Reflections of Mr Universe and the Lady of the Nightie, and other things.

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“Travelling broadens the mind”, Frank Sady (Grey Nomad). “Yes, and the hips, and it turns the belly into jelly”, Irene Sady (Temporary Grey Nomad – hair appointment made for next week).

Travelling makes one very casual. When we started out on our journey just over eight weeks ago, we were very regimented and organised. We were up at six am to put some of the many miles behind us. Here we are at the end of the trip and it is a different story. Now we loll around in bed until eight am (still very early for me), and get ourselves moving at a leisurely pace. Admittedly, the distance between stops is a lot less than it was. Today we have travelled about forty kilometres from Port Fairy to Warrnambool, only about three hours from home. We didn’t intend on getting home until tomorrow, so we are stretching it out with some sightseeing and will have a seafood dinner in a local restaurant tonight.
Organising ourselves this morning, we were distracted by another couple packing up their van, ready for their departure. Distracted is an understatement, we were enthralled. ‘Twas a bit chilly in Port Fairy this morning, about twelve degrees, and here was the male half of the couple (Mr Universe) getting around wearing shorts. No shirt, no footwear, just shorts. Hobbling around on the stony ground, all one hundred and fifty kilos or so of him. Not a very pretty sight. The female half of the couple (The Lady of the Nightie) put in a good effort at packing things up while still wearing her dressing gown. Why they didn’t get dressed first, we will never know. I imagined they lost all their clothes and were left with what they were wearing. Once they had everything packed up and ready to go, they popped into the van and came out dressed, almost. He got his t-shirt and put it on outside. There is casual, and there is plain ridiculous.

Travelling brings you closer. Apart from of the obvious physical closeness of sitting next to each other in the car, there are no imminent divorce plans, so that could be right. Unlike at home, we haven’t been out of each other’s sight for more than twenty minutes in the last eight weeks. Despite constantly being in each others space, we actually talk and laugh more with each other than we did before we left home. There is a lot to be said for shared experiences.

Travelling makes you appreciate what you have. We haven’t really packed very much into the van for our trip. The Captain wouldn’t allow it. “You have to consider the weight”. It is a wonder he has allowed me to come along, or hasn’t kicked me out. I haven’t been on scales, but at a guess, I would say there is a bit of added weight. Much of what we took with us, we haven’t needed. Makes you think about that house full of stuff waiting for us. Having said that, another two pairs of shoes have been added to the inventory today. That makes three in total, this trip. I think somebody has a problem - Frank isn’t that keen on my shoe collection.
We have passed through many desolate towns, and know that the citizens have very little, including Coober Pedy. Our van is a lot more comfortable than many of the homes we have seen. We have also seen much wealth, in the form of homes, yachts, and boats. Yesterday evening, taking a stroll along the marina at Port Fairy, we were astounded at the number of boat/yachts that were neglected and left to rot. It was obvious that they hadn’t been used in a long time.
The trip from the Eyre Peninsula to Warrnambool included a night at Burra in South Australia. This former copper mining town was a real gem, very pretty and filled with historic buildings. South Australia has many sandstone cottages and major buildings. We think there is a Germanic influence to the architecture. From there we went down to Meningie and travelled along The Coorong to Nelson, then on to Port Fairy. We managed to get geographically embarrassed (lost) several times along the way. Simon saved the day. The fishing rods remained packed away, as it has been too windy. We can look forward to more fishing on the weekends closer to home.
Souvenirs are special mementos of ones travels. Before we left Cowell on the Eyre Peninsula, we went back to the sea wall and did a little fossicking for jade. We had been told the overburden from the jade mine was used in its construction. Sure enough, there were pieces of jade lying around, being walked over. We collected a few pieces to bring home with us. On the way back to the car, we were challenged by a couple of elderly locals, who asked if we were stealing their rocks. Frank told them we were gradually relocating their sea wall to Victoria. They didn’t get it. We then explained that we were collecting pieces of jade, and they weren’t even aware of it being there. So much for local knowledge. We have picked up other rocks from places of significance, but have purchased very little in the way of souvenirs. We have a huge collection of wildflower photographs, taken by Frank, which will be made into a coffee table book. The rest is in our memories. We have some very special memories to share for the rest of our lives, or until dementia kicks in.

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