hitting the east coast

the woman i was sharing a room with in tennant creek made me laugh. she was called anne and working in the kitchens in the mines there. her handy hints on seeing the best of tennant creek was to 'turn right at the junction - the left end is the rubbish end'. i had to turn left to get to the internet place but i walked down to the right side aswell. both ends looked completely the same.

and mount isa was an interesting place, too. it's a place full of barking dogs. honestly. it's really noticeable - and weird when you're arriving at 5am. i hung around the bus stop for a while cos the german lad i'd watched a tape of james bond with the previous night and ate all his crunchy nut cornflakes said that he might come and stay in the hostel with me. but it turned out he was booked straight on to the bus leaving for townsville so had to go. which meant that i had a room to myself in mount isa. the joy! it was a weird hostel. it looked like a converted primary school, with all the dorms off the main corridor. but i didn't care. a room to myself! i napped all morning to get over the overnighter and then headed in to town. i didn't have anyone like anne around to helpfully advise me on the best bits so i just wandered, had a milkshake in a cafe, and wandered some more. yes. there's not too much to mount isa, either. it's quite a strange place. there's a fairly bustling (for the outback) centre and then when you look up there's this massive dickensian mine on the hill overshadowing the whole place. there were two massive smelters chimneys belching out shit. it actually looked impressive in a strange way, being so close to town, with all its blinking lights and darkness. i walked up to the look out and watched the sun set on the mine and the town. i took a pic but the computer here won't let me download so i'll put it in later. i then made my tea and watched a documentary on the royal family on telly. hmm.

and then the bus to townsville. to be honest, i was worried about hitting the east coast. i thought it was be all backpackery and full of nobheads. i've also discovered that maybe i prefer the overnight bus. i travelled 7am to 7pm to townsville (watching 'gladiator' at 7am which woke up the senses a little early) and just wanted to eat all the time. at least you just sleep on the overnighter - although i accidentally crushed my sunglasses when using my bag as a pillow. what a div.

but it was all alright in townsville. the young german pup even met me from the bus. i think he's scared of being on his own. he was telling me that he spends loads of money buying beer in order to sit in the hostel and meet and drink with people. god. imagine doing that. anyway, i visited reef hq the next day and was fully educated on how the great barrier reef works and then met the german pup to buy food for tea and then do a massive walk up a massive cliff thing that towers over townsville. god, it was hard work. i'm soooo unfit. but we eventually got to the top and it was worth it. you could see right over to magnetic island.

and that's where i am now. i had a bit of a stressful day yesterday cos i was tired cos i was sat up talking and drinking with people in the hostel. imagine. so i had the usual stresses when i'm tired - have i booked the nicest hostel, why is this bus so crowded, why is this dorm so crowded, what should i do now i'm here. i know it sounds silly and i was annoyed with myself for feeling so irritated and stressed when i was in such an idyllic place. but, you know, life is just so hard for the backpacker too... well, except not. obviously. anyway, i got an early night and got over it.

and i've had such a brilliant day today. was woken at 6am by a load of kookaburras laughing but managed to get back to sleep. i'm sleeping in a hut thing with an open side to it so you're really with nature, man. though could have murdered the man who started his chainsaw at 9am. seen lots of wildlife here. the resort is in the middle of the national park - it's a camping place, really. so we have possums that join us for tea and there loads of birds and other things i don't know much about. i went for a walk around the island this morning. it reminds me a lot of fiji - lots of hills thick with vegetation and then amazing bays of turquoise sea and bright sunlight. read my book for a while, noticed that the man on the beach next to me was actually naked, and then got accosted by another man who wanted to follow me to the next bay. it was strange. i met him again on my way back and he was going to come with me until i pointed out i was heading back. i think quite a lot of people don't want to be on their own.

and then i had a fab afternoon. i've reached the age of 27 and never ridden a horse so i booked myself on the 'bush and beach trail'. i said i'd never ridden so they promptly gave me the biggest horse, clyde. i spoke nicely and quietly to clyde before i got on him, all the while thinking that if rachael could break her shoulder on a ute, maybe i could on a massive brown horse. and i still wasn't sure when we started walking and then trotting and then cantering. i was clinging on for dear life. i felt a bit like those horseriders on mary poppins - not sure why that came to mind. we wandered through the bush and saw wallabies and some other horses in a field came to join us. then the best bit was when we rode on the beach by the sea. i could almost hear the eighties pop video music in the background. and then, even better, they desaddled the horses and we rode them bareback into the sea. the horses loved it and it was better for me cos at least if i fell off it would only be into the water. i relaxed into it then and it was beautiful - a beautiful bay, beautiful sunny afternoon and me riding a horse and everything. it was all rather idyllic until riding out of the water and clyde saw another horse kneel down and roll in the sea. the bugger only did it aswell but at least i knew what was happening and jumped off sharply. i then settled into the ride home and even enjoyed the trotting. i think once you relax you're alright. but what an amazing experience. being in the water was fab.

so i'm off to cairns tomorrow and dreading it because it really will be backpacker central. townsville and here have turned out to be alright but i know cairns will just be full of a load of young pissed british nobs so i think i'll spend as little time as possible there. the german pup wants to meet up again in cairns but, frankly, i feel like his mother so we'll see how i can avoid that.

god. people.