a little cameo

Yesterday I got a feel for 14 travel hours, a nice little preparation for my 14 hour flight to LA.

We had a family trip to Horsham for my uncle’s birthday lunch which was made all the more interesting by the recent floods in Victoria with the normal route, the Sunraysia Highway, closed.

It usually takes about 3 hours to get there, but with a detour via Birchip (with a quick pitstop and pic with the Mallee Bull) and then through Warracknabeal it took 4.5 hours. There were a few spots where there was still some water over the roads, and a number of potholes in the bitumen that we needed to watch out for and slow down for.

Just outside of Warracknabeal, we passed a grain store with dozens of bunkers full of wheat surrounded by a lake of water. Apparently this is the property of the action-oriented guy who saved Warracknabeal by putting his heavy machinery on the job to build a levee around the town.

We sought the advice of the SES in Warracknabeal as the Sunraysia Highway was closed there, but at the roadblock no detours were offered. There were a few people gathered outside the SES station and they said that the Sunraysia Highway was 4WD only as the bitumen had been washed completely away in places.

River full to the brim at Warracknabeal

So after a 4.5 hour drive to Horsham, 4 hours at my aunt and uncle’s and then another 4.5 hour drive home and my hour each way to Mum and Dad’s made it a big day of travel.

Observations:

• I got fidgety and sleepy about an hour into the return leg. That wasn’t a very good combination. I hope the Qantas entertainment system will keep me occupied with movie after movie.
• All I ate was some toast at Mum and Dad’s, a coffee, a packet of chicken Twisties, some lollies, a bottle of water, salad buffet lunch, pavlova and cheesecake for sweets and a Coke. Not bad, and there will surely be more than enough food served on the flight, especially if I get one of those snack sacks – I love those.
• The dips in the road were akin to aeroplane turbulence.