$400 burritos…

This is our 100th post for the blog! Thanks to all friends and family who have taken an interest in our big adventure. Its great to have you with us! :-)

As the weather cleared and the cyclone passed on down to New South Wales we took the chance to drive the 80k’s north back up to Brisbane. Here we would spend the next few days in and around the city before catching our flight to Adelaide.

The river that runs through the center of the city was brimming. On the south bank of the river is a public lagoon and right behind it you could see the murky brown flood water flowing past. The level peaked at midday and if it had been just a meter or two higher would have flooded most of the city.

Back in 2011 most of the riverside businesses were flooded out and some who had just got their renovations completed in the last few months were now 2 feet underwater once more. Many businesses were stating that there would be no way back for them from here as second time round they were unable to get adequate insurance cover. Very sad.

In the evening we dropped into Chinatown for something to eat. Parked the car up on the roadside with 3 or 4 others. Ended up grabbing two burritos from Chinatown and returned to the car about 45 minutes later…but there was no car there to greet us. Just an empty space. No other cars either…

I immediately knew what had happened, and I looked up at the road signs to see a red “C” all the way down the street. The next sign along said that the roadside was a “towing clearway” between 4 and 7 pm. Bugger.

Found a police station and got direction to the compound 2 kilometers across town. Arrived to a place that looked like a scene from Fight Club where an unshaven bald bloke handed us our $202 notice through to grill to cover the towing of the vehicle. I’m fuming at this point guessing that things probably couldn’t get much worse. Wrong.

He then handed me the additional $200 penalty that the money grabbing council also apply. Now there’s smoke billowing out my ears, and even though I know it’s not this blokes fault I’m desperately close to unleashing hell on him through the prison bars. Instead I take a deep breath and put the ticket in my wallet.

I can see the bloke sympathises with us. I tell him we’ve been here for about 3 hours and that already I cant wait to bloody leave. He tells me that the council makes millions every year from mugs like me.

I suppose someone has to pay for all the repairs that will need to be made around the city, so I’ll consider this to be our contribution. 

Fly to Adelaide early tomorrow morning to sample the delights of South Australia.