Stories from The Den

5th October - 13th November 2012

So apparently no matter what country you work in, its still work and its a pain but a necessary evil to get you where you want to be.

I found employment through Happy Travels which is a job agency specialising in outback work for backpackers. If they find you a job you must pay them $100. I went in there as a bit of a last resort as most of the bars in the area weren't hiring or were only hiring girls and Brandon had told me that there was nothing for guys when he went in but I went in anyway and 5 hours later a had a job. So on Friday 5th October I jumped on a bus heading north to the Lions Den Hotel.

There are 2 routes between Cairns and Cooktown. The inland route via the highway or over the apparently famous Bloomfield Track which is a 4WD only track that runs through the Daintree Rainforest. I took this coastal route and it has some spectacular scenery and a ferry crossing. The most impressive thing was the sheer steepness of the road in places. You definitely don't want a brake failure here!

Crossing the Daintree River

Daintree River

On the bus I got talking to this old lady who had some interesting stories of government conspiracies and cover ups. It was interesting despite my scepticism. Im not sure how much of it is true but she told me of websites that have reliable sources. We even started talking about aliens and the Roswell crash but when she started talking about wormholes and stargates I began to lose interest. At least she admitted that she was a crazy old lady!

My new home

The Lions Den Hotel is an extremely old and extremely well known pub 30 minuites south of Cooktown. It is situated next to the Little Annan River in the heart of the Helenvale which is a tiny suburb with only a handful of houses.

It is 137 years old and was named after the Lions Den tin mine that was up the road. There are many many stories surrounding The Den and half of them are written on the walls by customers passing through or on memorabilia left hanging from the ceiling.

It has a bar, a shop, a museum, a petrol pump, big outdoor tents called Safari tents and 4 cabin like things called dongas. I stayed in the staff dongas in my own room which made a nice change.

My nice and tidy room

Max and Faith are the current owners of the pub and have been there for about 4 years. Gail and Lyn who were cleaners and Kerry who was a part time chef and been there for years and years. Then there was backpackers, Andrea the angry Italian chef who hated cooking, Laura and Amanda the 2 crazy scourers and Sam who's an aussie from the south. There was also Kym there who I would be replacing after my weekend of training.

Laura and Amanda

There was so much to learn. It was a bit overwhelming at first. The bar, the fuel, the kitchen and the accommodation stuff. Plus trying to remember all the locals names so you know who to give discount to.

er

Andrea further up the creek

The company car

I liked running around in this. I always volunteered to take the boxes down to the fire pit!

Harry the cat. He's a lazy basterd!

There were a few funny signs around the pub

I've been told this is a genuine photo

My favourite

The creek down the back of the pub is a great place to go when you have time off. There's a couple of little beaches along it so you can sit there. The novelty wore off pretty quickly though

My favourite spot

Dragonfly

Pose

You may laugh but it looks used to me!

I decorated for Halloween

There was a night when a jam was on. About 10 people just playing various intruments to any old tune they could drum up. It was kinda cool but it got a bit rubbish as they got drunk and then trying to make them leave so we could pack up was a pain!

We're jamming

A decorated for bonfire night too

We had a group of war veterans one weekend and then they liked to do things old fashioned way. They brought decorations for their table, a flag and a portrait of the Queen winking.

the veterans table

cheeky

There was problems with the lights for about a week. They kept cutting off and it took the electritions ages to figure out the cause. The result was one night we had a bit of a party with some of the locals picking up things they could bang! Jack plays bones. That's cows bones. As in from an actual cow that he cut the ribs out of to make an instrument. They are bloody annoying too. Its all right when there's a full band playing but when he's on his own its just a bloody racket!

Lights out

I love this guy! Just going to the bar for a drink, think I'll take the helicopter! Came in every other week.

Best way to go to the pub

I took a couple of trips to Cooktown. The first time was with Andrea in his car when we both had a day off and he needed some stuff. I didn't get to see an awful lot the first time and Andrea left soon after so the second time I had to catch a lift with a local lorry driver.

Captain Cook

Story has it Captain Cook beached himself just outside of what is now called Cooktown. He walked up Grassy Hill to where the lighthouse now sits to survey the area.

The Lighthouse on Grassy Hill

The view from grassy hill

It was a fair trek up a really steep road to get to the top of Grassy Hill but definitely worth it. You can see a full 360 degress over the ocean and over Cooktown.

Cooktown

After that I went for even more of a trek. The map told me there was a walking track from the top of Grassy Hill down the coast. It wasn't much a track. I spent most of the time climbing over rocks and stopping to check if I was still on the right path. I enjoyed it though and I ended up down by Finch Bay on the edge of Cooktown which is a really nice spot where the river meets the sea. Crocodile territory though I heard so I didn't hang around too long.

Finch bay

A short walk from here was the Botanical Gardens where there was a small museum so I got to see my first snakes and crocodiles in Australia even if they were already dead!

Snakes!

I headed to the main road after to try my first spot of hitch hiking. After about 45 minutes a woman stopped who was on her way to Cairns and gave me a lift to within 4kms of the Lions Den where one of locals spotted me and gave me a lift the rest of the way back. I was so happy not to be murdered!

Laura and Amanda recently escaped from Parmigiana Prison in Barramundi Bay and have been allowed to stay at The Lions Den Hotel if they provide nightly entertainment!

Although the wet season officially starts on November 1st it barely rained but when it did the bugs come out in force and we were invaded by cane toads one night.

Huge stick insect. Bigger than my hand

Frog

The Hillbilly Goats played one night. They say The Den is their local and they love playing there even though they travel up and down the country. They are quite good and they started my love for the song "Folsom Prison Blues" by Jonny Cash which became the theme tune to my time in The Den.

Hillbilly Goats

So apparently The Melbourne Cup is a big deal over here and I had never heard of it so I had to embrace it. I was told its bigger than the Grand National. We had a calcutta which is far too complicated to explain but it involves a raffle and an auction. Then there were a couple of sweepstakes. I entered everything and won nothing!

All dressed up

Gary and Lyn

Steve doing the auction with Max

Big moment

Go on horse!

It took some getting used to the environment here. I was so used to being busy that it took a while to relax and take it a bit slower but still work hard. All our food and accommodation was included so it was really easy to save up money which is what I concentrated on and I settled in nicely