Resting in Port Dougals

Port Douglas is one of the places I had been instructed to visit on multiple occasions as it is a beautiful little town. It’s known as a millionaires playground but there is room for us backpackers as well. I stayed at Dougies, a friendly hostel where the staff were happy to help. This was a good thing as it turned out I needed help. As much as I had enjoyed my reef then rainforest experiences all that water had left its mark and I developed swimmers ear. On my way from Cape Tribulation to Port Douglas I talked a poor couples ears off partly because I love Australia but also partly to distract myself from the pain. I have been fortunate enough to never suffer swimmers ear before but this meant I didn’t realise what it was at first. I just knew my ears hurt and of course I was worried I had caused myself some permanent damage and my fledging diving hobby would come to a quick end. In pain and worried I headed to the doctors only to be told I’d have to wait for an out of hours appointment. Knowing if I waited until the next day I could go elsewhere for a third of the price I decided the pain wasn’t that bad and headed to the pharmacist next door. She was lovely and had a look and told me she thought it was swimmers ear. She couldn’t prescribe me anything but she did give me some decent anti-inflammatory/pain killing pills which really helped.

The next day I got myself a doctors appointment, hired a bike and headed out of town to the cheaper doctor, thank you Dougies for that information! Once there my swimmers ear was confirmed within minutes by the grumpy doctor who sent me a lovely and sympathetic nurse to get my ear cleared out so the drops prescribed would work. Then it was back into town to get my ear drops. Since I was in holiday mode instead of heading to back to the hostel I went to four mile beach to administer the drops and enjoy the scenery. The beach had a stinger net in place so there was safe place to swim but with my ear I had been instructed, no water for a week. A week!! Oh well, at least it was nothing serious.

Port Douglas was a nice town and I’d love to go back but sadly I did spend a lot of my time there asleep. It had been a busy few weeks and with my ear infection I had very little energy. I did go down to the lookout point to watch and photograph the sunset and I did walk around the town a fair bit but mostly I rested and it was fabulous. After two nights at the lovely Dougies I headed back to Cairns on the shuttle they arranged for me.

Bat Country!

I arrived back at the hostel just after noon meaning I had missed the receptionist by five minutes due to the bus being delayed. Fortunately by now I knew the drill and headed to the 24 hour access gate and common area to find my key. Except there was no key. I was sure I had booked in for the following week. I told the receptionist that even if they didn’t want me as housekeeping staff I would still like to stay as a guest as I liked the place and there would be no hard feeling. After all it wouldn’t be the first time. I applied for a job at my last hostel and got on very well with the girl they hired instead of me. Obviously though I hadn’t booked and when I thought about it I hadn’t paid for my room in advance like I normally do however just as I was settling in to the common area the manager arrived. I explained who I was and he informed me that yes they were expecting me but later. He also confirmed that I would be able to start work the next day as on the strength or the other managers recommendation (not just a receptionist, oops!) and my age and experience they had put me on the roster for next week to see how I got on. I had a room in the hostel for two nights then assuming all went well I was to move out and into the staff accommodation. I have to admit I was a bit thrown but delighted that I would at least have somewhere to live whilst I looked for waitressing work. So it turned out I hadn’t just returned to Cairns, I had return to my latest home.