Rainy but nice

After meeting my first hostel-owner now driving tour buses across Kakadu, I was surprised to see a familiar face outside my hostel in Cairns when I arrived this morning. None other than Heath, the man who instructed me through my Open Water PADI course over two years ago!

We got talking and he’s still with the Dutch girl he copped off with at the post-course party. He’s travelled Europe and is looking at settling outside of Cairns. Good on him and great to see him again.

As promised, fella, once I have some solid ground under me there’s a spare bed you’re welcome to use.

Otherwise, an uneventful flight back to Cairns. I slept for about 90 minutes on it in a surpisingly comfortable front-row seat. Once we landed, I decided to walk in the light rain into the town centre. I’d been plodding for about 20 minutes, and wasn’t too far from the junction with the main road when a guy (I think a park ranger or something, going by his uniform) stopped and insisted on giving me a lift close to my hostel. Thank you!

I managed to locate a bookshop which did 10% off Lonely Planets and already charged less for them than the larger stores. $41 for the Japan edition is still above the UK cover price, but only by a smidgen. The larger book stores are charging as much as $56 which is franlky ridiculous.

So I’m sat outside McD’s (surprise) running down my battery before heading to the hostel for a snack and maybe a movie or some book reading. An early start in the morning for a last mail check (no free internet at Cairns airport) and then onto my Tokyo flight.

My main concern is I have no accommodation booked in Tokyo and I couldn’t find anything online. This is going to be a challenge when I arrive.

Also… due to some issues at home, my stay in Japan will amount to three days. I’ve had to book a flight back to the UK on Sunday. I may or may not be flying back to Japan a while later. I don’t know yet. I’ll see what I can see in the Japanese capital in the short time I’m there and hope I get the chance to catch some more of the country later in the month – although there’s no guarantee.