Some People Might Call It Lost
Day... Umm... I don't know what day it is.
I left Sydney on Sunday morning at about 10:30 and had a leisurely drive down to my Aunt's place in Tabourie Lake. Not a lot to report there, really. Their house looks a lot different sine last time I was there, about 14 years ago. My Aunt and her husband look pretty much the same though. Then I left there at about 8:30 the next morning. I wasn't sure where I was going to be stopping that night-- it depended on how far I went.
I think there was once a survey done in which 95 percent of people asked thought they were a better than average driver. (Ok, so I do not remember the exact number, but it was a bloody high percentage.) The point is, that kind of percentage sounds mathematically impossible. Really though, all those people may actually be right because I saw some people who were really dragging the average down. You know those signs at the end of overtaking lanes that say 'Form one Lane'? I'm sure you do. One guy I saw thought passing one of those signs was a perfect opportunity to move from the right hand lane to the left to overtake (or is that undertake) a car that had just recently formed one lane. In another place, in some town or other, I was happily driving along at 80km/hr (I was allowed to) in the centre of two lanes. I could see a sing saying there was road-works ahead and that the left lane would be ending-- it was the first warning. So I was going along at 80 and a car in the left hand lane decided he was going to go around the truck in front. Of course, he cut me off and I had to slam on my breaks. But then, of course, there was another truck in front again and when he caught that one, he decided to go back to the left... Only there was no left to go to. He took out a witch's hat before realising.
Unlike most people, I think I'm an average driver, but sometimes I wonder.
Anyway, not segues today...
I have decided that I really like the south coast of NSW. I would like to live somewhere between Moruya and Eden, so if anyone reading this know of any work in the area... The work can't be too hard of course. And I must get paid a lot of money.
I made it to Lakes Entrance by about 4pm. It looked like a nice place, so I decided to stay there for the full 3 days I had until I expected in Melbourne.
Because of my tent having spinal problems, I hired a cabin for the three nights. And at $40 per night it was well worth the money. It had a heater and a shower and an electric blanket. Hmmm... Electric blanket. The shower was actually fairly horrible though. Hot one second, freezing the next. I used it, but wasn't at all happy with the experience.
I didn't do a whole heap at L.E. It rained on and off for the first full and cricket was on, so I watched TV and wrote most of the day. Whos stupid idea was it that one of my characters should now have tattoos and that those tattoos should be an important part of his culture? Idiot.
The next day I wandered around town a bit and took a walk out to the Entrance. It was all nice and relaxing, which was the point really.
I left there yesterday morning and drove to Melbourne via Wilson's Promontory and the Mornington Peninsular. WP was nice but I didn't have enough time to go on any of the walks. It was originally my intention to stay somewhere close to there for at least one night, instead of 3 at LE, and now kinda wish I had-- though maybe I would've been too lazy to go on much of a walk. The shortest I saw was 3km one way. It was colder than Lakes Entrance and bloody windy.
Mornington Peninsular was interesting as well. Farms overlooking the ocean (or bay or whatever) about 3/4 of an hour from the centre of Melbourne.
It's funny the things that set off memories. Whenever I smell smoked fish, for example, I think of pizza. Yep. My father never really like pizza but loved smoked fish. When I was a kid, my sister and I were the opposite. So every time we had pizza, he had smoked fish. Every time, And of course, the fish smelled a lot stronger than the pizza when it was cooking, so now, when I smell smoked fish I think of pizza.
Now, doing all this driving, I sometimes didn't feel like listening to music. Which turned out to be strange itself (not strange that I didn't want to listen to music-- but it was strange being in the car with no music going. I was starting to think my car sounded like Ben Folds, Guns and Roses and the Screaming Jets. It actually makes a enginey sound. Who'd have thunk?) So anyways, I was driving along with no music, and for some reason or other, I decided to put on my indicator-- probably had something to do with going around a corner, who knows. And, well, I was reminded of coming back late from a long trip when I was a kid.
I would always wake up at the same time-- when the car slowed before turning off the main road and into our street. The indicator would be on, about the only sound there was. I would keep my eyes closed, half asleep, listening. Half way around that last corner, indicator going, there would be a crunch of gravel. Always the same. For years.
That gravel is still there-- I don't know how. So, even now, ten years after I moved out (and even though I have no real reason to remember the town fondly), the sound of an indicator and crunching gravel sounds like going home.
But, I was in Melbourne, going to my cousin's home. Some people might say I got lost, I like to think of it as exploring. In my defence, it was dark, and peak hour traffic, and I didn't have the most detailed map ever drawn up. But anyway...
And that's about it from me. All very exciting. My novel is moving along nicely though, I think. And I'm relaxing. If only I could do this all the time.
I left Sydney on Sunday morning at about 10:30 and had a leisurely drive down to my Aunt's place in Tabourie Lake. Not a lot to report there, really. Their house looks a lot different sine last time I was there, about 14 years ago. My Aunt and her husband look pretty much the same though. Then I left there at about 8:30 the next morning. I wasn't sure where I was going to be stopping that night-- it depended on how far I went.
I think there was once a survey done in which 95 percent of people asked thought they were a better than average driver. (Ok, so I do not remember the exact number, but it was a bloody high percentage.) The point is, that kind of percentage sounds mathematically impossible. Really though, all those people may actually be right because I saw some people who were really dragging the average down. You know those signs at the end of overtaking lanes that say 'Form one Lane'? I'm sure you do. One guy I saw thought passing one of those signs was a perfect opportunity to move from the right hand lane to the left to overtake (or is that undertake) a car that had just recently formed one lane. In another place, in some town or other, I was happily driving along at 80km/hr (I was allowed to) in the centre of two lanes. I could see a sing saying there was road-works ahead and that the left lane would be ending-- it was the first warning. So I was going along at 80 and a car in the left hand lane decided he was going to go around the truck in front. Of course, he cut me off and I had to slam on my breaks. But then, of course, there was another truck in front again and when he caught that one, he decided to go back to the left... Only there was no left to go to. He took out a witch's hat before realising.
Unlike most people, I think I'm an average driver, but sometimes I wonder.
Anyway, not segues today...
I have decided that I really like the south coast of NSW. I would like to live somewhere between Moruya and Eden, so if anyone reading this know of any work in the area... The work can't be too hard of course. And I must get paid a lot of money.
I made it to Lakes Entrance by about 4pm. It looked like a nice place, so I decided to stay there for the full 3 days I had until I expected in Melbourne.
Because of my tent having spinal problems, I hired a cabin for the three nights. And at $40 per night it was well worth the money. It had a heater and a shower and an electric blanket. Hmmm... Electric blanket. The shower was actually fairly horrible though. Hot one second, freezing the next. I used it, but wasn't at all happy with the experience.
I didn't do a whole heap at L.E. It rained on and off for the first full and cricket was on, so I watched TV and wrote most of the day. Whos stupid idea was it that one of my characters should now have tattoos and that those tattoos should be an important part of his culture? Idiot.
The next day I wandered around town a bit and took a walk out to the Entrance. It was all nice and relaxing, which was the point really.
I left there yesterday morning and drove to Melbourne via Wilson's Promontory and the Mornington Peninsular. WP was nice but I didn't have enough time to go on any of the walks. It was originally my intention to stay somewhere close to there for at least one night, instead of 3 at LE, and now kinda wish I had-- though maybe I would've been too lazy to go on much of a walk. The shortest I saw was 3km one way. It was colder than Lakes Entrance and bloody windy.
Mornington Peninsular was interesting as well. Farms overlooking the ocean (or bay or whatever) about 3/4 of an hour from the centre of Melbourne.
It's funny the things that set off memories. Whenever I smell smoked fish, for example, I think of pizza. Yep. My father never really like pizza but loved smoked fish. When I was a kid, my sister and I were the opposite. So every time we had pizza, he had smoked fish. Every time, And of course, the fish smelled a lot stronger than the pizza when it was cooking, so now, when I smell smoked fish I think of pizza.
Now, doing all this driving, I sometimes didn't feel like listening to music. Which turned out to be strange itself (not strange that I didn't want to listen to music-- but it was strange being in the car with no music going. I was starting to think my car sounded like Ben Folds, Guns and Roses and the Screaming Jets. It actually makes a enginey sound. Who'd have thunk?) So anyways, I was driving along with no music, and for some reason or other, I decided to put on my indicator-- probably had something to do with going around a corner, who knows. And, well, I was reminded of coming back late from a long trip when I was a kid.
I would always wake up at the same time-- when the car slowed before turning off the main road and into our street. The indicator would be on, about the only sound there was. I would keep my eyes closed, half asleep, listening. Half way around that last corner, indicator going, there would be a crunch of gravel. Always the same. For years.
That gravel is still there-- I don't know how. So, even now, ten years after I moved out (and even though I have no real reason to remember the town fondly), the sound of an indicator and crunching gravel sounds like going home.
But, I was in Melbourne, going to my cousin's home. Some people might say I got lost, I like to think of it as exploring. In my defence, it was dark, and peak hour traffic, and I didn't have the most detailed map ever drawn up. But anyway...
And that's about it from me. All very exciting. My novel is moving along nicely though, I think. And I'm relaxing. If only I could do this all the time.
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