Meeting up with Borak
Trip Start
Feb 23, 2006
1
114
160
Trip End
Jun 24, 2009
Where I stayed
Cairns, Queensland, Australia
Sunday, June 1, 2008
My buddy Jordan read one of my earlier posts that said, "if you aren't where you are supposed to be, give me a call because I may already be there." I got an email from him that said I'm not going to make it to SE Asia, but I will be in Australia if you want to come and meet me. I was in Sydney at the time. So for the last month, I've been working my way up 2500km to meet him in Cairns. I managed to arrive about 4 hours before him. Unfortunately, he didn't have a phone so communication wasn't so easy. I found out from his hotel he was in town, but not checked in yet. I know Jordan pretty well so I put myself in his shoes and went into town to find him. I basically walked directly to the shop he was in and said what's up dude?! I think it freaked him out a bit because he was thousands of miles away from home and wasn't expecting to see anyone he knew at least until that night.
It was pretty kewl catching up with him. I hadn't seen him in about 3 years. During that time he had a major health issue that we weren't sure if he was going to make it through. So it was extra sweet to see him again. Unfortunately, he is a tourist and had tours booked from home for 3 of the 6 days he was in town or we could have explored the area together for a lot less than he paid the agency. I did some local exploration on my own during the day and took him to some of the backpacker hangouts for cheap dinners and drinks when he got back from his all day tours. We rented a car one of his free days and headed up to the northern beaches and Mossman Gorge. It was great walking around the rain forest with him because he knows a lot more than your average bear about the trees and plants. It was a shame we got a bit of a late start on the day or we could have driven up to Cape Tribulation. There are just so many more things you can do when you are 2 people than when you are just by yourself.
I booked a dive trip out on Reef Explorer for the next 4 days after Jordan left. But after the boat left port, they said that I couldn't dive because I had asthma. I purposely left it blank until I talked to a Dive Master, but the idiot that I talked to was NEW and didn't realize when HE marked that I had asthma that I wasn't going to be able to dive at all. Most DMs would say that if you answer yes to any of the medical questions that you won't be able to dive. As a certified PADI diver, I know and understand the risks of diving with asthma and never go diving unless my lungs are in good condition. In the days preceding a dive trip, I don't tolerate inconsiderate smokers. If someone is smoking, I either steer clear of them or ask them to keep it away from me because if I can't breathe I can't dive. Jordan is a smoker, but as smokers go, he's pretty good about keeping it away from me. Anyway, I wasn't going to sit on a boat for 4 days and not be able to dive. So I asked for my money back because I signed up to go diving and they weren't letting me do it. I didn't transfer over to the liveaboard and just went back to Cairns with the Crappy Reef Encounter. When I got back to the office, they offered me about $50 back from the $360 that I paid them. I just walked out and hit them with a charge back from my credit card. As far as I'm concerned, they broke the contract when they said I, as a certified diver, could not dive. We'll see in the next few months whether or not they contest the charge back or not. I hope my credit card company goes to bat for me on this one because otherwise I'm out $360 for nothing! Australian boat and dive companies are starting to piss me off with their bureaucratic bullsh*t!
Comments
Sorry about the dive boat non-experience
That totally sucked that they *left port* before they confirmed your dive status, then wouldn't give you your money back. That's poor customer service and poor-faith bargaining to boot. It must have really upset you because you're usually so positive about your travels.
I'm impressed with how much leg-work you do when you hit town, finding boats to take you out and car trips to take into the desert.
Re: Sorry about the dive boat non-experience
You're telling me. I sure hope they don't contest the charge back. I think I can win it, but don't want to go through the hassle. A lot of time if you do your research, you can save tons of money that gets paid in commissions to the travel agencies that book you on a tour or trip... unfortunately, at least on the East Coast of Oz, you can't save too much. The deals they are offering may charge you a little bit more, but you end up with more value for your money if you book through them in the extras that they toss in the package. What I saved wasn't worth the time and effort.