travel diary — day 250
day 246 — craig and inyoung wanted to look at some houses, so we did that in the morning. then we went shopping and spent the afternoon at home.
day 247 — i went to roma street and caught the intercity bus to hervey bay. i had been in two minds about visiting hervey bay. i wanted to go and visit jo. i wanted to see the places where i spent my adolescent years. i didn’t want to spend a lot of time and money bumming around a town i no longer had anything in common with.
i got off the bus and checked into a backpackers along the esplanade. i went for a walk along the beach at sunset and i had maddigans fish and chips for dinner (i used to work at maddigans — it has long been the most famous fish and chip shop in the bay). dinner was followed by five beers and i staggered off to bed to sleep.
day 248 — melbourne cup day — i had breakfast and rented a bicycle. i rode around the bay, looking at all the old places which had been part of my life. the place i remembered most fondly was the old hervey bay theatre on zephyr street. i did my first acting there. the theatre is still a playhouse for local amateur groups. i also rode down to the urangan pier and was happy to discover that it hadn’t been shortened (as originally planned) but had in fact been preserved. the old train tracks (for moving cargo up and down the pier) were gone, but the pier itself looked great.
as i was riding home i considered putting a bet on for the melbourne cup. i changed my mind (thankfully, i would have bet on a losing horse) and instead returned to my hotel to have a beer and watch the race. in the afternoon i walked along the beach and took more photos.
that night i met an old school friend, irene, who had been one of my best buddies in grades 11 and 12. we had dinner together and talked about the old days and how our lives have changed. we had a few laughs and told each other how great it was to catch up again. after irene left, i headed back to the hotel and got some sleep.
day 249 — i had breakfast and took one last walk along the beach. then i went to the bus terminal and caught my bus to brisbane. i thought i was supposed to wait at hungry jacks for craig, and after a few hours i gave up and walked to his place. inyoung had been home the whole time. damn! we had dinner and i packed my bags.
day 250 — at the crack of dawn, i said goodbye to inyoung and craig drove me to the airport. we said our farewell and i boarded my plane to alice springs. i checked into the yha, walked around the mall, booked an uluru tour, i bought a hat and celebrated with a few beers at the nearby sports bar (watching a young jeremy clarkson host a motorsports mishaps dvd).
i returned to the hostel, bought an internet access card, checked email and got some sleep.
No Comments Yet