Gladstone is the closest to a mountainous region I have lived in. And yes if you take a map and checkout Gladstone, QLD it is right on the coast. It amazes me to no end. I always imagined seaside towns to be flat and Gladstone has yet again proven me wrong. This is the beauty of travel. It breaks all preconceived notations which creep into the human mind. The boxes I seem to shutter myself in. There I go rambling.

Coming back to the terrain, the ups and downs mean your ride is quite interesting. For someone used to driving only in the flattest roads Gladstone turned out to be one scary adventure. The curves and the high speeds I need to take to drop kuttyma at school are enticingly frightening.

I am not fun driver. I don’t drive for fun. I drive because I had to commute between point A and B. Don’t get me wrong, I love the freedom the wheels give me. But given a choice between driving on strange roads and being a map reader/guide I will pick the second. I love watching the outside world zip past. I love the changing landscapes and spotting the unseen. Driving is yet another chore I am burdened with in my day-to-day existence.

Gladstone roads with its curves, warnings of flooding and kangaroos, monster trucks and roundabouts are a revelation. I didn’t know they will fill me with dread and freedom. Every morning as I pull my car out of the garage and put on my sun glasses I feel grateful to be alive and to make this curve hugging ride.

I zip past floral memorials and vividly colored cars. I skirt along mangroves along the river. I watch waters fill the swamps as the tide comes in. I cross the “10 mile Creek” and the “6 mile creek”. I smile at the simple joy.

Life is amazingly simple at times.