Friday and Saturday, Oct 28-29th, Hervey Bay


Greetings!

Just when we thought our trip couldn't get any more challenging, I crippled our car in a truck stop in Bundaberg.  How many of you know there's an additive put into diesel trucks that crystalizes the engines of automobiles when you substitute it for gasoline.  Well, I didn't.  Getting gas at a huge Liberty station at noon to make the 5-hour drive from there to Hervey Bay, I had a choice of diesel, diesel plus, and AdBlue.  I knew not to put in diesel, but so the third alternate hd to be some form of gas.   Wrong.  At $2.99/liter, Pat knew something was wrong.  but not soon enough to stop me from destroying our car.


Thus began a day-long expensive adventure which involved: a very fortunate partnership with a super-smart and helpful station gasoline supplier on his last delivery before the weekend; many rental car (Jucy) staff in Australia and New Zealand, and a tow truck driver (Anthony from Trio) who drove from where we were going (Hervey Bay) up to Bundaberg to pick our car and us up, drove us five hours down to Brisbane (arriving at 8pm), and then drove himself back to Hervey Bay; and three Jucy staff who arranged for the tow, a new replacement car in Brisbane, and met us way after hours at their lot in Brisbane.   

Our Hervey Bay accommodation (Shelly Bay Resort) made it possible for us to arrive at midnight, get a key from a lockbox, get into an underground garage, and into our room.  This morning, we checked in, and spent the day exploring the Esplanade in front of our hotel.  We had a wonderful brunch, were dazzled by the beauty of our shoreside neighborhoods, and are preparing for visits to a bird sanctuary and reptile zoo inland tomorrow.

We're too late to get into the Fraser Island tours, which seem to duplicate somewhat to island beaches we've already had in the last few weeks.  The beach in front of our hotel does provide some small shorebreak opportunities, and warms my appetite for Noosa Head next week.

To see the few photos taken yesterday and today, click on: Friday and Saturday, Oct 28-29th, Hervey Bay.





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