last one for tonight

[Dave]

Onto Australia (truly the culture rectum of the world) I can't begin to tell you the rubbish experienced but one incident is outstanding. I've hired a campervan with 2 mates we take a cruise up the coast to Queensland. One evening we take a meal in a restaurant and I foolishly leave my wallet on the table. As we are leaving a group of 4 youths nearly knock us over as they run past. The lady from the restaurant catches us up and returns my wallet. In the campervan we drift out of town to find somewhere to kip but call into a bar right on the last street for a beer. After a while two blokes in tee shirts, shorts and flip flops hassle us claiming to be Queensland police and want to know what we'd been doing busting up the fun parlour. Been what……..pull the other one……Police in tee shirts…..you're having a laugh. They wander off and come back with leather jackets with Queensland Police badges on them. Ok what's a fun parlour….turns out to be an “amusement arcade†with gaming type slot machines. Apparently 4 youths had just robbed and scared the old man proprietor and we were under arrest and taken back for him to confirm that it was us. ID was confirmed but where was the 4th guy. I protested and suggested that we all go into the restaurant as the lady will remember me because of the wallet incident and the 4 youths running by. No deal. We are in the back seat of the patrol car when they arrive at the locked station. What a stupid invitation, the car is left, engine running, while they go and unlock the station door and turn on the lights. They are so disappointed to find us waiting on the back seat when they return. We are split up into 3 cells. We can hear the rubbish accusations being made…you are the leader the others have told us…..where did you hide the money. Each of them in turn. When they visit me they suggest that they need to get the big stick out and have a party because the others have told them that I'm the leader who has hidden the money. It's like something out of a cartoon. About 2am they call the duty sergeant who turns up in his pyjama bottoms and hears the story, reads the charge manual and suggests that they have no evidence but “…will run us in if he sees us in town the next dayâ€. We are obliged to ignore lots of further abuse and we walk back to the car. We go back into town the next day for some provisions and some gas, we meet the sergeant but nothing is said.