On the road again

After leaving all the random people behind at Thangool, and poor wee Joc to fend for herself behind the bar we continued up the coast to the small town of Yepoon. We didn't stay for long, only one night, but it seemed like a nice enough place. And yet again we were camped right next to a roost of thousands upon thousands of Fruit Bats. Those things friek me out!

Another thing that frieks me out is stoned, weirdo, hippie, ozzie camper van lovers! We had one such bloke staying in the campsite near our van. He was travelling in a similar VW van to us and thought he'd come over and be best buddies (which is fair enough I suppose). We nearly wet ourselves with laughter however just at how spaced out this guy was. He said "Yeeeeaaaaaaahhhhh" after every sentence and looked like that wee dog out of Magic Roundabout. Crazy, crazy stuff.

We did make one friend.. wee Jimmy the Possum

He was a cheeky wee monkey

To save making too many seperate posts I think we can include the following day's journey here too. We got up nice and early an sped up the coast at a whopping pace to arrive at Airlie Bay! Woo Hoo! This is the launching point to go to The Whitsunday Islands and although we decided to visit on the way back down the coast the town is full of backpackers, Camper vans and general crazy party people, which is great. To be honest I think there are more British people in Airlie Bay than you would meet on your average night out back home.

No, it didn't snow in Airlie Bay, we wnt to a foam party!

Shad doing his Stay Puft impression

Gez going for a wee swim

Looks just like Christmas!

Gez finds a couple of Santa's elves

Welcome to the Hotel... Thangool??

Jocelyn, our new Canadian buddy was headed for the small (no... tiny) town of Thangool. She was destined to work as a barmaid there, being offered $200 a week plus free food and accomodation. Being in the middle of nowhere we did the manly thing and decided we'd make sure she got there safe and well. If she didn't like the look of the place at least then she had some form of escape!

When I say in the middle of nowhere I mean it! We drove for hours on outback / desert roads.

Gez at the wheel

Finally we arrived at Hotel Thangool! Ain't she pretty!?

After deciding the place looked Ok we thought we'd stay for the night. The thought of a decent bed being too great a pull. However, our accomodation was not the most luxurious!!

The walls, ceiling and wardrobe were coated in spider webs!!!

Mmmmm.. Candy floss Chandalier!

Shad takes a stroll around the rather posh upper floor!

We even found a nice wee skylight

Despite our shabby accomodation, it all really added to the experience. We had one of the best nights yet in Oz I can honestly say, meeting all of the locals (there only were about twenty after all!) singing songs, dancing and telling stories. What a laugh.

Joc, Nugget, Shad and Gez

Nugget and Shad. This lad drank two whole bottles of Bundaberg from behind the bar (yes, the big ones!). Look at the size o that fella!

The gang

The boys with Kev, the Hotel owner

So long Hervey!

Well the time finally came to leave the beatiful coast of Hervey Bay and head northwards towards our new destination - the small town of 1770. Well, not so much a town, but a holiday village. We politely offered Jock a lift with us as she was heading north too so it was good to have someone else with us for company.

It was an emotional moment saying goodbye to Mad Gary. Who will be there for us when we encounter all of those deadly animals!?

Saying goodbye to Hervey Bay. Jamie, the other Canadian girl was heading south while we ventured on northwards.

We made our best efforts and cooked up a lovely pasta and tomato sauce dinner. We had to up the notch a bit of course with a lady on board.

Then we all went a little bit mad, drank a bit too much Goon (that's crappy wine to you and me) and ran around on the beach in the middle of the night!

It was a bit of a messy one! But the waves on the shore at the dead of night, the stars, the alcohol, the madness, all made for a great night.

The delights of beach life

Another day of living next to the beach. Quality : ) We ran into some bother too however when we (that is.. Danny) accidentaly locked the keys in the van. Oooops!! We then had to cut out one of the windows to get in so next means having to repair the window. No early morning sunbathing for us then.

A pelican eating fish scraps on the beach

These guys are huge!

Local fisherment came out every night to fillet their catch and fed the scraps to the waiting birds

The Pelicans all lined up patiently, waiting to be fed

At this point I realise that I've not mentioned Mad Gary yet. Probably because we don't have many pictures of him. Well, Mad Gary was our neighbour for the whole time at Hervey Bay. He was the Campsite Janitor, and Mau Thai Kickboxing Security Guard! He was rather Mad, but provided us with hours of stories and facts about what will certainly kill you in Australia! He was a very interesting, albeit rather crazy old chap. He also claimed to be trained by none other that the Bush Tucker Man himself. He's what we would definetly call a legend!

Gary casually asked "Have you guys seen any lizards yet?" Upon our reply he promptly went and caught one for us to take a closer look!

Luckily this wasn't a deadly specimen!

The Canadian girl we'd met before Jock along with all her friends she'd just met on Frazer Island.

Here come the bats!

One incredible (and rather scary) spectacle at Hervey Bay was the nightly arrival of the Fruit Bats. Every night after sunset, when the sky was just turning a deep purple thousands upon thousands of bats filled the sky. If you don't like bats then I'm sure you would pretty quickly fill your pants.

Luckily we could just about handle it, although we made sure we stayed under cover when they were in full swing as we didn't really fancy the idea of being covered on by rabbie infested bat gunk!

Yet another fine spectacle of mother natures watercolour painting skills

A Pelican flies off into the sunset

Parrots flying in to roost for the night

A Possum ventures out a bit earlier than expected. This female was being followed by a single baby and didn't seem afraid of us at all.

And here come the bats! This picture doesn't really do them justice. Apparantly around seven million of them occupy this area of Hervey Bay!

Shad and Dan hiding from the bat crap! This was our wee base for the week in Hervey Bay. Very posh indeed.

We ventured out for a relatively quiet one tonight and met up with Steve and John.

Who encouraged us to sample the local delicacy... Bundaberg Rum and Coke. Not bad either!