Suffer This

Friday night's drive up the coast was pretty epic. We managed to make a pretty early get away, 5 o'clock, toughed it out in traffic for a while, then hit the open road. That's when the weather turned really bad. There were times when it was actually pretty scary. David drank some beers to calm his nerves. Stuart did a good job though, and the car stayed on the road and we made reasonable time. With the wind and the rain, it was a bit of a nightmare trip. We passed a semi-trailer that had fallen off the road and into a ditch. There was also a landslide that blocked half the highway.

Brody's in Gympie was good. At least I thought it was. Apparently everyone else wasn't that impressed. Which is a shame. Because I really like it. The pineapple fritters are terrific. I think that the Brody's gave some of the others some pretty bad gas, which then tainted their experience. I guess their digestive systems just aren't up to it.

Arriving in Hervey Bay was good, finding where we were staying was a little tricky. We did make one wrong turn, but it was okay, because it took us past a bottle-o where I could buy some big Woodies.

There was also a creek crossing that was a bit exciting. It was during the return creek crossing that David said what is the funniest line he has ever said.

Saturday morning everyone was up early so we could be picked up by the bus. Whale watching was unbelievable. I highly reccommend it. It was amazing. They stopped the boat about a hundred metres away from the whales then told us to start making some noise and wave our arms around. I thought that it was a wind-up. Why on Earth would some whales be attracted to a boat by some noise and a bit of hand waving?

Well, I don't know why on Earth they were, but they were. They swam over to us and were with us for over an hour. It was unbelievable. One of the coolest things I have ever seen. There were times when you could almost reach out and touch them. The water was so clear, and so blue, and here were these immense creatures looking up at us, and snorting and groaning and covering us with their snot less than 3 metres away. It was amazing.

Coolest thing that I have seen in a long time. Fantastic.

There were also some dolphins and turtles.

The rest of the Saturday was pretty crap. It was frustrating. Very pointless.

Saturday night was a different story. I caught up with Rowan at the Bayswater hotel. It was a good time, except I had to keep blowing my nose. It was interesting being with Rowan as there were at least three people in the pub that he'd "done". People that he'd arrested. One was an even a guy that had tried to escape his arrest. Rowan got him though. He was pretty big.

Saturday night was a good time.

Sunday morning was my Grandmother's birthday. We had a breakfast to celebrate. It was also a good time. Except for when my Dad didn't have the patience to wait for his breakfast quietly and felt the need to feed a sparrow with Ria's toast. To be fair it was a pretty long wait. But Dad should probably have waited to use his own toast for crumbs.

Then at the end of the breakfast there was going to be one last photo. But Dad dropped his dopod off the boardwalk and into the water below. Whoops!

I drove home on Sunday. We made good time.

This is my last week of being alone in the office at work. I'm looking forward to the return of my co-workers next week.

Yesterday I had a ten minute conversation with a delivery driver who told me about how he likes to push his van to its limits when he's making deliveries. Apparently he used to drive up Mt Tamborine regularly. Had a few near misses. Used to get it sideways all the time. Loved it. Taught himself to drive. When he was seventeen. Been driving since then.

This guy was a dropkick.