Sunday, July 10, 2011

Rockhampton and Mackay

I arrived in Rockhampton around 7:30pm and got picked up by the shuttle service provided by the hostel.  I checked in and because it was dark, not much happened after that.  I settled into my room and kept on reading.  For how warm it's getting during the day, I'm surprised at how cold it is at night.  I was all bundled up as I went to sleep, but luckily it was enough to keep me comfortable (except for my toes for some unexplainable reason).

The next morning I set out to explore Rockhampton and discovered that there wasn't much to look at.  I don't really know what goes on in these small towns on a daily basis, but I've come to the conclusion that these sorts of spots are not where I see myself living later in life.  In any case, I found the library and took advantage of their free internet to book my bus, hostel, and plane ticket (again).  I found out that the buses running from Rockhampton to Mackay (pronounced "mack-eye") come and go at rather inconvenient times and I ended up having to book at 2:30am bus  :/  I went back to the hostel and spent the afternoon in the sun...something that seems to be becoming a routine for me.  I powered through both books that I bought the other day, but luckily the hostel had a book exchange, so I was able to trade them in for something else. 

After dinner I took my time but started getting myself ready for bed.  I packed up all my stuff because I was leaving so early that I didn't want to have to worry about it and climbed into bed.  The girl next to me had a nasty cough going on, so it took me some time to get to sleep and as soon as I closed my eyes I swear my alarm went off.  In fact 3.5 hours had gone by, but it definitely wasn't enough.  I grumpily climbed down from my top bunk, gathered my stuff (I slept in the clothes I was traveling in), and headed out the door, greeting the taxi that was taking me to the bus station.

For some reason I wasn't really able to sleep on the bus, even though it was pitch black outside.  I nodded off here and there, but spent most of my time gazing at the stars.  I arrived in Mackay at 7:15am this morning and because my bus to Airlie Beach was later in the day, I had to haul all of my stuff around town with me.  Being early on a Sunday morning, there wasn't anything going on when I got to the center of town, so I plopped myself down and...wait for it...started reading again.  However I was too tired to concentrate, so I started calling people to pass the time.  Finally around 11am people started coming out to sit in the cafes and enjoy brunch.  I got lunch and ended up going to see Cars 2 afterwards...because I'm cool like that.  After the movie I still had a couple of hours, so I took my stuff and walked around town.  I got to the bus station early and just waited for the bus.  The exhaustion had gotten to me at that point and I just wanted to keel over  and sleep on the sidewalk.  When the bus finally arrived I climbed on board and two hours later, here I am in Airlie Beach.  It's dark, but from what I can tell it is a more "happening" place, so there should be things I can do to occupy myself for the next couple of days.

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