Dear Irene, Patrick, Nic, and Ross,

I headed off at around 8:00am this morning. I dropped in to have a cup of coffee and a chat with Ross Kalenderidis (a “long lost” high school friend of mine) in Narrawallee at about 9:30am. On leaving there, my plan was to head to Mogo, check out the Zoo, then have lunch at the “Willows” (recommended by Ross). However, when I got to the Zoo, I couldn’t find a decent parking spot; the parking spaces seemed very narrow, and if someone decided to park next to me, I wouldn’t have been able to get back into the car (the doors are very wide, and I have to open them almost all the way to “climb” in/out). So, I decided to leave it for another day, and head to Bega for lunch. I got there around 1:00pm, grabbed a chicken salad roll from a cafe, and had lunch in the shade of some plane trees at a spot I know down by the Bega River.

After lunch, I thought I’d head to Malacoota for the night. By the time I reached Eden, the sky had turned overcast, and the temperature had dropped from 35 C at Bega, to 20 C. I got to Genoa (where you turn off to Malacoota) at around 3:30pm, which was too early to stop. So, I decided to head for Lakes Entrance. It started to rain just past Orbost, so I finally had to put the roof up. I arrived in Lakes Entrance at around 5:30pm.

It was a very enjoyable drive, with all the sounds (lots of bellbirds) and smells wafting through the air. I’ve done 648km today, and the trip computer says my fuel consumption is 7.6lt/100km.

I’m not sure where I’ll end up tomorrow?

Cheers,
Julian