Well, I decided to cut the umbilical cord and leave Suze and DBN in Brizzy and set off on my own little adventure. Thanks to Gumtree I scored myself a lift up the coast in, get this, a 1971 Volkswagon Beetle!
We were initially going to Noosa, of which I had such fond memories from last time I visited. Have to give Rob Counsell and Sean Winstone a big up for the days we had out there 11 years ago. It's still a fantastic place. A bit busier, and some drunken idiots, but that was probably me back then. The car was getting attention wherever we went.
Not surprisingly, the Germans particularly loved it. Everyone thought we were proper dudes. I mean, it is a seriously old car. 1971 is before I was even born. Even my dad, who's ancient, probably hadn't been driving long when this was on the road. And it still has the original paintjob. Henry had done a good job bringing it into the 21st century though, which made up for the lack of functioning speedo and fuel gauge. cd player, ipod connector, powerpoints, and even airconditiong! (well, a fan)
I'd been going on to Susie about how it's like a nature park around you, and it didn't disappoint. Saw a proper wild koala as soon as we got to the beach carpark,
and there were big lizards everywhere
Didn't seem to all be completely harmonious though
This was the first of two days we spent in Noosa. I really picked a day not to bring my camera on the second. Koala's get to be pretty much 10-a-penny, but having a mummy koala with a baby on its back charge at you is not such a regular occurrence. The speculation was that it had confused my legs with a tree. Those of you familiar with my legs and eucalyptus trees may not find that to be such a surprise. Luckily, there was someone better equipped on hand who I did manage to get photos off.
However, I also missed the chance to share with you all the image of an old guy at the beach fishing in a thong. A real kodak moment. There's some people I like to see in a thong, but he was not one. I apologise.
Once we moved on to our second beach we also saw the full rescue crew steam past at top speed, and were slightly unnerved to learn there'd been a shark attack at the beach we'd just left.
I decided to stay with Henry on a bit further up the coast. A further 7 hours would see us in Agnes Water. And I even got to drive!
It's quite a different experience driving a car from 1971. Accidentally slipping it into reverse instead of 2nd gear wasn't much fun for the gearbox. I missed power steering. But the real shock was braking. It's like you're actually putting your foot against the wheel. I didn't stop in time for the first turn or two. And then for my 'easy' stretch started with roadworks, hill starts (which was when I discovered the handbrake was temperamental), and the GPS decided to take us through the back roads. Sometimes not even roads - just dirt tracks. Or single track where you heard to swerve half onto dirt if there was an oncoming car. And in the pouring rain! So fun though it was, I was perfectly happy to hand the reins back to Henry after a couple of hours.
On the drive up, I finally had my questions about why backpackers had never mentioned Agnes Water and 1770 back in my day.
The road there was only built in 2004!
But it was there I said my farewells to Henry and booked myself into a hostel.
Comments
Post a Comment