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Published: April 2nd 2010
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So, it’s April Fools and Maundy Thursday, marking the start of Easter and, I’m sorry to report, it looks as if we’re both coming down with something. Hopefully not serious, but sore throats and sniffles are the last thing we want when we’ve got a long journey to Sydney. Anyway, we thought we’d press on, so that we could have some rest time if we really needed it.
Last night we’d stayed at a proper site with the most fantastic lake views, and they were even more beautiful this morning. We went down to the end of the peninsula that we were on (Paynesfield) and spent some time looking at the wonderful scenery and cars loading on to the ferry out to an outlying island.
I also poked my head in to the local craft shop. They really have it cracked here - a craft shop that everyone in the area can put their wares into. There were some really interesting things: handpainted silk scarves, crocheted hand puppets, fauna of Australia mobiles, but I thought it really sad to see all of the beautifully knitted matinee coats - I don’t think it matters how vintage we’ve all gone, I
can’t see many mums swapping their easy care baby clothes for handwash grandma knits. And what a shame that is! Having said that - I was particularly taken with the handknitted baby Ugg boots - and I came away with two finger puppets for the Christmas tree - a blue wren and a kookaburra - I could have gone on (the pelican and galah looked very enticing), but John said I only needed the two. (He was probably right!)
So we drove past 90 mile beach and popped in to Lakes Entrance at the end. This is the Lake District and then some! But you’ll have to believe me, because John says it’s more like the Broads ... in that its very flat and even he, master photographer that he is, cannot make it look very exciting! Trust me when I say it was lovely! We took advantage of the sighting of a McDonalds for John to park up in their car park and start downloading more Blogs while I dashed round the supermarket getting in vital supplies. Yes, we only have a few more days left in the van, and we have more food than we can eat,
or carry! Blast!
We drove from Victoria into New South Wales and into Eden! Yes, it really lived up to its name - what a spectacularly pretty place. We were in awe of the surfing beach, but probably not quite so keen on the historic graveyard just across the road. I know I’ve been bleating about surfing being dangerous, but there were several monuments to those who have paid the ultimate price for their sport, the youngest we saw being just 13.
As we were leaving the town, we called in to the Driver Reviver stop. Wonderful idea! The local emergency services man a ‘coffee stop’ that gives drivers a free cup of coffee to revive them and stop them falling asleep. They also gave us biscuits and some Easter eggs!! We stopped and chatted to some of the volunteers for ages, listening to the bell birds - small inconspicuous birds with the loudest call that sounds just like a bell ... amazing.
We are constantly bombarded with roadsigns telling us that ‘slowing down won’t kill us’, ‘sleep is the only reviver’, ‘powernap now’, and similar - but it looks like McDonalds have got involved as well
- with various hoardings up imploring us to drive safely. We passed one today with ‘Long Time Dead’ on it - we thought of you Donna & Andy!! The good news is that everyone is watching their speed this weekend - the police have announced that they are imposing ‘double indemnity’ - that is, they will double any penalty points and fines imposed for speeding, etc! John says he finds driving at a constant 60mph with nothing to look at or do for hours far more dangerous and certainly fatigue does seem to be one of the biggest killers!
Our night stop was the rest area at the Yellow Pinch Dam - there were 3 vans pulled up (including us) and after dinner we all congregated round Ray and Julia’s as they had the largest fire. This is the first time we’ve been able to sit round a campfire as there’s been a fire ban virtually everywhere else we’ve stopped. It was great to sit around chatting and swapping stories.
In case you’re wondering, we both remembered to say “White Rabbits,” so we must be in for a big win this month!!
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