Joy in Cairns

While I was camping at Port Douglas I had only a $10 radio with me which I could use to tune in to the Cairns radio stations which played rock and roll. There may have been an ABC-FM station which played a little classical music too. The era was still the one of L.P.'s and vinyl discs and I had left all of my audio and hi-fi equipment in Canberra. I felt on top of the world as I roamed around in Tropical North Queensland, drinking in the beautiful scenery and the sparkling placid water. Finally, I boarded the train which would take me back to freezing old Canberra. I felt completely elated and in command of myself.
After a few days on the train with all the stopping and starting at the different stations, I finally boarded the Sydney-Canberra train. My mood was still triumphant and I resolved to stick to the three year contract I had with the Public Service and then resign and head off to North Queensland permanently. I consequently completed my term in the Public Service and at the end of three years of employment, resigned my post as an Examiner of Trade Marks and headed straight off back to Cairns. I didn't regret my decision for an instant, in any case I felt that I would get nowhere in the Public Service. I very much needed to break away from the world of desks and stressful work which bound me to them. I was going to become a dropout, but I couldn't take any more of the clerical life. My marriage plans had fallen through and I felt that there was little keeping me in Canberra now.
After my return to Cairns I spen 4-5 years roaming around that tropical wilderness, travelling past Cape York along to Weipa in a Prawn fishing trawler and visiting some of the rainforests there. The experience refreshed me enormously and once again, I felt as though I had the world at my feet. I had a little money on me as the Australian Government was paying me Unemployment benefit at the time. Gradually, though, I fely my thoughts returning homewards and I finally drove back to Brisbane in an old Valiant Sedan I had purchased for about $600 or so with my tax refund. At least after all those experiences I was sane, well and truly alive and physically well!