Why Cairns
At a certain point in everyone’s life a questioning of whether one belongs or not, and whether or not one is doing the right thing is normal. I guess I knew that my feelings were a little more serious at a very young age. The feelings were recurring and prolonged, and growing more intense with age. I mean sans drama, I felt pretty lonely despite, everything family and friends could provide me with. It became clear, as my mother so eloquently put it, “It’s time to start doing things for yourself.”
Cairns is a beautiful city with a very large tourist population, and a small indigenous population. I think I knew something was special about it when people who did not even know me started talking to me as if we were, or could at any point be best friends. Not the kind of meaningless chit-chat that one may experience while in line at the supermarket, but a thoughtful conversation and open dialogue. It is truly a town of wonderful people, and that nice tropical clime.
Once I began work I was treated to something truly amazing, the people were the warmest, most accepting, and open people I have ever met. The only thing I could attribute it to is the population difference. Australia has a population consisting of roughly twice what can be found in New York City! The people do not possess that little bit of reserved suspiciousness that we Americans are raised with and something that; to my demise, I have never been able to subscribe to. These people actually treated me like I was their closest friend for years.
The scape of Cairns is as diverse as the people who make it up. On one side there is the Great Barrier Reef, teaming with the most beautiful coral formations imaginable, and the beaches which are practically always empty (due to high area, and low populations) provide ample opportunity for entertainment. On the other side there is the rainforest (in some spots you can touch both the reef and rainforest at once) which has an abundance of life that is hard to imagine, and even harder to describe. Consisting of dense forest, with thin walking tracks carved throughout, it is the norm to go on a two hour hike to end at a tropical lagoon fed by several waterfalls.
With an endless supply of things to do, a beautiful environment, and wonderful people I feel truly at home in Cairns.