We had planned a lovely day in Brisbane, visiting vintage warehouses, swimming on the south bank, and dining on savoury crepes. But, once again, greyhound had other ideas. Despite being informed that they had no services running until the 5th, I gave them a quick call on the morning of the second to see if there was any chance of a bus to Hervey Bay. Funnily enough, their services had miraculously resumed. Hmm. What followed was half an hr of informing the woman on the other end of the line, that, while we were well aware that our bus passes only ran north to south, we would be using them to go north to Hervey bay and she was going to find a way of making this possible. I listed multiple reasons why greyhound were in the wrong and we were very important people whom they didn't want to annoy. Astoundingly, for the.first time in my life, it worked! But there was a catch. We had an hour before the next bus, or there were none till Tuesday. We legged it.
I have always preferred overnight buses. There is one thing to do - sleep, or at least try to. But during the day I want to see all I can, and am determined to state out the window with alarming intensity and miss nothing. On this journey, this proved a good approach (on previous journeys, eg in Africa where you saw the wrecked remains of previous buses, it was less so...)
Unless you have been living under a rock, you will be aware that Queensland has suffered some horrific flooding in the last few months. This has prompted confusion from some English backpacker acquaintances as to how half the country can be under water and the other half on fire... We had had our journey turned upside down, but with a few exceptions (first day diving, tablelands, boats at Airlie) had not really seen much evidence of the storms or floodwaters. Passing through small towns on this journey, it was all too obvious. The trees wore the telltale tidemark like a brown cloak. We couldn't believe our eyes - in places the waterlevel was higher than the bus. What was equally amazing was the hugely efficient cleanup operation that had clearly taken place. Businesses and houses that would have been submerged were cleaned up and reopening, and small public conveniences, such as bins, had already been replaced. While some fields still held standing water, in the majority of cases, life had returned to normal (not the case further up the coast - we had hoped to visit Bundaberg but were told that it was open to emergency personnel only - gawking backpackers werent welcome) Hopefully the photos below will give you some idea, but I must apologise for their quality - they were taken on a phone from a moving bus.
Other highlights of the journey included passing a cemetery with three grey kangaroos being the only mourners present. We all giggled when we drove through Gympie. Immature, yes, sadly true. What really got me were the roadsigns. Australians seem to have a passion for huge signs. In tablelands we passed a lake, signed by an enormous fish. Outside gympie was a vast two storey pineapple outside the pineapple plantation. And as we neared Maryborough, a billboard the size of a bus declared 'the G spot - marital aids'. Nice.
We reached Hervey Bay late afternoon, thrilled that we had made it, and were now going to be able to go to Fraser Island. Our hostel was adorable and utterly different. Modelled on an old fashioned woolshed, we slept up in the eaves of one of the old barns. For the first time in a room if our own, it felt like luxury.
I have always preferred overnight buses. There is one thing to do - sleep, or at least try to. But during the day I want to see all I can, and am determined to state out the window with alarming intensity and miss nothing. On this journey, this proved a good approach (on previous journeys, eg in Africa where you saw the wrecked remains of previous buses, it was less so...)
Unless you have been living under a rock, you will be aware that Queensland has suffered some horrific flooding in the last few months. This has prompted confusion from some English backpacker acquaintances as to how half the country can be under water and the other half on fire... We had had our journey turned upside down, but with a few exceptions (first day diving, tablelands, boats at Airlie) had not really seen much evidence of the storms or floodwaters. Passing through small towns on this journey, it was all too obvious. The trees wore the telltale tidemark like a brown cloak. We couldn't believe our eyes - in places the waterlevel was higher than the bus. What was equally amazing was the hugely efficient cleanup operation that had clearly taken place. Businesses and houses that would have been submerged were cleaned up and reopening, and small public conveniences, such as bins, had already been replaced. While some fields still held standing water, in the majority of cases, life had returned to normal (not the case further up the coast - we had hoped to visit Bundaberg but were told that it was open to emergency personnel only - gawking backpackers werent welcome) Hopefully the photos below will give you some idea, but I must apologise for their quality - they were taken on a phone from a moving bus.
Flooded plains
Flood line on tree
We reached Hervey Bay late afternoon, thrilled that we had made it, and were now going to be able to go to Fraser Island. Our hostel was adorable and utterly different. Modelled on an old fashioned woolshed, we slept up in the eaves of one of the old barns. For the first time in a room if our own, it felt like luxury.
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