Mirrors and things

On Wednesday, February 15th, we left Maroubra to go to Noosa Heads in Queensland, anticipating that it would take us three days to get there. Actually, it took us only two, but more about that later.

Our first stop was to get a mirror to replace the one on the driver's side that fell off. The one that fell off was supposed to replace the one that got smashed by another motorist. Did I relate that story? If not, remind me and I'll do it later. Anyway, a mirror is one of those things that come in handy when driving, and Walter thought it would be a good idea to get one before we set off on a 1000+ km trip. Now, a mirror for a 2001 Ford Escape isn't that easy to come by. It seems you just can't walk into an auto parts shop and get one off the shelf. Walter and Jon had scouted out a particular auto parts shop the night before and Jon felt that we might be able to get a replacement.

Unfortunately, no. The fellow in the shop told us it had to be ordered, and would take about a week to be delivered. He suggested that we use one of those flexible mirrors that can be cut to shape, We didn't have scissors, so he offered to lend us a pair. There we were - in the parking lot of an auto shop in Sydney cutting out a flexi-mirror to fit the driver-side mirror holder. Guess what? It works - can't see exactly 100% clearly, but enough to know that there is a very large object (car, bus, truck) coming up on the driver side - and that, really, is the point of having it.

Having got a mirror, or at least a reasonable facsimile of one, we programmed the GPS and off we went. We crossed the Harbour Bridge to the north side of Sydney - much more traffic and congestion, and finally got out of the city. Heading north into the country, the first thing we noticed is that the mountains, I think they are the great dividing range but I'll have to check, are continuously on our left. We drove through some of the foothills. Very interesting. In some places, the road has been cut right through the rock face. If you've ever travelled the 401 around Kingston, you'll be familiar with how the highway was cut through the rock. Think of that, only rock face about three times taller, and absolutely sheer (at least it appeared so from the highway). We drove through high hills and steep valleys which gave us a glimpse of what was on the other side of the mountain range. The skies were interesting, too. We were on the divide of the weather - stormy, dark, rain-laden skies on the left, and sunny blue skies on the right. We drove through heavy rain (actualy Walter drove, I just sat there thinking 'thank you, Lord, better him than me') that was so bad, we couldn't see the car in front of us, alternating with brilliant blue skies, alternating with fine mist. Luckily the rain only lasted a little bit.

Driving in Australia is not like driving at home. Although the speed limit on the 401 may be 100 km per hour, it's often viewed as a suggestion and most drivers do around 110 to 120. Here, the posted speed limits - 110 on the motor routes - are taken very seriously. We were in the passing lane (on the right, which also took a bit of getting used to), and stayed a bit too long in it. The GPS had fallen off the windshield. Walter and I were trying to fix it. Wouldn't you know it - we got pulled over because the speed was up to 127. Walter apologized and said that we weren't paying attention because of the GPS. The cop was very nice, and said that they do cut some slack but not that much. So, we got a ticket. On the upside though, he didn't say anything about our wacky mirror. And we did manage to get the GPS thingy back on the windshield. And that, folks, was the start of our trip to Queensland.