Here We Go Again - Chapter 29 - Airlie Beach Day 5

The others are going Jet Ski riding this morning. Robyn and I are not so encouraged. She is still hurting from the hip tweak and simply is not interested in a Jet Ski ride. For me, I am ambivalent, I see people doing silly things just for the adrenalin rush, other fishing from them which makes sense but the safety factor leaves something to be desired.

We will have a lay day today getting ready to move even further north. We sleep in, the others head off to the trip on the water.

Thye return with stories of Jet Ski terror, speed across the ocean and a willingness to experience the fear again. Bloody adrenalin junkies if you ask me. Rose evidently left bruises on Silver Leader as they tore across the water. Forbsy on the other hand did everything they were warned not, enjoying taking the speed limited machine to its limits.

He had asked the tour leader once he had discerned the governing of his machine what it could do in its retarded configuraiton as opposed to fully blown. The tour leader had quipped evidently Forbsy had pushed it beyond what he thought was its limits which were something like 75% of capacity. Forbsy would have tried harder if the machine was up to it.

They had not held back, they started in the calm of the harbour, then rather than huggin the out of the wind coast, they headed out into the mainstream, windswept ocean. The pounding of the short chop certainly gave them what they had come for. Forbsy lightened up when talking about one of the many ferries going past, leaving quite a wave in its wake. He evidently made several jumps getting full air in his pursuit of the ferry.

While they are out, Robyn and I take time to shoot quite a number of videos both for her business, mine and for the website for this blog. Before going to edit them we strip the bed and head to the laundry for washing before we move on.

The clothes lines are all full and we need to rig up the portable one to get them dry. Its wind still, even in the protected park and we need to peg the legs into the ground lest we may need to rewash the sheets.

The remodelling of the upper cupboards becomes a thing. I move the ring binders holding the CD’s and DVD’s to under the bed and we quickly fill the new space with provisions from the pull out pantry which the present wont pull out because too many objects fall against the wall of it. Now the pantry draws work properly again and all the bulky items which foiled its best use, now live in another spot. A spot much better accustomed to the storage of such items.

All while doing this I am editing the videos. Upload, top and tail (cut the start up and ending pieces out), reset the video and download back to the computer then upload to our cloud drive. Each video takes about half an hour to complete.

Mid afternoon they are all done, the others are back and we are considering what, if anything we might do for dinner. Silver Leader and Rose have been for another drive into town. They are in no mood to defrost and cook “at home”. We decide to hit the “local”. Silver Leader makes the booking and Forbsy arranges the courtesy bus. It will be here around 6.45pm in time to get us to our dinner reservation at 7.00pm. The driver does say he might be 5 minutes either way. That gives me alarm bells given the experiences we have had with the fishing charter.

We walk to reception for the appointed time and find Ian waiting for us. He is a jovial guy and converses with Forbsy all the way to the venue about our homes and his. He suggests the best thing on the menu at this tavern is the steak.

The tavern is one of those large restaurant pubs. We enter and are ushered to our table by staff who appear genuinely happy to have our custom, even if its Sunday night.

I take Ian’s advice and order a steak, Robyn goes the creamy garlic prawns, suggesting she will be sleeping facing away from me tonight. Because I had ordered a rare steak, it comes cold and closer to blue than rare. It is though, a beautiful piece of meat and the temperature is soon forgotten through the delicacy of its taste.

As I like to do, I watch the Keno screen as if I had placed wagers on the number 1, 2, 3 and 4 for the time we were in the tavern. Within moments a round starts and I would have won with 3 of the 4 numbers coming up. Over the next 10 draws the numbers come up as often as not. I believe had I wagered, which I am not a mind to do, I would have walked away with more than I had wagered.

Dinner done, its time to call Ian for our return. I make sure to have some cash available for a tip for him. I discuss the issue with Robyn, she notes the bus is complimentary but I suggest there is a tip jar, which she hasn’t noticed. 

Convenience is the most traded commodity in the world at this time. Should we have decided to make a night of it, one of us would have been the “designated driver” – convenience 1, and we are all readying ourselves for the trip to Townsville tomorrow so the Cruisers are in ready mode – convenience 2.

I place the tip in his jar which unlike when we first rode the bus now has a few notes and coins in it. Our contribution is not significant but it is a gesture for which he is grateful. He is still jovial even though its Sunday night and its getting late. He talks again all the way home, including a diversion to take another patron home first.

When we get to the park, he drives us right to our front doors. As I get out of the bus, I thank him and suggest he should never leave his tip dry empty. Leaving “bait” in the jar will stop the misgiving of my wife on our first tour that complimentary means free.

Nothing in this life is free, nor is there such a thing as a free meal. Regardless of cost now, you can pay for a service given or pay it forward as we have done in the past.