Goodbye Cairns, Hello Indonesia

April 4th, 2:30pm. On a jet plane headed to Indonesia. Gordon is meeting me in Timika where we’ll stay the night, then in the morning we catch the helicopter to Tembagapura where he lives and works. I’ll be there a week or so then off to Bali for a few days. I hope to do some diving there, and some shopping. Yippee! My ears are popping differently than normal since my scuba diving – it must have loosened up my ear drums considerably!
Just had a killer last weekend in Cairns with Lisa and our friend Karl. We lived large and stayed at the Novotel which was totally awesome compared to the 8 bed dorms I’ve been frequenting. We caught some live music Saturday night, then headed to a bar called Paddywacks where I sang a couple karaoke songs and did some dancing. Sunday was great – enjoyed the lavish buffet breakfast at the hotel, went into town and Lisa got a bar pierced through her ear – looks great!! Then we popped into a pub for a “Sunday Session” to share a jug (pitcher) of beer. Sunday Sessions seem to be quite big in Australia. People just get on the piss all the time around here! Karl had a family BBQ that afternoon, so Lisa and I drove him home, but on the way it was decided that we should have another beer at a place that does bungy jumping! It was pretty bloody cool – sitting outside watching people jump 48m and get dunked in the pool below! It makes bungy jumping look soooo much easier when you see other people doing it over and over... and surviving hehe. I imagine I’ll get around to doing that one day. After lunch and a nap, it was time to head out again! Yes, hit the town, did some dancing, had a great night, and woke up this morning needing an extension on our check out time. Made it to the airport functioning only in zombie mode, checked my pack, almost left my passport with the x-ray people, and headed to gate 6. It was beautiful taking off – I could see the Esplanade where I have spent so much time, then further along in our ascent I could see the great barrier reef. Stunning. 2hrs flight time to Timika, where Gordon will meet me and we’ll get set up at the hotel. I miss Cairns, but I’m sure I’ll be back. Excited to see if I fall in love with the rest of Australia as I have with Cairns. I miss Lisa already – we are kindred spirits and get up to all sorts of fun. Like my first real hotel-room-jumping-on-the-bed-girly-squealing pillow fight! I will miss Karl too, he’s a real stand up bloke. But off we continue on this adventure of a lifetime; who knows where the road will take us. I am continuously blown away at how things work out in life through chance sequences of events. Do you believe in coincidence? I’m not sure if I do or not. Jury’s still out.

April 5th, 10am. Arrived in Timika last night, checked into the Rimba Papua Hotel, then went for dinner with Gordon to a little hole in the wall place serving fresh sea food. They had fish and crab last night, so Gordon and I each got a chilli crab. Bit spicy but deeeeeeeeelicious! I also indulged in a young coconut which was so huge I couldn’t even drink half the milk! After a long and very messy dinner with only a couple blobs of crab on my white shirt, it was time to head back to the hotel for some much needed shut eye. Up bright and early for a 6am take off time for the airport to catch the 25 man Russian Troop Carrier Mil-8 for the 15min trip into Tembagapura. Tembagapura (meaning Copper Town) is a mining town exporting mostly copper but with gold as the by-product. We’ll be here a week, then perhaps to Jakarta for a couple days before Bali, but that will depend on Gordon’s meetings. We’re in the heart of the jungle now sitting at 7800ft elevation, with waterfalls and mountains surrounding. Thursday or Friday I’ll be heading up to the mine for a tour – woo hoo!