On With The Roadtrip...Airlie Beach to Rainbow Beach

Meet Spotto

On the 1st of May we stopped at Eungella National Park, where we saw a big carpet snake (tick 'see a big wild snake' off the to do list), and then on the 2nd we went to the small city of Mackay. Something unexpected happened there...

Just how many travellers get to hang out with true blue Aussie locals? You know the ones I mean. People who live in small towns in glorious sunshine, sitting in their yards drinking VB wearing straw hats, driving utes drunk around town and shouting at 'sheilas' in a language unknown to the English speaking world. Well, that's what happened to us - meet Spotto.

We first met Spotto at our campsite in Mackay; we'd just arrived and were putting up our tents when a loud Aussie guy stopped his ute and shouted 'Hey, where are you from?'; that was swiftly followed by a reach into his esky (coolbox), from which he literally threw us all a VB and instructed us to drink them. Meet Spotto.

A few beers later we'd been invited to join this lewd Aussie - sporting a straw hat over some dirty looking dreads and torn, paint-stained shorts - at his unit in the campsite. About an hour later he was back, asking why we hadn't come over and sporting another handful of VBs. After an excellent didgeridoo demonstration, and an intriguing altercation with a 16 year old kid who was walking past, we'd once again been invited over to his unit. We told him we'd be round after we'd eaten dinner; apparently crab was on the menu at his, which we politely declined.

As you may have gathered, Spotto isn't the sort of person to take no for answer. Half way through our dinner he was back in his ute, steaming drunk and with a few mates in the back. We were being chauffered to his place - time to join the party.

It was a small gathering - Spotto, us four and three of his friends - and it was centered around a large fire that was being constantly lit with a petrol can that at one point caught fire itself. Spotto himself was a little annoyed that one of his crabs had escaped and run off; after watching him down endless VBs, goon (cheap wine) and half a litre of black sambuca we decided to call it a night and head off to bed.

In the morning Dave nearly trod on the missing crab on his way to the toilet. We told Spotto where it was as he drove past and he seemed genuinely excited - apparently these crabs are worth 50 dollars a piece and he caught them all himself. Five minutes later we were armed with a hand-drawn map giving directions to Spotto's house. We called round a few hours later before heading off to Rockhampton and within another hour we'd agreed to stay for the night. But just the one night as we had to get going. Meet Spotto.

It soon transpired that this local, unkept, loud, intense and alcoholic Aussie was a millionaire, and his dad owns a boat worth a few million dollars. In fact, they co-own the campsite we stayed in the night before. Never judge a book by its cover.

I wouldn't describe Spotto as a fantastic person. He's rude, intense, obscene, aggresive, has a severe temper problem (he sees many shrinks and told us so) and has been in so many fights that his knuckles are closer to his wrists than his fingers. But I'll say this for him - he was open, friendly, entertaining, honest and genuinely 'stoked' about having four backpackers with him in a small place like Mackay.

After seeing the spectacular views from the Eimeo hotel we went back to Spotto's and carried on drinking; we slept on the floor (he has no furniture) without any curtains and when I got up at 7am I found that Spotto had been up for 2 hours already and was chatting to an old man across the road with about 10 dogs. Spotto then drove off in his ute, leaving us four alone in his house with his laptop, Bose speakers and wakeboard, and returned half an hour later with his friend Paulie, who we met briefly on Friday night. The two remaining crabs were to be cooked, and we were about to learn how to pick them up, cook them and eat them.

Queensland mudcrabs are big. Very big. And their pincers look...well, they look sharp. These two tough local Aussie guys who see crocs every time they get their boat were being very careful around them - I'd guess they can do some serious damage if they're in the mood. To pick them up you slide your foot along the floor from behind, then press their shell down with your toes; now that they're pinned you pick them up by their back legs from under your foot and hey presto, you're holding a pretty dangerous crab. Keep them cold, in a freezer if possible, before cooking them as it makes them dopey, and then boil them in salt water (preferably sea water) for about 15 to 20 minutes. When they're done, throw them in some ice and leave them for 10 minutes. Take them out, turn them upside down, rip out the ass and then wash the guts out in water. Tear up, dish out and eat. Yum yum.

We visited Paulie's house and checked out all the things he'd made from empty bottles of Bundaberg rum - a bar, walls, lights by his pool, even his dog is called Bundy - and then went on to the Eimeo pub to buy Spotto a few bottles of red wine before heading off. We eventually got away at about 4pm after many, many struggles and several 'one more' drinks. It was an experience, but this guy was trying to make us stay a LONG time; promises of crabbing the day after, a trip to the reef on his dad's boat, jobs, beds in his house - and it was all getting a bit too intense for four sleepy travellers trying to get down the East coast. We all took a big sigh of relief as we left Mackay, and also looked back with good memories and talked about how we were going to buy a didgeridoo. Next main stop - Town of 1770.

Town Of 1770/Hervey Bay

A lot of people we met on the East Coast that were heading in the opposite direction said that Town Of 1770 - yes, that's a strange place name - was worth a visit as there are a few pretty funky things to do there. Top of my own list was paying 50 bucks to fly a plane for a while; unfortunately we couldn't find any info on that so we decided to do the other main activity instead - riding around the town on 'scooteroos'.

For 50 dollars you get your own bike but as Dave and Sam were short on funds we paid 33 dollars each to share two bikes between the four of us. Amusingly the South African guy who runs the place asked me and Dave why we were sharing bikes and when we told him we couldn't afford one each he let us both have one anyway; mine also happened to be an uberbike that went faster than everyone elses, and we got given food at the end even though we didn't pay for it. All good. I'd never ridden a bike before but I really enjoyed it, you just cruise around the town for a few hours following him and he opens up on a lot of the roads to let you floor the bikes. Mine had a top speed of about 50mph which doesn't sound that fast but certainly feels it. At the end you watch the sunset - one of the only ones on the East Coast - and then ride back in the dark and get two free drinks at the local bar. A great day all round really, great weather and loads of freebies.

On to Hervey Bay next, where things took a turn for the worse. We went through Bundaberg and took a quick look at the rum factory (we didn't do the tour as it was expensive) and while we were there I snuck out and bought Dave a few DVDs for his birthday from the three of us and a card too. We wrapped them up and put them in my rucksack and in the campsite we nipped round the corner to cook some food, got fairly drunk and hit the sack ready for Dave's birthday; I got up in the morning to give him his presents but couldn't find my bag (a common occurrence when you're living out of a car). We searched around for it but came to the conclusion that someone had stolen it from the car the night before while we were cooking as the car doors had been open - the bag had my passport, my camera, my birth certificate, my drivers license, Dave's presents and the birthday card. Ouch. A bit of a downer on someone's birthday and pretty disappointing for me too.

After some breakfast I went to the police station and reported my bag stolen and was pretty pleased to see someone appear with it in their hand. Someone had obviously walked past the campsite, seen the open doors, tiptoed to the car and grabbed the first bag they could find before running off with it. They went a long way down the road, tipped the contents onto the floor and grabbed anything valuable they could see - the only thing missing from the bag was my camera and camera bag. Fortunately I'd put all my pictures onto my laptop earlier so really everything was replaceable, and we also still had Dave's presents and the card (which they'd opened to see if there was any money it). Not the end of the world but I won't have particularly fond memories of Hervey Bay.

Onto Fraser Island next - with no camera.