A Tale of Two Cars

The industrial estate lay silent in the blackness of the night. The usually bustling units and factories of the daytime were resting behind their padlocked gates. The silver car was parked beneath one of the few street lamps still working. The men inside waited. No one spoke. The money had been counted and lay in the bulging envelope in the glove compartment. A bead of sweat skated slowly down the driver’s temple. It was a balmy night. A cicada rasped in the undergrowth nearby above the sound of the nearby freeway. The driver glanced into the rear view mirror. The headlamps of an approaching car masked his face with light but slid noiselessly past.

A few minutes more and a red car approached. It cruised by them slowly and then turned and drew up before the large double gates of a deserted factory. Its driver climbed out and in the glow of the headlights unlocked the gates and swung them open. He climbed back into his vehicle and drove into the yard.

The silver car started up and swung round in the road in the glow of the street lamp and drew to a standstill on the street outside the factory. The two men got out and walked through the shadows into the yard. The driver of the red car was nowhere to be seen but suddenly a strip light flickered on in an office window. The office door swung open silhouetting the driver of the red car and briefly flooding the yard with light. All three men approached the red car and its driver opened up the boot, leaned in and took out the baseball bat.

The driver of the silver car clutched at the envelope of money in his pocket...

Whoa!...whoa!.....I think we need to rewind a little....

So...after finally getting back on the internet, Will has been busy since Saturday night, searching for cars on Trading Post. We decided on a budget of $3000 after our soul destroying and skin burning visit to the Moorooka Mile where we realised we would get nothing decent for less than that. Rather than run the gauntlet of dodgy car dealerships... ( I am sure there are genuinely nice, decent car dealers who love to give a good deal to mechanically inept homox-uals...but they are very hard to spot!) ...we decided the ‘private seller’ was a much better option...where finding someone with, at least some integrity was a marginally higher possibility. Will amassed a collection of ‘contenders’ to be considered but some had to be discounted as it turned out they had already been snapped up.

We always had ‘Mike Hunts’ (sic) Ford Ka as back up...but really needed something with a bit more ‘oomph!’ to get up that long, winding, hilly track to Frogknot!

Will focused on 4wd or Awd (All Wheel Drive) cars and our budget ceiling crept slowly higher!

Yesterday (Tuesday) we decided to hire a car for 3 days and walked, in the ever present sun, down past Archerfield Airport to the depot to collect it.

They gave us a silver Nissan Pulsar which after ‘Lemon Myrtle’ (Will’s car) and ‘Pixie Pixem’ (my car) felt like a limousine! It was also an automatic. I have never driven an automatic.

We drew up a plan of action and prioritised the cars we were most interested in.

Our first choice was a red Honda CR-V 4x4 in Loganholme. Its owner Chris had arranged for us to view it outside the factory he worked in.

We drove about 30 mins down the Pacific Highway and found the place using the satnav on Will’s phone. We parked up and found Scott who worked with Chris and who was holding the keys while Chris was out. Scott flipped the bonnet and we looked in pretending to look as if we knew what we were looking at. I wanted to say “Oh! It’s got an engine!” but I didn’t think it would help. We poked and prodded a few pipes and metal bits and ‘ummed’ and ‘aahhed’ like knowledgeable truckies!

We took it for a drive down the road and it felt and sounded really good.

We handed the keys back to Scott and walked out of the yard with as much masculinity as we could muster.

We texted Chris and said we liked his car. He wanted $3500. We said we would give him $3200 for it.

He texted back, “You’re on!”

Yay! But Damn! We still had the silver hire car for another two days. Typical! No cars for days and then two at once!

We drove back to Will’s mums and later in the afternoon went over to The University of Queensland to see the Jacaranda trees in bloom.

Later in the day Will had an interview at Chalmer Station Kindergarten as an assistant teacher. He came back saying he felt it had gone very well.

After tea we headed off to meet Chris and pick up our new car. He suggested we meet back at his work...

‘The industrial estate lay silent in the blackness of the night.... All three men approached the red car and its driver opened up the boot, leaned in and took out the baseball bat.

The driver of the silver car clutched at the envelope of money in his pocket...’

“I’ll just take out the dog’s toy” said Chris.

‘The dog plays with a baseball bat?!’ I thought...Heck! What kind of a dog was it?!

We met Gypsy...the dog. She hobbled into the office while we were signing registration forms for Chris. She looked like she would hardly have the strength to nudge the baseball bat with her nose never mind pick it up. She was an old Blue Heeler.

Chris was really nice. He was very young, late teens, early twenties and was reluctantly selling the car because he was going overseas...to the U.K on an ancestry visa. There is some synchronicity in that.

He had integrity. We handed over the money and Will drove ‘018 RXM’ home while I struggled with the automatic gear box of the hire car. But that’s another story!

Our new wheels!

Actually it's not so new...but it looks good doesn't it?It's 4 wheel drive so we can go off road and the seats in the back lie flat so we can even sleep in it on long journeys!We're chuffed!

Purple Trees!

Today we drove (in our hire car) to the University campus to see the Jacaranda trees in bloom. They originate from Central and South America. I've never seen them before and they are quite beautiful!

Musings

Australian TV is not good!The early evening news programmes are nothing but extended adverts.One particular advert I find a little disturbing is the one which says “Get Ready Queensland!” It shows scenes of flooding, electrical storms, strong winds and destroyed property. It tells you to stock up on supplies and get to know your neighbours...”Get ready Queensland...Summer is coming!”I feel I should have been prepared a little bit more for this before I decided to move here!The TV was on the other night, some programme about traffic police, I was not paying that much attention but happened upon a moment which caused me to ask the question;“Is that guy getting arrested for eating a tiramisu?”“Yes” said Will.I know they are funny about wood, rabbits, and mud on your shoes here but illegal Italian desserts?!It turns out the guy was a learner driver and as such you are allowed no alcohol whatsoever and said young chap had been round to his girlfriends house for tea and her mother had offered him her homemade tiramisu steeped in some alcoholic spirit. How could the poor chap refuse?As it turns out he should have! Luckily it did not put him over the limit but he sure learned his lesson!Australia also has talent it would appear. The talent is SO great that a judge as discerning as Geri Halliwell is drafted in to sift the wheat from the chaff.Heck! They let Geri Halliwell in!That other well known Australian celebrity Dawn French is also a judge but at least she has some talent.We caught one of the semi-finals and sat bemused as 2 women danced and threw around jugs of milk before being covered in blue slime at the end! The judges didn’t get it either except Dawn French who is obviously still recovering from her weight loss last year, but this was a semi final! How did they get there? Who let them in?Thank goodness for Graham Norton which we discovered on Channel 10 and we were delighted to see it was the new series! We enjoyed it very much and it was only marred by about 15 ad breaks!I can’t seem to find Downton Abbey though! It’s a blow!Last night was uncomfortably hot. I had to sleep on the covers. Will appeared less phased as he snored away merrily. The windows here (and doors) all have a mesh screen on the outside which allows you to open them to let air in but not allow any unwelcome creatures in. I got up to open the curtains which I assumed was blocking the flow of air into the bedroom from the open window but alas, not a breath came in except the occasional ‘tutting’ of a gecko . I eventually got to sleep.Whatever was holding back the wind last night has certainly let it go today! As I sit on the sofa in the lounge a veritable gale is blowing past me through the front door and out the back. I sometimes have to hold my laptop down to stop it blowing off my lap. It is something I am not used to, sitting in the comfort of your home being buffeted by gusts of wind.Will’s mum says as it is a westerly wind we will have it for 3 days! The temp outside is 26 degrees. We walked down to the shops and I did not find it unbearable. We smothered ourselves in sun cream after getting caught out the other day when we were car hunting. When we set off there was thick cloud but as soon as we got off the bus to begin the trek the clouds burned away in a matter of minutes.We came back with sunburnt necks!

First Encounter!

Yesterday we went over to Capalaba for lunch at Will’s sister Wendy’s. Will’s brother, Danny picked us up. It took about 25/30 minutes to get there.

Wendy and her husband Jeff have a lovely house surrounded by a lot of land covered in tall gum  trees. Jeff used to be a Grounds Man working at Griffith University so he knows a lot about plants and trees. They have even grown their own rainforest.

After all the greetings we moved outside to sit at the table in the garden under a brick pillared pergola with a tiled roof.

“Seen any snakes recently Jeff?” I asked peering into the undergrowth all around us.

“Not this week,” he replied dryly.

I pulled my chair out to sit down and caught a glimpse of something that looked like a large spider dangling on a thread beneath it. I shook the chair but could see nothing more so gingerly sat down.

The forecast was for temperatures of 32 degrees but there was a lovely cool breeze blowing around us as Jeff talked about the ‘lovely’ carpet snake that he had seen last week!

I glanced down again at my chair and there, clinging to the wood beneath the arm rest was a large spider. I jumped slightly but not wanting to appear like a wimpy Pom at the family gathering I bravely held my breath and tried to sweep it off with a finger. The beast clung on and shifted around the arm. Jeff was listing all different types of snakes that could be found around their house. I decided to try again to dislodge it and this time chose the ‘flick’ method. I aimed a hefty flick at it and was sure I hit it but the flippin’ thing was still there! It must have had superglue on its feet.

I gave in.

“There appears to be a large spider on my chair. Do you think it might be a Redback?”  I spoke calmly.

Will jumped up and I got out of the chair. He carried it away from the table and shook the chair and swiped at the creature. Somehow he succeeded at the task I had been unable to accomplish and brought my chair back. It wasn’t a Redback apparently.

Jeff told of the time he had been bitten by a Redback and how they had not done anything at the hospital other than monitor him.

“They are just a danger  to young children.” He said.

Will’s mum, Dulcie piped up and told how a cousin of hers had been bitten by a Redback and lost his arm below the elbow!

Will rolled his eyes. “Ma! Nick wants to hear Jeff’s tale not stories like that!”

How right he was!

Jeff went on to say how he had spent much of the day before clearing cobwebs and spiders from the pergola and the table. He said there had been so many and he had used a blower to send them all packing.

“ They were a pain to get out of these bits,” he said indicating the gap between the fabric which formed the back of the chair and the upright wooden post to which they were attached.

I quickly checked that area on my chair and jumped again slightly. There lurking down the gap between the fabric on my chair was another of the beasts!

I said nothing but just made sure I did not lean on the fabric of my chair again.