Its official. Not enough of you came to
visit us in Townsville, so we have packed up and are in the process of moving
to Brisbane. We are currently between homes, and can genuinely say we are currently
of no fixed abode. Fortunately we have a house confirmed – we just can’t access
it until 30 January.
Our removalists were brilliant. Other
colleagues had torrid times with their removal teams. One had three people turn
up for the prepack, and as many as six for the actual uplift and load out. Both
nights they worked until nine o’clock, and this family has nowhere near as much
stuff as we have. So I was, perhaps understandably, a little nervous to only
have two guys turn up.
They told me the difference between them
and the others was that they were contractors, not employees. They were
brilliant, finishing by five thirty both nights. Our effects were well cared
for, with each bundle of three books and even teddy bears being wrapped in
paper before being boxed. As long as the rail journey goes without event, and
the guys at the other end are as careful, I think we will come out of this move
unscathed!
We will be in Brisbane from the end of
January, and will always have a bed or two to welcome guests to. Being in
Brisbane will allow us to indulge in live sport and theatre again, which will
be nice. We are already looking forward to the British and Irish Lions tour
later in the year, and to the vastly expanded range of entertainment and social
options that the tropics do not offer.
We drove from Townsville to Brisbane with a
well loaded trailer (Its amazing what you think you might need when without a
house for five weeks). Having previously travelled the atrocity that is the
Bruce Highway we decided to go inland, in the hope that we might arrive on the
Sunshine Coast with our faculties intact. The Bruce has previously provided us
with tailgating drivers, trucks passing on blind corners and interminable halts
at regular roadworks.
This was MacK’s first major road trip, and
we travelled the inland route from Charters Towers, through Emerald to Gympie.
Our intent was to complete the bulk of the drive (approximately 1000 km) on the
first day, stopping at Biloela. This way we hoped that MacK might cope a little
better with the journey. The wee man was ill the night before we left, and we
had very little sleep. Still, we managed to be on the road by four thirty (in
the AM…) and MacK proved to be a wonderful traveller.
The petrol was a little more expensive in
isolated outback roadhouses (we paid as much as $1.90 per litre), but the road
was fantastic. Almost empty, with long straights and minimal traffic. I don’t
think we would ever again travel the Bruce Highway. We stopped at the roadhouse
at Belyando Crossing (south of Charters Towers) where the ashes of the late
owner (Boss) are still up behind the counter where he can keep an eye on
everything. Odd people those North Queenslanders (now that we are not!)
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