Well, just as I was starting to get comfortable again, it was time to leave. So this morning I gathered up my insects from the Richards’ freezer and we headed north to Beerwah and the Glass House Mountains Hotel. On the way we stopped to see a lady named Anna who is selling a 1991 Mitsubishi Something-or-other. John did all the talking and I did all the test-driving. This particular Mitsubishi Something-or-other was miles (or should I say kilometers?) better than the one we saw yesterday. Even though Alex agreed to fix much of what was wrong with the surfer guy’s Mitsubishi, this one is just much better. Perhaps Alex can help me build a platform for this one instead!
After the test drive, John and Jan settled me in at my new home for the next 4 weeks, the Glasshouse Mountain Hotel. The owner, Cheryl, greeted us and showed us around the place. Cheryl and her husband Jim have two stocky puppies who greeted us too. After getting me set up with a rental bike and making sure I had everything I needed Jan and John went on their way. It still being morning, I slapped on some sunscreen and a helmet and set off on my way to the Australia Zoo. After 5.5 kilometers of biking over the gravel on the side of the road, my fingers and butt most definitely had suffered some nerve damage. I reached the zoo in half an hour, just like Cheryl had told me when I checked in. I got in free to the zoo, and walked around aimlessly for a few hours. I got to watch a crocodile feeding and a koala feeding, but saw no crocodile hunter. Anna, the lady with the van this morning, told us Steve Irwin’s wife is pregnant again! Only she didn’t call him ‘Steve Irwin,’ or even ‘the Crocodile Hunter’, she just referred to him (as everyone seems to do around here,) as “Crickey” I guess he’s the only person in Australia who uses the term ‘crickey’ these days.
After vibrating and suffering further nerve damage for 5.5 kilometer back to the hotel, I stopped to splash my face with some water and sit down before I headed another couple kilometers up the road in the other direction in search of civilization and phone cards. Unfortunately I found no phone cards, and I only found partial civilization considering this is a very tiny town, and it was 4:00 on a Sunday. As the girl at the convenience store referred me to the closed post office next door to buy my phone card, Paul and my song came on over the store radio. Lionel Richie has never been so heart wrenching. I haven’t talked to Paul in weeks.
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