Friday, 6th October 2006

After spending the night in Fig Tree, Woolongong, we set off this morning for the drive towards Canberra-ish.
As has become habit,we didn’t quite end up on the road we wanted to,but, we knew we were headed south and on the coast and so we continued. (yes, a map would be handy,but would it be as much fun?)

This picture of some place that ends in “Gong” Goligong? Gooliegong? helps to explain why the majority of the Aussie population lives on the coast.
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k160/sylvie_011/gong1.jpg


http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k160/sylvie_011/gong2.jpg
What a view!

We detoured to (yes, you guessed it) a military museum.
This time it was a naval base named Albatross that had a stash of planes.There was also a road that ran along the base which would be a shorter route to Canberra and so we took it.
I think this was one of the old tinkly tootle dirt roads to Canberra, used before the highway was built,and,it turned out they were in the middle of resurfacing it and so we spent about 65km’s bouncing on a dirt/gravel road.


(Caution-the following may be distressing to animal lovers)
You should have seen the size of the roadkill!!
Sadly,they were my darling wombats..but they were ENORMOUS,at LEAST half the size of me.
One had come to his demise on top of a mound of dirt,like a small hill

And..well.. (this is the distressing part)
He was on his back.
With his 4 little legs sticking up rigidly in the air

And..well..I really did try to supress that giggle.Honest.

It was the little legs sticking up in the air.


But this laughter soon turned to squeal.As we rounded a bend, I commented on a large rock we were passing and I said I’d like to climb it.
Then I was briefly imagining standing topless in amongst the trees and having some rather well known Australian artist paint my portrait,nipples pointing to the sky (and mine too)
But,then I saw something black and long suddenly stick out from the dirt. At first I thought it was a stick,but then I realised it was a scary dirty great big black SNAKE! He had lifted his head and turned around (I don’t think he was exactly welcoming us),and ..well,I think we squished him.

Needless to say I spent the rest of the journey with my feet up on my seat.
Just in case.

I wasn’t the only one in the car freaked out by it.
It’s just that I was the only one able to express my freakedness at a very high decibel



But I did pop out to take this piccie as we drove through a part of the Great Divide mountain range.

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k160/sylvie_011/steep.jpg

The bush had become quite dense as the narrow road climbed a steep gradient.It’s hard to see in this shot,but, it was a long way down! (as I loudly reminded Driver Dick when he honked the horn just as I stood in front of the car to take the picture,with my toes curled up in my shoes to make sure they didn’t touch snake)

It turned out to be a really pretty drive
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k160/sylvie_011/shack.jpg

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k160/sylvie_011/creek.jpg

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k160/sylvie_011/road.jpg

2.00pm
Lunch at Goulburn (no,not tined fruit)

2.30pm
I have worked out why rural towns in the Eastern States are so huge. It’s because they don’t have enough bloody signs signalling how to get back onto the highway and so the population is mostly made up of people who were originally trying to drive though, but then gave up!

2.50pm
Highway found!
AND..remember my theory abut sheep receiving inter-galactic messages and scheming?
THE MOTHER SHIP HAS LANDED.REPEAT.THE MOTHER SHIP HAS LANDED.

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k160/sylvie_011/mothership.jpg

Next stop-Wagga Wagga
Song of the Day- It started in Africa- The Chemical Brothers *doof doof doof*