Day 17 – Emerald – Central Queensland Blues

(To the tune of Folsom Prison Blues)

“I hear the rain a coming, it’s rolling ‘round the bend

And I aint seen the sunshine since I don’t know when

I’m stuck in Central Queensland – our wipers won’t go on

But we still need to get there, down to Rockhampton!”

Yes, that’s right. It poured with rain today, so we didn’t leave. Luckily the caravan park could let us stay in the same cabin so, although we were packed and ready to go, we stayed staring out the door watching the rain tumble down. Kev, Maz, Wayne & Vicky all headed off, windscreen wipers tantalisingly swishing away on their vehicles, wishing us well as we waited for the rain to abate. It didn’t abate.

We risked a short 1km drive to go to the movies to see Downton Abbey – New Era. A good way to pass a few hours though it was quite vanilla and very ‘nice’. They managed to include every character that has ever been part of the show and wrap it all up in a pretty bow. I ate a sliced apple instead of a box of Maltesers so that was a plus!

After the movie we risked another 200m drive to a coffee shop for a coffee and toastie and to grab some more milk. The afternoon was spent back in the cabin watching the rain get heavier and the caravan park turn into a lake, but I did do the laundry so surely that’s productive. Other than that, I finished my book, The Mother by Jane Caro (very good) and Gaz and I competed to see who could obsessively look at weather aps and radar screens.

Dinner consisted of peanuts, wine, and rice bubbles. Yep, we’ve been here in Emerald for five days … it’s time to move on. Fingers crossed that the windscreen wiper part has arrived at Rockhampton Nissan and the weather is kind enough to allow us to get there tomorrow. Uh oh – I did just hear Gaz hum a few bars of the Central Queensland Blues and I think I heard him sing, “I shot a man at Nissan just to watch him die”. (Only joking!)