Australia: Day Five!

Alright.  It is time to address the subject of THE HOSTEL...  We spent Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday nights in a place called Gilligans.  Here is a link to their site if you want to view the "fun" video.  On the up side: it's cheap!  We paid $30 per person and got a four person room with a private bathroom.  The first three nights we had the room to ourselves.  The last night we shared with a nice girl from Switzerland.  The room was clean and nice.  Dinner was included (with the price of a drink- 2.50 for us non-drinkers), and the food was pretty good.  Location was great.  It was right in the middle of Cairns, so every night we walked around, looked at shops, ate gelato (thanks so much, K, for introducing me to that...  white chocolate tim tam gelato...  heaven...).  On the down side:  Uh, we are not really the "night life" type?  So one side of this place is the hostel; no alcohol allowed.  But on the other side is a bar and big club.  On Sunday is the wet tshirt competition, Wednesday is jelly wrestling, and Thursday is ladies night!  With male strippers!  Not really quite the thing for these mid-thirties Mormon people...  But there was literally no other room in town!  So we stayed, and made the best of it.  I of course can sleep through anything, and Woolworths sold some really good ear plugs for B, so he could get some sleep despite the pumping, pounding music and noise that permeated the entire place until at least 4am every night. 
But.  The package thing we had purchased (which included the hostel) didn't cover the last two nights of our stay.  So I had booked us rooms in a hotel.  Here is the link to our hotel, the Shangri-la.  Quite a difference...  Beautifully landscaped.  Gorgeous pool.  Super helpful and friendly staff.  So Friday we moved our stuff and went to Tjapukai Aboriginal Center.

And B searched out a leather shop (he wanted to buy a roo hide) and found one that had been owned by THE leather braider, Ron Edwards!  A legend.  This whip was actually made by him.

 Tjapukai was cool.  We tried our hand at spear throwing, and B hit the target, twice! 

 Here's K with her spear, and throwing a boomerang.

And I gave it a shot.

This guy told us all about hunting and gathering.

 All the seeds and things that are to be had in the rain forest- most of them poisonous...

 We attended a show.  Awesome didge player...

 They showed us how to start fires.

 And did some cool dancing!

  I find I really love the Aboriginal style of art.  This is Gudjugudju, the Rainbow Serpent.  In the tales that our guide George told us at least, he seems to be fairly synonymous with the Savior.