Labdien from Lakes Entrance,

I was under sail at 6:45 this morning. Despite having done most of my packing last night, and rising at 5:15 today, it still took me an hour and a half to perform my ablutions, have breakfast, and stow a few remaining items on the boat!

I was in Milton by 8:15, where I visited a bakery that I’ve patronised in the past for its excellent fare, to pick up some provisions for the rest of the voyage.

I had my morning coffee break at the Bodalla Park Rest Area ’round 10, a few nautical miles shy of Narooma. It’s a very pleasant spot, surrounded by tall spotted gums, insulated from the sounds and sights of the highway (I’ve moored there quite often).

I topped up the diesel tank in Eden at noon, and had lunch at a not so insulated rest area, down the highway, at 12:20. I crossed over into Victoria at 12:59, and arrived in Lakes Entrance just after 3.

It was mostly a pleasant drive, apart from occasionally being stuck behind those Sunday drivers who are incapable of maintaining a constant rate of knots; the slightest deviation in their course from a straight line results in them dropping back to 80km/h or so, but when one encounters an overtaking lane (usually straight), the pricks then speed up!

The motel room is excellent. It’s quite spacious, with a modern design and furnishings, and everything seems very new. Alas, every cloud has a leaden lining; despite the claim that every room has wireless broadband access, mine (as I should probably expect by now) doesn’t. I can get a reasonable signal in the quite pleasant atrium outside my room (with water feature, benches, chess table, etc), but I expected that I’d have access from the privacy of my room. The weekend staff weren’t at all familiar with the communications setup, and suggested that I take it up with the weekday staff tomorrow. If I’m unable to get wireless access from this room, I’ll be demanding a change of room to one that does.

Today’s leg of the trip was 621km.

Cheers,
Julian