Leaving Townsville :(

I wasn’t sure I would be able to leave Townsville.

Not just emotionally speaking, but also because a couple of days before I was due to leave we had an epic wet season rain storm, complete with local flooding, and lots of us were convinced that some of the roads wouldn’t be open! (they were…)

Trying to photograph the flooding, but the rain was too heavy and it confused my camera!

In knee-deep water outside our house

The high water mark on our driveway the next day

Then, on the day I was leaving – after having had it serviced – my car broke down. I had been to one friend’s house to drop something back to him, and was on my way to another friend’s house to give something back to her, when the car got super hot. Parking up in the shade and waiting an hour, things seemed to go back to normal. That was, until I got round the corner from The Bicycle Pedlar bike shop, where I was headed for one last coffee. In the middle of the junction, the car completely gave up. I had to get out and tell everyone lined up behind me that I was stuck (they were very good about it) and then wait in the heat until I could get the car restarted and out of the way.

I managed to roll it around the corner and gently and slowly cruise to the car park by the bike shop, and from there I phoned the garage again. After a coffee and a wait, the car still didn’t cool down enough for me to risk driving it anywhere, so I had to get a tow back to the garage. 

For a while it looked like all would be ok that evening, the radiator had cracked and it was easy to replace. That done, the mechanic then discovered that the reason for the radiator’s failure was a broken thermostat. It was now too late to get a new part until the morning. Hmm…

Part of me was secretly glad that I didn’t have to leave yet – it had been an emotional morning, a frustrating afternoon, and I really wasn’t feeling enthusiasm for the move to Brisbane. Another part of me was simply frustrated that I had a big problem to deal with.

It was easily fixed though – I loaded up my bike with everything I would need for an overnight stay!

In the end, my friend Owen collected me and let me sleep on his sofa, but having the bike was still useful the next day. I had time to kill, and didn’t want to put Owen to more trouble after he had helped me out yesterday and then worked a night shift while I got to sleep. Therefore, I packed up my panniers and headed back to the bike shop.

On the way, I bumped into Jen; she was off to do a recycling run with their empty cardboard boxes, using a Surly Bill trailer for the first time. Jen invited me to join her for the trip, so we rode off together, chatting about the trailer, my car, and how great it is to have bicycles!

It was fun to be riding together with panniers and a trailer, and when we got back to the shop we got a coffee fix too – perfect :)

All too soon (although, also a day-and-a-half late) my car was ready to drive. It was with a heavy heart that I said my latest goodbyes, got back on my bike, and headed off to the workshop. I guess the journey south really does have to begin now…