Okay so here is my little note on Brisbane, now I’ll try not to sound too down about it, even though I couldn’t get in the State of Origin game, but there is always the final :O)
So after driving 14hrs over two days, yes I know, who’s silly idea was it to drive, when it would have been cheaper and less tiresome the driving, for the first hour of the drive we were still trying to get out of Sydney…thats a big place, long, at this point it would be great if I could say winding roads, but no it would be a lie, straight as an arrow….. Now yes usually I’d be hoping for straight roads in the UK but never mind.
So here I was red bull, crisps, sweets, my HP Sauce (thanks Jane) and a few pies…..I know a stroke of genius…how well organised am I…..all the dam healthy goodness from fatty food and the like!
Okay so the dusty roads and the random, massive truck, shook the car as it passed, whilst Barry had to change his underwear everytime that happened, they were close sometimes within a 2ft of my wing mirror…..now I still can’t figure why Barry would jump…..jeez it would be me that would meet the maker first.
As the sun set over a beautiful bay, surrounded by a forest of mixed green tree as the colour was taken out of them by the blanket of the night, by this point I was bouncing off the roof of the car, red bull and pies, superb combo, told you I knew what I was doing!
Many a kilometer passed, and being a lawful sort of chap, sticking to the 100kmh, in an automatic, okay now only being able to go that speed and not having a gear stick, so there for the monotony of the journey really did grip you, even with the great attempts from Barry with his ever so sharp whit and dry sense of humour, red bull was leaving my system….a quick stop at a garage more caffiene, more red bull, now to add a little extra to our journey, I had to keep an eye out for roos and koala, so driving along eyes flitting from area to area I drove, tiredness levels increased two fold, red bulls power started to dwindle, ah in the road caught by my headlights was a koala, lying in the road, now I was tired but dam they were bigger then expected and in my caffeine drenched mind and eyes it looked like a child, thankfully it wasn’t and thankfully it had already been hit, scary times, back to the bleak roads, glare of truck lights hurting my eyes we eventually arrived at our half way point Coffs harbour.
Coffs harbour was just a one night stop, we drove in and the place was like something you see in a western, dark, quiet, sleepy little place…..we edged our way further in, lights became brighter and the was a few scurries of activity, being as organised as we were, we had to consult the lonely planet guide for a place to stay, Aussietel was the option, we crept up to the place 11:30pm the cloak of darkness wrapped up the harbour and there it was, we turned in…was the place closed? surely not…we drove in and then, much to our relief the sound of drunken laughter, bellowed out of the hostel, the place had to be packed…. nope there was about 12 people in….but a table full of empty bottles….well another night night iof jokes, stories and introductions led to a early one…only 2 in the morning this time.
Ready for another 7+ hour stint, and ready to hit Brisbane.
We arrived in Brisbane, tired and yes on a caffiene high, entered a place that I can only say appeared to look like a life size Hotel (the Board Game) place, there was no immidiate breathtaking moment, just roads, and for one moment I felt like I was in Warrington, the traffic was dire, strange I thought I might have missed the traffic, yeah like hell I did….trundeling in to brisbane, barry consulting the lonely planet and the map, whilst I swigged on V (got bored of red bull, kinda felt like my teeth were rotting away, kind of the way it feels when you have to much Cider, that lovely film….There is a description I could use, but it ain’t nice, but hey its my blog: like a bear had come and decided to use my mouth as a toilet! there you go that was too hard. (I would like to apologise to any bears that may be reading this and take offence to my last description, on behalf of garty productions.)
Anyway, after my navigator found our home for the next three days, we booked ourselves in, bags in, I decided to break my keycard I was a little over zealous on its usage, must have been the caffiene! A well deserved clean of my teeth and a shower later, the pub shouted us down…. well there you have it…..I am concerned my liver might fall out with me….so instead of spirits and beer I have reduced to just beer….think we have an arrangement now.
More to come on this brisbane trip…..but there is a queue of people, wanting my autograph now, after a mad photoshoot in my current place of Magnetic Island, this will appear a little later in my blog….