19 July 2010

My departure from Mission Beach was indeed bittersweet. I spent most of the day on Dunk Island, a $30 ferry ride out into the Pacific Ocean (snorkeling gear included, though visibility was close to nil). On the Island, I met a pair of Norwegian sisters and their Dutch travelling companion who played Frisbee with my on the beach, saw a bunch of ugly “bush turkeys”, and lazed on the beach in the sun. While the underwater views proved almost nonexistent, I was nonetheless greeted by some pleasant land fauna: a friendly butterfly that landed on the strap of my snorkeling bag and stayed long enough for me to take out my camera and snap it (see bottom left corner of the photo of me). As I walked from the ferry landing to the beach via a strip of large rocks that had been baking in the sun, I saw dozens of small lizards squirming away from me. Dunk Island was sunny and pleasant but forgettable. (I saw with some incredulity an enormous billboard outside of Melbourne’s largest rail station, Flinders Street, promoting the insignificant island.)

Returning with my new Northern-European friends to Absolute Backpackers, I packed up my suitcase, chopped my last piece of Rusty’s Market fruit: a succulent (dollar!) pineapple to share, and made arrangements to get a ride to the bus station 50 meters away. I then bade a fond farewell to Ben, David, Talitha, Sweden, Carlotta (whom I would fortunately see the next day at Gilligan’s dance club in Cairns), Max, Nico, Gregory, Massimo et al, before getting on the 6 o’clock Greyhound bound for Cairns where the Great Barrier Reef and the rest of my travel adventures awaited me.

A few days later in Cairns, with the hours dwindling to an end on my time in tropical northern Queensland and indeed my time in Australia, I would pause to reflect on the past several days. (The unexamined vacation isn’t worth taking.) Overall, I’ve spent too much time in Cairns—similarly, I spent too much of my time in Australia in Melbourne. Very good to see Ben again and to chill on the decidedly un-British vibe he copped in paradisiacal northern QLD. This enchanted place has a way of chilling people out: of slowing them down to appreciate the scenery and the ecstatic, palpable beauty of every moment. The Aussie expression, ‘chilled out’ applies aptly to it.