This morning we got up around 8:15am, packed our bags and headed off to the bus stop to get the bus to Cairns. It was our last joutney on greyhound buses. I can't say I'm sad about it. It left at 9:45am and is due to get to Cairns at 8:20pm this evening. We managed to be first on the bus due to some good team work and got the front seats that have extra leg room and a better view. This bus looked set to be the best one yet; the driver was lovely, we had the front seats, the air con worked, the WiFi worked and the USB charging points worked. It would be a long boring journey but everything was looking good.
Our first stop was at around 11am. The driver was talking about lunch but everything in the service stations greyhound stop at are very expensive. Neither Lauren or I got anything, despite both wanting a drink.
At Townsville a whole load of people got on and the driver changed. The old driver was trying to tick people off the list as they got on but he couldn't find anyone on the list. Then I noticed he was using a list from the 15th. The dude across the aisle pointed it out to him and he found the correct list and ticked people off at double speed.
At around 5:15pm we stopped for a break at a place called Cardwell. Again the food at the cafe was really expensive and the choice was limited but it was right at the side of the sea which was beautifully calm and picturesque. It was sheltered by an island so there were hardly any waves. We doubted it was the sea for a minute.
After we got back on the bus and had arrived at the next passenger stop we asked the driver if there was a toilet we could use at the stop, as we had done at a previous stop. The driver was very grumpy and remarked that there was a toilet on the bus. We were a bit dubious as earlier I'd overheard a girl telling the previous driver that the light didn't work and there was no loo roll. The dude across the aisle from us said you had to lock the door to make the light work and then went to check it out. He reported back that the light worked but there was no loo roll. Lauren had some tissues so went to use the toilet, only to find the light didn't work and the lock was dodgy, firstly causing the driver to open the door while she was using it after we had told him there was no loo roll, and secondly caused her to require help from the girls sitting near the toilet to get out. I decided not to risk it and crossed my legs, hoping to make it to Cairns.
It was all going well, we pulled up to a stop around 8:20pm but it didn't look particularly busy or like a bus station. It turned out we were running late and wouldn't be at Cairns for another 30ish minutes. Lauren asked the driver what stop we were at because everyone on the bus was generally a bit confused and he ignored her. The dude across the aisle was the one who eventually managed to get a response out of the driver when he asked how long it would be. I was fairly confident I could carry on crossing my legs for another 20 minutes; it was the 30 minute walk to the hostel I was worried about.
When we made it to Cairns, we immediately went to the toilet at the bus station before grabbing our bags and setting off on the walk. It wasn't too hot so it wasn't too bad but by the time we reached the hostel we were both sweating buckets.
We stopped on the way at Hog's Breath Café on the way to the hostel and had chicken wraps. They were pretty good and it helped break the walk up.
The room we're in at the hostel is a 4 bed 'deluxe' room. We are sharing with two people from Hamburg. It's quite a small room and it's very very hot. I have no idea how tonight will be. I've just paid a dollar for three hours of air conditioning.
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