Another day in paradise

Tuesday, 04/09/2012 - 81 A.D. 

Cockroach alert!!!

First time so far on the trip. We’d got up to pack up and leave the hostel and suddenly one of the nasty little cretins ran out from under my bag. It must have crawled into the room under the crack in the bottom of the door. We’d observed the rules (mostly) and kept all of our food in the fridge, so it must have simply been curious and decided to stop off at number 7 – Dingo Room. No pictures exist of this brave little (or I should say “big”) insect because I was too busy filming the incident as Tim swatted it back under the door crack and into the corridor with his paperback novel. It got another swat back outside when it tried to sneak straight in again (some insects never learn – just because they’re equipped to survive a nuclear blast they think they can get away with anything!)

[Grayboys 1 Insects 0]

After such exhilaration we were all pumped-up to put on our rucksacks and head off to the bus stop (not terminal, not station, not transport-multiplex, it’s simply just a “stop” from now on). I have to say I really quite enjoyed our time at the Townsville Civic Guesthouse. One thing we hadn’t been aware of was their no noise after 10 p.m. policy. Yes, you could talk and still have a laugh, but I got quite a shock the first time I left the room at half ten to use the Gents and realised the complete lack of noise in the corridor. After the chaos of Cairns, it was a breath of fresh tropical air.

We got to the bus stop well in advance of our vehicle arriving, so I left Tim with the bags to head back into town and find a book shop. Ever since I traded in Heart of darkness for our Australia guidebook I’ve been without fictional reading material. And I’m still without fictional reading material, as Townsville isn’t big on bookshops, let alone the used kind that grotty backpackers like me appreciate. How was Heart of darkness? Uh…I’ll sum it up with a (probable) misquote from a reasonably famous wit whose name I forget:

"The classics are books which I like to be able to talk about without actually having to take the trouble to read them."

When I returned to the bus stop, I saw in the distance that Tim was making conversation with a female. “Good lad,” I thought to myself, “maybe she’ll be keen to talk to his older brother as well?” Oh how she was keen – keen to talk to anyone who would listen! I learnt later that she’d initiated all the chatting and Tim was more than grateful for me turning up to share the load. Just what is it with us and people in Greyhound queues??? Don’t get me wrong, the young lady (didn’t catch her name) was friendly and even offered me a paperback upon hearing of my quest for reading material, but you know those conversations when it’s them-them-them all of the way? It was one of those. She was keen to hear about our travelling, but she kept switching things round, e.g. to how she would like to travel the world, how she would like to visit Las Vegas, how she was hoping to gain an apprenticeship in fixing lorries. Plus she’d allegedly been through all kinds of difficult experiences growing up, the gory details of which I shall spare you.

By the time the bus arrived, I was willing to shake the driver by the hand (he was another entertaining fellow – they must pay them better over here!) Of course, once we got on board our new friend came and sat in the seat across the aisle from us, continuing the conversation, largely with me because it was Tim’s turn for the window seat. But I had a cunning plan up my sleeve – the bus fortunately contained only about ten people, so once it started moving I made the excuse that I was going to take advantage of the empty seats and I moved to sit in front of Tim (who had already got his iPod on) and technically out of eye contact. She got the hint, bless her, and I put on the headphones to watch a bit of Mid morning matters with Alan Partridge on the netbook. And thus, our great journey across Queensland by daylight began…

[A typical shot of the North Queensland scenery!]

Just under four hours later, we were in Airlie Beach, which is a tiny little bay town that is full of backpackers. They mostly come here to undertake trips to the islands off the coast, known as the Whitsundays, but we’d come here to break up what otherwise would have been a very long trip on the bus. We’d be staying just the one night at Beaches Backpackers Hostel which is right in the centre of the main street and has its own bar – yay! But they are very strict about guests having alcohol in their rooms – boo! As it was just the one night, we weren’t bothered about beating the system, and by staying at the hostel you qualify for 50% off a main meal and drink at the bar. The room itself was a bit of a revelation – not particularly fancy, and a bit dated, but it’s got its own private bathroom and plenty of space. Plus there’s a balcony (with just the one chair), but what’s the point in having a balcony if you can’t sit on it with a glass of something inebriating?

We had a quick stroll up and down the main street before dinner, trying to get a feel for the place, even though we’d only be staying one night. Call me whatever you will, but I think there’s a certain lazy charm to a drive-through liquor store!

[The left lane is for browsing, the right lane for buying!]

Before leaving, we’d hand-washed a few items of clothing in the sink and put them on the balcony to dry, hoping that the late afternoon sun would swing round the way of our garments. Unfortunately it looked like we’d made a bit of an error and they’d still be damp by the morning. However, when I went to check on a pair of my briefs I found a huge green ant standing proudly upon it. Given my recent relationship with ants (the bites are finally starting to go down), I shook the undies to shoo it away, but a black sock that had innocently been minding its own business fell over the edge…and landed on the railing of the balcony below. Goodness knows what’s going to go through the minds of our neighbours downstairs when they come back and see it sitting there!

We went for dinner at the bar and got our discounted meal and drink – not even a half pint’s worth of beer! Plus the spaghetti carbonara I ordered contained onions – yuck! That said, we stuck around for a while because they had a happy hour offer on pitchers of beer. And the day ended well when a friendly German girl came and sat down next to us – it’s becoming a trend…one of the better ones of this trip!