Better on the bus than off it

I left Cairns on Monday and went to Townsville to meet Monique and Tony, a couple that I know from Dublin. The silly girl at the hostel got the bus times wrong though and poor old Tone had to kill a couple of hours in the bar waiting for me- must have been murder! But it did mean that on arrival I went to my first proper Aussie pub so far on this trip (the bar at the hostel in Monkey Mia doesn't really count) for a drop of the amber nectar. Which did somehow set the scene for the rest of the night- catching up on the last four years over a selection of beers and Bundy and Cokes... needless to say, I wasn't really feeling the love the next day.

Mon's parents were over from South Africa for a visit too (Yes, Mon is my original South African friend- the friend that inspired a trip over there and some other friendships that followed her departure) but they didn't seem fazed by this strange English lass turning up on the doorstep and getting hammered with their son-in-law. I was supposed to go shoe shopping the next day but that didn't happen. But I did visit Mon's uni for a look around. Seemed nice enough- a little better than my old uni above the Wimpy in Woolwich anyway.

We went out for a very nice dinner that night and retired much earlier, without the alochol, a single glass of wine lasted me the night. However, waking up the next day I was offered a ride on Tony's bike and given Mon's helmut to wear. Her head is significantly smaller than mine, it would seem, so wearing it was rather like having a hangover as my brain felt way too large for my head. But the bike was cool as! After a few weeks of pottling around Vietnam on the back of shitty old 50ccs and the grandest machine being an ancient 125, this baby was like reclining in a sofa and enjoying the ride.

We went up to Castle Rock at the edge of Townsville and admired the views as my head expanded back to its usual size. We should have been able to see Magnetic Island but, alas, it was covered in clouds. But I got a much better idea of the size of the city- Aussie cities are huge even when nobody much lives there and dotted with an unhealthy number of trees. We had lunch at Tim's by the water and then went to the museum which was a lot of fun. Pushing the kids out of the way, we made the most of the interactive exhibits before piling back out onto the street.

Me and Mon then went and did the quickest bit of shoe shopping that you are ever likely to experience and exited, happily, with our new shoes tucked under our arms. Then it was back to the house to watch the video of the wedding that I had missed a few years before- good job I wasn't at the ceremony as I was getting misty-eyed just watching the vid.

But all too soon, it was time to leave. As I was going to pack my bag, the next day, I saw the dog out in the garden having a rare old time chewing his blanket. I smiled indulgently but when I turned back moments later I saw that the blanket had a familiar face. It would appear that the dog had treated himself to a spot of toy giraffe hunting off my bed while I was in the loo. Fortunately no damage was done beyond Giraffe getting his first real taste of dog slobber.

Mon dropped me off at the bus terminal to catch the 12.20 bus to Rockhampton. We passed through a lot of familiar places on the way- and what a relief it was to pass through Bowen- a town that I had spent a couple of back-breaking months fruitpicking in years before. Predictably, the bus emptied at Airlie Beach and filled with people who had just finished their Whitsundays cruise and were still swaying from side to side with the motion of the boats they were no longer on. We arrived in Rockhampton just before 1am and it was raining. Seeing no taxi to take me to the hostel, I decided to stay on until we got to Hervey Bay- a mere 17 hours after leaving Townsville. Yikes. I have notched up 23 hours on the bus so far this week and haven't even got out of Queensland yet. Either the bus seats are getting smaller or my bum is getting bigger and I rather suspect the latter to be true.

Ah well, it was good to get off the bus, finally, and onto the mini bus which took me to the hostel. I am staying at Koala's which is a spit from the ocean- I can see the sun twinkling on the water from here, in fact. I will stay here a couple of days- going whale watching tomorrow- and then continue south.

I will try and find an internet cafe that hasn't glued all the CD-ROMs shut later and put up some photos.