December 22, 2012
Road Trip
I’ve just made the 300km trip to my hometown to spend Christmas with my family. It’s a long trip when you have a chronic illness and are travelling alone (well, with a dog) but it’s a good opportunity to have a good think.
1km
Coffee break. Okay, so I planned this to avoid making and cleaning up breakfast. Poor Dog thought she was going to a play date, but just enough time to grab a quick coffee, a piece of toast and read the first two pages of the paper
17km
Where’s the cruise button gone? Same place that the volume control is on the steering wheel. I don’t have it. I’m not driving one of the work cars.
63km
As I’m going through a slightly windy part of the route I remember a conversation I had with my mum in the same spot 12 years. I’d just bought my first car and we were driving home. Dad was driving ahead and Mum decided she needed to tell him something. She was going to phone him and I suggested that maybe as we were in a fairly remote area we probably wouldn’t have reception. She couldn’t understand why that would be the case when we could see his car. Sorry mum, they’re not walky talkies
120km
I’ve remembered 4 things that I’m sure I’ve forgotten. Nothing urgent, just inconvenient.
124km
I’ve forgotten what it was that I remembered I’d forgotten.
136km
Time to stretch our legs in the largest town along our route, a thriving metropolis of 2300 people! Coax the dog out of the car. Wander around letting her sniff things. Coax her back into the car with treats. Check the boot to see if maybe I remembered to pack the lollies. Nope, I really did forget them.
149km
One of my favourite road signs. Sounds much more pleasant than a bumpy road.
My other favourite is “Fatigue Kills”. It hasn’t got me yet!!
167km
The scenery
180km
I’ve been driving this road regularly for the past four years. It was only during floods about 18months ago that I realised this was swampland. Prior to that the droughts in the area had dried it out.
197km
Starting to fade. I could do with those lollies. I know they’d make me feel terrible later but a sugar high would help me get through the last 100km
209km
Christmas in rural Australia – I was hoping to see the old scarecrows that a farmer dresses up as a Christmas family watching TV would be out but I either missed them or they’ve been put away.
213km
A duck? Out here? Just out of the corner of my eyes I’m sure that’s what I saw. Can’t have. Hold on, could have been a snake, a brown snake curled up with its head up. Hmm. Not going back to find out.
228km
Straight ahead and behind. The farmers in this region have had it really tough. After a decade of drought there were massive floods through the region about 18 months ago. Now everything is so dry again. Many farmers are unsuccessfully trying to sell up, and walking off the land.
247km
I could really do with a bathroom break thanks to the coffee and the attempt to keep hydrated…but you saw the scenery
263km
There’s some fantastic Australian music on my playlist. I just hit play on the alphabetical list and am finding myself singing along to some oldies but goodies (You Am I, Powderfinger ) as well as some newies (The Rubans, San cisco).
287km
Nearly home…the ground starts to turn red.
298km
Made it
Living in Dreamland 