We’ve done it, taken the plunge, ridden off into the sunset, hit the road etc etc!
After years of discussions and quite a bit of planning, last Monday, 1st August 2016, Danita and I left Sydney.
This last week has been a very busy one and a quiet one all at the same time.
If you think that sounds crazy then you’re on the right track (after all, we left Sydney to travel to Tasmania via Perth – the logical way to go, don’t you think?)
In summary, we took three days to travel from Sydney to Melbourne, spent a couple of days in Melbourne catching up with family and friends and then flew to Perth to attend my father’s tomb stone consecration and my mother’s 90th birthday.
We’ll be in Perth for two and a bit weeks then back to Melbourne for an overnight stopover and then the Spirit of Tasmania to our new life in the south island.
That’s the short version/executive summary – now for the details ie the interesting parts.
Talking about short versions, I’m often reminded about how we need to be succinct in our communication these days because of the impact of time pressure or rather, ‘lack of time’ pressure.
As an example, here’s Banjo Patterson’s “Man From Snowy River” modified to meet modern requirements:
“There was movement at the station, for the word had passed around
That the colt from old Regret had got away,
So they went and got him back again”
Anyway, as I was saying, before being rudely interrupted…
We left our last house-sit mid-morning on Monday.
Danita and Sancho travelling by car and me on the motorbike.
We’d arranged to meet at Stanwell Park before travelling along Lawrence Hargreave Drive which includes the cliff drive, a beautiful ride just north of Wollongong.
The rest of that day was a ride/drive to Narooma and overnight at Pub Hill Farm, a gorgeous B and B where they are happy to welcome dogs.
Now, I’m a very nervous bike rider, which is probably a good thing as it makes me quite cautious.
I remember a couple of signs on the wall when I did the course to get my licence (a lllloooonnnngggg time ago):
“Take revenge – live long enough to be a problem for your children.”
“There are old riders and there are bold riders, but there are no old, bold riders.”
I definitely want to place myself in the “old riders” category.
I also have a vivid imagination when it comes to imagining disaster scenarios – for astrology buffs, I blame Pluto on my Ascendant.
The combination of vivid imagination and a long time on your own, thinking (being on a bike certainly limits your opportunity for conversation) means I must have covered every catastrophe possible with me as the main character.
These include:
– coming around the corner to something across the road which I couldn’t avoid (see attached photo)
– a truck jack-knifing and being on its side across the whole road, sliding towards me at speed
– a car on the wrong side of the road because the driver had fallen asleep at the wheel
– hitting a kangaroo or wombat (those are pretty big up close)
– miscalculating my speed entering a corner and ending up on the wrong side of the road with on-coming traffic
– arriving in Melbourne and sliding on wet tram tracks
and lots more.
While a long bike ride is fun and a great experience, given the above scenarios, it’s also exhausting.
I managed to give myself a good talking to about trust and faith and, as you can see, I did make it safe and well.
However, we arrived at Narooma after dark, a situation I had been hoping to avoid.
Added to that was the ten kilometre ride along unsealed, unlit, country roads (one of my nightmare scenarios) to get to Pub Hill Farm.
That was a very slow ride.
Anyway, next day we pushed on (not much choice really) and arrived at our next destination, Orbost, safe and well.
The final day was Orbost to Melbourne with plenty of rainy patches (don’t get me started on riding in the wet IN WINTER) and again arrived within daylight.
That night we both collapsed feeling utterly exhausted.
Considering the drive from Sydney to Melbourne takes normal people less than a day our three day trip was quite an achievement.
Mind you, we once did a trip from Perth to The Pinnacles which is a three hour drive – it took us three days, but that’s another story.
Once in Melbourne, and recovered slightly from exhaustion, we spent a lovely day doing grandparent stuff, attending storytelling at a local library and visiting my children and grandchildren.
That part of the week was wrapped up by a flight to Perth which all things considered went very well.
I did however, find myself experiencing a significant amount of frustration and anger.
I still can’t explain it but I’m pleased to say it passed without me exploding and causing any damage, but it was a bit touch-and-go for a while.
We’re now staying in Perth at my sister and her husband’s AirBnB unit which means we have our own space.
Remembering the old adage of “relatives are like fish, they go off after three days” this is a great arrangement.
BTW, if you’re looking for somewhere nice to stay in Perth I recommend their place – check out this link and tell them Laurence sent you.