Au revoir...

Busy week at work with a bit of weekend work even, which didn’t allow for a timely blog update.
Last week despite the offers of actually ‘normal’ accommodation, I have instead chosen to stick with the ute surfing. I am a little concerned at how easily I dismiss these options and instead prefer the ‘path less travelled’… It is just easier as I can come and go when I please and don’t have to worry about aligning this with other people’s plans.
Despite having finished the alphabet quest I have decided to keep moving around and trying out some new suburbs. On Monday I ventured over to Hawthorne. There are some awesome views over that way of the city lights. Quite a good night’s sleep too.
Tuesday night was an interesting one as I had a early morning appointment with the dentist. Spent the night in Balmoral and I was hoping for a bit of a sleep in. I had found a night quiet area which I was thinking would see minimal morning traffic. Unfortunately there were a lot of crows keeping me from my plan. Farken mongrel things… I didn’t think the dentist would appreciate it if I just turned up straight from the tray of the ute so I had to freshen up a bit beforehand. In a masterstroke of ingenuity I turned up down at Coorparoo pool and for the princely sum of $2 was able to have a long hot shower and fresh up accordingly.
Wednesday and Thursday I took the easy option and just stayed around Coorparoo. I dare say I will do much the same this week too.
Yes, indeed I did stay in Coorparoo and surrounds the following week. I moved around to different areas in Coorparoo at least...
Well folks this is the end of the line. Well, at least until I get back and take up where I left off! I am toying with the idea of a canopy even. The jury is still out on that one though…
I thought to sign off I might reminisce, the initial excitement, a few tribulations and lessons along the way and the overall success of the venture! So with that in mind here we go…

Best Location: Galloway's Hill.
Quietest Location: Ormiston.
Noisiest Location: Queen St, CBD.
Wettest night: Night 1 in Coorparoo with the tailgate open.
Funniest Incident: Popping up in the morning and startling early morning risers.
Surprising Locations: Virginia, Indooroopilly, Jindalee, Highgate Hill.
Dodgiest Location: Zillmere.

That is it for now. I think the efforts of the past few months have me in good stead for the roughing I am going to be doing in the French Alps on le tour. I am going to put all my faith in my ability to meet locals and get a bed at theirs for the night. If they throw in a single daughter they are trying to marry off, so much the better.

X marks the spot...

Mission accomplished - the alphabet from A to Z. The last letter ‘X’ presented me with a few issues, namely the fact no one has yet had the foresight to name a suburb Xanadu… I walked down the aisle many moons ago with Xanadu being belted out on the pipe organ – way cool. But I digress…

So with that out, I had to get the thinking cap out... Staying in the valley was suggested due to the XXX nature of the place, but it was not the sort of place I wanted to park the truck for the night. I looked up Xerox and was initially going to camp outside their Brisbane office in Westend. Then one night I had a revelation - why not this place!



It defies all my previous logic of a good location – railway line, well lit street, no other vehicles parked and lots of through traffic. To further complicate the issue there was a 24 hr McDonalds and 24 hr service station across the road. I basically had to climb in the tray under the watchful, hopefully distracted, eyes of the XXXX gate guards. During the course of the night there were 31 semi-trailers, like the one above, that rumbled past my bed and shook me awake. Surprisingly I still managed to get a good night’s sleep in. The morning tray exit was a hard one too. Being an industrialised area that starts the day early, I climbed out of the back in full view of a few amused on-lookers.

Nearly there...

View Utesurf in a larger map

Back to the main game this week and getting the last few letters crossed off. I arrived back in Brisbane late Sunday night and as I was Northside, I thought I would get about finishing off a couple of what I had deemed 'dodgy' suburbs.
Sunday night I stayed in Virginia and I was surprised how nice it actually turned out to be. I was expecting much of the same the following night considering Zillmere is a neighbouring suburb. Alas, I think Zillmere might be the wrong side of the tracks... Had some very bad vibes in Zillmere and couldn't wait to get out of there. There were a lot of people walking around my first location and I thought it was best I moved on. I wasn't in the back so easy enough to do.
The next location had some mangy mongrel barking obviously aware of my plans. I was hoping he would eventually quieten down but no, the little farker kept at it. Wish I still had the shu-roo on the front to annoy the little farker before I moved on to my third location in the one night! The final location was fine and very quiet so all ended up well.
Night three saw me quite relieved to be back in the deep South. Well as deep as Tarrigindi can be. The last night was Yeronga by the river. What a nice area. If I was to ever want quiet suburbia, this would be the place. Awoken the next morning by hordes of cyclists. There was no way I could get out of the tray without some of them seeing me, but nothing was said.
Next week is a short week again with the public holiday so probably only the three nights in the tray. Only have the letter X left but am struggling to work out a suitable location with no suburbs starting with X. I am sure I can come up with something...