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All animals that have made it this far on our planet have an innate reaction, one that instantly goes off even before a signal as to what to do reaches the brain, it’s called the “fight or flight” response.

Background

Last week I went up to Cape Tribulation (Australia) to get some camping done, admiring nature and swimming with the jellyfish/man-a-wars when the tide was high in the main bay. When it was low tide, remnants of ancient coral where exposed, long since dead but still as hard as iron. Walking along the exposed reef, I kept hearing a snapping sound all around me, I would then walk a little more, stop and again hear “snap, snap, snap”. Oddly enough, I never heard it “under me”, always a few meters AROUND me. This made no sense obviously, so I just crouched down until I could pinpoint one specific snap and followed it until I discovered what it was.

Fight, Flight or Hide

What I was experiencing on the ancient exposed reef was the reaction of thousands of little crabs, about the size of my fist that where incredibly well camouflaged - I can only guess it was either a mating call or a message to other that “this is my territory, stay out”. Their initial reaction to a HUGE 6ft tall, 160lbs white monster (I was wearing a bright white long sleeve t-shirt) was to stand absolutely still, not make a sound if I was within about a 3 meter radius from them, any further, they would either run off (flight) or cease all sounds/movement hoping I missed them.

Discovery: What to do?

Keep in mind, I had to spend several minutes to simply pinpoint one of these noble little creatures, they are incredibly difficult to find when they don’t move or make a sound - I saw only 5 of them during a 8 hour period, of which only one I was able to get close enough to take a picture. Their initial reaction once it became obvious I was ABOUT to find them was to run away like Armageddon was at their doorstep asking for their soul… they may be very small, but they can sure run/swim faster then I ever could.

Fighting me off

Below is a picture of a brave little crab trying to fight me off as best he/she could. This screams of bravery and this little guy should get a medal but alas, I was just playing with it, I don’t particularly like crab as food so I posed no danger to him. There where Dingos, birds and other marsupials along the beach when the reef was exposed and at night when it was high tide, who knows what lives in the ocean looking for a quick and easy snack. The ONLY way I could ever get a “fight” response from a crab was to corner it, otherwise, it was a futile effort of hide and seek with them having the upper hand. Keep in mind, these little guys are about 1/4 a pound soaking wet - they stand absolutely no chance against me even if I fought them with my eyes closed. Just think, what would your reaction be if a giant about the size of the Eiffel tower was trying to catch you and you get a small glimpse as to how they may have felt about me. Would you stand defiant against all odds, stand your ground and fight?

Also below is a picture I took as to the consequences that are very real to these little crabs on a daily basis, the cost of fighting to the death or hiding to the death. So as you can see, it’s totally logical that if you see a potential predator coming your way, running away is probably better then hiding or fighting them off. You can see this everyday in our own species and countless others.

Brave little soldier!

Life is TOUGH on the Ree

The Bottom Line

We have a lot yet to learn from nature, if we open our eyes and give it the time it needs to reveal itself.

Well, I have been down-under for a month now – now that my biological clock has adapted fully to the natural rhythms of this place, I can now justifiably look back at how things have gone so far.

What I miss about Toronto, Canada

I would say the biggest things I miss about living in Toronto was the shier amount of food variety that was available within a 2km radius from my old place. I had 3 HUGE supermarkets selling things at different price points and a few ethnic markets as well. I remember one day I went to a Middle Eastern store and tried “salt water yogurt drink” and just about threw up but nothing ventured, nothing gained

I really, really miss Salmon for some reason, I use to be able to get a fresh, very thick juicy slab of it for only a few dollars but here, not only is it not available, but any type of Salmon is about 30$/kg! I guess I also miss all my old cooking utensils and the set-up I had in my old kitchen as well… now that I look back, I actually enjoyed cooking!

What I don’t miss about Toronto, Canada

Things are so peaceful here in Cairns, no traffic jams, no smog, no polluted air and the list goes on… this place of 100K + people really doesn’t feel that large at all. I could easily imagine myself living in Hearst with a population of 5K walking down any of the streets here. I have yet to visit the Great Barrier Reef or Cape Tribulation but I got a year to “get around to it” so no rush. In the meantime, I have more then enough work to keep me busy and distracted

What I like about Cairns, Australia

I must say that the people here are incredibly nice and forthcoming. Just about every store here also has “cash back” when you make a purchase and employers pay via direct deposit almost exclusively, I have yet to see a check! Heck, I don’t even use cash here anymore! Other then the weather, I feel healthier here… tranquility is something that I prize more then most other things and there is this in abundance, if I want to get away, I can hop on a plane to such great destinations as Fiji, Java, Sumatra… basically leaving one paradise for another I would like to get into off roading here and extended tours into the bush on my own with a Land Rover for weeks at a time but that will have to wait a bit till a few more things work themselves out.

What I don’t like about Cairns

The number one thing I don’t like about Cairns is that it doesn’t have a beach! You look out on the harbor and right in front of you is… A MUD FLAT! I have been told by a few locals that Cairns use to have a beach about 75 years ago but when they dredged out the canal, all that silt began building up along the waterfront. There have been plans to return it to its original “beach” shape but now environmentalists are crying fowl because it would damage the mangrove forest that is encroaching from the airport. As for me, I believe if something was “originally” one way, no harm in returning nature to its rightful balance, even at the cost of a man-caused natural adaptation.

I had a friend tell me Cairns was also very touristy, that starts in about a month but as I don’t live downtown (nor visit it often), I doubt this will bother me much but they do have a “last call” around 3am or 4am here. I have seen my fair share of drunk people (both locals and backpackers) in the streets so I tend to stay away from the entire downtown area after dark. It is nice but drunk people are crazy and unpredictable – not my kind of crowd

General Irrelevances and Observations

A large fraction of people here walk around without shoes (and even shirts) everywhere, I am talking about grocery stores, malls etc… it does make sense in that it’s a tropical environment where it rains quite often (during rainy season) but I have yet to get use to it. In Canada, just about every store and mall has a sign that says “no shoes, no shirt, no service” - here – they couldn’t care less.

SUV, 4×4s… EVERYWHERE! I sometimes feel like I am either in Hearst or in the United States – I have rarely stayed in a place where there are so many BIG trucks, vans, 4×4s and SUVs of all kinds. It does make sense as they have washed out roads and the “outback” isn’t far at all from here. One surprising observation so far is that there are lots of old vehicles as well, in Canada, the winter salt pretty much assures that no car will last more then a decade but here, vehicles last far longer. I find this ironic because my bike that is less then a month old is already starting to rust

The Bottom Line

So far, so good – I like it here… if only they had cheap Salmon!

I should have known better… I run a health site, avoid the sun but yet… the heavy rains and almost constant cloud cover here in the topics tricked me into believing that I was safe… I was so very wrong.

What is a sunburn?

A sunburn is a torture device created by God to remind all of us the importance of wearing sunblock. I think I would prefer to have my fingernails ripped out one by one then to live with a sunburn for any extended period of time! A sunburn is caused by an overexposure to UV light, most of which comes from the sun – the results are a nice burn… hence sun… burn… sunburn!

Just the symptoms please…

A few hours after getting a sunburn, you will notice your skin is red or a very deep tan depending on how much “overexposure” you received. You may experience some pain and temperature sensitivity to the burned area followed by blisters within a day or two. You will then notice your skin pealing up to several weeks afterwards as a new layer of skin is produced.

I got one… now what?

Basically, the best thing you can do is allow your skin to rest, limit further sun exposure and if you need to, put icy water over your burns… it will numb the pain and speed up the healing process. Expect it to take a few weeks though… sunburns are like in-laws, quick to come over but slow to leave
How NOT to get one…

Sunburns are the result of human error, if you don’t want to get one, put on tonnes of sunblock and don’t be shy about re-applying it every few hours especially if your are being active. I usually wear pants (track pants if very hot) and long sleeve t-shirt with a large brim hat. Don’t forget to put sunscreen over your ears and lower face/neck as well even with a hat, those places burn nicely if unprotected. Be sure to wear sunglasses as well, UV light can cause eye damage in the future even when not exposed to direct sunlight.

Can a sunburn cause cancer?

Why yes they do… but it generally takes repeated exposure to UV light, keep in mind sun tanning beds can cause cancer just as easily as the sun so they are NOT any safer nor alternatives. A tan by UV light is a tan… no matter how it was achieved. A tan is also a symptom of skin damage as well, keep that in mind. The sun is also great at causing premature aging as well, hence why many facial creams have added UVA and UVB blocking ingredients to their mix.

What is the difference between sunblock and sunscreen?

Sunscreen simply absorbs the UV light hitting your skin while sunblock… you guessed it… BLOCKS the UV light from ever getting to your skin in the first place. Sunblock also blocks out both UVA and UVB while sunscreen in general only absorbs UVB. Although labeling is a problem – most people think erroneously that sunscreen and sunblock are the same thing, if in doubt, look at the ingredients. Sunblock will have either titanium dioxide or zinc oxide listed while sunscreen will not. Ingredients that work wonders blocking UVA by the way are aveobenzone (also known as Parsol 1789), oxybenzone or octocrylene. Keep in mind that the words “broad spectrum” also indicate that they block both UVA or UVB light… but be sure to double check the label just to be on the safe side.

The Bottom Line

Sunburns, unlike the weather, are predictable and avoidable.

Rainforest stream flowing into Mossman Gorge.

The family I am renting a room with was nice enough to invite me out for a road trip up to Port Douglas, about 60 km North of Cairns. The main thing I noticed during the drive is how little the scenery actually changes driving Northwards… I would say from Brisbane to Cairns you would be hard pressed to notice any differences. You have cane fields, mountains and bits of ocean with a few towns in between.

Port Douglas: Now this is a Tourist Town!

I was told by a friend of mine the Cairns was touristy, I can’t say other then visiting downtown that I agree with this but Port Douglas… wow! There where whole sub-divisions allocated towards “Holiday Apartments” at a few hundred dollars a night, a marina full of “Reef Tours” of ever kind and more souvenir shops then you can count. Although not as tacky as those found in Niagara Falls, souvenir shops are by their nature tourist traps I didn’t take ANY pictures of Port Douglas, the beach was not bad but definitely not a place I would want to live in but a nice place to visit all the same for a few hours.

Mossman Gorge: Nice rapids and clean water

Mossman Gorge river… no crocs here!

I am more of a “back to nature” type person, and I enjoyed the brief time I visited Mossman Gorge over Port Douglas hands down. I have never in my life seen such clear water flowing from a stream… no silt, no dirt, no bugs… just pure water that if it wasn’t for the reflection of my flash camera, no way I would have ever known it was there! Walking to the lookout points, you could see a torrential river, we got caught in the rain (nothing new) and the scenery was breathtaking. Too bad the suspension bridge was under repair, that would have been interesting… I still got a year here anyhow, plenty of time to visit this place again!

Ellis Beach: Best beach so far

I have walked along beaches in Florida, California and a few places in between but by far, Ellis Beach wins hands down. Not only is the beach naturally clean and beautiful but there is NOBODY THERE! There is nothing in mind more relaxing then walking along the beach with only your thoughts as company. I thought I would have to head up to Cape Tribulation for a little isolation but until I experience that place which I hear is very beautiful, Ellis Beach is my favorite!

The Bottom Line

Nature has beauties that man has yet the ability to match.

Night time palm… with the occasional bat!

So far so good, I am surprised at how well and quickly I have adapted to this new tropical environment! In the past week, I got me a new set of wheels, bank account, groceries and got to know the general area pretty well. I figure all the sleep deprivation getting here did me a favor as I have experienced next to no jet lag since I got here.

Banking System – the ANZ Experience!
I must say, Australians have banking down to an art! You walk in, get a little ticket then sit on a comfy couch or chair till your number is called up. Sure beats waiting in endless lines with crazy little kids jumping around. Why this system isn’t adopted in North America is beyond me… it really make the environment so much more relaxing.. I felt like I was their only customer, they are nice, laughed at a few of my jokes and I was off in no time. There was absolutely no rush to get me out of the door ASAP – a very welcome change I must say, Australians are among the most welcoming and generous people I have met so far… they strike up a conversation just about anywhere!

Groceries
To my surprise and delight, they got an IGA here! Of all the stores I though I was saying good-bye to at the beginning of this trip, this one followed along with me. Not only that, I have 3 IGAs within a 2km radius from where I am staying! Layout is the same, my first experience there was nothing special but the next day I went for a few more supplies and what a change when going in the afternoon when everybody else is at work! They where blasting techno music on the intercoms, kids where dancing in the aisles and I told to myself… this is my kinda place! Fruits and vegetables are more expensive then in Canada but otherwise, the variety and pricing is pretty much the same. I figure the next thing I will be getting for myself is some Milo (chocolate drink) and another 5 lbs bag or carrots next time I go there

Out and About in the Rainy Season

BIG rain drops fall from these skies!

A couple days previous, I asked a local where my district was and he was very polite, sending me 4km in the wrong direction… this has to be the oldest joke us humans play on one another, it’s always funny until it happens to you I have found out that when you live in a tropical environment, you will get wet one way or another. The rain patterns seem completely random and you can bet on something falling from the sky at least once every hour or two… sometimes light, other times a torrential downfall (rendering umbrellas pretty useless) but the nice thing about rain here vs rain in Canada… it’s nice and warm so it feels like your taking a warm shower I am getting to know the area pretty well, most roads follow the direction of the coast and I am happy I don’t live downtown where all the tourist and backpackers roam free – I liken that place easily to a Niagara Falls. One more thing, get sandals, I wore sneakers for the first few days I was here and they where always soaked, things take forever to dry here due to the humidity as well. I was never a big fan of sandals but they won me over easily in this environment.

Kmart vs Big W: How to NOT treat a customer
Now this was a huge contrast in why one business is faltering while the other is thriving. I walked about 6 km to get to the local Kmart to get myself a bike, I found that distances seem pretty far when your walking at about 5km an hour in heavy rain. I found the bike I wanted, got myself a helmet and a chain then proceeded right to the checkout. To my amazement, they wouldn’t sell me the bike! They told me it was a demo model and they needed it to sell their other bikes, I had to buy the box or nothing at all. I went right to the store manager, I told him I was here on a walking holiday visa, had no other transport other then by foot and I was about 10km away from my place – how the hell am I suppose to carry a 50lbs box? To boot, I had no area to assemble a “boxed bike” nor any tools (not that anything beyond a wrench was needed). After hearing my concern, he laughed them off and said “you can’t take the bike”, so I asked him if he could give me a small corner in the store so I can buy and assemble a boxed bike then be on my way. He told me he cannot allow me to do that. Anyways, long story short, Kmart lost out on a 300AU sale because a stupid manager couldn’t get his head out of his ass. I was wondering why Kmart, at least in North America, is struggling, this is a case in point – if you hire second rate people to manage your store who lack creativity, don’t expect to be in business for too long without financial problems.

I then proceeded about 2km up the road to Big W, about the same size as a Walmart and this time, before grabbing a “demo model” that was already assembled – I asked one of their associates “can I have a demo model?”. His answer was absolutely no problem, he took the bike down, brought it to customer service and within 10 minutes I was out of the store pedaling my way back home. This wasn’t even the store manager mind you, just a guy counting inventory! What was even better is I saved 100AU on the whole deal too… Kmart has lost yet another customer for life and I won’t shed a tear when they go under. Being a business owner myself, the Kmart manager shouldn’t have any responsibilities above sweeping the floors and cleaning toilets.

Tropical Architecture

Nothing beats tropical architecture!

One of the fun things I like about visiting new environments is viewing how architectures changes with the landscape. For instance, unlike Canada, there is only one real season here, summer As such, there is no worries about the freezing / thawing cycles nor insulation. Homes here are far more open to their environment, I leave my window in my room open year round – sure I did this in Toronto as well, but here it’s actually quite peaceful listening to the rain forest bugs and birds all around me. No traffic, no smog, no crazy people drunk in the middle of the night screaming out… none of that! The architecture in the mountains reflects this attitude, open verandas, large patios for outdoor living and at many places, tiled driveways instead of loose gravel or pavement. The biggest problem here is the rain, as such, the sewer drains here are HUGE to capture the little rivers that form and the streets are accordingly very clean as a result. The humidity is very comfortable here as well, it may rain often but unless out outside getting drenched, staying dry is no problem and most of the houses here have aluminum roofing to withstand the almost hourly pressure washings. One thing I have seen is the mold is a problem but in more modern houses, they use paint and materials that resist this very well.

The Bottom Line

We are very adaptive creatures, now I see why we quickly took over this planet!

View from the front yard of where I am staying… back yard is more of the same

Well, I decided over a year ago that it’s time for a move… a big one… basically I moved from Canada to Australia, moved from 4 seasons to 1, moved from polluted beaches to pristine coral reefs and polluted air to fresh salt ocean air. Any regrets? Nope

It ain’t all bad

Canada was a fun place but I knew that if I waited till I was old and retired before moving to a place I wanted to be that I wouldn’t get as much enjoyment as I could have otherwise by moving NOW. Snow and cold weather are fun but I wanted a more active outdoors lifestyle, one in which I could go camping year round, go kayaking, snorkeling and basically transform my environment into one of feeling like I was always on vacation.

The Journey from Hell

I sacrificed a lot of things to get here, so I thought… now I know I sacrificed a hell of a lot! Basically I left through the Buffalo airport around 2pm for a connecting flight to Pittsburgh followed by Los Angeles then Nadi then Brisbane then a fun 24 hour train ride up to Cairns. This whole trip was suppose to take about 3 days… or so I thought.

My flight from Buffalo (New York – USA) to Pittsburgh went great, it took about an hour and I arrived in fine health. Now this is where things started to go wrong. My flight from Pittsburgh to Los Angeles was suppose to take 4 hours, what they forgot to mention was that the first 4 hours I would be stuck on the tarmac as freezing rain poured down followed by another 4 hours flying to Los Angeles – they should have just said it would take 8 hours or at the very least, bring us back to the gate after an hour until the weather improved. Being stuck in a box is bad enough, being stuck in a box without ANY fresh air being squashed like a sardine while being told “just a little longer” every half hour is quite another. Anyways, suffice it to say, I eventually got to Los Angeles.

The nice thing about Los Angeles (California - USA) was the weather, the bad thing was I was stuck in the hotel for an entire day with my luggage! Basically, I missed my connecting flight to Fiji by an hour due to being stuck on the tarmac during a freezing rain and snow storm. If that wasn’t bad enough, I couldn’t leave my room because lugging my luggage around LA isn’t the smartest nor easiest thing to do. I stayed at the Westin, very nice place but even luxury has its trappings… I never watched so much TV in my life, the room was paid by the airline, so wasn’t all that bad but when you got a few thousand dollars in electronics with you, I simply couldn’t take the chance and leave them behind while visiting Hollywood and many other places I wish I could have wandered into.

Alright, originally I was suppose to fly from Los Angeles to Nadi (Fiji) then to Brisbane but as I missed my flight due to weather, I was now flying from Los Angeles to Auckland (New Zealand) then to Brisbane (Queensland - Australia). I thought no way things could get worse… I though too early! I sat next to a very nice Aussie woman who told me a lot about Brisbane but being in a middle seat, the woman to my left was about 80 year old with medical problems. Even before taking off, she passed out for a few minutes then took her pills and couldn’t stop fidgeting during the entire trip, just try to sleep next to somebody who is constantly moving and needing to go to the bathroom or wanting to stretch at all hours. It was impossible, the sleep deprivation counter had started, 2 hours of sleep during a 24 hour period – good thing I slept well in Los Angeles! Auckland was beautiful from the air by the way… made me think of Nova Scotia!

Finally, arrived in Brisbane, finally time to relax and get my butt off to Cairns after eating nothing but granola bars and airplane food for the past 3 days. Guess what, because I missed my flight, the airport also lost my luggage to add insult to injury. I wasn’t too sad though, that was a 55lbs backpack I had waiting for me, I knew they would find it so when they told me they lost it, I told them that was the best news I have heard in a few days and told them to send it to me directly in Cairns (which they did the next day upon my arrival there). I had three options to travel from Brisbane to Cairns, it was either the bus (200$), train (300$) or plane (400$). I had decided on the bus but as the airport had a direct link tot he train, I decided what the heck… time to catch-up on some much needed sleep while relaxing on the train. WRONG! I had the great honor of being in a train surrounded by 5 kids who where probably between the ages of 5-10 years old. Why is this a problem? Well, at this age, they can’t stand still and must seek acknowledgment from their parents every minute of the day by asking silly questions, saying “look at me” or simply being annoying humming and making noises for no reason. One is bearable, but 5 doing this for 18 of my 24 hour train ride is simply the definition of Hell on Earth. Hey, while I am stuck in this train with these kids, lets throw in a few that are sick, coughing and sneezing all over the place. You guessed it! As soon as I woke up after my first day on the train, I lost my voice. I was sick as a dog, slept maybe 6 hours so essentially within a 48 hour period I got maybe 8 hours of sleep – and we are definitely not talking about quality sleep neither. By the time I arrived in Cairns, I was physically exhausted from all the sitting in confined places, mentally drained and basically feeling like I had a wicked hang-over. I basically arrived and passed-out on the bed waiting for me after a quick shower.

Was it worth it?

Absolutely, if I was 80 years old and experienced all the above, I am sure I would have been promptly put into a body bag upon my arrival, I am 30 years old and have never felt so completely exhausted in all my life! Here is a picture of what the front-yard looks like by the way… lets see, snow storms vs tropical paradise, not a tough decision to make! I believe there are 3 pillars to a successful life, the first is a loving relationship, the second is a physically healthy environment and the third, financial independence. While I now have the first two taken care of nicely, the third will take a bit more time but 2 out of 3 is a very good start.

The Bottom Line

You only got one life to live, might as well make it one worth living.