Once again I’ve packing up and moved on. I finish up at the zoo on Friday having said goodbye to the various critters including the zoo babies that I very much don’t want to leave. Of course I said bye to the keepers and was offered that if I was ever back again they would make space for me on their program. Sounds good to me but might be a while before I’m back in that neck of the woods.
I definitely enjoyed working in Cairns Tropical Zoo and its something I’d love to be paid to do but sadly these places are not available back home. So, having left the zoo without stealing any animals, not that I wasn’t temped to pack Ernie or little Cooper into my bag on the way out, I had my weekend before leaving Monday morning.
My friend, from Brisbane having just returned from New Zealand, managing to escape in a gap in the ash cloud plaguing flights from both New Zealand and the southern half of Australia, is staying with me after going diving out on the reef. So with my weekend free I’m supposed to show him the sights of Cairns but luckily he doesn’t arrive back from his boat till after 5 on Saturday because there’s very little to do in the city. We go out for a meal and catch up and the following day hang out at the lagoon before I have to pack up my stuff.
Both of us are flying Monday morning, though in different directions and annoyingly at different times so we organise two shuttles to the airport and say our goodbyes at the flat. I have to spend a bit of time hanging out at the airport before my flight to Alice but it turns out a good journey. Since I’m flying Qantas instead of budget airlines like Tiger or Jetstar, I actually get free drinks and a meal on the plane which was totally unexpected but a nice surprise for my two hour flight. Arriving in Alice Springs I’m once again on Central Standard Time so have gone half an hour back in time. Alice is a breezy 20 degrees which I find rather cool but is still very sunny.