Townsville to Hervey Bay

Well, I wasn’t expecting to spend too much time in Townsville, but when we had stopped in Cardwell, I had tried to make lunch plans with Russ and Ian. Russell wasn’t free for lunch, so we had to do dinner instead, which meant that we spent the whole afternoon in Townsville. Steve drove down the mountain from Wallaman Falls, and then Eva drove into Townsville.

We hung out on the Strand for a little while, as we waited to try to get our car’s headlights fixed, but that was a failure. We looked at a few guidebooks to continue planning the next day or two. Andrew, Janni, and David, my friends from the Reef Lodge, came to hang out with us for a bit. At five, we headed to Flinders Street to listen to some live music at Monsoon’s, the bar that Sam, Geneveve, and I hung out at on our first night in Townsville. Sam’s music business, Humble Pine, was hosting the live music, so I got to see Sam and Ben, and I also got to see Sam perform for the first time. We just relaxed out on the deck, listening to music, watching the sky change colors over the harbor as the sun set.

At about six-thirty, Russ, Ian, and Graeme met us for dinner. It felt to us like our program hadn’t ended yet, but it was strange to be there all together without Tony and the rest of the group. Nevertheless, it was a great treat to spend some more time with Russ and Ian. They are the two people I will always miss the most about Australia and one of the main reasons I would like to return.

I was truly happy to be back in Townsville and to see everyone that I had already said goodbye to. Our whole road trip was like a short transition of saying goodbyes, because we did a few at a time. Saying goodbye to Russ and Ian again was easier this time than it had been the first time, because we weren’t saying goodbye in an emotional group of 14 Americans leaving a country they loved. It was just us, this time. Ian gave me the biggest hug ever; I don’t think I’ve ever had a bigger hug than that. Andrew, Janni, and David also came back to our car to say goodbye to me again. Ian led us out to the highway, with Kelly driving, and pulled over as we got on the highway and waved goodbye. I will always remember his face, waving out his car window, a smile on his face, looking regal in his cowboy hat and perfectly happy with his life.



Kelly and I tag-teamed that night to get us to MacKay, five hours south of Townsville. We got there at about two o’clock in the morning, when we pulled into a caravan park to camp for the night. Steve and Eva slept in the backseat so that we could get up early, at about 6:30 the next morning, to continue driving. We drove through the “horror strip” during the day, a strip of road that Russell had warned us not to traverse during the night. He even told us not to get out of our car while we were driving through this part, because people had left their cars to go pee in the bush before and never returned. We did stop at a bathroom on the way, but there were no casualties, other than the loss of Kelly’s favorite hat.

We drove all day; we were on a mission. We got to Hervey Bay in the evening, where we stayed at a hostel. The next morning, we were going on our 4WD camping safari on Fraser Island for three days.