Day 10, 23/7/2019 Tuesday, Palm Beach 24 sunny

Every time the traffic stopped last night I woke up. If we stay here any longer we’ll be mentally in synch with the Gold Coast traffic light system.

A woman in the loo sounded like she was herfing (gee, that one confused MS Word) up a cane toad and now I know why some women only use their own onboard bathrooms. A couple are parking their motor home near us and they ask where the sun rises. Like hello, we’re on the east coast of Australia and we’re metres from the Pacific Ocean. Where do they think it will rise? They must get horribly confused in the outback.

 Woody takes the car up to CJD Mechanical Repairs in Helensvale at the top end of the Gold Coast to have the engine checked over and make sure that all is well and it is. We’ve used these guys before and their service is excellent. Thankfully it only costs us $82.50 for the check up.

 In the meantime I wait for the fridge repairman, and wait, and wait. He arrives at 1:00pm ignores me (obviously just the little woman) and grunts at Woody (obviously a non-technical bloke). He removes a part called the indicator adaptor, doesn’t have a replacement and says we’ll just have to listen for the gas flow rather than monitoring the little gauge. As soon as he goes we breathe a sigh of relief that we’re rid of him and Woody rings the manufacturer, Thetford. They’re not impressed and recommend we contact Laura a repairer in Bundaberg. We ring Laura and book in for 2 days time. By now we’re beginning to realise that there is little use planning this trip, we may as well just go with the flow and let the repairs take us.

 We have a quick drive to Tweed Heads and buy some fish just to clear our heads before meeting Woody the Elder and my dear sister in law (who we’ll call The Really Good Golfer) and have dinner at their house overlooking a wooded lake that is home to a family of somewhat amorous water hens. Gold Coast homes really do have beautiful outlooks, canals and lakes abound here and the wildlife is a treat.

In the middle of the night I’m woken, not by highway traffic stopping but by the sound of our diesel heater starting up! Oh bugger, I must have knocked the switch in my sleep.

 Summary 0kms, power, water, toilets, showers, car repairs $82.50, fridge sort of working $110. Noisy accommodation $48.