Week Three

Now that I'm based in Cairns, my life involves a less than glamorous routine of home > work > home so I've moved from daily blogging to weekly. You're welcome :-)

My first week working in Cairns has been pretty much like my life in Sydney, except much hotter. The other main difference is the commute. I love the Manly Ferry but my five-minute Cairns commute might be even more awesome!

On the work front, my bank's lovely graphic designer has agreed to design CYLC's booklet which is fantastic! I've finalised the structure and pulled the majority of the content together, but I still need to interview a traditional owner about what it means to have a native title determination for their country. Hopefully that will happen next week, not sure if I'll need to head back up the Cape to meet them.

Kevin and I have also made friends with Brodie, a native title legal intern from Melbourne.

On the social front, my first observations of Cairns have been really positive.

There are some great restaurants: this week Divya (one of our secondees) had a birthday so we all went to Salt House for a drink, then Mecca Bah for dinner. We also made a very exciting discovery, that Sizzler is still open in Queensland, so continued Divya's birthday celebrations with some cheese toast. It was fabulous.

The people I've met so far are all friendly and relaxed, and they often say hello when they pass you in the street or on the Esplanade. I feel like I'm back home in Forster :-)

The Esplanade is fantastic for exercising. It inspired me to become a runner but after two days I have a sore knee so I've given that up. One night after work we ran from our apartments to the Esplanade Lagoon, swam a few laps and then ran back via a workout on the weird and wonderful exercise equipment. Great fun!

One of the additional benefits of a Jawun secondment, is that all your friends will want to come and visit!

Last weekend my friend Beth flew up and we spent a night in Port Douglas and then travelled onto the Daintree and Cape Tribulation. We also called into Mossman Gorge which is amazing.

Day Twelve

My first shower back in Cairns went for so long that the water went cold, but I woke up this morning feeling fabulously clean (see ya later, pretty red dirt).

I was also a bit heart sore that my Cape York road trip was over. One part of me is wishing I was based remotely, the other part says I'm a woose who would never survive.

Anyway, I'm really lucky to have been given this opportunity so am determined to make the most of my experience in Cairns!

We’re staying at the City Plaza Apartments in two bedroom, one bathroom units with a little kitchen. When I moved on from London about five years ago, I thought I had moved on from flat sharing. 

So initially I was a bit put-off when I realised we'd be sharing, but after my trip around the Cape, that old “compared to what?” question now floats into my mind again. And guess what? I’m so thankful to have a lovely, clean apartment and feel so lucky I only have to share it with one person!

My new work BFF Kevin and I head to the Cape York Land Council (CYLC) office and it’s straight into briefings to get my project underway…

The Federal Government has announced a review of the role and functions of native title representative bodies (including CYLC) and native title service providers. This is to make sure that they continue to meet the evolving needs of the system, and particularly the needs of native title holders after claims have been resolved.

To help with CYLC's submission, I'll be putting together a booklet which promotes their achievements so far and sets out their future plans. Once this is in hand, I'll also set-up a newsletter template CYLC can use on a quarterly basis to keep traditional owners updated, and review the content of their website.

It's already Friday of the second week, so I've got my work cut out for me over the next four weeks.

Day Eleven

We’re so close to Cairns, I can almost see the fountains on the Esplanade ... but first let’s talk about Hope Vale.

We arrived yesterday afternoon to discover another flat tyre! Vit reckons he’s gone six years without getting a flat, and now has had two in the past week. Maybe the tyres are not coping under the weight of all my road snacks…? Either way, he sorts the tyre out and I take more photos of him sorting the tyre out. You’re welcome, Vit :-)

We’d left Coen early to make sure we made it to Hope Vale before school’s out, which was cool because we got to see secondees Jaine and Alison in action. They’re working at the school helping with Direct Instruction, as well as club and culture.

I was lucky enough to sit in on two Direct Instruction classes – one for prep and one for grade seven. It’s so fast! I’m sure there are times when it’s pretty tough, but this afternoon I only saw kids that were engaged and responding with answers quickly and correctly. Apparently this is a huge turnaround compared to the ways kids were before Direct Instruction.

Jaine and Alison also gave us a tour of their new digs at the Dementia Ward. Doesn't this photo make it look better than it sounds?!

Glynis, one of the teachers who befriended the last Jawun secondees in Hope Vale, took us to the beach at Elim after school finished. The tide was high so we didn’t make it to Coloured Sands, but we saw it in the distance and it looked beautiful. Worth a visit but no swimming, ok kids?

  

We left Hope Vale the following morning, driving about half an hour to Cooktown to get the flat tyres sorted out. Unfortunately this took so long that I had no other option than to go to an actual cafe and order an extra hot skinny latte and eggs benedict while we waited. Cooktown is so cosmopolitan!!

A couple of hours later, we were back on the road and made it to Cairns late afternoon.

Thanks for being the best tour guide ever, Bear Grylls/Dad.