Smart move to ditch “the Port,” as locals call it. I was definitely getting itchy feet, and it really had nothing to do with the shower floor in room 8 at the Parrotfish. (Just as an aside, the water shortage going on in Sydney is definitely NOT a problem here– the showers at the parrotfish were high pressure and high volume, reminiscent of the Pink Palace).
I got a free ride down with Magda, her beau (I think) James, and Jasmine (her landlord). I thought they were simply headed to Cairns, but it turned out that Jasmine was meeting someone for lunch at the Cove (which is about halfway there). The guy she was meeting, Frank, is a big Italian-Australian wine sales rep for a mostly boutique wine distributor. Pretty cool guy, and he offered his contact, Bruno, at the Shangri La in Sydney. Basically I could stay there for the normal base price of A$250 ($188), but in a A$800 ($600) room with an incredible view of the Opera House etc. I probably have better things to spend money on, although maybe a little splurge on my last night before 26 hours of travel would be a good idea.
Yesterday I met up with Jemma (the local here in Cairns who has done a ton of traveling), and she drove me up to Kuranda, which is a town in the rainforest here. The weather was very rainforest-like yesterday (i.e. raining), so there was a nice mist covering the mountains and hanging down over the Barron waterfall (same general height as Taughannock Falls, but nicer and in the rainforest). I also ate my first Meat Pie (Chicken and Cheese), and I report happily that it was excellent and much more filling than I expected. Only needed one.
We also went to Rachel’s work, which is an aquarium supplier– they catch fish, sharks, eels, etc out on the Great Barrier Reef and then sell them to aquariums (and I imagine, people) all over the world. Some beautiful fish and coral in there, but I was surprised that it was permitted to take fish or coral from the reef at all. I think they have educational licenses and such so that not everyone needs to travel around the planet to see the wildlife, but I was still a little surprised to see some of what they had.
Ended up just watching movies and eating dinner with some old family friends of Jemma’s. All in all it was a nice day that didn’t feel like I was backpacking. I’ll have to try and do the same for others in Pittsburgh.
My fantasy baseball team is up to 3rd place, and the Pirates are a lot closer to .500 baseball than I’d have expected. 
I think that’s all for now, folks. I’m putting a package deal together for the Whitsundays and Fraser Island, and calling to see if my package has shown up in Port Douglas… that’s really my “gating factor” at the moment.
Cheers!