"An Around-the-World-Ticket for Two, Please."

Rain rain go away!

Posted by Sarah O'Neill , Friday, 1 April 2011 04:14

On Monday my neck was still sore, but not nearly as bad as long as I remembered not to turn it left, that was agony! We filled up the car and got on our way towards Mackay, about 400km I think. The weather got progressively worse all day, and at points the rain was SO bad we could not see the road in front of us! It was so terrible I would have pulled over, but as were were on a highway there was nowhere to pull over to, so slowing right down was the only option, but the visibility was terrible! We pulled into a place called Flaggy Rock, a little roadside cafe stop, that would have been lovely on a hot sunny day. It was a good place to shelter from the rain for a while and hope conditions improved while we ate some lunch. Pies was on the menu again, proper aussie food! We discussed our options and felt that camping might be impossible with the amount of rain, the camp grounds would be flooded, so we would look into motels when we got there. The rain showed no signs of stopping at all, so we got back in the car and decided to get to Mackay slowly but surely. We went straight to the visitor centre when we arrived, and found that motels didn't come cheap in Mackay! They were also pretty booked up, due to the weather me thinks! The only thing we could get was a family room in the 'Tropic Coast Motel' for $121!!!! That is the most we have spent on one night this entire trip! And, it was disgusting!!!!! A complete dive, our tent was nicer! However, it was dry and out of the rain, and had a TV and a small kitchenette area so we could cook dinner. We decided to call the Whitsundays cruise company to check the trip was still on due to the weather, but they said it was fine, the wind was supposed to be dropping off on Wednesday when we were due to sail, so it was all looking good.

On Tuesday morning we only had 150k to drive to get to Airlie Beach, so we thought we'd be there by lunchtime. We got up early to pack our bags for the whitsunday cruise, and pack our big rucksacks with everything else important to be stored in the cruise office. Of course it was raining terribly, and when Ben checked the roads on the QLD website, the Bruce Highway going north was closed!!!! The only other way to get there was to go majorly inland, which we would have done, however, the last stretch of road this route was also closed, so NO WAY to get there!!! We went back to the information centre to double check and they confirmed the bad news. We decided the only thing we could do was call Peterpans (the company we booked the cruise with) and see what they said. It was not good news! Basically they told us that if we didn't get there we would forfeit our money, so we decided the only thing we could do was wait around and see if the road got re-opened. However, with the rain continuing, it was not looking good! We went to hang out in the shopping centre, as it was the only dry place we could stay out of the rain! We sat in the food court, Ben on the internet checking the roads, and waited it out! We had an early lunch and went outside to see if the rain had stopped - it had not! At that point we decided to make sure we were stocked up with water, and we had food and sleeping bags etc, and drive to the road closure barrier and wait for it to open. Cars were still turning onto the Bruce Highway, so we felt ok as long as there were cars in front of us! However, all the cars in front turned off towards the city centre, and we were alone! At this point we looked at each other and wondered if this was the right thing to be doing! Then we came to a service station and loads of trucks and lorries were lined up along the road, so we pulled in and stopped, thinking if they weren't going on, then we shouldn't be either! We sat at the side of the road and wondered what to do next! We knew that if the road didn't open by 4pm we couldn't go until the morning, as we didn't want to drive at night. So then we wondered if we would have to get up at 6am, check the road status and then leave super early! Just then as we were contemplating everything the phone rang! It was the Whitsunday cruise company, and they were cancelling the trip. This was gutting, but absolutely the best thing that could have happened, as it meant we would get our money back. Sadly since we were on such a tight time scale we couldn't re-arrange, so we wouldn't be cruising the Whitsundays after all. Now that the future was decided for us, we knew we had to stay in Mackay again and camping was still out of the question, but we needed something cheaper than last night! We went back to the information centre and looked at campsites that had cabins, and found one for $75 which was way better! The en-suite shower and toilet was outside in a little block across the way, which was fun in the rain, but the price was much better! The entrance to the campsite was really flooded, and I had to walk through ankle deep water to check in! We decided to go to the cinema for a late afternoon showing, and ended up watching 'Hall Pass' as I mucked up and read that 'The Lincoln Lawyer' was out when it wasn't! However, Hall Pass was a great comedy! We spent the evening planning our next moves, which was to head south ASAP to escape the rain and not get stuck up here!

On Wednesday it was still raining!!!! We checked the roads south were open, which they were, and headed to Rockhampton, a city south of Mackay. We had looked on lastminute.com and found a cheap hotel for the night, but popped into the information centre to check out other options, and found out there was no parking at the hotel we had found, so checked into a motel as we wanted the car with all our stuff to be off the road! This motel had been newly refurbished and was very nice, costing $88 it was better than the last one on all counts! At the info centre they had told us about a hotel (read Pub in England!) that did 2 for 1 meals from the special board, and had a big arena out the back for the cowboys to practise for the rodeo! So we headed there for our dinner! Since we knew we would be getting a refund for the sailing trip, we decided to spend some of the money on having as nice a time as we could in the weather! It was so nice to sit down somewhere and have a good meal, can't remember the last time we went out for a meal! Ben had the steak and chips, and I had Cajun Baramundi, which was yummy! After our dinner we went out to the arena to watch the men try and stay on the bucking bulls! They practise every Wednesday night when rodeo is coming up, so we were lucky to turn up on the right day! It was definitely a new experience! The weirdest bit was when they put little kids on the younger bulls, including a 3 year old!!!! We couldn't believe what we were seeing! They certainly start them young here! Watching the older boys and young men was much more fun as I wasn't terrified for them like I was with the little kids! Although it was quite scary to watch! All the men were wearing cowboy boots, jeans, checked shirts and a cowboy hat, it felt like we were in the wild west! They had all had their practise after about an hour, so we headed back to the motel so I could see the finale show of Farmer Wants a Wife which I'd been watching when we were in Armidale!

On Thursday we drove a couple of hours to a place called Seventeen Seventy, yes that is the name of it. It's nearby to a place called Agnes Water. It's a lovely little place and we were hoping the weather might improve and we could enjoy a couple of days there. We found a campsite with cabins for $89 (with the bathroom inside!) so we booked in for a couple of nights. It was so nice know we didn't have to get up the next morning and drive. We spent the afternoon inside (it was raining!) planning our time in America. We made dinner and watched a couple of DVDs before bed.

On Friday we had a very lazy morning! Bacon sandwiches and cups of tea, coffee for Ben (which he now drinks and is rather fussy about!). The weather was much better, still had a couple of showers, but we saw blue sky for the first time in days! I did some washing, and then we went out for a walk to get some fresh air while it was not raining! We drove to the headland car park, and did the 20 minute walk around which blew the cobwebs away nicely! We grabbed some sausages for dinner later and headed back. While it was dry we decided to try and wash the carpet at the front of the car which has developed a rather terrible smell! Hoping that will get rid of it so we can sell it! We walked through the campsite and down the 800m track to the beach to play some boules before dinner. Ben won, however, it was a close match! It started to spit with rain towards the end and we thought we were going to get drenched, but luckily it held off! We got back and had some dinner before we watched a movie and had an early night! Driving to Bundaberg tomorrow and hoping to do the rum distillery tour there, and maybe catch some hatching turtles on the beach if we are really lucky! Sarah x