Arrival in the Land of Down Under

After a nearly 5 hour flight on one of the worst airlines I have ever flown on (Pacific Air) we arrived in Brisbane at about dark on Saturday the 28th. We got our luggage with no problems and made our way thru customs. It was only when we got to the car rental place that greg realized we (he) did not have Fred’s phone number to give as a local contact. So off greg goes to the airport internet to try and find it. Half an hour latter he got it from the local phone book (sometimes high falutin’t technology isn’t the best course of action).

So we finally got out of the airport and were on our way. Just trying to remember which side of the car to get in on is a test and Greg was now trying to keep us alive on the motorways of Brisbane! It was scary, as all our habitual instincts have to be put away, since every thing is “backwards”, plus it was raining fairly hard. The wiper and turn signal are on the opposite side of the column so that just added to the fun.. I was playing the very vigilant backseat driver and helped greg avoid a couple of wrong maneuvers. Every time you make a turn you have to think about it and hopefully there is one car on the road to help you figure out which lane you want to turn into, Three days later it is starting to feel a bit more familiar.

We ended up driving for about an hour and half looking for a place to lay our heads and somewhere we could get a bite to eat. For some reason (a lot due to the scariness of just driving) we could not manage such a simple act. The man at the car rental counter had sent us off into the industrial neterlands of Brisbane saying, “We would have lots of motels to choose from.” So much for local help.

When we woke up the next morning we were in Coolingata, near the famous currinbin alley (a surf spot on the gold coast) on the Gold Coast, the beginning of the resort towns for Brisbane. It was a glorious fall day and the road did not seem so intimidating in the morning light.

After a light breakfast and some time on the Internet talking to both aaron and rena and lana (who had signed up for Skype!!) we leisurely made our way south. After we got out of the cities, the countryside was beautiful, very green with pineapple, Coffee, macadamia nuts, and lots of sugar cane and no trash. Yamba is at the southern edge of the growing of sugarcane. Remember it is getting cooler as we go south!

Australians are very strict about speeding, and here in NSW (New South Wales) they have cameras posted frequently along the motorways (read highway), that take your picture if you are speeding and then send you a ticket. To many tickets like that and you lose your license.