On the road again for a short ride to Hervey Bay after breakfast with Kevin and Cheryl. We were meeting Paul Kelsey, Graeme & Loretta's good friend and adopted son. Both Paul and Loretta work in the same industry - managing shopping centers - so when we caught up with Paul at his brand new shopping center office, we were given the grand tour of the facilities. I must admit I never gave much thought to that sort of job and I certainly learned quite a bit while we checked out Paul's office. Graeme and I were particularly impressed with the decadent bathroom, which had a push-button sliding door that slid back to reveal a full shower, space-age toilet and other accouterments that easily surpassed anything I've ever seen, even in private homes.
After we dropped our luggage at Paul's home for our overnight, we headed out to the Hervey Bay Boat Club and the Riverheads pier to see the ferry launch area for Fraser Island.
 |
| Goofing off while taking some photos near the ferry launch to Fraser Island. Graeme, Paul, Loretta and Barb.
And, continuing our incredible gluttony tour, we had lunch at the Hervey Bay Boat Club (very similar to the Coloundra RSL minus Neil Diamond) ha ha! I had the salt & pepper squid - absolutely delicious - with veges and an enormous amount of fries that seemed to multiply as quickly as I ate them. Loretta had scallops Mournay that were wonderful as well.
The Whaling ship docked at the Hervey Bay Tourist Terminal.
Great Sandy Straits Marina.
After our sumptuous lunch, we walked around the marina, checking out the whaling boat (not the season for whale watching at the moment, but humpbacks are the breed in these waters). Then we hopped into Paul's car to explore the coastline, parks and houses in the area.
There was one house in particular - painted bright yellow and labeled, "Asbestos Manor" - with a hilarious back story. (sorry I didn't think to take a photo, but here's the actually listing with its "glorious jaundiced beach views" and "sulphuric verandah" for a mere $5 million):
Pretty soon it was actually time to eat - AGAIN! But I noticed that none of us were complaining about it too loudly. I cannot believe how much I ate during this visit, but it was definitely an eating and drinking extravaganza the entire 2 weeks! In other words, it was AWESOME!!!!
Dinner was alfresco at Cafe Balaena, alongside the water of the Great Sandy Straits Marina. Loretta and Paul had a gigantic bowl of seafood chowder and Graeme and I had the black orchid garlic prawns. All entrees were amazing. Somehow, some way, we all left room for the impressive lemon meringue tart (should have taken a photo of the giant individual slices) and the citrus coconut tart enjoyed by Loretta. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I had forgotten how incredible Aussie desserts could be. No wonder I gained so much weight when I was living here in 1975-77. Back to Paul's to relax and crash for the evening after watching some hilarious Wanda Sykes clips on YouTube. |
No comments:
Post a Comment