March 20, 2005

A quiet lazy day on the road, today. We realized on our way out of the Clairview Beach Holiday Caravan Camp that you get what you pay for. We were very happy to pay just A$46 for a small "cabin" next to the beach, but will be glad to try to find a little nicer place tonight. We rode through small towns like Rockhampton, Miriam Vale, and Gin Gin. Being Sunday, few places were open for "trading." We were able to get lunch in Miriam Vale at an Australian Pizza Hut. One of the things we enjoy is finding things we are used to having and seeing how they are different. I learned that peppers are called capsicum, which explains why I keep getting them even though I don't see "peppers" on the menu. The pizza was filling and cheap and kept us moving. We had a lot of kilometers to cover today.

We ended our journey in Maryborough, over 600 kilometers from where we started. This really isn't as far as it seems, though, when converted into miles. We made it into town at about 4:00 or 5:00. On they way in, we saw a billboard for the Ned Kelly Motel. Well, of course, we had to find that one, being the new Ned Kelly fans that we are. It took some doing, but it was worth it. Andy negotiated us a "cabin" again. But this one had two bedrooms and a living/dining room area. It was quite posh compared to any of the places we've stopped so far. It was a mere A$75, too. The most expensive place we stayed was at the resort area near Uluru, for more than A$200, and this one was much nicer. We celebrated our deal with another pizza, this time from the Aussie owned Eagle Boys Pizza. By this time, I'd learned to ask for no capsicum, but to no avail. They still added it. I haven't had a break yet with pizza around here. We spent a relaxing evening watching TV. The motel deal came with free breakfast: a large plastic bag with a box of cereal, two slices of bread, a small thing of jam and one of Vegemite. Well, the cereal is Coco Pops and like most of the motels, they have given us a small carton of milk, whatever the near equivalent of a pint is. I'll be just fine.

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