Road Trip part 2 - Hervey Bay to Airlie Beach


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Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Airlie Beach
June 26th 2009
Published: June 26th 2009
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So I'll do a bit of an update on the last week of our road trip.

Day 5 - Hervey Bay (Hervey Bizzle as we call it!)

We got up really early as our rubbish vans also act as an oven in the sun so it was impossible to sleep. Me, Rob and Meri headed to the beach to catch some sun - turns out that as soon as we got to the
beach the sun decided to go so that was annoying.
We went coles to grab some lunch then headed back to the campsite. Rob lost his wallet which was no where to be found the whole day, the dreaded conversation of me lending him money was now a certainty. Anyway we headed to coles to ask if we left it there, no luck, turned the vans inside out and still no luck. This van seems to be a bottomless pit of things we have lost, I've lost one sandle, robs lost
a shoe and a shaver. It's crazy!!!
Anyway - the site had a pool so we just chilled there for a bit. Had a few drinks and then headed to bed.

Day 6 - Hervey Bay to "The town of 1770" via every weird named place
in Australia!!!

Day 6 was probably the most ridiculous day ever!! It was funny but a complete waste of time and petrol.
We left Hervey Bay with the intention of going west towards the outback. We drove for hours and hours, passed through some of the most stunning hills and country side with roads that just go on for miles
with nothing in sight. Passed a few cows though which rob insisted on beeping at them, unbelievable!
After endless amount of driving in what we thought was the right direction we came to a sign which basically suggested we had done the largest circle ever!! Ridiculous!

We then drove through some of the most stupid named places ever. Some of which sound like the're from lord of the rings. 1st was woolaga in the shire of killkavan! We stopped at the only shop there, I grabbed a sausage roll from the owners Sam and Frodo. Next was Gayndah then straight through to Goomeri.

After driving for what seemed like a life time we arrived in Bunderburg, I was exhausted from driving so me and rob took it in turns to sleep. We had a very long and pointless chat about whether to stay here but because we couldn't find a place that sold a bundeburger we left!
Got to 1770 after about 13 hours of driving, found a camp site which we were told to go away by the owner as it was to late. Parked up by the sea and crashed out.

Day 7 - exploring 1770 and Agnes Water

Again due to being baked alive me and rob were forced out of bed. We headed to the beach because luckily the sun was around and my serious lack of tan was starting to become a major issue.
Had a freezing beach shower whilst locals watched in amusment and made various comments about "how refreshing a cold shower is" which is a load of rubbish.
The shower turned out to be a waste of time as we decided to go for a swim in the even colder sea!! Huge waves that sent us flying made keeping my hair dry impossible (I had even gone through the pain of
conditioning it) which upset me greatly but was great fun. Apprently I scream lots when I'm cold - I think Its more of a manly grumble myself. Had a 2nd shower - again being watched like a freak show before
heading to a spot to camp. We found a great spot at the top of a hill with a stunning view and wallabies around us. It started chucking it with rain so we headed to bed.

Day 8 - 1770 to some random road between Rockhampton and Airley Beach.

Me and Rob were woken up by the sound of "Kangaroos" being shouted from the girls van. Not the nicest way to be woken up but hey! We had looked into having surf lessons today so we got up and ready to
go to the surf shop where they gather to take groups surfing. Unfortunatly me and Rob had lost our key. We hunted for ages without finding it sondecided to leave without it. Surfing was great fun despite what I thought it would he like. I managed to stand up a few times, nearly knocked a girl out with my board but all in all was great. Hard work though!!
Our instructor looked a bit like a seal, I'm not convinced he could actually surf himself but his guidance was enough to give us an idea how to catch a wave.

We cleaned up then headed for out next stop. We drove into the night and decided not to drive all the way to Airley as it was very late and everyone was tired. We pulled off the Bruce highway and parked up in a clearing for the night.

Day 9 - Our random spot in the middle of the Bruce highway to Airlie
Beach via Mackay

That morning when we woke up we descovered that we had stumbled upon a hidden paradise. We had parked meters away from a picture perfect beach with islands in clear view just off the coast. The sea came in so fast but we were lucky enough to walk right out before it rushed in. Trees were engulfed by the sea and all the rocks we had been walking on were now just poking out the surface. You could walk for
ages without seeing anyone. It was like having a private island. We layed on the beach for hours. The sun was pounding and it finally felt how Australia should feel.
We walked down the beach for ages and discovered a river leading from the sea, cutting the land in half. The beach had jellyfish which had been washed up and patterns onthe sand from the crabs and worms. It really was a paradise.
After hours of relaxing and finally soaking up some sun we left towards Airlie beach. We stopped off at Mackay to do sokenfood shopping and this is when our perfect day went crazy.
As the girls were driving a stone flicked up and cracked there windscreen. Not good at all!! Then when we left Mackay Me, Rob and Meri got seperated from Hannah and Becky as we took the wrong road. We
drove for hours trying to find them, all our phones were flat or had no credit so it was like trying to find a needle in a very large haystack.
The decision was made that Me, Rob and Meri would drive to Airlie Beach in hope that the girls did the same.
When we got there it looked amazing, clubs were full of people, everything we needed was down one street and things were looking great.
We found a place to sleep and tried to work out how to get comfy with a 3rd person in our van.

Day 10 - Airlie Beach - Love It!!!

Airlie Beach is amazing!! I love it. We drove from our little spot to a carpark near the sea, had a cold shower which in this incredible heat actually felt amazing.
We layed in the sun for a bit then headed into town. We managed to get hold of the girls and they were on there way to Airlie. They arrived a bit later and we had a little reunion. We drove to the lagoon which has an amazing swimming pool right by the sea with free BBQ's for people to use and it's just perfect. Its what you'd expect from a 5 star resort, not a government funded free swimming pool.
After that we went to Peterpan travel and booked our Whitsunday trip for monday and I booked a 14000ft sky dive for next week eeekk haha. That night we headed into the town for a few drinks, we drank lots
before and I got a chance to do my hair haha. The night was good fun. We stumbled back to the vans a few hours later.

Day 11 - Airlie Beach - it's just so good.

We were woken up at 6am by rangers because we had parked in a car park. They were fine about but because they start charging soon they said we should move. We lost the girls but me and rob parked up and slept a bit more. I felt how you'd expect after a good night out and rob was in a foul mood so wasn't the van of fun and happyness like normal. A few ours of sleep later we moved to the canoe club to charge
our phones etc and rob went off to the lagoon. I met him later and we made up and layed in the sun. Was sooo hot, I jumped in the pool to cool down, so refreshing.
We did laundry, once again my clothes didn't dry in the dryer. Then we had a BBQ by the canoe club, was tv 1st time I've felt full up in ages. Was great.

So that's what we have done so far. Loving every second.
Here are a list of our van problems so far
* Cracked windscreen
* Engine doesn't quite start
* There is a huge scratch down the side of one from rob crashing into it (he actually shouted here I come as he hit it)
* The heater in mine and robs van doesn't work making every night rather cold
* The oil temperature gauge on mine and robs van doesn't work so could well be over heating... oopps
* Both vans drink petrol faster than anything i have ever seen!!!
* The windows don't close properly adding to the cold issue at night.
* The supplied gas bottles that we got have now both given up, one didn't work from the start and the other has run out.
* The tap at the back of the van for the sink actually leaks into the van... lovely
* The vans insulation is pealing away meaning it gets very damp.
* The clutch is almost gone on mine and robs van
* There is a constant smell of petrol from our van (might explain why it runs out so fast)

I think that might be it.. mum dont worry, we have survived with most of these problems from the start!! 😊
So yeah.. thats our trip so far. 😊 Its great!!
Speak soon
Love love

Xx Nathan xX


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