Elvie's Year in Photos 2011: Day 305 Hervey Bay Australia

Tuesday 1 November

The second leg of the flight was as good as the first. We were on an A320 Airbus this time, not the 380 and had window seats which gave us a fantastic view of Singapore at night as took off. We managed another 3 or so hours sleep before arriving, half an hour early, 7.00 am local time at Brisbane Airport. After the usual queues at passport control and customs we emerged into the morning sunlight of the arrivals hall where Gaz was waiting for us. It was really great to see him again and have a great big hug! His new car is big and comfy and just right for the 4 hour drive north to Hervey Bay. The countryside was very green, apparently only due to recent rain, and looked vaguely European apart from the strange trees and birds.

Hervey Bay was bigger than I had imagined, we entered down a long road with retail outlets either side which reminded me greatly of some of the towns we'd ridden through in the States when we did Route 66. The town itself was spread out around the shores of the large bay, with Frazer Island visible on the horizon. Gaz took us on a tour in the car including a stop at a seafront cafe for some very nice sushi rolls. The pubs were full of people dressed up to the nines watching the Melbourne Cup. It's obviously a huge national event here, much more than the Grand National at home. Next stop was his and Vicky's house just off the beach road. It's a really nice small modern 3 bed semi in a small gated community. It has an open plan downstairs with dining area, central kitchen and lounge, 3 beds, 2 baths, white walls and floor tiles throughout and plenty of inbuilt storage. It's ideal, perfect size and looks really easy to maintain.

Once Vicky came home from work we drove down to the marina for a short stroll then had a nice meal in the Boat Club. Jet lag finally caught up with us so it was back home and bed at 7.30!