I’ve found closing out writing about this trip particularly troublesome. There’s a whole slew of reasons I could get into and spell everything out for everyone that’s going to sit down and read this, but it’s best left aside – both for ensuring your boredom levels do not reach all-time highs and me not dwelling on what was that now isn’t. Time to shut up and write.
The final day in Cairns was another early riser. Our destination for the day was the Great Barrier Reef.
For those of you who don’t know this already, I’ve never been big on ‘the ocean’. I’ve never been a particularly strong swimmer – I can float well enough – but I can honestly say I’ve never really enjoying swimming in the ocean.
Couple this with the fact that I’ve had a history of sinus problems that led to surgery in 2007, and the whole idea of putting my head underwater has been a pretty foreign concept to me since the surgery took place.
Upon arriving to check in, it turns out that the Crazy Canadian couldn’t scuba dive because we were getting on a flight in less than 24 hours time. She was disappointed, and I don’t blame her, because this fact was conveniently left off the warnings list. What happens when you inhale nitrous oxide and try flying less than 24 hours later, the nitrous oxide hardens in the pressurised cabin and tries to escape your skin BY GOING THROUGH IT.
A small maths sum for you all – Paul + Sinus Problems + Bad Swimmer + Snorkeling + Great Barrier Reef = Swallowing water on my first attempt at snorkeling/putting my head under the water and feeling sick for the rest of the day, which was spent on the boat trying to get a really terrible waterlogged feeling out of my head.
All was not lost, though. I did get to see a massive turtle while we were having lunch, some dolphins, two waterspouts (not as menacing when they’re far away) and I managed to get out on a glass-bottom boat that showed us different parts of the reef, including three giant clam shells that were large enough to capture a man some 6 feet, 3 inches from his shoulder to his feet.
There was an entertainer on our boat named Elvis of all things. Funny guy. He managed to hit the combination of unnerving sleaze and generally likeable at the same time. That’s a tough balance to hit. On the way back from the reef, Elvis entertained the boat with a number of song covers – ‘Three Little Birds’, ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy’ and the like.
It’s a shame that I didn’t get to see more of the Great Barrier Reef. Much like Fraser Island, perhaps a return trip is needed. That doesn’t resolve my head/sinus problems and lack of swimming skills, though.
Good way to end a pretty uneventful day for me. Our next destination was Cairns Airport and heading back to Brisbane for the night to start the leg home.
As I mentioned in ‘Farewell, Fraser. Hola, Rainbow Beach.’ we had left the car in Rainbow Beach for repairs. We got back to Rainbow Beach, and it turned out that the repairs had not been completed to the standard that we required. We could drive it, sure. But there was no way that the car would have survived the trip back to Melbourne over the next couple of days.
Panic stations? Hardly. I did spend some time blasting RACQ, though.
Short-term solution? Drive the car to Brisbane, leave it with the same group that we parked with while we staying in Cairns, fly back to Melbourne that night, spend a few more days relaxing and seeing Melbourne to ensure the Crazy Canadian got back to her flight on time and then organise pick-up of the car with my Dad the following week before returning to work.
It was a very sombre goodbye, but there were some great memories to close out the trip that happened in our last few days in Melbourne. It was quite the aventure we had.
Essentially, in the space of a week this was the trail I left: Rainbow Beach-Brisbane-Cairns-Brisbane-Rainbow Beach-Brisbane-Melbourne-Brisbane-Melbourne. Confused much? Me too!
So my Dad and I flew up to Brisbane two days before I was due to start work. The drive down, at least the first couple of hours, was amazing. The car was still ratshit and I can’t recall what national parks it was we were driving through, but it was one hell of a view. Walls of stone, orange clay and mud on the left, mountain ranges on the right as far as the eye can see.
As we arrived in Warwick, a town about two hours south of Brisbane, we noticed a Mazda dealer and decided to pull in to see if they could repair the car. Due to a lack of parts and time to fix the car, we ended up having to spend the night in Warwick. This gave me a full day to get back to Melbourne provided the car was fixed early the following day.
Time: 11:00am.
Location: Warwick, Queensland.
Car Status: Fixed.
And so the drive started. My Dad and I took turns driving, sometimes in four hour blocks, sometimes two. We arrived back in Melbourne at 5:40am the day I was due to start back at work at 3:00pm that day.
Somewhat needless to say, I got out of the car smelling like sweat, coffee and snack foods.
My head hit the pillow and I slept for a few hours before getting up to start getting ready for work.
And that draws this series of entries about the road trip to a close. Thank you all for reading.
So what’s in store for you all now, you ask?
Well, without giving away too much…
– The Tao of Four-Stance Kung Fu
– Stand-up Comedy
– Movie and Video Game Reviews
– The upcoming launch of another website some friends and I have been working on
– Singing?
– Japan 2: Electric Boogaloo