Wednesday 18th August - Drive to Hervey Bay

Last night after I wrote the blog, Gaz and I took a taxi ride to Wilston (somewhere in Brisbane) to see the car of the dude that cancelled the viewing earlier that morning. He was a Pakistani guy who unfortunately couldn’t speak much English. He wanted us to see the car at 6pm after he had finished work…so we were there…at 6pm. No sign of the owner! Infact, no sign of the car. Gaz rung the guy and he said he was stuck in traffic but his mate would show us the car. His friend came out and pointed to a white sporty looking car…we said that was not the same car we had come to see? It turns out the car we wanted to see was stuck in a traffic jam. We left.

We both felt extremely annoyed at the time wasted in trying to find a car but we are both on the same wavelength that we would hire a car and drive it up the east coast to Hervey Bay. At least that way, we would have a nice safe care guaranteed to get us up there. My friend from dance, Emily, joined us later in the evening for some drinks on Elizabeth street. It is so warm in Brisbane we were able to sit outside and enjoy a glass of wine.

This morning we were packed and ready to head up to Hervey Bay. We got a taxi to the Hertz office to pick up the car. The lady behind the desk in the office was very friendly. We managed to get a Toyota Aurion which apparently is a 30 grand car?!!! I didn’t trust myself driving it as the thing is HUGE so Gaz kindly drove the whole 3 hours 45 mins to Hervey Bay.

The drive was pleasant and we used my trusty sat nav which I have on my smart phone. Gaz tried to download the same app but its £50’s worth…I seemed to get it free with my Samsung? We stopped at subway for a quick bite to eat and then carried on the long, boring Bruce Highway. The only kangaroo or koalas I saw were dead ones L

We have now arrived at Hervey Bay and the apartment is adequate. We have a nice balcony which overlooks the BBQ area and the parakeets can be heard in the surrounding trees. The Internet is very slow here so hopefully tomorrow we can pick up some brochures from the letting agencies around here to get looking for somewhere else to stay asap. We had a relaxing stroll down to the marina and were in awe of the nice big boats. Dad would be in his element! Gaz and I sat in a restaurant overlooking the harbour and enjoyed a very nice steak and chips. I thought it was like being down Cardiff Bay but Gaz pointed out 1. It is hot and not raining and 2. the people here are all old and not chavs. I agreed. The owner of the restaurant (Dom) overheard our conversations about the Internet over here and gave some good advice that the best Internet connection is down in the centre of town. It looks as though Dom may be our first friend we have made here! Having left Brisbane for Hervey Bay there is definitely a noticeable difference in the type of people here….they are a lot older and a lot fatter.