Breakfast was a farce! Kerrie and I ate quickly and just escaped from the dining room as soon as we could. What a disappointment this leg of the journey was - over 1000 km to meet someone who did not turn up!
We headed east to Mackay for morning tea in Queens Park.
We all needed a bit of comic relief so after Leonie read her Old Mother Hubbard story I read an unpolished poem I had written during the trip...
On Boarding the Bus.
The passengers wait with daybags and hats
Cases and walkers all loaded below
The queue forms, all ready to step up flat chat
But wait! There's a few things before we can go...
There's the handwash to spread on every rail
Making climbing a slippery task;
Or to be rubbed in while standing to ponder or chat
So others cannot get past.
There are mountainous steps to be climbed by all
Getting steeper every day
And grunts and groans as passengers fall
As they trip or kneel to pray.
There are all sorts of shapes and sizes
To manoeuvre along the aisle
There's the squash and the squeeze and the knocking of knees
The rear in the face all accepted with grace
Making others laugh and smile.
All those bags people bring on board
Make climbing less elegant
They have to be stashed while making a nest
All are heard to sigh and pant.
Then there's the person who needs to get out
Against the flow of the crowd
Or those who forget their number
And scramble and count out loud.
But friends are made and greeting swapped
And Nancie starts counting us all
Distractions are plenty, she looses count,
But when the numbers agree, John to Allan makes the call
And we're off.
Then north to Bowen where we had lunch at the 3 Sisters cafe. The lunch was fabulous. A quick walk towards town for a bit of exercise then on north again. The countryside is now all crops, mainly sugar cane.
We pulled into our motel in Townsville exhausted from sitting all day for 3 days of long drives. At dinner we celebrated Judy Heath's 80th birthday today!
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