Day 17 - Hervey Bay to home

It was lovely having the two nights at Hervey Bay but as they say, all good things must come to an end - so we tried to be upbeat as we packed Ravi for the last time this trip.

 Breakfast was at a cafe at the Marina where I'd had coffee yesterday as I waited to go whale-watching. It was as good today. I didn't feel like anything "heavy" and Ray, our waitperson, suggested I try the Granola because it had a fruit selection and yoghurt as well as the oats. It was a good recommendation and I made sure to thank her as we were leaving.

The plan for today's drive of 4.5 hours was to miss the school runs and school zones as we left Hervey Bay, avoid Brisbane peak hour traffic, and gently wish for a lack of accidents and hold-ups on the Gateway and M1 Motorways. It was good on all fronts and we arrived back on the Coast just after 3, leaving enough time to unpack Ravi before we headed over to Aunty Rosemary's to collect Nigey who has spent the afternoon and evening getting re-acquainted with her favourite (table) box.

 

It's hard to work out if there was one definitive highlight of the trip - there were so many! The trip was 17 days long and we covered over 4200km, sticking mostly to the itinerary I was still fine-tuning on the way. It was good we came back via the coast road rather than going the inland route otherwise I wouldn't have been able to do the whale-watching yesterday which was very special - yes, and one of the (many) highlights.

 

One definite not highlight was the number of roadside memorials we saw in our travels - some were quite elaborate, others simple crosses by the roadside. Also not a highlight - the drivers who were rash and looking for a place to have an accident; hopefully they all arrived home safely.

Day 16 - Hervey Bay

What a day! We were up early for breakfast at the Pier Cafe where we had a great view of the Urangan Pier as we devoured our delicious meals. Sooz's Sausages and Eggs were a hit but were not as pretty as the fruit salad, raisin toast and coffee!

 Next up - whale-watching! For me anyway - Sooz was a bit concerned she might get seasick because she does. She needn't have worried because it was only a half-metre swell although the boat did kick around a bit on the half-hour trip out to Platybus Bay on the other side of K'Gari (the island formerly known as Fraser). The whales were there which was good - especially as it is late in the season. There were several pods of mothers and calfs (calves?) and some came quite close to the boat. We were told they don't do that often - and it made for some good photographs.

Day 15 - Bundaberg to Hervey Bay

Breakfast was at Oodies Cafe, which was surprisingly close to the Spotted Dog (last night's dinner venue). Had everyone from dinner last night made it to brekkie before us ? I think so because we were squeezed into their last table - outside , at the front, and luckily they were able to find a couple of chairs to go with the table. It was well put together with some quirky features, including a wall of souvenir spoons that also made their way into jam dishes and onto saucers. We had Brisbane and Mt Tambourine. From the outside, the coloured windows weren't immediately obvious, but from the inside, they definitely were.

The trip to Hervey Bay was delayed as we drove up and down the streets of Bundaberg looking for the mural Sooz had pointed out last time we were here - the Simpsons emulating the Beatles' Abbey Road. Look though we did, those Simpsons eluded us and I finally called it. Noooo. And Another 'Noooo' because we didn't go back to Burnett Heads for those pies and vanilla slices. We thought about it but in the end decided we didn't want to play with the Lighthouse festival concert-goers.

Hervey Bay is lovely this time of year. We've been here a few times including when we visited the Vic Hislop Shark Show and another time in the Tarago of Terror. Good times ... mostly. And lots of memories including Te with her fish friend - well, actually a headless bait fish but they were close.

Our unit at Ramada Encore is amazing! Two bedrooms, living area, full kitchen, laundry with washing machine and dryer, a bath tub (!), separate toilet and outside sitting area with 6-seater table. and did I mention air-conditioning throughout? I'm really glad we are here for two nights before setting off on the last leg of the trip on Monday - to home!  There was a gentle breeze blowing this afternoon so I took the camera out and watched the birds (practising for tomorrow's whale-watching).

Day 14 - Rockhampton to Bundaberg

I'm not sure which was more of a shock - the CPAP machine turning itself off at 7.45 am or someone opening the door of our motel room at about the same time. (The two did turn out to be linked.) Luckily, I had the chain on the door so the airconditioning person couldn't actually come in. He hadn't knocked before using the master key because the list he had from management said we had already left ... at 7.45 am, don't think so. Part of that was because I was thinking we had a very short drive today down to Bundaberg - so we could have a bit of a lie-in. Not so. We actually had a drive of over 3 hours rather than the just-over-an-hour drive I was expecting. Note to self: the itinerary spreadsheet with the travel times/distance cannot be read backwards!

The drive down was good although I am going to have to have something to say about caravanners. Is it just me or does anyone else have an issue with some caravanners? We had a couple today who had a few cars trailing them for kilometres - looking for a safe place to pass - and then when we reached an overtaking lane the caravan found an extra 10-20km of speed and it was impossible to pass it without seriously exceeding the posted speed limit. Then there are other caravanners who obviously know the local roads - or perhaps they don't - and who pulled over into stopping bays to let the vehicles caught behind them pass. Yes, yes, I know the first type of caravanners need to get where they're going too but I think the second lot do too!

You have to love a coffee and donut van appearing just at the time when you could do with a coffee. Ownsys Retro Cafe van is based at the Boyne River Rest Area, Benaraby - and we lashed out on a 5-pack of donuts which kept us going until lunch - and we kept some for dessert this evening.

We saw more "Vote No" signs today and wondered if folk here would have changed any 11O KM signs to NO like folk around the NSW Central Coast have been reported as doing. Is it a criminal offence to edit road signs?

We were planning on going straight through to Burnett Heads today - just outside of Bundaberg where we are staying tonight. The visit was on Wayne's recommendation. He spoke highly of the venue generally, and specifically of the bakery which makes magnificent pies and vanilla slices. The bakery closed at 2 this afternoon so we missed them by half an hour, but it's not so far out of Bundaberg that we won't be back tomorrow before heading off to Hervey Bay.

And speaking of finding a room in Hervey Bay - how hard is it to book a ground floor hotel/motel room over a booking app? And how difficult can it be to find a direct number for accommodation facilities? We were trying to find a number for a place in Hervey Bay this afternoon and found an 1800 number to call. Fine. The call centre person I spoke with was quite pleasant and would gladly have booked me into a motel/hotel in Mexico. Hmmmm.

Most picturesque amenities facilities for the trip so far goes to ... Burnett Heads - near the ocean. A room with a view - if you leave the door open - which neither of us did.

On the way back from Burnett Heads, we were lucky enough to have to stop at a rail crossing - and we watched as a cane train with 54 full carriages clattered past. Coal yesterday, cane today - it's all happening in middle Queensland.

 We spoke to our mate, M (of the biscuit delivery of Day One), this morning who had just returned from a couple of days in Bundabery with her mother. She was able to give us some food recommendations - her speciality, and based on that, there we were at the Spotted Dog with what seemed like the rest of Bundaberg. It felt dynamic and lively and full of happy people eating great food. It was a little bit of a wait for the meal - but so worth it - I loved my Wagyu rump and Sooz enjoyed her prawns - and the passionfruit tart for dessert. Thanks for telling us about it M! (We're looking forward to breakfast at one of the cafes on her list in the morning.)

On the way back to the motel after dinner we were listening to the radio (I'm not sure how it fell off The Seekers compiliation we'd been listening to) and they were talking about how you cannot rely on satellite navigation systems when you are out camping. I would say you can't rely on them when you're out of urban, built-up areas, especially as while they were talking about not relying on them, you could hardly hear them because I was cursing the navigation app which seemed to want to take us anywhere but back to our motel.

Day 13 - Clermont to Rockhampton

One of the benefits of my going out to do photographs and to buy milk in the afternoons is that I often come across where we're going to have our next breakfast.  This is how we ended up at Penny's this morning - hidden in the same complex as the IGA and beauty salon.  It was interesting. I liked that the gravy and sauces menu was printed on the same-sized paper as the whole of the breakfast menu. 

 I chose the savoury mince on toast - not an easy decision but a good one. 

Even better was that our waitperson was able to tell us where the piano tree is. I'd like to say I would have found it but given I was right across the road from it yesterday and completely missed it, it is doubtful. Admittedly a piano looks small in a huge gum tree!

Sunflowers can be more fun and we found some at Capella.  At the rest stop, as well as the photo opportunity there were also murals on the toilet block - and a lovely jacaranda beside it.  

It was an easier drive today with more places to stop - and even though we didn't at every one, it was good to know the option was there.  

We stopped briefly in Emerald including to see the Big Easel with a representation of Van Gogh's Sunflowers.  We didn't stop 15km on the Emerald side of Blackwater to see the minions - about seven of them, standing on a rise, gathered to watch the highway traffic go by.  We knew they were there otherwise we could have missed them.  When we check the dashcam photos we will know if we have a pic of them.

Sunflower anyone - at Capella.

We've stopped at the BICC in Blackwater before - and did again today. It's the Blackwater International Coal Centre and it has a coal museum, a cinema, a cafe, a craft store, a model coal loader, and a huge coal bucket or three in the grounds - oh, and a Japanese garden - oh and did I mention the cafe serves Merlo coffee?

At the BICC - and coffee!

 
We saw lots of trains today including one that was being loaded one 'car' at a time with coal.  Those trains are massive - one we saw had two engines at the front, one in the middle and two more at the end.  We were surprised that the 'cars' filled with coal didn't appear to have any covers on them and wondered what stopped it from spilling out.  

Coal being loaded onto a train

And we're still wondering where the cotton at the side of the road has come from - and whether birds or other critters find a use for it.

We passed through - okay we saw the signs for - Dingo on the drive today.  How do these little towns survive?  What do the residents do?  Where will they vote in the referendum on Saturday?

We checked in to our motel just after 4 and I did a quick transcription job and then settled in for the evening.  We are looking forward to not having to leave the room (read: drive anywhere) until morning because we are planning to have room service for dinner. 

Tucked up in bed for the night.

Update:  Good news - there were minions on the dashcam!

Day 12 - Charters Towers to Clermont

It's Wednesday and I had my usual call with Trish down in Sydney to start the day. It was a shorter call than usual because we'd plan to have breakfast with Wayne this morning before we set off to Clermont - the next stage of our trip. We ate at the Salt Lane Cafe which was quite good; it had been recommended by the person who checked us into the motel yesterday and since the recommendation for The Rix had worked well, we decided we'd try the Cafe also. 

 If we hadn't, we would never have seen the biggest coffee mug in the world being served to brave souls who obviously needed an almost bucket-load of caffeine to keep them going! I know I like my coffee, but I'm not sure I could try it - partly because the bowl it came in would not keep it hot to the very last drop! We settled for 'regular' mugs of coffee with our pancakes for breakfast.

There's a big K Depot next to the cafe so we went in to have a look at their Christmas decorations – yes they're out already - and other things that might have wanted to come home with us including a neon write-on board for trivia (watch for that AM) and also some new bowls for Nigella.

After we dropped Wayne back at his caravan park, we set off for Clermont - via The World and it's big WELCOME TO CHARTERS TOWERS sign. They didn't have this here 50 years ago, and I don't think that they've ever mined as much gold as they had at the park. 

Today's drive was longer than I'd hoped. It was only 240 kilometers or so but there were only two or three toilet stops along the way and certainly there was only one place to buy fuel if you needed it or to have a snack and a cold drink. You wouldn't have wanted to have a hot drink because chances are they'd be making it with long-life milk rather than real milk and nobody wants that.

We're in the Grand Hotel Motel and while we had been concerned about the quality of the room we shouldn't have been. We're actually pleasantly surprised - and yes, it's not Best Western but it has a comfy bed and we're not assailed by noise from the pub.

Sooz had her customary afternoon nap while I went out taking photographs at Hood's Lagoon. I always find it relaxing to photographs and today was no exception. I was lucky enough to get some nice shots of corellas and some wedgies - and another hooked-beak predator I couldn't identify while I was down there.

I didn't see the piano up the tree - a remnant from a major flood that the Claremont area had some time ago but we'll look up exactly where it is and hopefully will be able to see it before we drive out of town tomorrow.

After what turned out to be a surprisingly good Chinese restaurant meal at the hotel we finally bit the bullet and decided that we would go back down the coast for the trip home - and our next stop will be Rockhampton. We'll have plenty of fuel to get most of the way there: in a first today we were just shy of the $100-mark at the bowser when we were filling Ravi. Thank goodness he doesn't drink much.

Day 11 - Hughenden to Charters Towers

What better way to start the day with breakfast – at the FJ Holden Cafe. We liked it yesterday – and we liked it again this morning. Sooz had the sausages and eggs this morning and I went for the simpler baked beans and toast. We continue to be amazed by how much memorabilia is shoe-horned into the cafe – obviously a labour of love for the owners. It was all I could do to not go through the pile of singles to see if Jamie Redfern’s ‘The Little White Cloud' was there. 

On the way out of town Sooz spotted the minion saying ‘Bello' (as they do) so we had to go back so I could snap a photo – with the phone – I don't trust the dashcam to take photos when I ask it too. Hmmm – I still haven't had a look at it to see what the issue is – and I still need to download the photos that it has taken. I know it will bring back some moments from the trip so far!

We drove back to Charters Towers today – and stopped in at Pentland again to have a look at the echinda who didn't come with us last time. More's the pity, it was just as reluctant to come with us this time so we will have to make do with the chicken cup Sooz got last time, and the kingfisher that did decide to come with us last time.

The highlight of my day was that I overtook two road trains (not at the same time) on the highway. Yes, it was with an assist – but that was only possible because Wayne had given me a lesson in overflogging – as he called it – yesterday on the way out to Porcupine Gorge. Keeping that in mind, I held back so the road train could see me and then started inching over to see what was on the road ahead – and then when it was safe, the road trains both put on their right indicators to show that it was safe to go. I was excited – and am now looking forward to more overflogging on the open road.

Once in Charters Towers, the WAZE navigation app refused to play ball straight away and we had to pull over to try to talk some sense into it so we could find our motel – not the one where we stayed on Saturday night because that was full. Good luck with that! I had to look up the address of tonight's motel before it would even pretend to look for it. It would have been much easier if I had realised where it is – right next door to where we stayed on Saturday night. I was so surprised when I turned the corner on the way to the Towers Hill Lookout – and there it was – with their ‘No Vacancy' sign out.

I did the “tourist" thing again this afternoon. First to Towers Hill Lookout – I think I remember riding up there when I was a kid – the World War II bunkers looked familiar; and then out to the Pioneer Cemetery – which was used during the late 1800’s. It looked interesting and I would have gone in to have a closer look at the headstones that were there – and the unmarked graves - had I not forgotten the most critical thing – Sooz or someone else to be on the lookout in case I ran into a snake.

Next up I was an ‘Uber' driver. Wayne is set up at one of the caravan parks and spent most of the afternoon trying to fix some damage to his van. We had planned to have a cuppa at his van site but I ended up driving him around the various hardware stores to find the bits and bobs he was after to do the job. It was fun – especially when he found the large rivets that would greatly simplify the job. The nearest Bunnings is in Townsville so we used the local stores including a very large Mitre10. It was on the way there that we saw the Charters Towers welcome – which Wayne and I are planning to photograph tomorrow - that's how impressed we were. Golden!

Sooz and I went to The Rix for dinner tonight. I'd found out about it from the woman who checked us in to the motel. Apparently it's recently won an award as the best regional restaurant in Queensland (but don't quote me on that). There was a decent enough-sized menu and Sooz and I had no trouble choosing the Bottletree Rump and the Crackling Pork Cutlet. Sooz had been reading the reviews this afternoon and she was saying they were fairly mixed – and over the same general time period. If I was giving a score it would be more than 7.5.

Day Ten - Hughenden

We met Wayne for brekkie at the FJ Holden Cafe in the main street of Hughenden. They were offering sausages and eggs - which is what Wayne and I both ordered. Sooz went for the bacon and eggs - although I did share one of my sausages with her. 

The cafe is decked out with motorsport memorabilia as well as other artifacts from the era - although I didn't see any typewriters there. The miniature jukebox was cute, and the old transister radio with cassette deck, heaps of LPs and singles, sprinkled throughout the cafe brought back heaps of memories. Come to think about it, it has been a bit of a trip down memory lane week, especially with the trip to Charters Towers earlier in the week. 

Next on the "to visit" list was the Hughenden RSL which was serving as a voting station for the referendum. It is good that we are able to cast our vote this far from home - and a bit scary to think that that the AEC official on site was able to look us up on the computer - but even so, we had to fill out all our details - name, date of birth, gender, address, phone number, email address - on the envelope where the vote was sealed before we popped it into the sealed (with a cable tie-type-thingy) box.

We had planned to do "tourist activities" again today - particularly Porcupine Gorge which is about 60km out of town but is definitely worth the drive. It was made much more interesting because Wayne had been to the tourist centre and picked up a map and other useful information including a list of points of interest along the way and how far they were from town. We had to set the tripmeter odometer to 0 at the Discovery Centre so the distances would be accurate but even so, we still managed to miss the "Unmarked Grave" which contained either the remains of a Chinese man or an Aboriginal teenager. 

The highlight of the trip - and the main reason for it was to see Porcupine Gorge. It was spectacular - over 120 m deep and old! The drive to it saw us passing the aforementioned Unmarked Grave, Matchbox Creek (where a wagonette carrying matches exploded), the Dingo Fence (the longest fence in the world), the Whistling Bore (and it really did - although, not a tune), Ebony and Ivory (the intertwined black and white trees) - and cows, and horses, and some black cockatoos - but no wedgies.

 
Back in town, we said goodbye to Wayne who was setting off to Prairie - and I went to do our washing at the Hughenden Laundromat, and, while I waited, to take dinosaur photographs around town.

 

Day Nine - Charters Towers to Hughenden

Charters Towers seems like a long time ago now but it was only this morning that we were packing up to leave the Cattlemens Rest Motor Inn to head for Hughenden - and Outback Queensland. We planned for a relatively early start because we didn't want to be driving west, into the setting sun, this afternoon.

We had several stops along the way - including at Pentdale where I was able to have a coffee made on a barista-style machine. Yes!!! It was a good decision not to bring our coffee machine along on the trip although I do miss it sometimes. As well as coffee, Pentdale also had a gift shop with some interesting works. I really liked the cutlery birds and the metal echidna - all of which insisted on staying there. We'll see if they feel the same way when we drive back that way on Tuesday.

Hughenden

We were joined at the Royal Hotel for lunch by Wayne who will head off to his next stop tomorrow afternoon. But today he was here - and he was showing me the sights of Hughenden. It was wonderful to have a navigator who wasn't the GPS (which isn't always totally reliable in regional Queensland). There is a bit to see in Hughenden - lots of it within a four-block radius - the Hebrew grave, Mutt the dinosaur, the dam and waterfall, the painted toilet blocks, the supermarket. 

We're saving the Porcupine Gorge lookout and the newly re-opened Discovery Centre for tomorrow - after brekkie at the FJ Holden cafe. (The washing will need to want but not too long.)

Day Eight - Bowen to Charters Towers

A bit clearer today

Before we left Bowen this morning, we drove up to Flagstaff Hill Lookout so Sooz could see the ocean view. Except for the drive up the side of the hill (who needs a guard rail?), she enjoyed it very much. It is a spectacular view out to Gloucester Island (thank you Google!).

The other thing we did was to take a pic of the front of the Castle Motor Lodge. Unfortunately the pic does not show the moat!

The drive to Charters Towers took about three and a half hours - we weren't looking to make/break any speed records - which would have been difficult with the road construction works, our comfort stops and the vehicles in front of us that could sit 5km over the speed limit in the overtaking places, and 10km under everywhere else. Some were vehicles towing caravans, so we could understand them sometimes being a little slower - but some were not! And a big shout out to that big black RAM ute who needed to sit about a car's length behind us for several kilometres, and then didn't overtake when it could. Maybe the driver had just seen the Facebook clip from the start of "The Tourist" (the series not the movie) too. I don't recommend looking at it if you're going to be driving outback any time soon.

Home Hill comfort stop

This afternoon I went for a drive around Charters Towers. We lived here 50 years ago and I wanted to see how much I could remember. In the three (?) years we were here we lived in at least three houses - and I think I found two of them. How suspicious did I look taking photographs of one of them? The other one was not on a main street so I decided not to stop and get out of the car to take pictures, but based on the size and build, and the huge boulders in the yard, I'm fairly sure it was where we used to live across the road from the cycling family (they were always going off to the Velodrome) and down the road from Trevor whose house burned down one Saturday night while they were away in Townsville.

The Rush Festival is on in Charters Towers this weekend. I'm not sure what the rest of it is but there is a music component and performers including Wendy Matthews and the Chantoozies are at the Goldrush Concert this evening.

There's an Amazing Race Style Scavenger Hunt tomorrow which is billed as 'fun for the whole family', but I'm hoping we miss it. We want to make a relatively early start for Hughenden in the morning; I'd like us to be there in time for lunch with my brother Wayne. I'll take the pics and maps of Charters Towers and see what more he remembers - because he will.

This looked familiar. 

Day Seven - Sarina to Bowen

It was lovely starting the day with a cup of tea, looking out to the ocean with the plover chicks running around on the lawn in front of us. They are cute! And it was wonderful to see how the Plover parent supervised the chicks without being intrusive. The chicks have obviously been taught well because at one point when birds flew overhead, the little ones froze in place until the danger was past.

Car packed, we checked out and drove the 30 km or so into Mackay for breakfast. The main reason we had called in to Mackay was to see the statutes - including Fred Flinstone - in one of the parks. Hmmm ... we found the park okay (thanks Waze) but the road down to the Fred and the others was closed. I thought about walking in but had no clear indication of where they were in the park - or if they were still there. I made a pouty face and we drove on towards the Big Mango at Bowen.

I had booked us into what was billed as a 'themed motel with an exceptional restaurant' - the Castle Motor Inn. I will try to get a photograph of the exterior tomorrow - complete with moat - but in the meantime, I've included a pic from their website. The restaurant was themed as well, with suits of armour, medieval weaponry around the walls - and Halloween decorations including full-sized skeletons with red glowing eyes. The roast lamb dinner was brought to us by the colours brown and white - and we had to spare a thought for how faithful to medieval times they were being because there wasn't a green vegetable in sight. Thank goodness we had a salad with our lunch at The Sisters Coffee House. Waze did well with that - I had asked us to find a Coffee Club - and it came up with the Coffee House instead - and it was a good find!

Sooz had a rest this afternoon while I went out and about in Bowen. There was much to see - including the lookout over Gloucester Island, Horseshoe Bay, and the Water Tower. The Water Tower is visible from the Castle Motor Inn - and much of Bowen it seems. What I liked about this afternoon was that I saw wedgies in several places but every time I pulled up to take a photograph - they were off.

Day Six - Rockhampton to Sarina

Rather than look around town hoping we'd be lucky and find a good spot for brekkie, we decided to go back to The Coffee Club. The young man who served us yesterday remembered us, and even asked how yesterday's photography went. He had recommended the Mt Archer Lookout but I had to tell him I hadn't quite managed to get there after going to Mt Morgan and the Rockhampton Heritage Park.

We have been seeing lots of wedgies (read: wedge-tail eagles) on the drive so far - but none where I have felt comfortable enough to pull over and take photographs. That will happen along the trip somewhere - probably on the way to or from Charters Towers. Hopefully the specimens out that way will be as magnificent as the ones we've seen so far.

We are being avid ABC listeners - on the Mt Morgan day we listened to a spider expert talking about jumping spiders, and we've heard about Fat Bears, and also about the rat plague in parts of Queensland which are leading to the decline in numbers of ... alas, yes, wedgies. They apparently swoop down to hunt rats and get hit by cars. It is a huge problem - as is the rat plague. I remember a few years ago there was a mouse plague - I don't know which is preferable - probably neither.

Our lunch stop today was at Carmila - and we did stop there because we were thinking of the Royals. The pub had been advertising for some kilometres on the way into 'town' (how big does a place have to be to be called a town?) - and we decided to give it a go - until we saw that we would have been the only ones there. Who would have thought the service station 'restaurant' could be a better option. It certainly was busier and looked open - and we enjoyed the sandwiches and milk shakes.

I had booked us in to the Sarina Beach Motel for the night. I admit it, I was swayed by the picture of the beach on their website - and we were thrilled when the view from our room looked just like it! We loved the chairs positioned near the beach. We're still trying to work out whether the coconuts peppered over the lawn had been left where they fell or were placed there as a warning. We'd packed my fold-up table and I set it out on the patio so I could sit out there and listen to and watch the ocean while I did some transcription typing.

Dinner was at The Palms - across the road from the motel. It had a bar and on the cocktail menu was ... Long Island Iced Tea. I had one with my dinner - and I can now tick it off my 'to do' list. It was good but I'm not sure I would want to partake often. But I did sleep well - and was fast asleep before Luke Nguyen had left Bangalore on his new India series.

Sooz did hear the sounds of the ocean throughout the night - we ended up sleeping with the door open so we would be able to hear it. I didn't - thanks to the Long Island Iced Tea - did someone say 'strong'?