Second day of travel

With only a six hours driving ahead of us Colleen and I did not leap out of our beds until after seven and then had a leisurely breakfast and loaded the car. The key was returned to the reception and off we went – eight o clock wasn’t too bad! Our later start meant that we would avoid the heavy traffic of morning rush hour.

Once again we had a beautiful sunny day so the scenery was seen at its best. Our lunch stop was at the side of the road in a rather busy parking and picnic bay but we were fortunate to find a sheltered table and seats. Pulled in a little way from our table was a small truck on which trays of fruit and veggies were displayed for sale. After clearing away our lunch things and packing them in the car Colleen ambled over and bought a box of nectarines to take to the relative she was going to stay with in Canberra.

 In the afternoon I was ready for a break from driving and there seemed to be no picnic bays anywhere so I took an exit an drove 3 kilometers to a service station at a small town. In the car park was a small market so after enjoying a rather bitter coffee (our own would have been much nicer!) we wandered around the half dozen stalls and both Colleen and I picked up a little trinket that will go into our “Christmas present” collection! We enjoyed the exchange of banter with the stall holder! He did too!

This time the GPS took us to the motel I had booked on line without a fault. I checked in at about 4.15 had a quick look around, took Colleen in to have a look too before we drove on to the suburb of Cook to where Colleen was going to stay.

I was introduced to Shirley and her daughter Pat and we had a delightful meal together before I begged my leave and returned to my “lonely” room to write my little story for this blog. I even set up the pani-blog (my pistol grip camera/camcorder) ion a little tripod and took a shot of myself with my laptop!

I think I must have run my fingers through my hair because I seem to have lost my fringe! Do I look tired? I am now, so I will post this and do something about it!

AJ

Canberra Trip - Leaving Home

Both Colleen (my lady friend from Brisbane) and I found it almost impossible to sleep soundly with a big day of driving ahead of us and knowing we were to wake up at 5.00am. So after waking up half a dozen times through the night we were both seated at the breakfast table by six. The dogs have to be fed before people! So they were given their doggy roll and the lorikeets raw sugar and bread was prepared before we sat down to eat. (There is a ritual in our kitchen that cannot be changed!)

Colin waved us goodbye at seven and we were on our way with a full tank of petrol and far too many clothes, since we had been told that it was to be cold in Canberra and we need to be “prepared”.

Colleen has two bad knees so I didn’t ask her to take over the driving at any stage but we stopped for a morning tea at a roadside picnic stop and then stopped again when we reached Coffs Harbour to have a banana split at the “Big Banana”! Boy, was that good! I had strawberry topping and Colleen, Caramel and we struggled with the bendy plastic spoon and the delicious creamy banana icecream. Perhaps the customers have stolen all the real spoons – or else the staff has decided against washing spoons!

When we got back into the car I plugged in my USB memory stick with folders of music on into the car radio so from there on we were entertained with music. When Colleen nodded off I changed the music to classical and enjoyed a different style of sound.

Just as we pulled into the motel we are staying in tonight the phone rang. Colin must have telepathy – he thought we should have arrived “by now”. The woman in the reception was puzzled as to why we were taking so long to get out of the car!

 Colleen and AJ

Of course the kettle was the first thing that was checked and filled! I know my priorities!

Here we are enjoying the results of that great move!

Once I have posted this tale we shall go off in search of an evening meal. We both fancy Chinese food tonight – but we shall see.

AJ