Home!

Well, here we are- home again after driving halfway around Australia!

We've been marking in our route as we went... and finally completed the loop today!

We have often driven between Sydney and Melbourne, usually only making one or two short stops for fuel, but this time we were towing the caravan and had been driving long distances for several days in a row and it had taken its toll on all of us.  Our first stop was at the Holbrook Bakery where we had a cup of coffee and shared a sticky bun. 

Then, passing ripe wheat fields and grazing sheep, we crossed the border from New South Wales into Victoria.  The golden colours of the landscape here, backed by the blue peaks of the Snowy Mountains and the Victorian Alps, are quite different from the lush green forests and rich red soils of the Tweed Valley, but to me they are equally beautiful.

The Hume Freeway bypasses most of the small towns along the way these days and it is convenient to stop at the big roadhouses and service centres on the highway for fuel and food stops.   I asked Philip if we could make an exception this time and drive into Benalla for lunch.  Not only would it make this last stretch feel more like part of our journey of exploration, but I wanted to show the children the town where I was born!  So, taking a small detour past the Benalla and District Memorial Hospital, we stopped off at the beautiful Rose Garden in the town's centre.  I was reminded of the days when several families from the church in Melbourne would travel to Sydney for the Easter conference in convoy.  Back in the 'seventies the old Hume Highway was narrow with few overtaking lanes and passed through every little town along the way; the cars had no airconditioning (or seatbelts in the back!) and we made many stops for the sake of those who needed frequent toilet breaks!  How long those trips were, and how excited we children were to join our friends from other cars for a run in the park!   Today Esther and Arthur had fun climbing up the same rocket we played in all those years ago, but the high swings I remember have been replaced with smaller (safer) ones.

Usually we would have driven straight home after Benalla, but Philip found he was having trouble keeping his eyes open so we pulled into a rest area at Seymour- only an hour from home!  While Philip had a quick "power nap"and the children played on a fallen tree...

...I made afew phone calls to let people know we'd be home soon.  When I got onto Arthur's kindergarten teacher, she asked whether there would be any chance that we could make it to the Christmas play, which they were putting on tonight! I said I'd make no promises, but would come if at all possible.
So after a cup of tea we were on the way again.  The last stretch went quickly.  The children exclaimed as they recognised familiar landmarks along the way, and at changes that had taken place since we left.  And then we were HOME!!! 

One of the corner we didn't recognise... so many new buildings have been rising up!

The roses were in bloom, but there was no time to stop and admire them.  It was just before five o'clock and I had just enough time to find some fresh clothes to wear and brush Esther's hair... and get Arthur to Kinder at five thirty! Which is how it came about that Arthur acted the part of a shepherd in the Kindergarten Christmas Play tonight!  He had not rehearsed once, of course, but he knew all the songs and followed the lead of the other shepherds beautifully!
As one last surprise we realised that the primary school- across the road from the Kinder- was having its Christmas concert tonight as well, giving Esther the opportunity to greet her teacher and a few of her classmates.  Arthur met the wonderful teacher he will have next year and I caught up with my colleagues and had a very quick briefing on what I will be doing when I go back to work next year.

I was so glad the children had the opportunity to see their wonderful kinergarten teacher before the holidays!  She also taught Janice, John and Katina, and we feel priveleged to have had our children in her care!

Esther was so happy to see her teacher, too... and excited to learn that she is going to have a baby!

Now we have a busy few days ahead as we unpack the caravan and get ready for Christmas.  Life is not back to normal just yet....

The 'Gong to Jugiong

We left Wollongong after lunch yesterday and drove as far as Jugiong.  Most of the way it looked dark and wintry, with leaden grey skies making it hard to believe the Summer Solstice is only two days away.  We have driven this road so often when travelling between Melbourne and Sydney, but I never tire of it.  Today I enjoyed looking at the beautiful cloud formations rolling up over the horizon.  Just before Goulburn I was taking the lens cap off my camera to capture the view ahead- dark clouds all around with one wide, vertical stripe of grey where the rain was falling- when we drove straight into it a curtain of water.  It was like driving under a waterfall and the windscreen wipers made no difference at all to visibility.  Then, just as suddenly we came out behind the curtain into gentle rain.  I've never experienced such a downpour, and now know what is meant by the expression "bucketing down"!
There is a large free camping area along the river at Jugiong where we had decided to stay overnight.  As we got closer the clouds parted to leave an expanse of blue sky right over our destination!  

The "Big Merino" has been moved and has had an update since I last saw it!  I don't think I've been through Goulburn since the freeway bypass was built.

When we arrived the children helped gather wood and prepare a fire.  Before lighting it, we strolled across the road to see whether there was somewhere where we could get a cup of coffee.  There is a really nice cafe across the road, but like the rest of Jugiong, it had closed for the night and doesn't re-open till Wednesday.  The children enjoyed looking at the sculptures and artworks on display before heading back to light our campfire.

"Let's climb up the bridge and catch pigeons, Esther!"

After dinner (cooked on the coals) Philip read the children a story.  When they were in bed we sat and looked at the firelight and the night sky, listening to the silence.  The stars were clear and bright overhead, while on the horizon we could see flashes of lightning where storms were raging around us.

This morning the only clouds were a few vapour trails left by aeroplanes passing high overhead.  It was lovely to wake up

"...Where the bluegums are growing

and the Murrumbidgee's flowing

beneath a sunny sky... "

As I write we are in fact on the road to Gundagai.  After more than four months on the road it is strange to think that we are on the home straight....

Drive to Wollongong

Yesterday we had a relatively short drive- only four hours- to get to Wollongong.  As we passed Newcastle, crossed the Hawkesbury River and approached the northern outskirts of Sydney I felt myself becoming nostalgic.  The sandstone cuttings and the familiar bush were so reminiscent of the times we visited my Oma and Oom Theo in the Blue Mountains and of the bush around Long Point Camp. 

Dew covered spiderwebs in the grass.

Philip, who grew up in Sydney, began to point out familiar landmarks. In Turramurra he suddely exclaimed "That's the corner where the lady fainted"  and proceeded to tell the story: while visiting his father a few years ago, he was withdrawing some money from an ATM and said to an elderly lady standing behind him that he wouldn't be long.  When he finished his transaction he turned around to find her lying on the ground, out cold!  Preparing to put his first aid training into practice and check her airways, he was suddenly shoved out of the way by a middle aged passerby.  "I'm a nurse!" she declared and thumped the lady's chest with her clenched fist.  Philip asked whether it might not be a good idea to check first if she was breathing, but she said, "I'm a nurse. Stand back and call an ambulance."...  A few minutes later we crossed the Parramatta River at Meadowbank, where he grew up.  Pointing at the railway bridge upstream, he told of how as a boy he used to climb up the pylons from a rusty steel boat to take baby pigeons from their nests.  Arthur, our bird-lover, liked the idea of hand rearing young pigeons and asked "Can you teach me how to do that, too, Dad?"

I would have liked time to visit my little sister... I'm glad it's only a few weeks till the summer conference!

Fairy Meadow...

After a smooth run through Sydney we arrived at Wollongong around lunchtime.  It was nice to catch up with Philip's sister, his niece and her family. 
Until now it just hasn't felt like Christmas.  I bought a few Christmas CDs which we've been playing in the car, and we've started reading the Christmas story from the children's Bible, but it was still a surprise to see the decorated tree when we arrived here!  But yesterday we sampled Aunty Marian's Christmas trifle for dessert, and this morning the children were given their first presents and I keep hummimg the tune "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas"...

  This morning Philip has taken the car to his sister's mechanic for an oil and filter change and we hope to be on our way again later today.  As we're starting late we'll have to break the journey somewhere overnight, but if all goes well we should be home tomorrow!