Two on the shore

One in the surf, two on the shore

One in the surf 

Sunday in Brisbane was a write-off, thanks to a combination of me getting home at gone 3am after checking out the Brisbane gay scene, a small hangover and the constant rain that was pounding my hotel room window. I decided that it would be the first “duvet day” of my trip and was surprised that I had made it seven and a half months without having had one. I still had another full day in Brisbane to do some more sightseeing so I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything major by spending the day inside. Thankfully I had all the things necessary for me to cope with a hangover/duvet day – Diet Coke, Haribo Tangfastics, hummus and tortilla chips, some bad films on the TV and a duvet. I got a text from Bec, the lesbian I had met the night before, saying that she was sober, she had thought it her offer through and the invitation to stay the weekend with her at the Gaypex was still valid. I told her in that case I would be delighted to have her as one of my hosts.

By the next morning I was back to my old self and was up and out early. The weather looked like it was going to behave and I made my way down to the South Bank, stopping for a coffee on the way. I headed over to the Queensland Museum but it was closed for renovations. I carried on, heading past the Performing Arts Centre where Mary Poppins was playing. As I looked up at the advertisement for it I smiled as it reminded me of one of the nicknames we had for my sister when we were growing up. We would call her “Mary” on account of her habit of saying that she was “just poppin’ out”. I supposed it stopped the nickname being used for me. I gave the Wheel of Brisbane a miss, the grey skies didn’t bode well for getting great photos from the top. I walked along the South Bank, taking in the Nepalese Peace Pagoda and Streets Beach before getting round to the Kangaroo Point Cliffs. I stopped to get a photo of Dean and Horse next to the river, nearly losing him into the water when an unexpected gust of wind made him topple over. Marcella and Sarah would have never forgiven me had I lost him.

I carried on all the way along the river and it was a great walk. I finally reached the end of the path, ready to cross the Story Bridge, which loomed above me. There didn’t seem to be a way up on to the bridge so I had to retrace my steps until I saw a street that seemed promising. The walk across the river afforded some great views of the downtown area and I got some good photos looking back across the city. I called in at the supermarket on my way back to pick up something for dinner. I avoided picking up a bottle of wine and was impressed by my own self-control. I had a quiet final evening in Brisbane, ready for moving on once again. The following morning I was up and had a coffee, showered and packed before heading down to the bus station. I was off up the Sunshine Coast for a couple of days having got a cheap deal on a hotel in a place called Mooloolaba.

I arrived at the bus stop with plenty of time to spare so took a seat in the shelter trying to stay dry from the drizzle that was falling. Shortly after a minibus pulled up and the driver got out. He headed off, returning five minutes later with his lunch. I asked him if his was the bus to Mooloolaba. I had no idea how the place name should sound, my pronunciation of it was something like “Moo-loo-lar-bar”. He said it wasn’t. I sat back down and waited. Ten minutes later a woman arrived and spoke to the driver, who opened up the trailer at the back of the minibus so she could put her backpack in before she climbed in. I heard him say that he was just waiting on one other passenger although “he didn’t know where she was”. It was getting close to the time that my bus was due to leave so I spoke to the driver once again, this time retrieving the email with my booking confirmation to show him. He looked at it and said “Ah, Ma-lool-aba” before telling me his was the right bus. I was the other passenger he was waiting for. He explained that as I had booked quite late they had phoned my booking through to him, giving him my name. He had misheard them say “Chris Tune” and thought the booking was in the name of “Christine”.

Confusion all sorted out, I got on the bus and we headed north up to The Sunshine Coast. We arrived in torrential rain. I power minced to the hotel, trying my best to slalom around the massive puddles that were forming. Once at the hotel I checked in, the receptionist pointing out the where I would find various facilities including the swimming pool. I looked at her, rainwater dripping from my nose and onto the reception desk and said that I would probably give the pool a miss for the time being. It cleared up long enough that evening for me to go out and get some dinner without getting soaked again. After a night in watching a bit of the tennis and catching up on some writing I headed for bed, hoping that by morning the Sunshine Coast would live up to its name.

Two on the shore

Rescue me...

The following day the skies were still off grey but at least it wasn’t raining. I decided to go out for a walk and to see the area. I wandered all the way down to the far end of the beach and back again. There were a lot of families about because of the school holidays and seeing everyone laughing and chatting with friends and family made me feel a little lonely. I tried to focus on the fact that after Mooloolaba I had hosts lined up in Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney and that apart from a couple of days where I planned to go to Uluru I would have company until I left Australia in just under a month’s time. After lunch, some writing and a snooze I woke to find that the skies had cleared and the sun was finally shining. I headed back down to the beach and did exactly the same walk that I had done several hours earlier. It is amazing how much difference the sun can make. That, and sitting and watching fit men in little Speedos doing their surf lifeguard training. As I was sat watching them training my camera accidentally went off a couple of times. I dined alone once more, cooking dinner for myself and having a fairly early night.

The sun was shining again the following morning so I took advantage and made my way down to the beach with my book and my iPod. I found myself a quiet spot and settled down on the sand, shedding my t-shirt and rolling my shorts up. It gave me a chance to try and get rid of the t-shirt tan lines that I had from walking around in the sun. I managed a couple of hours on the beach before the need for some lunch, and a beer, got the better of me. I headed to one of the little cafés on the front and got myself a sandwich and a cold beer. After lunch I headed back down to the beach to see if there was any more surf lifeguard training going on but there wasn’t. I spent the evening sat on the balcony in the sun having a glass (bottle) of wine and watching the Andy Murray match. The couple of days up the coast had flown by and it was soon time to head back to Brisbane to stay with Bec.

“One in the surf, two on the shore” 
Lyrics from Hundreds of Girls from the musical Mack and Mabel