Broometime

Long time no blog...

Well what have I been up to? I've been gradually adjusting to “Broometime”. Which roughly translates as “you're in the tropics, but with less spicy food”. And yes, I certainly am in the tropics here. I've been trying to define tropical, and I've come up with a few criteria:
You can eat the coconuts that fall from the palm trees in the grounds of the hotel.
There are lots of scooters, even if they don't carry families of 5 (I am in Australia still....).
People walk around barefoot a lot. Even into town (although you only make the mistake of walking barefoot past the Commonwealth Bank once – there's a thorn tree somewhere near there...)
It doesn't rain, it RAINS, stopping as suddenly as it started.
The sea is an impossible shade of turquoise.
Going to the beach can be a full-time activity...

Saying that I've not made it to Cable Beach that much, and only once with my camera - to see the sunset. Unfortunately on a cloudy day! Even with this deficit of beach visits half of Cable Beach still seems to have made it into our dorm room.

I have been fishing again, and once again failed to catch anything. Although I do blame the shark for this. I FINALLY felt a tug on my line and started reeling it in (we fish with handlines, so reeling the line in involves pulling in the slippery line). There was quite a fight going on at the end of my line, and as I pulled further I realised there was a shark following very closely. About 2 metres offshore there was a scuffle in the water, the line went loose and the shark swam off. Having snacked on my fish. I was less than impressed.

Apart from that life has consisted of working and getting to know the other staff here. Housekeeping in a hotel that has no room numbers containing the number 13 and working in a restaurant with a steak special, but only 6 steak knives. And alcoholic chefs. But the better you get to know the chefs here, the more snacks you get whilst working, and the more likely you are to be able to request staff food that you like!

And that's enough for Broometime. It may now be beachtime...