Just a kiss

Never shall we meet again, just a kiss and then

Never shall we meet again

My final day in Port Douglas had arrived and it felt like it had come around really quickly. Time does fly when you are having fun and I had made some really good new friends in the little Queensland town. My first three weeks in Australia had been pretty much non-stop and, despite an offer of accommodation from someone in Cairns who had read the article on SameSame, I had booked myself into a gay resort in order to have a bit of “me” time. It seems odd taking a holiday from what is essentially a year-long holiday but I was looking forward to a few idle days of relaxing by a pool and possibly even giving my liver a couple of days off too. My final morning in Port Douglas was spent having breakfast with Jason at the coffee shop that Michael runs before saying goodbye to them both and getting the bus back down to Cairns.

The place I had checked in to was fairly quiet on the day I arrived. I only saw one other person and apart from saying hello to each other as I was shown to my room I didn’t see him again. It got a little busier on subsequent days but the clientele were all about twenty or thirty years older than me. Perhaps this is what gay retirement looked like? I took advantage of the quiet surroundings to catch up on some sleep, some writing and some sunbathing. I did a bit of swimming too and headed in to Cairns for a look around. There didn’t seem to be too much happening in Cairns midweek during rainy season. It was a relaxing couple of days without much to report. The highlight may have been flicking through the television channels and finding an episode of Murder, She Wrote that I hadn’t actually seen. I didn't think that such a thing even existed as I am quite the Angela Lansbury fan so it was a pleasant surprise. It was reassuring to see that there was still the “oh” moment for Jessica Fletcher. It always comes ten minutes before the end of the episode where someone says something seemingly inconsequential to her, she looks quizzical, says something cryptic then rushes off having worked out whodunit.

The morning of my final day I did my routine of morning coffee, a walk to the bakery followed by a swim and then breakfast. Once that had been completed I picked up the book I had been given as my secret Santa present back in Sydney and attempted to read a book for the first time in over seven months. I got a couple of pages in before some new arrivals distracted me. I could hear them before I could see them, their American accents carrying across the quiet pool area. I put my book down. The two of them soon appeared and were shown to their room. They both looked more my age and from the initial look at them I got they looked pleasing on the eye. The day was looking up. I assumed that they were a couple but after getting chatting to one of the two, RJ, later that afternoon I found out that they were friends and housemates. RJ was on a two-week holiday and had met up with Matt who was travelling for a couple of months between jobs. They only had one night in Cairns before Matt flew off to Japan and RJ headed for a few days in Melbourne before returning to the States. They didn’t want to miss exploring Cairns so headed off into town. Having already explored Cairns I declined the invitation to join them but said I would probably see them later as it wouldn’t take them long to explore.

Just a kiss and then

That evening Matt and RJ returned having seen all that Cairns had to offer. RJ went to the room for a sleep, Matt and I headed to bar, got a couple of beers and found a spot to sit by the pool. We chatted about our respective travels and it was really nice to be able to ask someone else about their grand adventures and listen to them as they reeled off the long list of places that they had been to. Matt had been travelling for a couple of months mainly around Southeast Asia, a place that wasn’t on my itinerary. It is somewhere that I would like to visit but think it would be more of a holiday destination with friends for me. After a couple of beers and a lot of chatting we went for a late night swim. Despite the place being quiet and us both being a little tipsy we maintained some respectability and wore swimwear. We had a bit of a snog in the pool (he was a good kisser) but nothing more happened. It was nice to have a bit of a kiss, my first in a couple of months. Sometimes that is all that is needed to boost you up and make you feel good. I was definitely ready to start dating, or at least going out and kissing some boys, when I got home from my travels. After the pool we said goodnight to each other and as Matt walked off I realised he reminded me of someone but I couldn’t for the life of me think who. I went to bed thinking about who it was, falling asleep before an answer had come to me.

My time in Cairns had finally come to an end. I packed my suitcase while I had my morning coffee. It took me all of thirty seconds as I had barely removed anything from my suitcase. I checked out, settling my bill and asking the guy on the reception if he wouldn’t mind ordering me a taxi. The taxi arrived within a couple of minutes and I was soon on the way to the airport for my flight to Brisbane. On the way to the airport I thought about Matt who I guessed was probably boarding his flight already and it suddenly came to me who he reminded me of. I have no idea how it suddenly popped into my head but I realised that Matt resembled Teddy Ruxpin, a cartoon character from the 1980s. It worried me slightly that I potentially found a cartoon bear arousing. It was the short, stocky build, the furriness and the walk that did it. In an attempt to reassure myself that it wasn’t totally weird I posted an update that garnered a few comments from friends as to the cartoon characters they fancied. I was pleased to find it wasn’t just me. Greg, Gay Number 1 also admitted to a Teddy Ruxpin crush while other friends openly admitted theirs. I boarded my plane for Brisbane safe in the knowledge that I was not a freak, or at least if I was a freak I wasn’t alone amongst my friends.

“Never shall we meet again, just a kiss and then” 
Lyrics from One More Kiss from the musical Follies