A diet of adventure in Cairns
Dietitian and recent university graduate Quinton Ullrich loves his work... but he lives for the weekend. When he moved to Cairns, he set himself the goal of a new adventure every weekend. He's climbed mountains, dived reefs, run up hills, swum underneath waterfalls, and still has a pretty lengthy to-do list. Quinton came to Cairns for a job, but he stuck around for the adventures.
"A challenge to do something new every weekend"
"A bit of a challenge that I've set myself since moving up to Cairns is to do something new every weekend, whether that's a new reef to explore, a new waterfall to hike to or something else like that. I like the adventure and I like mixing it up so I don't get stuck in a routine.
"The people are relaxed but friendly and outgoing"
"I really liked the people up here. It's a good small town vibe but with all the things that you need. The people are a bit more chill, a bit more relaxed, but really friendly and outgoing.
"I couldn't imagine myself doing anything like this down in Brisbane, where I used to live, in terms of all the exploring and the adventuring that I get up to.
It’s awesome the amount of things that I've got myself into up in Cairns and the opportunities that have presented themselves. I've signed up to a bunch of different sporting codes, cycling, volleyball teams, underwater hockey, and I've met some fantastic people who've taken me to some awesome places.
"Opportunity in Cairns"
I graduated from university last year in July. I was keen to go overseas and do something a bit different … but obviously with COVID, I had to think outside the box. I was a bit worried about finding a job. It was COVID times and jobs were a bit scarce, but an opportunity came up in Cairns and I jumped on it. I'd never been to Cairns before. I figured it looked like a pretty good place on the postcards. I packed my bags and I drove up on a 20-hour mission to go north.
"I'm a dietitian at a digital tech start-up called Sophus Nutrition. I work on anything from sports nutrition all the way to clinical health. I’ve recently done a bit of work at TAFE with the Cairns Academy of Sport… but we also do work with kidney transplant patients, weight loss and Ironman athletes.
"Cairns ticks all the boxes"
"For me, Cairns ticks all the boxes. I really like getting out on the reef and exploring, seeing heaps of great fish, turtles, sharks, amazing coral, but also like going out into the Hinterlands up to the waterfalls.
All the people I’ve found in Cairns are just wonderful. It's such an awesome place, and the weather is fantastic - most of the year.
But, you know, we have air con for when it gets a bit steamy."