Heading North is a Good Thing

Whoever thought that heading north would be a good thing? Only in upside down land, right?
So after 4 nights in Townsville I have finally found somewhere else to go. I spent my days here mostly wasting energy in a negative way on worrying and being hopeless about ever leaving and finding a fruit or veg picking job. But I think I need to appreciate that my search is just a little over a week old and probably relatively short compared to what others face. I've spent a far amount of phone credit, or at least more than I would normally spend in almost 2 months, on calling backpackers that offer work and transport to and from, but such is life. Anyway, that is all very abstract, so here are the real Ds: I've found a bed in Tully, Queensland, which is about 2.5 hours North of Townsville, about 1.5 hours South of Cairns. Part of the reason I have found a bed is because there is currently because there is no work to be had picking bananas (the major crop in Tully and area) because there was been too much rain. Oh, did I mention that Tully is one of the wettest towns in Australia? At least it will be tropical rain. haha.
SO tomorrow afternoon I head to Tully to wait for the work to start again, hopefully it won't be long, but for the time being I am extremely happy to be in a position that has plenty of potential.

Back to my time in Townsville- it wasn't entirely all bad. I actually think Townsville is quite a pretty place, it's too bad it's so dead. I took a hike up Castle Hill (only a few metres short of being a mountain) and got a great view of the city, surrounding suburbs, Magnetic Island 8km from shore, and the outlying hillside and country for miles. I ran along The Strand on the waterfront, which is quite beautiful, and exquisitely maintained. I experienced the cleanest public toilets EVER. I also got to check out the Sunday markets, which didn't quite compare to the Byron ones, but had some unique wares nonetheless. Unfortunately, the Rock Pool, was closed the entire time I've been here for maintainance. But it looked cool (a man made enclosure with pumps from Sweden that pump ocean water in and out of the pool. So it's like you're swimming in the ocean but don't have to worry about stringers ie jellyfish. They're bad here, there is even vinegar jugs set up along the beach to ease the pain should you get stung), and I'll check it out when I come back on my way to Maggie (Magnetic Island) where I plan to get my SCUBA certification after I've served my time in Tully.

The next time I post it will probably be from the home of the giant Golden Gumboot!