Gary and Georgie’s Relaxin’, Rambunctious and Riotous Road Trip April 2021
In late April 2021 Gary and Georgie Collier set off on a road trip. The idea was to drive to Bairnsdale and drop our son Finn off at a friend’s house and then spend a couple of nights at Metung on the Gippsland Lakes. Then to drive inland to Canberra then east to the South Coast of NSW, Sydney and then to wherever our hearts desired. This is my log of our trip.
Monday April 19th 2021 - Day 1
The time seems to stream by much faster in the quiet of the morning. What seems like a few minutes since the alarm went off has turned into one hour and now it’s 7.30 a.m.
Finn is awake but Georgie is still fast asleep. We are about the head off to Bairnsdale in a couple of hours.
I have prepared as much as I can. Food, cords, clothes etc, I just hope that I don’t have so much stuff that the car overflows, then I’ll be in big trouble with Georgie and Finn. I don’t think we have a place to stay in Metung just yet but I’m sure we’ll find one to sleep in. The most important thing for me on this trip is lots of sleep, walking and fresh air, decent food and a bit of discovery and exploration.
I haven’t even looked at maps or thought much about where we will go. I think we will make our way up from Bairnsdale to Canberra and then to Sydney and then up to the Myall Lakes National Park area up past Newcastle. It doesn’t really matter as long as we just enjoy ourselves.
Both Finn and I had massages yesterday from our Chinese masseuse, Mike. Mike and his wife Vera (their anglicized names) have moved from their shopfront in Kilsyth to their home in Croydon and have set up a simple but very nice space at the back of their house. Mike is such a damn good masseuse. After a huge break from receiving massages my body responded in a predictable manner – pain. But this morning it feels far more relaxed and from what I can observe the massage was a huge success. Finn had neck problems and even they seem to have dissipated (for now).
Tuesday April 20, 2021 - Day 2
We arrived in Bairnsdale at around 2.30 p.m on Monday afternoon to drop Finn at his friend, Joseph’s house. After the initial hellos Damo ( the step grandfather in law) took me into his “shed” to show me the guitar amps that he has been working on. I had no idea that he was so into electronics. The big amplifier that he is currently building is based on the Fender Bassman amp which is what I have had since 1970. Mine was already second hand when I bought it in 1970 so it is well and truly more than 50 years old. The great news is that he has offered to take a look at it to see what he can come up with in terms of restoring it to its’ original grandeur.
We left there at around 3.45 and set off for Metung where we found a place called The Moorings which looked pretty good and is right on the water. After a quick discussion we agreed to spend the night and possibly the following one as well. So far so good.
We had arranged to meet Barb and Damo at The Metung Hotel for dinner at 6 p.m so we had enough time to go on a 60 minute spin around Metung which proved to be quite pleasant. When we got back we still had enough time to get into the indoor pool, spa and the very cold outdoor pool (twice).
The hotel had botched the dinner booking but all worked out well and we got a table and a meal. They had booked us for May 31??
9 a.m Tuesday
We’ve just returned from a 1 hour walk along the boardwalk in the brisk morning air. My hands are a bit numb from the cold but the open air and big skies coupled with the broad swathes of water reflecting the jetty, boats and clouds was refreshing and expansive.
This aimless existence is a new challenge in itself. An exercise in taking life as it comes. Not having any concrete plans apart from seeing what happens next.
It’s funny observing different reactions. For example, I never think about food or eating in the mornings and happily wait until lunchtime to put the first morsels in my mouth. This morning I found myself anticipating food, maybe it is just something to do, something to pass the time.
I won’t succumb but it has been an interesting observation.
Wednesday April 21, 2021 - Day 3
We have begun Day 3 of our journey. After a very chilled out night and an early rest we got upon at 6.30 A.M and by 7 we were out walking on a cold winter morning but we got an hour of medium paced walking done along the tranquil boardwalk surrounded by water, pelicans, boats, lots of fresh air and not much else apart from a couple of old men huddled outside the general store waiting for the morning newspapers to arrive and possibly evading their wives for a few moments respite.
Today we will be driving to Jindabyne in the mountains in southern NSW. No direction, no hurry, no plans … we will stop if we see something worth stopping for or we will just drive.
Metung is beautiful but at the same time it is very sedate. I’d go crazy if I stayed here for too long.
We had dinner at the Metung Hotel again last night due to early evening rain which precluded us from using the barbecues on the side of the lake. We arrived at the hotel at 5.50 p.m to a relatively empty dining room to be told that there was only one table left, all the others were booked.
I had already made jokes about this to Georgie and it happened exactly as I predicted.
“Can we order?” NO.
What time can we order? 6.
At 5.58 we stood at the cash register waiting for the minute hand to reach 59 and then the second hand counted down the last 5 seconds and the hotel came to life. A long queue formed and plates started flying. I think it is the only establishment in Metung that serves meals which explains it’s popularity.
Finn rang yesterday morning in pain. His neck and shoulders have gone out of whack and it sounds like the nerves in his neck are being pinched. I worried all morning and finally made the decision that if we had to cut our trip short it would be OK. We looked at options to help him, doctors, drugs, physiotherapists etc but then he didn’t respond to any messages. Later in the day he got in touch as if nothing had happened earlier telling us that he was OK.
Georgie is biting at the bit to hit the road. No procrastinating when she is on the go. Car is packed, I’m ready.
Come now!
So I will.
9.50 p.m
Today has been bitter sweet. We left Metung at around 9.30 a.m. At this stage it was cold and inhospitable. Our aim was to arrive in Jindabyne in Southern NSW by lunchtime. We had decided to go the “hard way”. Up the Snowy Mountain Hwy. This is a largely unmade dirt road which goes through some of the most beautiful vistas in Victoria.
Huge views of verdant valleys and towering hills covered in trees. A lot of it untouched by the humans.
It’s a slow road but well worth the extra effort.
As we crossed the border into NSW the road got even worse, a lot worse! Corrugated dusty roads scattered with potholes and rocks. Still beautiful surroundings but so much more attention and effort was needed to stay on the road.
About 50 minutes out of Jindabyne we ran into another Melbourne traveller named Peter (from Oakleigh) who was taking the long scenic route back from Sydney.
We arrived in Jindabyne at around 2.30 in the afternoon. I had already eaten my lunch in the car as had Georgie. We tried to get some bearings and then had a coffee. I went to the chemist to get some anti- histamines and ointment for the “bite” on my left arm that I got about a week ago. It had become inflamed, swollen and terribly itchy.
By now we were ready to book our motel. Being Wednesday and autumn/winter we were certain that there would be lots of rooms available but alas, they were totally booked out as was the Rydges Hotel directly across the road.
It looked like all off Australia’s baby boomers were on the road travelling and most of them had decided to call Jindabyne home.
We made a quick decision to travel on to Canberra.
We arrived there at 4.30 p.m and eventually found a fabulous little hotel room in Belconnen. It’s perfect and also a good price.
Thursday April 22, 2021 - Day 4
I’m happy.
As I said in yesterday’s entry we have arrived in Canberra. I never thought that arriving in Canberra could be pleasurable. As usual, fate waved its magic wand and we ended up in the perfect apartment replete with a king size bed, small kitchen, sauna, swimming pool, local supermarket and lake, pleasant staff and a coffee shop and restaurant that looks pretty good but which I won’t need because I have all the facilities to brew my own bulletproof coffee in our small apartment and all for $145 a night.
The hotel that Allissa recommended was hip, modern and over the top amazing but the price was $400 a night. It looks like she had received a special intro offer when she stayed a few months ago. But I must say her radar for the better things in life is fabulous. The hotel is part of a new and beautifully designed entertainment and restaurant hub in the inner city. I was more than impressed. We had dinner at a vegan restaurant called “Monster” and found the Abode Belconnen where we are staying online and booked, hoping that we had made a good choice.
Almost 3 nights for the price of 1.
We are in Belconnen which is about 15 minutes (by car) outside the city centre. That’s a small price to pay considering all of the other positives we now have on hand.
I woke this morning at 6.30 a.m and made my way back up to the sauna where we got sweaty last night. Canberra is so cold that just walking out of the sauna, which is on the roof, gives a hint of hot/cold therapy.
So there I was sitting in the sauna, just starting to sweat and red lights started flashing and a loud voice proclaimed that we must all leave the building. That was at 6.50 am. I made my way down the fire escape stairs and opened up the apartment door to find Georgie getting dressed to make out great escape. Unfortunately for me I was still hot from the sauna so I misjudged and went down the back fire escape wearing shorts, a tee shirt and walking shoes carrying my iPad (I meant too grab my phone instead) and a water bottle. We decided to go for a walk as the fire brigade sorted out the “burning toast”. The problem here was that it was 2 degrees and after a while I also started realising that the heat that I had felt was very swiftly dissipating and before I had crossed the first main road I was experiencing brain freeze from the even colder wind factor.
We walked for 40 minutes and came back with hands so cold that they felt like glass that could be shattered to discover that the alarm had been set off by an overly steamy shower in one of the apartments. All part of the fun.
Now Georgie is having a shower, I’m finishing my bulletproof coffee and am about the resume my interrupted sauna and it’s still only 8.20 a.m
We will head off to the National Gallery of Australia to view a new exhibition of European art from Botticelli to Van Gogh at about 9.30 and then meet Georgie’s cousins near by at 1.30 for lunch.
I’ve just got back from my second sauna for the day. OMG, I am in heaven. I sat there designing our hot sauna for home. I love the infra red sauna and will constantly use it but the added burst of adrenalin and heat from the Finnish/Tylo sauna is exhilarating.
As I said at the start of this mornings’ writing session “I am so HAPPY”!
P.S I left my phone outside the sauna this morning when the alarm went off but didn’t realise until after we had returned from our walk. A very honest co-guest picked it up and took it with her and after a few phone calls she dropped it off at reception. So smooth sailing ahead.
5.50 p.m
It feels like it’s mid evening. The sun has done most of its setting and the sky is darkening. We’ve just returned from our big day out. Lunch with the “relo’s” went well and we spent several hours at the “Botticelli to Van Gogh” exhibition at the NGA. The exhibition was impressive but didn’t set my world on fire. It was fine from a historical standpoint but the period represented isn’t my sort of art.
We drove across town to pick up my especially compounded melatonin and ketone strips and then got the car washed.
That was the day.
It sort of feels like we didn’t do a lot, but we did. Actually it was pretty full on from 6.30 onwards.
We are having tea and coffee in our apartment now and hopefully will soon make our way up to the sauna and pool once again.
Friday April 23, 2021 - Day 5
I’ve just come back down to our room after starting my day with a steamy hot sauna and a couple of cold showers. It’s so damn convenient just hopping in a lift and going up one floor plus the sauna is already hot.
Georgie is still in bed, asleep.
Hopefully she’ll bound out any minute and put on her walking clothes and announce that she is ready.
Our dilemma now is twofold. The cost and the quality of what is available up along the south coast of NSW. AirBnB availability seems abysmal and over priced and the hotels are much the same. Georgie seems to have found something last night that will cost more but might suit, fingers crossed.
Anyway, after a small deliberation we decided to stay in Canberra for another night. We are having coffee with the cousins again this morning at 10.30 somewhere near the Botanical Gardens. Canberra is a funny place. Not the seat of excitement but maybe if you had longer to scratch the surface something might appear. That may remain a mystery for evermore because our chances of a) scratching and b) returning are minimal.
If all goes as planned today we will go scooting and just slightly ease the itch.
Finn must be doing well. There’s not been a lot of communication but that’s probably a good thing. Allissa is at Red Hill today and tomorrow with some friends.
I had a bloody nightmare this morning that I only have vague recollections of. There was the Paul having a hypo component and somehow there was an “I let Allissa down” variation that left me feeling unnerved when I woke at 5.15 a.m. The dream was so intense that my cortisol rose so high to keep me awake. It’s amazing how many dreams I have that involve Paul. They tend to come in clumps and quite often have the effects of diabetes as a central point. There is obviously still unresolved emotions around the loss of Paul and what led up to it. My life seems to be somewhat fragmented into several distinct sections. One that takes in my formative years and bands, work and the hippy days, the next being Melanie, Paul and Allissa (and Scientology) and then finally the current incarnation that includes Georgie, Finn and Allissa. All distinctly different moments in time with me being the one thing that binds them.
I keep thinking that I should be doing something more substantial with my time but maybe just being alive and exploring new ideas, people and locations enough. There are so many other little bits and pieces that I can fit in the crevasses that form around these simple activities.
Overall I am content with where I have navigated myself in life as far as my general viewpoints go. I could have been more intense but I wasn’t and this reflects in many ways but I am still able to make subtle shifts in what I believe to be worth pursuing and I seem to have the ability to use logic and reason to my advantage.
Saturday April 24, 2021 - Day 6
Georgie’s cousin, Ian made a very kind and generous offer of his holiday house at Tomakin on the South Coast for us to stay at this morning. It was so sweet. He had drawn a map on the back of an envelope and in a hushed voice said “I’ve got something that I need to show you”, I thought it might be a new poem or something along those lines. But it was an invitation to his South Coast holiday retreat
How good is that?
That changed our plans, so now we are heading east in the morning towards Bateman’s Bay and then on to Tomakin until Monday morning. If all goes as planned we will more than likely come back that way as well. The way things stand right now we may or may not make it north of Sydney.
The plan is to meet up with Allissa in Sydney on Tuesday so we will probably head off to our next destination on next Wednesday morning.
So far so good. I’m still enjoying our trip immensely and overall it isn’t breaking the bank.
I slept in until 8 a.m this morning. Well, sort of. I woke at 6.30 am and just enjoyed being in bed. My legs and muscles were still a bit tender from a big day of walking yesterday so I made the most of it.
I went up to the rooftop at 8 and hopped in the sauna for my last splurge of heat and cold for a while. I’ve rekindled my love for hot rock saunas. Twinned up with a freezing cold shower they leave me feeling fresh, clean and envigorated.
It’;s now almost time to leave. I just have to pack the “esky” properly and pack the car and we can hit the road.
I met a young, boisterous, drunk public servant in the sauna this morning. I was dreading his entry into the sauna after listening to his moans of pleasure and mad laughter as he sat in the spa and jumped in the pool unaware that any other life forms were close by. As he entered the sauna and saw me he sobered up, or gave it a very good effort and we had a pretty good talk about life in the public service in Canberra. He seems to want to break away from the mundaneness of a job that gives him no passion or fire but deep down he’s far too scared and driven by the goals of his parents. Maybe out talk might slightly change the direction of his life, maybe not. I enjoyed a few fleeting moments of talking to a young stranger named Dave.
One thing I noticed about myself is that I still have an almost irrational desire to be relatable to anyone of any age. I say irrational because I noticed that I try a bit too hard. Just being myself should be well and truly enough. It’s not that I become someone else or pretend. It’s just that I maybe try a bit too hard.
Our stay at the Abode Belconnen has been beyond my expectations. The idea of staying in a hotel is generally abhorrent to me but times have changed and so have hotel rooms. Maybe not all of them but this one was perfect for our needs. A small kitchen, great bed, washing machine and a sauna and pool on the roof. It had everything that we could have possibly needed. All for $145 a night.
I would stay here again at the drop of a hat.
I am loving not having any expectations from life and having that wonderful feeling of not knowing what to expect next. Yesterday we went to the National Portrait Gallery. What a treat that was. A wonderful collections of paintings and photographs spanning a couple of hundred years. I got a greater sense of pride and of being an Australian from my interaction with the photographs of European settlers, First Nation people and average and not so average Australians, in general, than I have had in a long, long time. I recommend a visit to anyone who is in Canberra. I enjoyed it far more than the “Botticelli to Van Gogh” Exhibition that we visited the day before at the National Gallery of Australia.
Georgie has just returned with the trolley to take our worldly goods down to the car so I’d better say goodbye to myself for now.
We didn’t set off from Canberra until after 1 p.m. Georgie needed a jacket and her cousin Janet needed some communication so we stayed longer than anticipated after checking out of the hotel at 10.30. The trip to the coast was pleasant and uneventful apart from a short stop in Braidwood about 50 kms inland from Bateman’s Bay. A historic grazing town set up in the late 1830s with most of its old building still intact. It has become one of “those tourist attractions” but thank goodness because that is what is probably keeping it alive and unchanged. Braidwood and surrounding area was the location for the 1969 movie “Ned Kelly” that Mick Jagger acted in. It’s easy to see why when you walk along the main street 52 years later.
We have now settled into Ian’s house in Tomakin. We arrived just after 4 p.m. Couldn’t find the key but that didn’t matter because the front door was unlocked anyway. Tomakin must have a very low crime statistic. We haven’t had an opportunity to explore yet so we’ll more than likely have an early night and get up at sunrise to explore, walk and scoot the day away.
It was so very kind of Ian to offer us his holiday house. The places available along the coast are pretty humble and very expensive.
Allissa rang a bit earlier tonight. She has just spent the past 2 days at Red Hill with Nadia. We are meeting her in Sydney on Tuesday.
Georgie mentioned how she has noticed that arriving in a new destination is a bit unsettling and stressful. She’s right. It takes a couple of days to find your feet in a new location and a new abode. I found that I was just settling down comfortably in Canberra when we abruptly left and re-located our bodies and world possessions to Tomakin. Maybe it’s the geographical displacement and the initial unfamiliarity that creates the feeling of being a bit lost when you first arrive. Change is a good thing but there is also possibly a feeling of loss when you leave a place you have gotten familiar with and slightly attached to.
Sunday April 25, 2021 - Day 7
I woke at 6.20 and scuttled into the bathroom to turn my alarm off before it pierced the morning silence. The next 30 minutes were spent back in bed perusing all the bad news online.
When I went outside at 7 a.m I could hear bagpipes and bass drums in the distance booming through the cold morning air of Tomakin. It is Anzac Day, 103 years after that horrible debacle called World War 1 finished. It’s hard to believe that 20 million human beings died for no real reason. The only good that came out of it was a greater sense of social equity. 10 million civilians and 10 million soldiers including around 60,000 young Australian men – dead. My great uncle, George Henson being one of them.
I still haven’t got my head around war. I think about the mechanics of it from time to time but it never makes sense, even when I try really hard to rationalize what the underlying reasons may be for people who don’t even hold a grudge against each other committing acts of violence on their fellow man.
A few years down the track nothing much ever changed apart from the rich getting richer. Maybe that’s the underlying reason. Power and wealth.
Georgie is still in bed. If I try hard I might be able to get her up by 8 a.m. That’s the plan anyway.
I’ve got my bearings in Ian and Rosie’s house this morning. The familiarity that wasn’t there when we arrived yesterday has slowly crept up and I now have my own relationship with their house. I think the initial feeling was exacerbated by the perception that we might have even entered somebody else’s house due to there being no key and the front door being unlocked when we arrived. I snuck through the house like a robber looking for signs and proof of it being the house that we had been invited into. Then I found family photos and all was well. It’s interesting how a space can be created and defined by other peoples creations, habits and possessions. They are all made out of the same basic materials but the relationship between the materials and the contents and how they are placed, maintained and the memories that linger are evident to newcomers.
The difference between entering a new hotel room and a family home is staggering. You can’t compare it.
Georgie is up and having a shower. I underestimated her willingness to get the day started. It’s still only 7.45 a.m.
As I said in yesterdays entry we still have no bearings in Tomakin but that is about to change. It looks like we are about to have another perfect cool but bright autumn day which makes the anticipated adventures and potential discoveries far more appealing.
I’ve turned the daily “writings” into a road trip blog on www.garycollier.com.au, on reading the entries that I have already posted I am now very aware why writers have editors.
The ideas are there but so are the spelling and punctuation errors. It’s probably a bit like putting on the make up in the morning before you face the world. Just so you can soften down the rough edges. I’ll need to go back and “clean” some of the earlier sentences up when I get a chance.
Another interesting observation is my relationship with water and coldness. When we were in Canberra I thought nothing of rushing up to the sauna in the early hours of a cold morning and then hopping under a freezing cold shower. This morning I couldn’t even stand the thought of standing under a hot shower. What’s that all about?
Monday April 26, 2021 - Day 8
It’s a lazy morning. We didn’t wake until 7.30 a.m and to make matters worse we went to bed at around 10 p.m after watching a documentary on recent (last 100 years) Russian History. What a crazy bunch of people we are. Apparently Stalin got away with killing 26 million of his fellow Russians during his reign of terror.
The plan changed this morning as my feet hit the ground. We will now leave Tomakin earlier than planned and find a cove or beach along the way to go on a big walk somewhere on the road to Sydney. We have found an AirBnB in Rushcutters Bay for our 2 nights in Sydney. It turned out to be the most viable and pragmatic option. We can also park our car there so that problem is out of the way.
Ah, a return to Rushcutters Bay. I stayed there 52 years ago in 1969 when as an innocent young 17 year old I set off on a train trip to Sydney with a fellow musician named “Catman” (he looked like a cat), his real name was Mark. All in all Mark played a small but significant role in my life. We arrived at Central Station, I was so excited to be in a new city for the first time and had anticipated many nights of social activities with all of the exciting people he told me that he knew in this large and seemingly exotic city. Anyway, our first stop after alighting the train was a book shop where he disappeared! I didn’t see him or hear from him again until a week later when we performed at an outdoor music festival together.
What a dilemma. I was honestly mortified and almost got back on a train to Melbourne. But I took a deep breath and made my way to Kings Cross where I was convinced that some stranger would come up to me and invite me to spend a night at their house. It didn’t happen and the only invitation I got was from a young homeless person who was on crutches. He told me that he slept in the tennis courts at Rushcutters Bay Park. I spent the next 2 nights sleeping there before moving to a more intimate and palatial park on the third night.
There is a lot more to this story but now is not the time to tell it.
The sun is shining in Tomakin and the signs of another gorgeous autumn day on the NSW coast are bright and hopeful. My arrival in Rushcutters Bay will be far more palatial than half a century ago.
I mentioned the Russian documentary. Apart from that we haven’t watched TV or streaming for a week. The result has been earlier nights and a new reality of getting up at around 6.30-7.00 a.m., although I was getting up early when I was receiving radiotherapy over the past couple of months.
On that note, there are no obvious signs of cancer. My throat seems to be lumpless and apart from my slightly diminished taste and very occasional weariness I feel fit and healthy and overall “weller” than I have in decades. In some ways this trip may be a defining moment in my life. A sort of transition between forced busyness and a more gentle and accepting life. That’s yet to be seen but it does seem appealing in it’s own simple way.
It is obvious that there is so much to see in Australia. We are only “tickling” a very small section on this trip and so far have taken in beautiful lakes, mountain ranges, wild country roads and stunningly beautiful coast line and surf beaches plus a big modern city that is less than 100 years old. We’ve driven through country towns where you could almost see the past inhabitants walking proudly up and down the streets and calling out to each other.
As far as international settlement goes Australia is such a new place. I know so little of the aboriginal culture and the short time I spent in the Portrait Gallery in Canberra was about as close as I’ve ever been to viewing aboriginal life and people. I’m not going to pretend that I have made any effort to seek out an understanding and empathy. Europeans and the English had a horrible habit of colonialism which involved exporting their warped Christian ideas of saving souls and messing things up.
They sure did a bloody good job when it came to the original inhabitants and their ancient and wise culture.
But apart from that injustice, Australia has evolved into being one of the great social experiments in modern times. We are now a country of mixed descent. People from all around the world have made their way here to call this island nation their home and to take on the concept of being an Australian. We have well and truly evolved from being an English colony and apart from a core of older Australians of English heritage Australia is now comprised of people from all corners of the planet, either by choice or necessity. It’s hard to believe that our stale old politicians still think that they have the God Given task to keep refugees away from our borders in detention camps as far away from Australian shores as possible.
As a people it doesn’t take us long to embrace new cultures. Or it looks that way to me anyway. I may be wrong.
By the end of today we will be in Sydney. Australia’s most populated metropolis. A somewhat alien place for me but a place replete with childhood memories for Georgie. We both have completely different histories when it comes to Sydney.
Which can be a story for another day.
Tuesday April 27, 2021 - Day 9
We both had a long but what appears to have been a shitty sleep due to waking up throughout the night but I do feel good this morning. Georgie is still in bed so time will tell how she fares. Because the apartment is all in one room the blinds are still closed and I am tippy toeing around and making a coffee at the same time.
We arrived in Sydney around 4.30 p.m on Monday and drove to our small apartment which is on the 5th floor of a block of flats in Elizabeth Bay, wedged between Rushcutters Bay and Kings Cross.
It is an area that I am familiar with from my many Sydney trips over the decades since 1969. Even though it is built up there is a charm that you can only understand once you have been to Sydney a few times. Palatial old mansions and blocks of Art Nouveaux flats are intermingled with 60s and 70s apartment blocks against the backdrop of Elizabeth Bay and Rushcutters Bay. You can see Sydney Harbour Bridge through the towering apartment blocks.
We ate a basic Greek dinner at a restaurant called The Apollo in the main street which I was really looking forward to due to what seemed like an unrelenting hunger. But really, as usual, the anticipation was better than the food. Before I had half finished the meal I was full. Also I re-confirmed that my taste buds still have a way to go before they fully recover from the radiation. I was convinced that my meal would be super tasty but alas, it was bland (due to my compromised taste buds).
The meal was over by 6.30 but to us it felt like 8 in the evening due to our early rise, the long drive and the fact that it gets darker even earlier in Sydney than Melbourne.
The trip up the coast from Tomakin to Sydney was fabulous and beyond my wildest expectations. The highlights were Shoalhaven Shire and a small town named Berry. The coastline is stunning. Georgie has always wanted to visit Rick Steins’ Mollymook Restaurant so we turned off the Princes Highway to Mollymook. The fact that it was a perfect autumn day with pristine blue skies and a temperature of 20 degrees helped significantly but I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the coastline. Beaches, coves, bays everywhere. Each with its own unique outlook and nuances. We went on a couple of walks, got gobsmacked, felt jealous of the locals and land owners and continued up the coast.
Georgie wanted to pull off the road at a small town named Berry. There is a famous family photograph of her whole family, taken in the 80s with them standing next to the Berry sign. The memories won and I’m glad they did because it is a pristine, small and very beautiful small town that looks like it has been taken over by design aficionados. Lots of homewares stores, gourmet food shops and of course coffee.
Coffee has become as Australian as saying G’Day.
We didn’t buy any food or spend any money in Berry but I’m glad we stopped there for a while.
The drive was an easy one overall. The surrounding farms and fields were well watered, free and verdant. The animals looked well fed and healthy and the sky was a perfect autumn blue.
When we finally arrived at the southern edges of Sydney we drove through Sylvania Waters on Botany Bay, that’s the tacky version of Sydney Harbour but water nonetheless. It’s close to the airport.
We finally popped out of the Eastern Distributer (sounds like a milk separator) and turned right into William St, the main road between Kings Cross and the CBD. I’ve walked along this tired old road so many times over the years. Especially in the 80s when the A.O was in Castlereigh St and we slept in smelly, full bunk rooms in New South Head Rd in Rushcutters Bay. Back then there was always a group of prostitutes perched on the right side of the road late at night when I walked back to my sleeping quarters. It was one of those “keep your eyes straight ahead and your expression bland” experiences. Quite often I would find some nasty fast food to buy and eat in seedy Kings Cross on the final leg of the walk.
Memories.
Georgie summed up our relationship with Sydney beautifully yesterday when she said “ I feel like a foreigner when I come to Sydney”. We both agreed that this described it perfectly.
Like houses and people, cities have their own memories and they flavour the streets and parks to give them their own taste and ambience. Sydney for me is like some yummy food that I enjoy once a year or so. Although Georgie pointed out that it had been 5 years since our last visit.
She’s out of bed now, showered and making a coffee before we head off on our morning walk.
BTW, I’m still happy and loving nearly every minute of our road trip.
Parsley Bay, Vaucluse, Sydney
Tuesday Afternoon
We met Allissa this morning and walked from North Bondi to Bronte and back. After out walk we had lunch together and then dropped Lis at her hotel. Went to Vaucluse to look at Georgies granny’s old house and dropped into Parsley Bay which is nearby. Now it’s 3 p.m and the sun is literally shining into the window of the apartment making it feel positively summery.
We finished our day off at Bondi Icebergs. We met Allissa at the sauna. It overlooks the breaks/waves that the Bondi surfers ride. It’s got a really “funky” smell and I don’t mean the James Brown style but it’s worth the risk to your health because it possibly has the best outlook of any sauna in the world. The sauna occupancy is parred back to 6 people at a time for 15 minute sessions but you can also jump in the sea water pool while you wait for your next session in the sauna. We did 2 rounds of sauna and then the queue got so big that the wait was no longer sustainable. And by this time the testosterone was so high that it didn’t feel safe anymore. Mobs of well built Sydney jocks dressed in budgie smugglers standing outside the sauna waiting to get in got a bit overwhelming.
We ended up with a simple dinner at the “club” under the famous Icebergs Restaurant. Not quite as flash but we had a superb view of the pink super moon arriving through the clouds on the horizon and the food was clean, fresh and well priced. The best view that you could possibly have in Australia.
Wednesday April 28, 2021 - Day 10
I threw myself out of bed at 6.30 a.m. One of my first thoughts was that I enjoy not watching television at night. Yes, its entertaining and yes, it’s sometimes pleasurable but overall watching T.V/Netflix is just a cop-out and a way to pass the time.
Georgie just spoke, although she is still in bed. Hopefully we’ll be out the door soon. It looks like we are in for another perfect day. We check out from the apartment at 10 a.m and are once again officially homeless.
Chances are that we might spend tonight on the couch in Allissa’s hotel. We’ll work that out later this morning. Whichever way you look at it, today is our last day in Sydney. Then we turn around and work our way back down the coast to Tomakin.
Yesterday was interesting. Some people travel from the other side of the planet to spend a day at Bondi. It is quite an amazing urban phenomena. A huge surf beach with cliffs and walls of natural rock in the middle of a booming metropolis. It hits your senses and is visually spectacular. No wonder most people conjure up Sydney when they think of Australia.
Our afternoon at the ocean swimming pool was equally as enticing. It is probably one of the most unusual, well positioned and exciting swimming pools anywhere in the world. I really shouldn’t take those sorts of experiences for granted.
It’s time to start making a noise. Georgie might once again surprise me and bound out of bed.
We set of on our walk just before 8 a.m. Rushcutters Bay park was simply full to the brim with people of all shapes and sizes doing their morning exercise. We walked for a little over an hour. The one conclusion that I came to is that there are a lot of very rich people in Sydney. So many amazing houses and even flats scattered around Rushcutters and Darling Point. It is really quite beautiful and spectacular and even more amazing that I never really knew that it existed even though I spent so much time staying very close by in the early to mid 80s. Back then I was so busy that all I ever did was walk down New South Head Rd and William St into the City.
We walked down to a beautiful little public park just above the Darling Point Ferry stop, I’m pretty certain that it is called McKell Park. It has had quite a history since it was settled in the late 1830s, the land was thankfully behest to the city council sometime in the 80s.
We had to check out of our little apartment by 10 a.m so we made our way back through the hilly streets and alleys to Elizabeth Bay. I packed, prepared some food and we were on our way to Vaucluse and Watson’s Bay for Georgie to reminisce about her childhood visits to Vaucluse and the general area where her Dad was brought up in the 1930s and where she spent so many Christmas celebrations with her extended family.
I was a bit of a party pooper and didn’t want to stay so we made our way across town to Woolamolloo where we planned a scooter ride but we were thwarted by the lack of parking and ended up in Clovelly where I finally found a barber shop.
The barber turned out to be a 35 year old Turk named Max. A friendly, charming and charismatic chap who came to Australia about 3 years ago to marry an Australian Turkish girl. That didn’t last but he loves Australia so much that he’s staying anyway. After cutting my hair he asked me something about fire. I didn’t understand so I said yes. Next thing I know he’s attaching a blob of cotton wool on a long wooden stick and immersing it into a bottle of metho. he lit the cotton wool and it flamed up and then started flicking it at my ears. As the hairs singed the small of B-B-Qed human permeated the shop. That’s right, he was flicking fire at the hairs on and in my ears. I survived. Then he asked something about a nostril wax, seeing that I had survived the first idiosyncratic treatment I cast my fate to the wind and went with the flow. It could have been candid camera because the next thing I had 2 sticks jammed up my nostrils. After a minute or 2, without any warning, Max ripped them out almost at the same time. I must admit that it did hurt but my nostrils are now devoid of unsightly nostril hair.
That was my Clovelly haircut and I survived it.
After this we went down the road toward Clovelly Beach. I had visions of it being a bit like Tummarumma but true to Sydney form it was like a hybrid cross between an oil shipping dock and a swimming pool! Hard to imagine but very quirky and after a while it grew on me. There’s even a small house with a magical garden just sitting next to the beach entry up near the sandy end. It fast became my favourite house in Sydney.
We left Clovelly at around 3 p.m and headed south for about 2.5 hours and stopped in Nowra where we had booked a cheap Motel. We even had dinner at the town Bistro/TAB Hotel.
Thursday April 29, 2021 - Day 11
Our trip is coming to an end. Well almost. We still have about 4 days left on the road before we return to Bairnsdale to pick up Finn.
The rough plan for today is to visit Jervis Bay and any other coves or beaches that we fancy on the way back to Ian’s house in Tomakin.
I slept well all night without any wake ups, maybe because I couldn’t confront waking up in a cheap bland motel room. But the bed was comfortable and the coffee from the Tin Shed Cafe in the motel car park was delicious this morning on the road to Jervis Bay.
Jervis Bay
We arrived at around 9 a.m and walked down to the docks on the river. What I didn’t know at this stage was a) how big Jervis Bay is and b) how staggeringly beautiful it is.
First impressions were good. A picturesque dock filled with large catamarans which took visitors on day trips to explore the bay and the beaches plus a few fishing boats. After being enticed into a cafe/booking office by a very savvy staff member we decided to book the 1 p.m trip that was supposed to last for about 2 hours.
We set off on a walk to get oriented and to pass the time and just kept going and going for well over an hour. The more we walked, the more we got the splendour of the town and the bay. It turns out that apart from being naturally beautiful the town of Huskisen is also full of beautiful and expensive beach houses perched on hills and on the shores of the water. Anyway it turned out to be a great walk. Georgie had also asked about other coves and beaches so after our walk we drove down to the next town which is called Vincentia. After a short drive we arrived at a forest and made our way down to Blenheim Beach. I’ve seen some great beaches in my life but this one possibly takes the cake. It was magnificent. A smallish cove with perfect white sand, lapping blue water .. clean as a whistle with trees growing on the perimeter overlooking a spectacular bay.
Friday April 30, 2021 - Day 12
The early evening trip down the Princes Highway from Jervis Bay to Tomakin was intense. Night time driving on a narrow 2 way highway is a whole different kettle of fish than roaring up a big 2 lane, 2 way highway. But all went well and we arrived around 8 p.m with a bag of red gum purchased at a service station in Batemans Bay.
I lit a fire in the ‘coonara’ when we arrived but unfortunately it didn’t make a great deal of difference. I unpacked the car and food while Georgie had a rest on the couch and then it was time for bed at around 9.30.
I did wake up at 6.30 but stuff it, we’ve been constantly busy doing walks, driving and exploring, that I decided to stay in bed until 8. No need to rush.
The whole idea is to re-educate myself to become cognisant that doing nothing is really OK and even desirable.
I’ve just made a bullet proof coffee for myself and a couple of smoked salmon, avocado and feta bagels for Georgie to eat during the day.
It’s amazing the difference that a bed and different pillows make to the quality of my sleep. Some mornings I’ve woken feeling great while on others I’ve had a stiff neck. It might be time for a new mattress at home.
The funniest thing that happens while I’m on the road is that I start planning coming back to wherever I’ve just been. No matter whether it’s in Australia or on another continent. I remember being in India 2 years ago and plotting a way to get back as soon as possible. I’m already trying to work out practical and economical ways to visit Sydney again and do more exploring and after yesterdays adventures in Jervis Bay I find myself plotting to get back there for a few days. Alas, after getting home these plans usually dissolve like frost on a sunny autumn morning.
Can I change old habits?
I love travelling so much. It’s the discovery of the unexpected that I’m drawn towards. It’s meeting somebody for a fleeting moment and having an intimate conversation and then saying goodbye, knowing quite well that we’ll never meet again. It’s finding a mountain track, a stream or a sunny cove that makes my heart cry out and makes me want to contact somebody I know and tell them to drop everything and come immediately.
Maybe I’m just addicted to new experiences, change, uncertainty, the unknown. Maybe.
If all goes well with my health and yes, I am arrogantly optimistic about a positive outcome I love the idea of spending more time discovering Australia.
The natural beauty of the south eastern plains mountains and coastline have filled me with a new found love for the country that I have lived in all of my life.
Saturday May 1, 2021 -Day 13
The first third of the year has now passed. What is still to come is still a mystery that will unfold over the coming months.
There’s a funny feeling and attitude that pervades the approaching end of a holiday.
If you lose the impetus that has been driving you and the initial excitement and passion that fuelled you when you first set out it’s quite easy for the whole thing to simply start deflating.
Life could be a bit like that if you didn’t pull out the pump from time to time to “tighten things up a bit”.
That’s what happened to us yesterday. We had arrived back to Ian’s house in Tomakin and after a big busy day at Jervis Bay and a big drive to get here we just sat around pottering on our computers until 12 o’clock and then aimlessly set out to find something to see and do. Maybe after seeing the spectacular cliffs, rock formations, waters and pristine beaches of Jervis Bay everything else started waning in comparison.
The splendour and beauty was still there. The beautiful beaches, bountiful with seaweed swept up onshore and flocks of sea birds diving one after another, into the waves to earn their food for the day. The new moon bursting out from behind a foreground of massive dark clouds last night was enough in itself to make the day worthwhile.
Then again, maybe it is the sense of impending loss that something special is about to end and the fear of it being over for ever.
I should take these observations with me today and approach today as if it were the first day of a new adventure.
The other thing that went a bit awry yesterday was my food. Not only did I eat too much but I ate junk food for the first time in 2 years. Real serious junk food. 2 Potato Cakes, 4 small fried pieces of sweet potato and a deep-fried prawn cutlet. The anticipation may have been the best part and then waiting after we had ordered. The first bite into the hot, greasy, crispy potato cake gave the illusion that it was worth the transgression but as I approached the last morsel of the first golden “memory from my past” I should have cast the rest of the box of greasiness into a bin but I didn’t.
This is what I posted on Facebook soon after gouging myself.
“I ate junk food for the first time in over 2 years today. I noticed a young girl eating a potato cake near the beach and couldn’t get the bloody thing out of my head. It became an obsession and before you could blink I was like an alcoholic who had decided to have a drink. I have to say that the first bite of the first potato cake tasted delicious but I should have stopped then. Alas, I kept going like an out of control castaway who hadn’t eaten “normal food” for 2 years. I’m paying for it now and I’ve learned my lesson. The overall effects are profound and I feel poisoned. I figured if I came clean with the whole world then I may not do it again.”
I went to bed still feeling full and as a result had a restless nights sleep full of disturbing dreams about inefficiency and bad management.
It’s almost time (7.15 a.m) to slowly get Georgie ready to get out of bed, pack our belongings and head off for a glorious day of adventure and discovery.
We hit the road at 9 a.m and made our way down the George Bass Highway to Moroya which had a Saturday morning craft market underway before returning to the Princess Highway and heading further south to Central Tilba which was set up circa 1870, a special country town set amongst rolling, undulating lush grassy hills that has now been listed as a heritage town by the NSW government. Georgie bought a hat, a scarf and a very Japanese plate. We had a coffee at Tilba Tilba a little down the road at a French Cafe/Bakery. The smell of baked goods almost drove me crazy. Georgie had a buckwheat pancake and I sat and drooled.
Back in the late 70s and early 80s when Mel and I went on road trips we would drive past the 2 Tilbas and I would always gaze across with admiration and wish I lived there.
We had lunch in a beer garden at an old fashioned pub in Bega. I had salmon and salad and Georgie had calamari, salad and chips. I drooled again.
We ended the day in Eden with a fabulous scooter ride around the coastline and down to the docks where we met a couple from Melbourne who are sailing a yacht up the east coast from Tasmania to The Great Barrier Reef. They stopped me to ask about our scooters. How adventurous are they?
I have stopped in Eden several times before over the years but never explored the town and surrounding area. It is really very beautiful and the coastline is noteworthy.
We found a decent motel room with a relatively comfortable bed for $79 a night.
Sunday May 2, 2021 - Day 14
It’s almost 8 a.m, 2 hours after we were supposed to head off on our walk. Georgie got sucked into a German movie on SBS last night and announced at 6 a.m that she needed to sleep more.
We are in Eden on our second last day of our road trip. We’ll be home by tomorrow night.
So far Eden has been a surprise. When we drove in yesterday afternoon there was a 50/50 chance that we would just keep driving but Georgie suggested driving down a street off the Princes Highway that I would not have chosen myself.
We stayed in a cheap but highly functional and clean motel room opposite the lake. Why not? $79 a night compared to the next closest room which was $190.
Georgie was ready for our walk by 8 a.m. We started with a walk around the lake then moved onto the sand on the huge bay. This was a bit eery in a strange way. A huge beautiful and pristine beach on a bay as big as the eye could see. I think we saw 4 people and spoke to 3 of them. Where else on the planet would you be able to have a solitary walk on a beach so amazing? Australia is a unique place. A huge continent with a very small population. Most people live in the cities so when you hit the road and visit the coastal country towns there is certainly no overcrowding and franticness.
Our walk lasted for about 90 minutes and then we went back and packed the car and got back on the road down south through Pambula and then down into Cann River in Victoria. We had lunch at the Marlo Hotel where the famous Snowy River meets the ocean.
Apart from a couple of interludes like lunch and a small walk at Marlo we drove almost all day. The plan was to spend the afternoon and night at Lakes Entrance doing a bit of exploring but when we drove into town my heart dropped and a quick decision was made to continue on to Paynsville on The Gippsland Lakes quite close to Bairnsdale where we will be picking up Finn tomorrow afternoon.
By the time we arrived it was 4 p.m and the sun was starting to set. We pulled out the scooters and went for a satisfying ride along the foreshore past boats bobbing at their moorings on a very smooth glass like lake with a glorious sunset happening all around us.
Our road trip really is coming to its conclusion. We are back in Victoria tonight and by this time tomorrow we will be back at our home.
Monday May 3, 2021 - Day 15
Our nights of sleeping in strange beds and newly founds rooms are almost over. Tonight we will be back in our own bed, in our own bedroom and in our own home.
We spent the last night of our road trip in an $85 room in Bairnsdale after realising that the option of a $165 similar room in Paynesville wasn’t much better.
We are about to pack up the car and drive back to the Gippsland Lakes and enjoy a morning of scootering and walking, drinking coffee, talking and generally being irresponsible.
Driving through the blackened, re-generating forests of Eastern Victoria yesterday was a stark reminder of the tumultuous bush fires from January last year. It is hard to imagine what it must have been like when all the trees were on fire but as usual nature has come out on top and the green leaves are taking over again and create a contrast against the black, burnt trunks of the trees. We only saw the forests along the Princes Highway but there must he thousands of hectares that were devastated.
We arrived back in Paynesille just before 9 and had a coffee at a cafe on the lake. Then it was time to pull out the scooters and hop on the ferry across to Raymond Island. Unfortunately before we got to the island it became painfully obvious that it was going to start to rain, maybe even pour. We alighted the ferry, fired the scooters up and took off and yes, before I could recite the first line of “If 6 Were 9” big drops of water started falling on our helmets.
We are now back in the cafe having a very early lunch and just chilling out. Because we can.
What a marvellous and rejuvenating 14 days we’ve had on the road. We got away without spending too much money, partially thanks to Ian’s incredibly generous offer of 4 nights in his house in Tomakin up near Batemans Bay plus a couple of nights in cheap motels which didn’t kill us. It also helps that we don’t eat breakfast anymore and don’t have the same compulsion to eat in cafes and restaurants. My $29 esky has served us well.
Yes. Australia is an expensive place to travel but we have just proved to ourselves that with a bit of planning and good luck you can do it “on the cheap”.
I’m at the end of this trip biting at the bit to plan our next one. Maybe a short couple of days in central Victoria to visit my Dads childhood city of Bendigo and surrounds.
Having the scooters is now paying off. They are a fabulous mode of transport to do some reconnaissance in a new location. Walking is also great but the scooters give a sense of a better and broader “taste” of the area.
I have to acknowledge what walking and general exercise does for my stress levels. We’ve pretty much done a decent walk every day, usually in the morning and usually for at least an hour, quite often more. It’s not strenuous but it gets the circulation moving and the heart beat slightly escalated. I have been rising each morning with a renewed sense of physical and mental fitness that is quite alien to me. I find myself being surprised that I feel so good and full of energy.
Maybe this fresh new feeling has to do with the hyperbaric oxygen therapy that I have been doing since the beginning of the year, plus the IV infusions and other healthy regimes I have been following. I certainly don’t feel sick or inflamed or cancerous although that is yet to be seen. I am quietly confident but I cannot allow myself to be smugly optimistic and put my guard down. I have already resolved that an incredibly healthy diet, lots of exercise and pursuing healthy regimes and therapies is going to be my way of life for the rest of my life. I am also confident that I can grow old gracefully and stay fit and energetic so I can continue to follow my passion for adventure and discovery.
These past 2 weeks have in some way marked a changing point in my life. The experiences and observations have given me the opportunity to become even more aware that life is a wonderful endeavour and that whatever you get out of your day to day existence is 100% in your own hands.
Tuesday May 4, 2021 - We Are Home
It’s a new dawn
It’s a new day
It’s a new life for me, ooh
And I’m feeling good
“Feeling Good” – Nina Simone
Yes it is. And I do feel good. Now the question is “How do I feel gooder?”
We arrived home just as the sun was setting last night. Thank god I tidied up the kitchen and cleaned all the benches before we set off on our road trip, there’s nothing worse than arriving home to be confronted by a messy kitchen. The house was also pretty good.
I went out soon after and did some shopping. I don’t know what’s coming over me but I have developed an affinity for steak. This was not expected. I’ve probably only eaten about 10 steaks in my whole life and now I’m almost craving them. So I bought a 250 gram organic, grass fed Scotch Fillet steak, some broccoli and cauliflower and made a delicious sauce out of butter, garlic, chilli, mushrooms, onion, sage, lemon thyme and cream. Sounds gruesome but it does fit in with the overall parameters of the ketogenic diet. I made Georgie and Finn a barbecued chicken breast cats curry full of vegetables and then started preparing a big pot of chicken stock for some soup that I will make later on today.
We watched a clueless, brainless “Jack Clancy” movie on Prime and went to bed. According to my Oura ring I slept well and my general readiness for the day is optimal.
I can feel it.
I’m drinking my morning bulletproof coffee as I write and very soon I will hop in the sauna and then our very cold looking pool.
My new project is to find out more about the subject of Heat Shock Protein. I won’t say too much now about it but I do know that if you can do activities to produce this protein it helps repair the body on a cellular level and creates a greater chance at achieving long term health.
More on that soon as soon as I understand the subject a bit more.
On the subject of health I feel fabulous overall. I’m getting over the effects of my 2 months of radiotherapy, my taste has almost returned 100% and my energy levels are high. I feel as if my body has more energy than it has had in decades which I will put down to improved mitochondrion health.
A mitochondrion (/ˌmaɪtəˈkɒndrɪən/, plural mitochondria) is a double membrane-bound organelle found in most eukaryotic organisms. Mitochondria generate most of the cell’s supply of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), used as a source of chemical energy. A mitochondrion is thus nicknamed the powerhouse of the cell, first coined by Philip Siekevitz in a 1957 article of the same name.
(Wikipedia)
I must not think about cancer. In the coming weeks and months I will be doing tests to ascertain the results of all the hard work I did in the first 3 months of the year. From all appearances I have no obvious symptoms of cancer so for now I just remain neutral and err towards optimism. Thinking, self diagnosis, worry and blind speculation is not going to have any positive effect on my overall health whereas positivity and optimism possibly will. This in no way means that I will lower my guard. If anything I will ramp up my self care and general efforts to improve my health and fitness.
I must not think about cancer. In the coming weeks and months I will be doing tests to ascertain the results of all the hard work I did in the first 3 months of the year. From all appearances I have no obvious symptoms of cancer so for now I just remain neutral and err towards optimism. Thinking, self diagnosis, worry and blind speculation is not going to have any positive effect on my overall health whereas positivity and optimism possibly will. This in no way means that I will lower my guard. If anything I will ramp up my self care and general efforts to improve my health and fitness.
The sauna was fantastic this morning and after 90 minutes of sweating the jump into the very cold pool was even more fantastic, bloody freezing but my body tingled with delight afterwards.
As for the balance of the day it was grim. The sky was grey and overcast and the rain trickled down just enough to make going for a long walk quite questionable. I felt listless and unfocused, a bit blurry like a Gerhard Richter painting. Hollow and missing the unpredictability of being on the road on a quest for a glorious landscape to lift my heart.
Later in the day I picked up my Les Paul recording guitar and fiddled a bit with some scales and chords but the inspiration didn’t ignite and I soon put it down. I’ll wait for another day to build up my callouses which have all but disappeared since I lost my direction, as far as music goes.
God, I’m sounding gloomy. A murky reflection of a bleak day.
