We scored: low-key, relatively cheap, good food, small fast waves, and a sweet little surf break at Rainbow Bay. It was so pretty there we automatically swung into the parking lot the moment we saw it, just to watch. While I drooled over the waves, Kate chatted up an old man towelling off and stuffing his longboard into a Mercedes station wagon. He was a retired Austrian engineer who settled in Coolangatta exactly because of the town's virtues. He told us where to eat and where to arrange a cheap apartment for a few days (Rainbow Realty, if you're ever there).
So, sleeping, eating, and surfing were taken care of. What else did we need?
Koalas and kangaroos, of course! This is Australia! Just up the road from Coolangatta is the Currumbin wildlife sanctuary. After a morning dip, we took the day to get close and cuddly with the koalas and kangaroos. We viewed the dingoes, Tasmanian devils, and hairy-nosed wombats from a more discrete distance.
One of the delightful surprises of Queensland is the large flocks of outrageously colorful rainbow lorikeets. Wild lorikeets flock to roosting sites on the coast near sunset, and set up a chattering din. At the wildlife sanctuary, they put out plates of nectar for the at the end of the day. You can hold up a plate yourself, if you like, and, if you're patient, lorikeets may choose to land and feed on your outstretched arm.
If you're very, very patient.
Kate stood for nearly an hour with her plate held aloft. The crowd of tourists around us dwindled from scores to a couple dozen, to a weary few, lingering in the twilight, as the lorikeets looked on skeptically from the above. Then one lorikeet came to Kate. Then two. Then a flock.
Color her tickled.
We stayed three nights in Coolangatta, and I had a terrific time. Rainbow Bay is basically a geriatric surf break; I was typically the youngest guy in the lineup. But man, can those old guys paddle their longboards! To say nothing of the grayhairs on wave skis. It's a good place for lifelong surfers to retire, and many have. They were friendly and courteous to a stranger, though, and the water was a warm 70 degrees. I could imagine retiring there myself.
But we were looking for adventure, not shopping for a rest home; it was time to head north. Only not the way we planned. We had rented a cheap car in Brisbane, for three weeks, to drive up the coast as far as Cairns, or perhaps Port Douglas on Great Barrier Reef, and back.
After a few days, however, reality set in. From Brisbane to Cairns is nearly 2,000 km by road; a round trip means fifty hours of driving—serious driving, not sightseeing—on the Wrong Side of the Road.
With a little over two weeks remaining, it seemed insane to spend ten days behind the wheel. We considered driving one way and leaving the car in Cairns; the rental agency wasn't keen on that idea. We would have to rent another car, at a higher rate, and pay a substantial drop-off fee. And we would still spend the better part of a week driving all day.
So we checked flights to Cairns and found a bargain: $110 Australian, direct from tiny Coolangatta to Cairns. That settled it. (That's less than half the normal rate, by the way; some deal where the airplane is bound for Osaka, I think, picking up passengers in Cairns, with empty seats on the middle hop. Or something.) Anyway, there's one flight a week at that price, 9:00AM Friday.
This was already Thursday, so we had to hustle the car back to Brisbane, renegotiate the rental for four days instead of three weeks, get back on public transport, pack up the boogie board bag, set the alarm, and arrange for a morning cab. Oh, and book a room in Cairns. This proved difficult; August is the high season in Cairns, with everyone in Australia going North for the Winter to get warm. Somehow we managed to catch our plane.
Next: The Great Barrier Reef