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Damnit, who left the gas on??? Sydney to Coffs Harbour

October 24, 1998

Group Grope.. er, Pic!

We all got up early that morning for breakfast and to meet the bus for an early breakfast and a trip to Mrs. MacQuarie's Point (a rock a the end of Farm Cove across from the Opera House)  to take a group photo with both the Opera House and the Sydney Bridge in the background.  The day was still beautiful, so we got a GREAT shot!  We also met Greg, fellow tour leader and official Driver Of The Bus for our trip.

Trivia Bit
Mrs. MacQuarie's Point is so named because that is the spot she would sit in and watch the ships, or something along those lines.  There's even a plaque.
End Trivia Bit

We drove out through Sydney, pointing out some of the sights and the construction crews working away.  I heard that all the construction must be finished about 6 months before the Olympics, or the building must be torn down and covered over with trees!  Don't know how true this is, but it certainly sounds like an incentive!

On the way to Coffs Harbour, we had to stand up and introduce ourselves, and either tell everyone a) a joke, b) favorite drink, or c) you sexual fantasy.  I went for the joke, myself, but I heard all sorts of other interesting stories about psycho girlfriends, sexual escapades, and the fact that it seemed a bunch of the girls wanted to ball the bus driver.

THIS is gonna be an interesting trip...

It's a long way to Tippararry....

It was a long drive up to Coffs Harbour, and we picked up a few new crewmembers here and there at various hotels, so the bus was pretty full!  But it was fun talking to everyone and making new friends.  Everyone was very friendly and easy to talk to.   There was quite the diverse crew, too: there were people from England, Scotland, South Africa, Germany, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, and one lone Ozzie!

The scenery on the trip didn't seem to "foreign": in fact, it reminded me a lot of Pennsylvania.  A lot of the trees and fields seemed the same (at least at a quick glance) as driving down the Penn Turnpike.  Of course, the fact that we were driving on the left side of the road and the occasional herd (pod? flock? pack? whatever) of kangaroos reminded me that I was far from home.

When we finally got to Coffs Harbour, it was amazing!  The Nautilus Resort was *really* cool, with rooms that had microwaves, fridge, two bathrooms, washer/dryer (and you appreciate those after a while on  travel), really cool!  That night everyone had dinner in the main dining room: you could hear the ocean waves roar just outside.  I sat and talked with several of my fellow travellers, trying to get to know everyone by name (I'm utterly TERRIBLE at names...)  Later I took a walk and just listened to the surf crashing down.

That night I started feeling a bit woozy, probably due to my sunburn, so I took in an early night.  Besides, I had to save my energy for the next day...

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© 1998 William Geoffrey Shotts. Last update: Saturday, November 02, 2002