Cairns, Tropical paradise in Queensland

5,5 hours on the bus...it would be a shame if I didn't manage to put together a lousy blog post so here ya go...

Does anyone remember that time when I negotiated my east coast tour for about 500$...yup self high five right there...well the time has come and I hit the road...actually I hit the plane seat with my bum (and waaay more "hand luggage" than it's actually allowed haha) and flew to Cairns as my first of many stops along the East Coast. Between the last 8 straight working days, 6 of them being morning shifs and everyday evening farewell events you may have figured out that packing and organizing my sh*t was probably last on my to do list (which usually is not the case as I always pack everything a week in advance haha there's a first time for everything hey :D). I'm not even going to start talking about sleep deprivation...you know when you're really really tired, your brain is playing mind games with you and the next day you kind of don't really remember how things went on before going to bed? That was me on Tuesday before leaving. Thank goodness I at least packed everything I needed (probably even more, you know how girls are ;) ). Wednesday 6am, after 4hours of sleep, I was more or less ready to get on that plane and fly back to summer! Said bye to my roomies and took off. For sure my backpack weighed more than 7kg (had to pack stuff for NZ too!!) But luckily some Asians in front of me got called on the side for bag check...have I mentioned what an absolute lucky bastard I am some times?! No? Well it's out now. I am. :D got off the plane in Cairns and the tropical heat just hit me (of course I was wearing long jeans, long sleeved shirt...I mean, I had to put all heavy things on me instead of in my bag, right?!)
After a pretty expensive shuttle drive to my hostel I'm back in the "backpackers" life - long time no see mate but I haven't missed you one bit! The weather was absolutely amazing and after I changed into a more proper attire for a tropical summer (at some point, taking my skin off seemed like a very good idea...damn heat!), I was ready to rock and roll......kidding, went sunbathing at the waterfront of the Esplanade Lagoon. To my surprise, the hostel had free bbq and pizza nights alternating every second evening...how can you say no to free food? You don't, so you eat whatever they feed you. 
It's funny how I'm "on vacation" now, yet I literally won't have a day to sleep in. Besides the fact that my body clock is still on 5:30am work mode and an hour time difference, all the tours also start at approximately 7am...now do the math. But not complaining, you don't get to go to the Great Barrier Reef every day am I right?!?! :D speaking of which, that was also my firs tour. I booked a sailing trip with snorkeling and an introductory dive. To say the Reef was beyond anything I've ever seen before, is probably an understatement. At boarding, each passenger got a pair of fins, snorkeling set and stinger suits. It took us aroun an hour and a half of sailing to get to the outer reef. Time did fly by while we were listening to diving and safety instructions. Sun was out, the sky was blue and before I knew it, I was sitting on the bench all buckled up with a set of weighs around my waist and a huge oxygen bomb on my back. I have to say, firs time diving, I was a bit nervous...especially because the last time I was actually (free) diving at UNI, that did not feel very pleasant to my ears with equalizing. As you jump in the water you go through a minor panick stage (at least I did hahaha) before you realize you're actually completely fine and also...you can breathe under water...duuuh. relax, you're fine. we had to demonstrate some safety tasks at the first line before diving down to the second where you also had to equalize the pressure for the first time. So far so good. After another set of safety tasks the instructor, using hand signals, asked us if we're ready to go down. Hell yes, now or never. I took my gopro with me of course...and the funy thing was, when we got down to the bottom, the pressure squeezed it to a point where it turned on by itself and instead of taking a video it was taking photos and I couldn't turn it off hahahaha (no idea how deep we were but the camera is fine as it can go down to 10m without a case). Half hour dive and 1578 photos later....hahaha the water was a bit gloomy because of the cyclone that just went past this area a few days ago, but nevertheless, the experience was just priceless. Although I don't think I'll seek professional career in diving haha after I got saved out of all that heavy equipment, I had some time for snorkeling before lunch. Oh gosh, what an exciting world there is under water! fish, corals, sea stars, and yes I saw a shakr, a baby harmless one, but it was a shark! :D unfortunately no luck with turtles. Next time! After lunch, we sailed off to a different reef where we spent a couple of hours snorkeling again...wau, wau, wau. Speechless. We concluded the day with a lesson on marine life, the reef and the surrounding area being the rainforest. Oh how excited I was to get back to the hostel for pizza night...again, never say no to free food!!
My third day in Cairns was reserved for a trip even more to the north of Queensland - Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation. First stop on the way was Mossman where we attended a traditional Aboriginal smoking ceremony, got "marked" as the tribe from this side of Daintree river and learnt a thing or two about their culture. Then we took a bus to Mossman george before driving all the way up to the middle of Daintree Rainforest, oldest continuously living rainforest in the world, literally older than dinosaurs. Mindfuck. We went on a boat tour on Daintree river, spotted some crocodiles sunbathing on the edges,  and we were fortunate enough to see a couple of days old baby crocks! Cuties. We also learnt that crocodiles don't eat smart people...and if you do get attacked/eaten by one......that's called natural selection. Sorrynotsorry. Throughout the whole drive we hoped to see some "crazy killer chickens on steroids" as our guide would call them...in other words we were hoping to spot a Cassowary (if you're not familiar with this animal, and above description doesn't stimulate your imagination, google and learn a bit about them and why you don't want to face them eye to eye hahaha). Lunch was already waiting for us when we got to Cape Tribulation, in the middle of a rainforest at a tiny camp site (no idea why anyone would want to sleep there surrounded by all those not so nice animals....). Anyways, Carl showed us a spider that knits the strongest web and how aggressively it attacks anything and everything that tuches his web thinking it's food. Pretty impressive, almost like me attacking my plate of food. :D There's one more thing Cape Trib has to offer...a stunning sandy beach where rainforest meets the ocean. But the water is infested with crocks so...if you don't want to be "naturally selected", take a photo and run away. But seriously how amazing is this place?!?!
Last thing on our agenda was a walk in the rainforest. Before entering the path, we had to listen to a "brief" Cassowary safety talk..."if he gets you with his claw, your intestines become outestines", "stay together as a group, huddle up and put me in the middle", "don't run, hide behind a tree or a meat shield (yes, he called a person a meat shield)" hahahahahaha very useful. You walk in the rainforest, thinking to yourself "whoa, this is amazng, sooo old omg" and then you realize "oh, of course, no wonder this has been untouched for so long, even the freaking plants are trying to kill you"...Carl again: "Australia needs to calm the fuck down", I agree mate, I agree! 
At the end of our trip with everyone still alive, all limbs attached, no insides out, this day was estimated as an absolute success. We hit the road back to Cairns...I don't think I have to emphasize that I was exhausted and oh so ready for bed.

I did my reef tour with Passions of Paradise and Cape Trib with Active Tropics...and just have to say how amazing, informative and absolutely hilarious all the tours itself and the guides were...especially Carl, not many people walk around the "killer" rainforest bare foot...he did, what a legend!! Definitely couldn't recommend them enough!!

Alright, three days in my east coast adventure and I've done so much already...I spent my last day in Cairns wandering around Botanical gardens where I went back to the rainforest. The weather was absolutely bonkers, almost 30 degrees outside before 9am, gosh. Chilled day ended up with a dip in Esplanade lagoon and a FREE bbq for backpackers hosted by a local church (?!?!)...I feel like the biggest lesson of this blog today is "never say no to free food" hahaha

Well it was time to pack up again and leave to the next destination...

Maybe just a few words on my spending money...Considering the fact that I pre booked and paid majority of my tour, I gave myself a budget of 500$ spending money...will I make it? I don't know...I guess we'll see?!?! At the moment...it's not looking very promising hahaha I'm going to try really hard (who are you kidding?? you're not, if they ask to pay 40$ to hold a koala, of course you're gonna do it!) - oh the daily battles of the "rational" and the "yolo" side of my brain. Which will win??? ...stay tuned :D

Sunny kisses from Down Under

D*

P.s. sorry for no photos post, I'm currently stranded on a deserted island (I'll be happy if this goes through at all!) haha so bare with me, photos will come but feel free to catch up with things on my Instagram @dasazagar!!**

My ode to Sydney

As my adventure here in Sydney is coming to an end, I feel like I need to look back on my new life that I’ve created in this beautiful city. From the start to the end, the good, bad, ugly, amazing and everything in between. I arrived to Sydney just under SIX MONTHS ago (where does the time gooo?!?!?!) with no expectations or a solid plan. All I knew was that I needed an adventure, a change, push the limits, get out of my comfort zone, find myself and discover what I’m really capable of. And boy, I am not leaving disappointed! What a journey it was! Full of surprises, fear, doubts, some tears and uncertainties...but going through it all, not giving up and slowly getting my shit together, I got rewarded with so much luck, happiness, confidence, feeling of absolute freedom, pride and self-accomplishment – I’d do it all over again. Not to mention all the amazing (and not so amazing) people I’ve met along the way that have made such a big impact on my life here. I won’t say I loved and enjoyed every minute of it because I most certainly did not! There were so many times I really just wanted to pack up and leave, send my boss to hell (Mimi, not you!!! :D), question myself and my decisions, all the moments when I literally just wanted to quit....but I didn’t. Thanks to my new friends, amazing roomies and mostly my improved and strengthened character. I couldn’t have imagined a better start, thanks to my fellow Europeans Jasmin, Anna and Pakdat whom I met right at the airport before even placing my feet on Australian soil. Despite the fact, our little team started to fall apart after a week or so, we shared so many amazing experiences and made beautiful memories. As the weeks went on, I started to meet more and more people, but also realized I’ll have to say goodbye to many far too often. Living a “backpackers” life is awesome, really, but it also sucks...a lot!! As others were leaving to travel or find their luck in a different city, I stuck to Sydney and in the end I made myself extremely proud of how fast I actually managed to get on my feet. I still can’t believe how much I’ve learnt in the past months. Some jobs I had were an absolute JOKE hahaha...remember my door to door knocking career that lasted whole 3 weeks???? I CAN’T BELIEVE I ACTUALLY DID THAT! ME?!?!?! A genuine people hater spent three weeks talking to so many for more than 5 hours a day...I literally can’t hahahahaha I definitely learnt some good lessons the hard way, but hey, isn’t that what makes it fun to look back at. :D I was literally forced to leave my comfort zone even before I got off the plane in Sydney (hahaha Jasmin...14 hours sitting together on the plane...and we only started talking 30min before landing haha two scared babies :D). I can’t even count all the situations that made me feel so insecure and uncomfortable, or when I was too scared to face the challenges that were thrown my way...I did have to put all my fears aside and literally grow a pair of balls. And that’s exactly what I did. I proved to myself yet again that I am capable of anything and everything I set my mind to. 

Never in my entire life have I ever changed as many jobs as I have here in the course of about 3 months....but I did exactly what I was aiming for – try a bunch of new things.  I’ll definitely never forget my first job – My dear Proteini, that I was holding on to for the first two months...I’m so thankful to Megan who actually gave me a chance and a job despite the fact that I had zero professional experience in hospitality...oh how many banana breads I baked there and how many sweet potatoes, zucchinis, carrots and broccoli florets I chopped, the first time I took an order without having to write it down...it all sounds so funny and stupid now but at the time, it was the tiny victories like that, that kept me going. Of course I can’t forget the oh so long door to door fundraising career at Plan International...I can’t believe I’m gonna say this, but  it actually gave me something positive too. Besides the newly acquired skills, breaking my personal mental boundaries, handling situations and learning some cool selling tricks...the people I’ve met and called them my team. Roxy, thank you for everything that you’ve taught me, whole – then –Roxy’s team – you guys are the best!, Melty, Sarah and Louise...I’m so happy I took the job at Plan, otherwise we would’ve never met...and legit, I can’t imagine how my life here would’ve turned out then! :D Luckily we’re all from Europe soooo....reunions!!! :D 

But to be honest I’d also say that 80% of this whole “jobs” thing was pure luck haha the stars have aligned, things have simply fallen into place. Exactly what happened with my last job at Bondi Wholefoods. When I left my job as a door knocker, I was basically unemployed for about two weeks (with weekends still working at Proteini). I was trying so hard to find another job, sent so many applications that were left unanswered, walked in to several cafes and had no luck. I was getting really impatient and scared. And then, one day I was making this really long list of every single cafe in the neighbourhood that I could walk to and leave my CV. Only one was still opened at that time. Bondi Wholefoods. Luckily Mimi (the manager) was still there (at 6:30pm, I know now that she never stays there so late so lucky meee hahaha). I left my resume but didn’t expect anything...she got back to me the next day and I was hired three days later. Luck, luck, luck, luck. For sure I won the lottery with this one as to this day I loved every second of it!! So thank you Mimi for giving me the opportunity to become your smoothie girl. You are the best boss I’ve ever had and such a wonderful human....I love you dearly and for sure I will miss your death stares from around the corner while supervising the whole place and all the laughs that we shared. Of course I can’t go past my amazing team of co-workers..Thanks to each and every one of you – my smoothie girls - Anabanana, Trini, Niki, Carla, Julie, Michelle, Eli and Ali...the amount of bananas we peeled, oranges we cut, the number of all freaking acai bowls we made (don't wanna see one for pretty long time now!!), yummy smoothies and those incredible walnut and macadamia crumbles we ate, sickening!! Thanks to the the rest of the smoothie, grocery and kitchen sections - Gusti, Edwin, Caroline, Rene, Tom, Chenny, Ogi, Quinn, Raj, Bishnu, Sabin and everyone else that I might have missed out...I love you all soooo sooo much and cannot express enough of how grateful I am to have met you and have the honour to call you my friends. Thank you for the best working environment, best food and best company at and off work. I hope we get to see each other again – someday, somewhere.  LEGENDS for life!! <3 <3

Lastly, I couldn’t have done it without my amazing roomies. Another lucky shot for me, getting this apartment. Yogitha, Amy, Monica and Pedro. You guys are simply the best! Thanks for all your help, words of encouragement, fun times, food that we shared and overall a wonderful place I called Home. I am going to miss you dearly but surely you’ll miss me more, well just because the shared food plate in the fridge will be empty from now on :( hahaha but seriously, never stop being awesome and crazy. See yaa in two months monsters! :D

BUUUUT, enough nostalgia! It’s time to get this show on the road. Onward to the new adventures, seeing a whole lot more of what this country has to offer. Then hop to New Zealand in between for an exciting CAMP REUNION with my two fave kiwis!! Can’t wait to see you guuuuys!! :) Off to Cairns in the morning; exploring the oldest rain forest in the world, tick Great Barrier Reef  snorkeling off my bucket list and so much more...fingers crossed the money won’t be too tight...we’ll see.

Sydney, I’ll always remember you as a city of “firsts”...first real experience of living abroad, first time house hunting by myself, first job search, first time renting a place, first time dealing with taxes, first time being a (responsible) adult. Oh how scary but wouldn't change it for the world. I will see you again and most certainly I will never forget my time and people here. Thanks for all that you taught me and all that you gave me.

With Love,

D*