We rolled off the ferry from Fraser Island with sand in every possible place - and if we thought we were bad - the car was worse. Our garbage bag rear window was more than up for sedate trips around the island, but the highway revealed a monotonous drone - reminiscent of our days owning a soft top Jeep Wrangler. We needed a place to stop, unpack and wash everything - and decided to return a surprise on Mama and Pa who lived just down the road.
Thankfully they were home - and graciously allowed us in. For the next few days we appreciated luxuries such as hot running water, inside bathrooms, comfortable couches, and a library of new books to read. Mama and Pa thoroughly spoilt us allowing us to catch up on a few other odd jobs.
The first to do was to give Rocky and Matilda a thorough wash. They had received the special underbody wash at Rainbow Beach - which was a good start, but it was by no means sufficient. After the wash, the Little Helpers were each armed with a can of WD-40 and sent underneath Rocky and Matilda with instructions to sqirt anything that looked like it might need it. Two empty cans later, it seemed we were starting to get ontop of the exterior.
Spotless - wouldn't believe it!
The next challenge was the interior. The main priority was to remove any remaining shards of glass - however we also managed to remove a sizeable amount of sand from the footwells. Thankgoodness for the Sandgrabba floor mats, which saved a heap of vacuuming.
A new rear window was organised and ready for fitting a couple of days after we arrived. In speaking with the Andre at O'Brien Glass, he was concerned they would have to remove or push back the tray in order to fit the glass. This meant we had to take everything out of the canopy... Spread out on Pa's garage floor it looked like a whole heap of stuff!
As expected, the tray had to be pushed back a few inches to allow the window to be fitted. The guys did a great job, and before we knew it, Rocky was good to go again.
We really appreciated Mama and Pa's hospitality over our short stay. The kids got busy in Pa's shed, with lots of hammering and sawing involved on some secret project. They also spent a lot of time with their new Lego sets that they had bought online with their own pocket money and had delivered to Mama and Pa's months earlier. They loved being in a real house, and had no real desire to venture out to the nearby beaches, parks or playgrounds.
With our clothes washed (it would be optimistic to call them clean), bedding washed, car and camper washed, batteries charged, tanks filled with water or diesel, we looked forward to getting back on the road for a few more days.
We had heard of a beautiful place a few hours west, high in the mountains with rare forest remnants. Home to Queensland's second oldest National Park, it was time to hit the road and discover one of the most peaceful and serene places we have yet been to - the Bunya Mountains.
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