Boonah -- Day Five

December 1, Monday
Australian Time: 2110

5th Day

Location: Boonah, Queensland
Accommodation: Boonah Motel
Cost: $120 per night
Currency (Singapore is to Australia): 1 is to 1

Breakfast was extraordinarily sweet this morning. Goldsteins specializes in “bakery & pies”, and naturally the entire stall smelled of flour, bread and cakes. We had scouted around the Carrara Market (remember it’s always a huge area of land dotted with one-storey buildings) for something similar to bacon and eggs (I was seriously starting to miss even the icky egg yolk), but to no avail. Thus we settled for chocolate éclairs, bacon and egg pie, a box of chocolate chip and cornflakes cookies, a cup of cappuccino and BIG M chocolate milk (all for $16.40; I had a strong suspicion they overlooked something). Overall, it was sickeningly sweet, but that’s what you have to live with when you’re in others’ country – thus no complaints were uttered, except maybe a jibe here and there.

After the unusual breakfast, we headed towards Brisbane once more, this time with Mt Tamborine as our destination. I had no idea it was situated in the mountains, needless to say, the road there was more curvy and meandered through the mountains. It was a long ride, we expected 20 minutes but the trip took 40 minutes, and we took a wrong turn and had to turn back again. Not a smooth ride, that’s for sure. After much agony and a spinning head, we reached Thunderbird Park, where Adventure Parc was situated. My sis and I cost a total of $82 (student price) to enter the place and went on three different courses, green, red and black, in order to difficulty. The three courses consisted a grand total of 72 obstacles, which included walking on wire ropes, abseiling, climbing (ladders and rocks), balancing on suspended wooden logs and, my favourite, FLYING FOX! Everything was stringed together in one whole series, where you just moved from one tree (platform) to another, always remaining at least 3 metres above the ground. The green course was the easiest one – I got through it steadily without breaking and sweat. The red course raised the bar slightly, and my arms were aching lightly when I finally climbed down the ladder to reach the ground once more.

We were fitted with overalls (full body) and given safety harnesses, with a pulley and attachment cords. The attachment cords ensure that we stay secure all the time and in the case should we lose our balance, we would not plummet to the ground and go to heaven.

What frustrated me the most was that the wooden planks and bars were always situated pretty far apart, and whilst most Westerners would be able to reach them easily, it was a tougher feat for me since I am vertically challenged. But hey, I got through it still, didn’t I?

The forest was hot, the sun was extremely bright today, but yet it was such a dry place that you don’t really perspire much. You don’t get the chance to.

The black course was the toughest of all, and I gave up the last two obstacles and instead jumped straight to the flying fox. It was AWESOME!! It was the longest I’d ever been on, I crossed the forest at least 5 storeys above ground and even crossed over the river/creek! The sense of freedom and adrenaline had never been more prevalent as I had felt then. I was beginning to feel that all those times I missed my chance at flying fox (Primary Five camp and OBS) was well worth it if it’d all built up to this.

Also, there was an obstacle were we had to swing across with a rope just like Tarzan! It was hard to overcome the fear at first – would I fall halfway? What if I let go by accident? What if I slide down the rope? So many possibilities, but in the end, I managed to just forget the questions and just jumped it. It was exciting and scary at the same time.

I was so tired after the black course that I just handed back all my equipments and my family and I headed to the car with the intent of having a filling lunch. And then…the car refused to start. We tried again and again, but the engine was just…stuttering, without getting any better. We were mortified, and hurried to seek for help. A friend of the restaurant’s manager came to help us start the battery, but it was fruitless. Helpless, we could only call for Hertz professional help. They gave us an estimation of 45 minutes for the help to reach, but we were very grateful when help came within half an hour. The mechanic was friendly, and helped to start up the car. He stayed around to ensure that it was completely fixed and running before driving off.

During the wait, we sat down in the restaurant and ordered some things to eat – only chocolate cake, coke and tea were available. They do serve lunches, but they stop serving lunch at 1500, so they didn’t turn on the stove for us. It was only 1440 too! Argh.

So we decided to eat our own emergency cookies, and also begged them for some hot water to cook instant noodles. They weren’t very pleased, but hey, who was the one who refused us hot food even before their time was up?

Anyway, after lunch we drove off, and I fell asleep on the car.

When I woke up we had already checked into Boonah Motel, situated in a small town called Boonah, with a population of only a few hundred people. The motel room was small, and things were kept dirty (I guess they can’t do much about it), with insects flying all around. INSECTS WERE ENLARGED. Looking at the insects was like looking under the microscope. You could see the legs, the body…ew. And there were frogs! Little green frogs as well as large brown ones! A brown frog was trying to hop into our room by continuously banging against our closed door! It was hilarious. Then we went to a secluded road and had driving lessons there from my father. I was getting quite the hang of it – whether it was turning a corner, reversing, or controlling the petal. I love driving, and I had a fabulous time driving around.

I drove all the way back to the motel to pick up mom for dinner. We were actually looking for a Chinese restaurant which the motel owners had introduced to us, but after 40 minutes of aimless driving (and it was a small town, even) we realized that it was closed. Which rather pissed all of us off, since we were practically starving.

In the end, we bought pizzas from Eagle Boys (a restaurant chain bigger than Pizza Hut in Australia). A double decker set (includes 2 large pizzas, 1.25litres of coke and garlic bread) and chicken wings cost $31.40, which was relatively cheap considering that a usual dinner at Pizza Hut in Singapore amounted to about $65.

One pizza was Hawaiian, whilst the other was Aussie Bacon & Eggs. AB&E was a very interesting combination, who would’ve thought that eggs could come with pizza? Even on them?

Anyway, we polished everything off and then threw them away before ants and other insects could get to them. You wouldn’t believe the large population of insects here. All sorts. Cockroaches, crickets, mosquitoes, flies, you name them. I think they’re the reason why there is such a wide variety of birds around as well.

Lastly, we came across a writer, who was just driving around from place to place, writing when the inspiration came and spending his days not knowing where he was going next. He’d stayed in China Xin Jiang for ten weeks, and could speak Mandarin. Though not the best, but we were still impressed. He had just finished his second book a few days ago, and was hoping to go China again to write his third book. His first book was Falling Feathers.

His name is Marcus Meinhold.

And now, it’s late, I’m tired, and I’m off.