Trekking to the Queensland Province

September 8, 2009
Last night we got off the main boat at Hervey Bay around 7pm. If any of you have been to Australia before, you know that it is pitch black at 7pm, the roads are narrow and we have GPS. What more do you need. Our plan was to get as far North as we could this evening. We drove for only a couple of hours before everyone’s nerves were fazzled. The narrow highway and all the transport trucks and winding roads nearly did us in. The funny thing, maybe not so funny, was that we couldn’t find a single motel that was still open. We started searching for a place to bunk down around 9pm but every little town or village that we passed through had their sidewalks rolled up for the night. We were forced to press on to get to the next biggest town which was Gladstone. We arrived thereat 11:00 and the place seemed deserted. Now this is not a small place. Gladstone is a major sugar refinery and shipping harbor but you would not believe the lack of activity in the evening. We knew we were in for a challenge when we found a local bar and it was abandoned except for the cleaning staff. One of them was nice enough to direct us to a backroads motel that often took in late nite guests. It worked out well and we finally were able to get everyone settled. The best part of this motel was that it had running water and the showers felt fantastic.

Today, we started off early, planning to make some headway. We made it as far as the local McD’s and the kids loaded up. Today we decided to experiment and let both Tracie and Stan attempt to drive. I am now certain, whatever hair I have remaining will be grey by the end of the week. The shoulder of the road saw many of our tire tracks and I know that my adrenal glands are in fine working order. I had to move into the back and focus on the kids and their homework assignments, trying desperately not to look up for fear that the optical illusion of going in the ditch every 10 seconds could be averted. I think we are more exhausted today than any other. Could be the pace we are running or the jet lag or the road trip but everyone needs a bit of a break.
We arrived in Townsville around 6:00p and I lost the vote to press on versus stay and get rooms while it was still light out. We pulled into the “Spanish Lace” Motel ( you can just imagine based on the name) and got a couple of rooms. We ordered some takeout and enjoyed our slightly above flea-bag surroundings. I should have taken a picture of this place but I was somewhat afraid that if I took out the camera, it would have caught too much attention. Oh well, tomorrow is another day and I am certain it will be better.