. She’s looking for any work in and around Cairns. She’s been travelling for several years and worked for a long time in New Zealand. She likes the climate in Cairns and wants to stay. She moved out of the digs we shared, so we arrange to meet the next day for my last day and what a day it was….
We walked to mount Whitfield Conservation Park North of Cairns and then we did a strenuous 6k walk through the rainforest and up to a view point. Maya did much of this walk barefoot even running up some of the root and rock strewn inclines!
We came across a very strange creature that took us some time to work out (not Maya above!)
I think it was a beetle inside the tail of a dead Quall (a marsupial). Whether it was using it as a home or was stuck is a mystery.
After our walk we wandered into town and came across an Aborigine event. There were very few European faces in the crowd but, everyone seemed pleased to see us. I hope I don’t sound condescending when I say I was just happy to see some pride from the indigenous people.
A little girl asked me if I had come for the event, I thought she called it Marble Day. The accent of the people is so strong I found it quite hard to understand their pronunciation.
There was singing and a tribal dance, it was so impressive and at first I was not sure if I should film it but it seemed to be OK to do so.
These ladies explained it was in celebration of a man who took the government to court over a section of their land and that gave me a chance to research it.
Taken from the Government Website;
Mabo Day is celebrated each year on 3 June. On this day in 1992 the High Court of Australia delivered a landmark decision which recognised the traditional rights of the Meriam people to their Mer (Murray) Island in the Torres Strait.
Eddie Koiki Mabo fought for this right for ten years and died a month before the decision was reached.
When the event had finished Maya and I made our way into town to eat, Vietnamese this time. We seem to be working our way round Asia!
Afterwards wandering back we came across another Aborigine selling palm baskets. He was so funny, He spoke a bit of Chinese and was generally giving us some flannel so I told him I didn’t believe he was Aborigine, I thought he must be Irish, he grinned. I bought this bowl, eventually it will go brown and I’m not even sure I can even bring it home but, I will try.
As we left him he shouted to Maya “You should brush up your Chinese” and she shot back “& you should practice your Irish!”
I said goodbye to Maya, I hope she stays in touch. She was such a pleasure to be with.
Over the whole of the last day we had walked and scrambled about 16K, I think I’ll ache tomorrow!
So my adventure is over, till next time…. I’ll probably put some of the snorkeling pictures up in a few days because I promised I would (l never found a computer to use).
Bye for now and thank you for joining me.
I wonder where I’m going next?
The Travelling Bee 