On the road home – Day 2

y margcalFirst posted on March 2, 2014

In the morning I did a self-drive tour of Robe. It is a glorious place with some very expensive looking (holiday?) homes. However, as with Victor Harbor, also a popular destination, I’d rather not stay there. I don’t know what the alternative to Victor Harbor is, but for Robe, for me it’s Beachport, a much quieter spot a little way down the coast.

My car near the red and white striped pyramid, symbol for Robe  

Gaol ruins at Robe

However, I didn’t visit Beachport on this trip. Unhappily, my homeward plans were changed at the last moment. While at the Adelaide zoo I got a text message that the old school friend in coastal Victoria, whom I’d planned to visit en route, was going to Melbourne for treatment for a recently diagnosed, very serious health issue. I’d planned to take two nights to get home but having got as far as Robe, I decided I could go straight home the next day, via Penola, Hamilton, Ballarat.

The Robe-Penola road was probably the most minor route I travelled on but while the road surface was fine, it was narrower than more significant routes and seemed to carry more trucks. To be honest, that was scary. One truck in particular was inches – seemed like single digits – from me. I was glad to get to Penola and a more major route again.

At Penola I went to the Mary McKillop Centre. I wanted to tell the people there how much joy I get every time I look at the quilt I won in a raffle on my first visit there, about 10 years ago. It’s a beautiful thing, entirely hand-stitched by a then 80 year old lady from Mt Gambier. Imagine my surprise when I told my story – the ladies on duty exclaimed, “She keeps making them!” So she must be 90 now and I bought more tickets in another quilt raffle

As well as libraries, when I go away I usually do a church crawl too but not this time. However, I did visit the church at Penola, said a prayer and lit a candle for my school friend.

               For my friend - the candle at 12 o'clock

Then it was lunch (very slow service) and from that point I pushed on to home through Casterton, Coleraine, Hamilton (abortive hospital library visit and rest stop at the tourist info centre), Dunkeld and then Ballarat. 

       “Blackboy” grass tress – on the road to Casterton 

       Casterton – was once a fine building 

                    Casterton, rising up out of a valley 

                           Coleraine Railway Station ...

... it’s been a while since the last train!

     Wannon Falls near Hamilton ... the water is - where?

I know it’s evil but it was easy to have tea at Macca’s on Bakery Hill in Ballarat – don’t tell anyone! The break at that point allowed me to get into Melbourne having missed the peak hour traffic, cutting about an hour off the driving time doing it that way.

Finally, it was home after 562km that day for a grand total of 1,856km (480 + 367 + 447 + 562) for the four says (in total) driving to Adelaide and back. I didn’t work out how much the petrol cost but it would have been cheaper to fly!

THANK YOU to the ALIA  Vic Library Technicians Group for organising the library tours and dinners in Adelaide which were the impetus for this little road trip.

Thank You!

First posted on May 15, 2013

Thank You is never enough but I say it all the same to …
– The Boston Bride and Groom and their Australian family who invited me to join their celebrations, looking after me so generously during their precious time together in Atherton.
– My darling friend Joseph for putting himself out to catch up with me during the brief window of opportunity of my in-transit stop in Brisbane.
– My dear friends for their concern and commiserations at my disappointment and changed plans that knocked Brisbane off the itinerary.

God bless you, one and all … with special blessings to the Boston babies and their little Australian cousins.

The things you see ….

First posted on March 11, 2013

It’s not an optical illusion. The windows of this synagogue are narrower at the top than the bottom.

Hobart Synagogue

Yes – it’s real – a full-size Kombi van on top of the shop awning

A fair dinkum VeeDub Kombi

Country comes to city – not that it’s very far in Tasmania

Water tank on ute - my eyes boggled!

Wonderful views from my hotel – some neck-craning necessary!

St Joseph’s Church and my red brick hotel. 

My room, top right – pick of the bunch

Saturday sailing – looking across the treetops of St David’s Park

                River and Tasman Bridge in the distance

The T & G Building

Down at street level ....

The T & G Building again

And so to home ….

THANK YOU to the hard-working aliaVIC Library Technicians Committee for yet another superb piece of organising. A fabulous weekend away! 

Now ... time to prepare for Cairns in May  :-) 

At journey’s end

First posted on January 9, 2013

This little road trip wouldn’t have happened without Joseph’s off-the-cuff invitation to his family party when I couldn’t make his 'friends' party in Brisbane. And it wouldn’t have been the same had Alison & James not shown me such hospitality in Canberra. The kindness of strangers along the way lifted the spirits of this solo traveller. Thank you to dear friends and to angel strangers.

I set out with no plan other than to see some country NSW towns. I wondered at the wisdom of it – being both hot and holidays, when so many places would likely be closed. Yes, the heat was tiring at times, but not paralysingly so. That places were closed turned out not to matter. Seeing all the old buildings, not-ripped-down rather than preserved probably, was a beautiful sight. Pressed metal ceilings too, to shop verandahs and hotel doorways. Going inside any of them wouldn’t have improved on that – they would have been gutted and made over for modern day usage, or else they would have been empty and dusty, no longer in use at all. That Canowindra had been used as a film location caught my eye, but any one of the smaller towns could be similarly used.

I was amazed at how much new housing was being built in a number of places, both small towns and the outskirts of Canberra, which is changing rapidly. In just about all of these I was struck by the craziness of their design. No eaves, no verandahs. The wide eaves and extensive verandahs on the old homes are not only beautiful but practical. The new places have the harsh sun beating down on them without protection. You don’t notice it quite so much in suburbia but a farmhouse in the middle of a paddock … they’re building themselves ovens, not homes.

There was water in dams and rivers. Evidence of broken drought? Or a superficial gloss on a still present threat. Similarly, the towns looked mostly comfortable, if not prosperous. But does the town recovery mask still existent pain on the land? Doing a drive through as I did, even at a slower pace than those passing through quickly on their way to Sydney or beyond, you really can’t tell, only hope.

But after 2,485.6km door-to-door, can I draw a line under this trip just yet? At the Melbourne side of Kilmore, I changed lanes and accelerated to both pass a slow moving vehicle towing a boat as it exited the services and also to get a bit of oomph to go up the approaching hill. Damn! Round the slight curve I’m now doing close to 120 instead of 110 – a camera! So beautifully placed to raise a heap of revenue in that scenario that must be played out so many times each day. Waiting now to see if a certain envelope lands in my letter box. Oh well, can’t fight it if it does. And it won’t blot out the great experience that I’ve just had.

Deo gratias

Next? Well, arrived from Book Depository today … the Trailblazer Trans-Siberian guide! I love trains but think this one really is a fantasy!

................................

Later notes:
- Escaped a speeding ticket ... whew!
- Seriously considered the trans-Siberian railway but ... much as I'd have loved to do it, not as good value for money as all I managed to do and see on my Last Hurrah overseas holiday before I retired in 2014.

Almost .....

One sleep and I'm off! Mind you, a pretty short sleep by the time I get to bed then set the alarm for an 8.35am flight!
The mail has been cancelled.
The rubbish is out.
The washing's done.
The ironing's done.
The vacuuming's done.
The dishwasher is churning away.
The dusting .... well, you've got to draw the line somewhere!
I'm all packed.

I've checked in - boarding pass is on my phone.
Well, why not? If a plane can stay up in the air .....

This has been something of a long-term dream, one I didn't think would ever come to fruition. Friends Robyn & Ian did the same trip (in the reverse direction) last year. Robyn enthused so much I told her of my dream, “But not likely to happen because I'm a solo traveller.” To which Robyn replied that this is a good tour for solos. Thanks, Robyn, for all the excitement you've set in motion.

Why did I have this dream?
Scenery like this, photos courtesy of friends Joan & Ken who are currently travelling in the Kimberley and beyond with their caravan.


Emma Gorge

                                                           

Geikie Gorge

But there's more! I had no idea about the magic, description of their visit a few days ago courtesy of Joan. I'll be there in about 10 days.

Windjana Gorge ..... As well as seeing about 30 fresh water crocodiles lazing on the water’s edge, we also saw bats, 2 olive pythons in the trees near the bats and lots of fish.
Tunnel Creek is an amazing experience once you get into the tunnel. .... Make sure you take a really good torch to look at the rock formations, stalactites and stalagmites in the cave. ..... I will let you discover the rest of the tunnel for yourself, but when we got to the very end and into daylight again ..., the air was alive with butterflies which made it quite special.

Many thanks too to Robyn & Ian and Joan & Ken for some really useful tips for this novice camper.

Let the adventure begin!!!