friends
Okay, so how were your holidays?
Mine were interesting. Steph and I went to Adelaide to visit with her parents. Steph has this 1988 2.4 liter diesel Toyota Forerunner. Now let me tell you something about me. I have motion sickness or vertigo or whatever you want to call it. Something is jacked up in my inner ear, and it only gets worse with age. Motion is NOT my friend. Anywho, so the drive to Adelaide from Brisbane is LONG and BUMPY and HOT. We went through the outback; it took three days mostly on a two lane road. The temperatures were SEARING, and it was so arid that when she pulled the truck over so that I could pee I didn't even NEED any toilet paper 'cause the wind blew me dry THAT fast!! Oh, and the flies. There were flies everywhere. It was like they were just WAITING for you. It was INSANE!!
I'm sure I'm getting ahead of myself here because I just have all of these thoughts circulating through my head. I'll try to stay on track.
Okay, so her truck was vibrating and bumping me all over the place which gave me a splitting headache. Not only that, but the air conditioner SUCKED. I checked my watch, and it was 101 degrees inside the truck. When I inhaled the air burned my nose. I don't need to trim my nose hairs now! (just kidding---i don't really do that) It was 108 outside. It was like driving through Death Valley for 24 hours.
At one point we were going---and I kid you not---25mph because the truck was getting too hot. Okay, CAN YOU IMAGINE?!! I thought we would NEVER get there, but let me tell you--that trip taught me a severe lesson in patience. I'm already pretty patient as I'm not an aggressive driver; however, when I'm travelling somewhere I like to get there. You know what I mean? The poor Toyota 4Runner could hardly get up the hills. I would pass cars and semi tractor trailers on the flats, but then I would get passed back on the hills, and you KNOW how I HATE that.
Oh, and her truck does not have a radio, so Steph and I would each take one of her ear plugs and listen to her 2"x1" portable radio. When that didn't work, we listened to my CD player.
We stayed in Forbes the first night and rode up and down the highway because that's basically all there was. We did a nice little time trial effort.
We stayed the second night in a town called Mildura which had a lovely river and lots of fruit. It reminded me a lot of Calfornia around the Visalia area. We hate heaps of cherries!
Well, we got to Adelaide which is a beautiful place. It's way down south and on the coast. I didn't get in the water, though, because there are massive sharks down there. I'm talking Great Whites. That's where most of their shark attacks are, in Southern Australia. There were some long climbs that we did on our rides. That was refreshing. It was also much cooler there!
We stayed in Adelaide for a few days before we headed out to Melbourne to visit with Steph's sister. Melbourne is a very classy city. We rode for 5 hours along a road near the beach, and we climbed in these little hills. This one guy told us on any given Saturday or Sunday there were around 3,000 cyclists on the road. I mean there were massive amounts which was so fun! He said there are more cyclists there than anywhere. One day we rode into the rain forest which was spectacular. You know, how do you describe something like that? The trees bend over the road, so you feel like you're being hugged by them. It's cool on your skin and kind of dark and mysterious.
After a few days in Melbourne we left for home. We made it to just outside of Goulburn when the truck stopped running. Funny thing is that just earlier these motorists kept waving at me about the truck. Maybe it was spewing stuff... Yeah, I'm driving up the highway, and it just stopped, so I pulled over, and we popped the hood, and the engine was HOT. It was steaming and hissing. We weren't there but a few minutes when this guy stopped. Lo and behold he turns out to be a diesel mechanic and offers us a tow to his shop. We accept. As we're standing there talking I'm complaining to him about the damn flies as one lands on his bottom lip while he replies, "You just gotta ignore them, mate." I just started cracking up. I said, "I don't want anything that hangs out on cow patties to hang out on me!"
So, he gave us tow and then dropped us off at a hotel. We weren't going to find out anything about the truck for awhile because it was the holidays. I think it was Dec. 31st. People here take their holidays seriously. They don't just take one or two days off. They take weeks off! Most people are off from just before Christmas to around Jan. 4th.
He got back to us on Jan. 2nd because he knew our situation. He took stuff out of the engine and said, basically, that we were screwed. We cracked cylinders and blew head gaskets and what not. LMAO. Oh shit, I was like, "Huuuuuuuuuuuuuh?" Steph just stood there with a blank look on her face. Steph really never gets rowled up over anything, and my mind was ticking over trying to figure out what we were gonna do next. I knew I needed to be very supportive at this stage because the truck was a loss, and Steph still had to pay on it for the next 3 years or whatever. It was going to cost too much to fix a truck that old. Plus, Steph had loaded up some boxes and this huge cactus suit from her parent's house to take back home. This cactus suit was some marketing tool she used when she owned her Pedro's Pizza Bar. It was made out of wire, mesh, bamboo and paper mache and it stood 6'. It also had two cactus arms, and Steph is very affectionate about this thing...
Steph and I went back to our motel and began brainstorming. I told her to find a salvage yard and see what they'd give her for the truck. We had to get rid of the truck somehow and not just leave it. I felt like that was our best option. Next we had to figure out a way to get back to Brisbane. We could take a bus or a train. I told Steph there was NO way we would be able to carry everything AND the cactus. She said, with tears welling up in her eyes, that she would just have to leave stuff behind and try to sell what she could at second hand shops.
We tossed around our ideas for a couple of days and came up with a solution. Since it was only 2 hours to Sydney I suggested that she take a bus or train there, rent a car, drive back to get me and the stuff, and then drive to Brisbane. So, that's what we did.
Unfortunately, we could NOT take the cactus, so there it sits in Goulburn under the watchful eye of Andrew, our beloved mechanic. Steph vowed to drive through there one day to get it. If all else fails, Andrew has a sister-in-law who lives in Brisbane, and MAYBE he could bring the cactus...
I suggested we tie the cactus to the roof of the car just because I thought it would be halarious. I know it wouldn't have made it, but what a riot that would have been. We had a very small car that barely fit all of our shit into it. Can you imagine a 6' bright green cactus tied to the top? Lots of laughs there.
Steph and I spent our last day in Goulburn at one of the local pubs. We had just sold her truck for $800 cash---not bad. These three drunk dudes befriended us in the pub. They were cute in that they were shy to speak to us but eventually worked up the courage to do so. We had a ball hanging out with them, and the French chef whipped up an awesome steak and fries dinner.
I enjoyed Goulburn. It had climbs that I enjoyed riding, and it had nice shops and eateries, and since our motel was only a mile from town it was convenient since our only mode of transportation was our feet (I HATE walking) or our bikes (MUCH better).
The drive to Brisbane was uneventful. We drove through Sydney which was neat. I wish we could have spent some time there. I did see a 3 live kangaroos, several emus, lots of sheep, and a huge dragon thing feasting on a dead kangaroo laying on the side of the road. I saw the usual cows and horses too.
What a trip. So, yeah, that's how my holidays went. I'm now back in Brisbane sweating my ass off in the hot and humid weather, and I'm happy with that!
Cheers!
