Like a game show with the cheesy plastic host and vibrantly coloured cartoon set that lights your retinas on fire. Full paced excitement heightened with the whimsical jolts to the heart of what could happen next. All the mystery doors are lingering at your fingertips begging to be swung open. A mini down to earth and very Aussie vegas, Cairns is a place of awe with a natural florescence that pulls at your nerves of excitement and pleasure.
To be travelling up the coast in relative isolation and immersing ourselves in the pleasures of natural solitude and connection, it was going to be interesting to see how we would take to living in civilisation for 2 whole months (a long time in one spot for a boating nomad). None of the crew had ever spent too long in Cairns before and didn’t know what to expect. Mixed in with the planning and prep required for our next chapter, it was a doosey.
As if Larry Emdur himself was the orchestrator of our crazy ride, heres how it goes.
Door No. 1
Hiding behind door number 1 was the game of couch surfing. Captain Watson was making regular trips to Sydney, Deckhand Chaney was heading home after 2 weeks and Watson Jnr felt it necessary to meet people and share the boat adventure life. Enter couch surfers. A website created for backpacks to take up a couch, bed, floor or hammock at the offering of generous locals. To meet, share and experience in the best way possible for a backpacker, for free and with someone local. Taking the impulsive chance (hoping not to get any psycho killers or weirdos) Larry swing open door #1 and the Forte 3 had some new guests. Throughout the 2 months Marylene, Zoe, Sarah, Charlotte, Pauline, Alizee, Camile and Emilie graced Le Vessel and what a win. Boring certainly didn’t enter the realm of meeting these awesome people and really made our the experience of Cairns excitably gratifying. Hoping to go and be a guest in a little piece of their lives one day as we’ve made some solid friendships and appreciated their stories and company.
Door No. 2
The mystery door #2. Ohhh the joys of visas and registrations. In usual circumstances this process is deadly boring and menial but this has been another realm. PNG is a lovely place but is not known for its organisation, consistency or efficiency by a long spear throw. A real test to our willingness to make the ultimate prize of this trip happen, Larry was pulling our strings and had our heads all over the place in this game. Saved by a lovely lady named Jessy in the PNG consulate in Cairns, we gave up on the Sydney office and with fingers of the Forte and the whole crowd crossed with a vice like tightness, we should be fine (famous last words).
In a fierce twist of fate and heart stopping theatrics the game swung in to suspense once again. In our refuelling last friday for the trip, we applied for the duty free discount as we would be leaving the country. A call from Australian customs came to highlight that they cannot grant this approval yet because they had no idea who we were and that before leaving the country the boat requires national registration, not just state registration (an oversight by us maybe but lets not get in to ‘he said she said’). Not a small task we have been up to our captains hats in paperwork but again, we should be fine now. Again the public services angel going by the name of ‘Peter’ has been an incredible help.
Door No. 3
The remote ‘last frontier’ world that we will enter in to in 2 weeks requires preparation. The game of being ready for all that was to come was our mystery door #3. Even in the comfort of Le Vessel, it is a different world over there and no luxuries or guardian angels are there to pick you up again if you make a mistake. Self sufficiency, safety and supplies have been the focus. Bartering items, canned food, water makers, power generation, water toys, communication, spares for everything and anything, route planning and memory capturing have all occupied a serious amount of time during our stay. Reading every blog on cruising PNG that exists has put us in good stead and as long our eyes recover from this book worming we are ready.
Door No. 4
With Larry embellishing this theatrical game show of a life, we had to make the every day just as intriguing. Living on the marina next to all of the big boy game fishing boats made for some thrills, reef cruise boats ferrying out the droves of tourists daily and the obscene super yachts parked just across the way yet a thousand worlds away all surrounded our days. Watson Jnr working in a Paleo Cafe living the local life was topped off just last weekend with a father-son camping trip to Cape Tribulation and Mossman Gorge to get the Daintree experience. Many a night out at the world famous Gilligans and lazy days spent at the lagoon tipped the scales to make up the jackpot lay behind it all. Mystery door #4 was the game of making every day a win. Its a special life living on a boat and getting the freedom to do all of this and we truly thank the captain and Le Vessel for it.
Cairns was without a doubt a special place to have stopped on the journey and an unexpected significance to the success so far. On the plane now heading to Sydney we have 1 week with family and friends before re-joining Le Vessel with a full crew in Cairns. All systems go on our return as we leave for PNG in early November as soon the heavens permit. Chapter 2 in PNG is set to be surreal; 5 months in paradise.
Speak in a week,
Adios
