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‘I tell you what, you buy us sandwiches for the car and I’ll adopt a koala for you.’
Hannah gave him a beaming smile. ‘Deal! But I think I’m getting off lightly – lunch won’t be that much.’
‘I can’t come to the place of the koala and not adopt one!’ he replied, and she gave his arm a tight squeeze that made him feel as if he’d single-handedly saved every koala in Australia.
Another three and a half hours in the car, and Caleb decided to turn off the Pacific Highway for a second time.
Hannah scrambled for her phone. ‘Where are we going?’
‘You decided our last stop, so I’m deciding this one.’
Hannah squinted at her phone. ‘But where are we? I mean Byron Bay isn’t much further and that might be a nicer place to stop than wherever we’re going.’
Caleb interrupted her by taking her phone and tossing it lightly back into the gaping abyss of her bag. ‘Let’s see where it takes us.’
‘It might take us to a croc-infested beach.’
‘Can’t go to Australia and never see a croc.’
‘Yes, you can. In fact, it’s preferable,’ grumbled Hannah before admitting, ‘although, that’s probably unlikely anyway. I don’t think we’re in croc territory here.’
They followed signs into Ballina, which, judging by the frown on Hannah’s face, she hadn’t researched in advance; she was probably mourning the loss of the cool Byron Bay. He followed the traffic, not entirely sure where he was going, and then heard a gasp from Hannah.
‘Oh my God! Is that a giant prawn?’
‘Think so, but I’d call it a shrimp.’
‘It’s huge!’ laughed Hannah, and he quickly cut across lanes on the roundabout he was approaching to head towards it, then pulled into the parking lot of a big hardware store.
Getting out the car, they strolled over to the large red-orange crustacean, which according to Hannah’s phone – she’d insisted on learning more – was nine metres high and weighed thirty-five tonnes.
‘It’s part of the big things!’ she crowed, taking multiple pictures.
‘Big things?’
‘Yeah, like the big koala and the big banana.’ She shrugged. ‘It’s an Aussie thing.’
‘Is it advertising something?’ He glanced back at the store, but it didn’t seem particularly fishy, although he hoped it boded well for the area having good seafood.
‘It’s the largest prawn sculpture in the world!’ Hannah was practically jumping up and down with excitement.
‘Are there many large prawn sculptures in the world?’ he asked dryly, but he couldn’t help but grin at Hannah’s enthusiasm. They walked around the imposing sculpture, which was held up by several steel poles, as if it had been skewered for a grill.
A few selfies later, Hannah was squealing at her phone. ‘I was so focused on Byron Bay, I didn’t consider places to stop around it. This is amazing!’ To his surprise, she grabbed him in a tight hug.
With his arms trapped to his sides, there was very little he could – or wanted to – do until she released him with a sheepish smile. ‘Thank you, you were right.’
‘You’re welcome. Although maybe check your phone for the best restaurants around here, because for some reason I’m craving seafood.’
A short drive later and they were in a pretty little restaurant with a picturesque view of the wharf, enjoying a delicious seafood platter.
‘I kinda wish we’d stopped more along the way. When I originally planned this drive, I thought about stopping overnight at a motel to break up the journey,’ he said conversationally, but at her startled jerk, he added, ‘We’re only an hour and a half away from the hotel, so no, there’s no point doing that now. Besides, I thought we’d want to settle into our accommodation first before starting work.’
‘Yeah, that seems wise. It’s a long-stay hotel, right?’
Caleb made a grunt of agreement as he bit into a chunk of bug, which they’d been reassured by the waiter was the name given to a local type of lobster called a Moreton Bay bug. Despite the name, the meat was sweet and tender.
‘Perhaps we can do a longer trip on the way back?’ Hannah suggested, keeping her head down as she sipped her small glass of white wine. ‘Stop at a few places along the way, break it up over a week, maybe?’
