Wednesday 29 November
Began the novel “Music and Freedom” by Zoe Morrison
Ararat – Stawell – Horsham – Lochiel – Nhill – Bordertown (South Australia) – Keith – Coonalpyn – Murray Bridge
7am Paul had me up and out of bed and while I might have been moving, I was by no means awake and with it, in fact I began questioning if I was indeed awake or just in some extreme dream. As it turned out it I was actually up.
I Me mechanically dressed, fed myself breakfast and made the bed all by 730am. Paul then drove the van to the loos and a short time later we joined the highway again, heading for South Australia. We had 2 places picked out; one being 350km away and just over the border and the other 500km. I figured by the early start, Paul was aiming for the latter.
The path we followed was well known to us, having travelled it back in March. Many landmarks and small towns stood out as reminders to that time 8 months ago. We passed familiar wineries we had dropped into, drove through Stawell, passed the giant koala at Dadswell, all before making it to Horsham an hour later.
From Horsham we followed the A8, the roadside boards telling us we were heading to Adelaide. Much of the initial journey passed through farmers paddocks of golden wheat ready for harvest. Against a grey blue sky the wheat did take on a shimmering quality that was quite mesmerising.
We passed by the Dimboola, Rainbow and Jeparit signs, all places we had checked before. We then made our way towards Nhill, driving past the pink lake of Lochiel. It seemed a fair bit pinker than when we stopped to check it out months ago.
The temperature outside was slowly creeping up, another reason Paul wanted to be on the road early. We were expecting a 36 degree day and it was 32 by 930am. We stopped just short of Nhill to fix the bike up. A strap had broken and it was on a lean.
After making everything right, we continued through Nhill, where we had stopped for lunch previously. Once out the other side, the sign said 80km to Bordertown and we suddenly thought, food checkpoint. Hmm. We would need to stop and eat our seeded fruit and vegetables.
As we drove along I fed us cherry tomatoes, slices of red capsicum, cucumber and as we crossed the border at 1030am, we finished our bananas off as well.
We stopped at the quarantine bin to remove all the rubbish collect a bus load of flies receive a sauna flow of heat, do a quick vehicle check and then move on. The GPS had now changed our time zone, giving us an extra ½ hour, SA time now 10am, 2 ½ behind Perth.
We passed through Bordertown a short time later, confused that we hadn’t been through a quarantine checkpoint, guess we ate all the vege for no reason and the bin stop was it. I suppose they think most people will do the right thing. I also assume, like all other Government departments, cut backs mean checks only happen randomly.
1045am and we reached Keith. This was the initial destination for the day, but being so early, we wouldn’t be hanging around. Instead, we fuelled up the van, took advantage of the loos, did a vehicle check and cleaned windows before rejoining the A8, Dukes Highway, 150km short of our other chosen stop, Murray Bridge.
At 1140am, the Coonalpyn silo art sign caught my eye and I had Paul pulling over 500m further on, so that I could get out and take a few photos of the massive canvas showcasing children of the district. We were then back in the car and continuing on, only 80km to go.
Once we reached Tailem Bend, we knew we weren’t far away and sure enough, just before 1pm we were back at the Murray Bridge Showgrounds, a place we have stayed at twice during this trip. Thankfully there was a place for us to park with power and water and once the car was off, Paul reversed into the spot and we set about sorting ourselves and the van for the night, that included cranking the air Con, as it was now 39 outside and the clouds were rolling in to make it sultry
We took ourselves into town to replace the vegetables we scoffed before the border. The shops were wonderfully chilled and I could have spent the next 6 hours just hanging around, walking aimlessly and using the free internet. In the end we grabbed what we needed and came home,
I put together a quick lunch, then Paul collapsed on the bed while I watched an episode of Offspring, before I joined him on the bed where the air Con felt far more effective.
After lounging around for an hour, we drove back in to town for a walk along the Main Street where the jacaranda trees were in full bloom, throwing the colour purple all over the sidewalk. We also walked down by the Murray River where a cooler breeze was wafting across the water. Fat drops of rain were taking shots at us as we meandered along side of the murky water. All around us thick, dark grey clouds blocked the sun, thunder was rumbling and more rain threatened. When the sun did managed to punctuate through, it melted us down into sweaty puddles.
We returned to the van for 530pm, Paul wandered across the road to check out the Norton’ for sale and see if the old boy would budge on the prices of 8 months ago, meanwhile, I stayed cool in the van watching some more Offspring and preparing dinner.
Paul returned at 630pm, chatting to Jaden about his win at the Wanneroo Show and securing a rental. I cooked dinner and helped prepare the salad, before sitting down to eat. Knowing I hadn’t done a lot of walking, we set out for an evening stroll. The basketball stadium was a hive of activity, so we stopped in there first to check out some of the action before continuing our lap of the oval.
Much of the space was taken up by Carnies, with the circus in town. We completed two laps, spying the lions in a very long lorry. I felt sorry for them, but didn’t wish to be lion lunch, so they would have to stay where they were.
The sun was well and truly on its way out, the dark clouds becoming awash with vivid yellow, orange, pink and purple. It was a stunning show of colour and while it was still quite warm, it was a lovely evening to be out.
After two laps of the oval, we returned to the basketball stadium. The games were complete, so we didn’t hang around as it was sweltering inside the tin gym. Back at the van, we turned on the air con and settled in for the evening.
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