Nowa Nowa to Foster
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| Last night's red sky delivered this morning's Shepherd's promise |
I will have had six nights of camping on this trip. I had planned another four nights but I wimped because of the weather. Again, the best laid plans of mice and men....
As I'm walking back from the shower, the sun is peeking through and there is real warmth in it.
As I pass one of the vintage on-site vans the the style of it reminds me of the last weeks before we emigrated from England when, while Mum and Dad packed, Tina and I were sent off to stay with Auntie Anne and cousins Liz and Jill. We were all in a caravan, somewhere down in Devon I think, and I recall the need for us girls to top and tail in the bunks. I cannot remember Uncle Tom being there but I guess cousin David would have been, he would have been a toddler.
I also remember being particularly peeved that Mum and Dad made me give my bike to cousin Liz and I very naughtily left it with the combination lock set. I have no doubt that that was dealt with in a very summarily way.
I'm a little intrigued by the people in the caravan. While I saw one person briefly when Steven was showing me my campsite options, I've seen neither hide nor hair of them since. Neither yesterday evening nor this morning and it's now 9:30
Bairnsdale does not disappoint with cheap petrol and I feel I fill up for 164 cents per litre. Their outdoor shop also provides me a new pair of snow boots, which is fabulous. I find those really useful as campsite boots when camping.
I stop in Stratford (upon Avon) for a couple of things from their IGA which I know that their shop is right on the highway and thus easy to find and I am rewarded with locally made ham which I suspect is going to have way less preservatives than the average commercial stuff. Since they have a little butcher's counter I buy a lamb chop for dinner. Buying meat is a bit of a rare treat when I'm travelling because I want just a single person serve.
As I approach Sale, and yet another directional signpost, I am particularly amused by someone having pasted a real estate 'SOLD" sign across Sale. 😂
I stop to purchase my pre-ordered loaf of bread before continuing on my merry way.
From Sale I turn onto the South Gippsland Highway and I'm on a road I haven't travelled before. The start of the highway must be a very flood-prone area, because there's a series of bridges through forest.
And why did the Echidna cross the road? I have no idea, but I slowed and swerved to avoid it. A moment later I flashed an oncoming car as a warning and was happy to see, in my rear view mirror, that it stopped and allowed the Echidna to finish its crossing. It was the second Echidna I had seen.
The temperature drops gradually but steadily and the wind picks up. There is a change coming through and when I get to Taraville I can see across to the hills and there's definitely a rain curtains across there. I'm thinking they're the hills where I travelled last year along the Grand Ridge Road.
About 15 minutes from my destination I hit the rain.
My accommodation for the next three nights is rather lovely. It's a cute little studio apartment, spic and span, with everything I need and a beautiful garden surrounding it. Given the intermittent rain, I might explore the garden and see if I can spot a koala rather than go and investigate what Foster has to offer late on a Sunday afternoon.
Particularly welcoming are the fresh unscented flowers and a bottle of wine sitting waiting for me along with a couple of fresh eggs and some citrus fruit from the host's garden.
I head out to explore the garden and meet one of my hosts, Bull, and the rain starts to set in very heavily. I swap my umbrella for a raincoat after he has offered to lend me a raincoat, which was very sweet, and I give him my broken umbrella to put in the bin, since tonight is rubbish night. I also give him my silk sleeping bag inner which has been mended three times and has ripped again. Enough is enough. Time for a replacement.
Bull tells me a koala has been seen in recent days in one or another of the gumtree and promises to let me know if he spots it again.
I brave the rain for a few minutes and photograph the lovely Grevillea just outside my balcony, but it gets worse. So I retired to my little studio apartment / cottage and decide that some cheese and biscuits along with sampling the wine is the order of the day. The rain was driving in so heavily, I'm disinclined to barbecue my lamb chop tonight and simply make Japanese omelette with the eggs provided and eat that with my vegetables and rice.
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