After a lovely stroll through the bountiful West End Saturday market with my host family I was ready to start a weekend adventure to North Stradbroke Island (Or “Straddie” as the locals call it). The journey to Straddie would take a while, but I knew it would all be worth it once we arrived. Located off the coast of Brisbane in Queensland, Straddie is the worlds second largest sand island. How could spending the whole weekend on one of the largest sand islands be a bad thing?
Arriving at the bus Nat greeted Lu and me as we tossed our bags in the trailer connected to the bus and hopped on. As I made my way to the back I began to feel the cool air conditioning pumping through out the bus. Being in Australia I have learned to appreciate air conditioning, and always take notice when I feel its presence. The bus was about half full as we pulled away to pick up the other members of our group.
After gathering the remaining people we headed to Cleveland were we would catch the ferry to Straddie. Upon our arrival at the ferry docks, the group hopped out of the bus and stormed the small café. Everyone grabbed snacks and drinks before our hour-long journey across the ocean to the tropical paradise that is Straddie.
Our hopes of a wonderful weekend were slightly crushed when we arrived at the bus and found the engine clicking and sputtering. Panic and disappointment spread across the group as Nat and the ferry employees struggled to jump-start our bus. As I stood to the side I could only think that our weekend adventure to Straddie would be canceled. I was wrong. Our excursion was still on schedule. Nat instructed us all to grab our bags and board the ferry. A broken bus was not enough to cancel our weekend journey.
As the ferry departed to Straddie I glanced back at the abandoned bus sitting on the dock, and wondered what would happen next. On the ferry, the sun began to beat down. Everyone applied copious amounts of sunscreen, and bundled up to avoid the harsh rays.
As I sat on the ferry soaking up the sun and enjoying the cool ocean breeze, I daydreamed about enjoying all the beautiful beaches I was soon to come across. The unpredictable Australian weather awoke me. I felt a light sprinkle upon my face. I sat up and gazed out toward Straddie seeing a dark cloud looming over the island we were about to spend the whole weekend on.
At this moment I began to dread our weekend excursion. A rainy trip would soak me because my raincoat was not exactly as waterproof as I wished. Although upon our arrival to Straddie the clouds dissipated. The warm sun began to beat down once more and my hopes for a wonderful weekend were restored.