A change is as good as a holiday…and so’s a holiday!

It is such a relief to go away, leaving certain things behind! A holiday really simplifies life: you only have a few clothes to choose from, you can only do whatever is available in your destination, which tends to depend on your knowledge of the place, and anything further to that is all just discovery. And what do you discover? Well, mostly it’s just seeking out the basic things that you’ve already worked out at home: where you’re going to sleep that night, and finding suitable food when you’re hungry, and doing all the usual stuff with a different scene about you.

This holiday is not an unusual one for me, just heading North with my man, part business (the man has training and a test in Port Macquarie) and then visiting our family and friends who are scattered between northern New South Wales and Brisbane. But it is close to a year since I have stepped off the little Island I live on (must be a record for me!), and so much has been going on, particularly ‘changes’ (some good, some not so good, and some mixed). I decided to use this impending holiday to as a clear cut change from one of the scenes I was in. They helped a lot in that decision though. Anyway, I quit it, I’m really happy that I did, and relieved! So it must be the right decision. Now back to enjoying life! And a holiday is such a good reminder of what there is to enjoy!

We left home at a leisurely hour, after filling the pet bowls full of biscuits to do them the day, until their ‘sitter’ arrives tomorrow. We drove the winding back roads through lush bush and green farmlands (not mentioning tree farms though!) to Sheffield, where we transferred to the Scout:

Then we enjoyed the aerial view over the same lands:

Marveled at the luxury of being ‘on top of the clouds’:

And ‘island-hopped’ across Bass Straight. Here is one patch of the wide expanse of freezing cold water:

Here’s Cape Barren Island looking very majestic in the cloud and mist:

And example of the fantastic cliffs and beaches in the Kent Group:

We traveled up the Victorian coastline, dipping our wing to the fishermen and children below on occasions. We reminisced about our short visit to the Lakes Entrance last year, when we sold the Cessna:

We had a short stop for tea/coffee and bread at Orbost. And then only an hour later we landed just before sunset in Merimbula to spend the night. We parked the plane (tied down of course!), walked to a motel nearby. Later we crossed the bridge into town and had a fantastic veggie (adapted to be vegan) dish at the Brasserie here, except that I could have eaten more! Wish I had brought the cherry-cacao raw balls with me from the plane. Well, that’s a lesson for tomorrow!

~Katara Jade

Merimbula, 20/05/2011