The boss – a champion of a man – gave me yesterday off to recover from a sleepless night and the stress of moving.
So I grabbed the opportunity to hire a scooter, and head to the hills. In them thar hills be freshwater pools, devoid of “salties” ( crocodiles ),and no doubt clean enough to drink from.
Stony Creek , about 15km Northwest of Cairns, is ‘fresh’ – cool, but not cold enough to cause your gonads to escape upwards to safer and warmer parts.
It’s on the edge of Barron Gorge National Park, and brings to mind Whangarei Falls.
The next mission was buying some cheap curtains to shield myself from the interrogating street lights just outside. Ten dollars lighter of pocket, and I have some portable curtains as insurance against future cheap dives.
With the help of a flatmate, Roger the Aussie, I cleaned the filters in the old air-conditioning unit, and so got some blessed sleep last night.
Machen’s Beach
This morning I headed about 15 km north to Machen’s Beach, which is indeed – as a flatmate had said – an excellent swimming spot.
But like a tramp ogling jewels through a store window, I dared not partake. Salties. Not past my ankles anyway. When I told this to Roger, he glares at me – “are you insane“?
‘Twas good to get back on a bike, the first time since Vietnam. These scooters are slower ( top speed around 55 km / h ), but the 30 km round-trip to Machen’s cost 0.50 cents. On the other hand, scooter hire is $50 /day, as opposed to $120 NZD / month in Thailand.
I took it back today.