MONTHLY CHALLENGE|ROAD TRIPS
Road Trip in an Empty Truck
1,350km from Brisbane to Townsville
My eldest son and eldest daughter brought a load of their grandmother’s furniture down for Stacey to furnish her new apartment. Blair had to return the truck to Townsville empty. I had just gone through a breakup and thought a road trip was just what I needed so I offered to accompany Blair on the return journey. He didn’t really need company — he drives this road a couple of times a year on his own. Blair drove the first day — the roads deteriorate the further you are from Brisbane — so it was smooth sailing or should I say, driving. We stopped for petrol when needed and had a rest stop at a place called the Big Giraffe at Bororen.
Rest stop at Bororen
As you can see, I let my hair down and had a bit of fun, had a bite to eat and a cup of coffee before continuing on our trip. We had less than 2 hours to our overnight stop in Rockhampton. Blair had booked the motel — it’s the one he always stays at — he’s a creature of habit and ordered his usual dinner. He doesn’t like to deviate from his routines. Every morning he has 3 weetbix, a banana, milk and a glass of Daily Juice pulp-free orange juice. And Lord help the person who eats the last banana or drinks his OJ.
Overnight at Rocky (Rockhampton)
Anyway, I thought I’d try out some chicken korma from a nearby Indian restaurant. It was delicious, or maybe I was just super hungry. We both fell asleep within minutes. It had been a long drive. Next morning, Blair has his customary breakfast while I grabbed a coffee and bacon and egg McMuffin from a nearby Maccas.
I’m Driving!
When I returned, Blair surprised me by saying, “You can drive if you like.”
“Okay.” I climbed up into the driver’s seat and got comfortable. I drove out of the motel using a side street which then brought me to the highway at traffic lights. And we were off! I kept to the speed limit until I saw the 100 sign and then sped up. The next 300 kilometres were the bumpiest I had ever driven. It was a combination of the empty truck, a shock-absorbing seat and a less than perfect highway that made it so bad. We couldn’t stop laughing. Blair took a video. I’m not sure if it will play.
At Sarina, we swapped drivers and Blair drove the last 420 kilometres to Townsville.
Big things in Australia
For those of you who don’t know Australia, we have a habit of making big things and making them a tourist attraction. Some are more famous than others. The Big Pineapple at Nambour, the Big Banana at Coffs Harbour, and the Big Prawn at Ballina are a few I can think of.
Here’s one you may not know of — The Big Mango at Bowen. Bowen is famous for growing mangoes and tomatoes. There’s probably a big tomato somewhere too!
Townsville at last
Late in the afternoon, we arrived at Blair’s house in Townsville and I spent the next few days being driven around seeing the new sights — I hadn’t been to Townsville for 23 years — and catching up with a couple of school friends and relatives. Blair took me to dinner at the Casino and his favourite cocktail bar afterwards. One night we played trivia at his local and blitzed the competition. I felt bad because we won every prize that night — a 6-pack of beer, a t-shirt and cap, and a voucher for a meal.
Disaster struck on the return journey. I was panicking about not getting to the airport early but Blair insisted I’d only need half an hour before boarding. He dropped me off. I walked up to the check-in desk but she refused to check me in. I was a minute too late. I’d have to catch the next flight for an extra $200! There was only one seat left! I’d already paid $323 for a one-way ticket so my flight back from Townsville to Brisbane cost a total of $523! The most expensive flight I’ve had anywhere in the world — and I didn’t even leave the state. The reason for the expensive ticket (I found out when I boarded the plane) was this happened to be the weekend of the Super 8 Car Racing in Townsville!