Yes, after George knows how many hours in the air I’m finally in Cairns, Australia.

Unfortunately, there is something wrong with the weather machine they’ve got installed down here, even though it should be set to “hot and sunny”, it’s on “hot and cloudy with tons of rain coming up”.

In Hong Kong I made an interesting discovery, something all of you probably knew already, but it had not in any way connected in my mind: Even if you’re from a peace-loving country like Norway, you’ll need a visa to enter Australia. The thought of even checking if it was required hasn’t crossed my mind. But when I think of the history of the country, and realize that their ancestors were mainly thieves and murderers I can see why they’re so picky when it comes to who they let in.

But even if I felt like a total moron where I was standing at Gate 70 it wasn’t really a problem that I didn’t have my visa - everything can be fixed with a little patience and by paying the extra idiot-fee and they’ll eventually let you on the airplane.

Let the records show that I did check if it’s necessary for me to have a visa to enter Canada next week. It’s not.

When I arrived in Cairns, the people at Gate 70 had phoned ahead and told customs to take extra good care of me since this was obviously the first time I was operating on my own outside of my country of residence. So they repacked my bags, washed my running shoes and asked me all kinds of interesting questions about my stay. Nice people.

I case you wondered if Cairns is a tourist trap, I can confirm that it is. So far I’ve seen nothing but hotels, bars and internet caves. And it’s pretty lazy on Sunday, as you can see from picture.