day two, three and four.... of roadtrip

day 2: breakfast at the banjo before taking a walk along lake jindabyne.



the seat below is part of a local government initiative called "park your arts". gotta love it.


then to quote willy nelson we were "on the road again..." driving through Berridale, Middlingbank, Adaminaby, Yarrangobilly, Talbingo, Blowering, lunch at Tumut, Gocup and Minjary before we hit the blandness that is the Hume Hwy and onto Canberra. (as i re-read that last sentence it reads as though we had a progressive lunch across three towns - but no, just one. but that does give me ideas...dangerous ideas of gluttony).

















as you can see i was enamoured with the sky this day.

the nation's capital once more. ;) caught up with catherine for afternoon tea in Kingston.




the road calleth once more. it was straight through to sydney.



we got into the city late which was a good thing since i had to navigate through the sydney cbd. collapsed into bed. zzz....

day 3 has been named through sydney i go a-wandering. caught the bus down to the beach, intending on walking from coogee to bondi but was given the wrong bus to board and only walked half the distance from bronte. totally missing the reason for the walk, the cool cemetery that looks as though it might fall off the edge of the world. the walk was pretty glorious anyway as you can see.















a train ride to newtown to wander along king street and retrospect'd. love that store and somehow held myself back from buying oodles. next time! had lunch at a great mexican take-away place - can't remember the name (dammit). we need one in melbourne.

then it was back into the city to walk through the queen victoria building. pretty fab.







as you can see there are no pics of the evening but it held a wonderful meal in chinatown then watching toy story 3 (again) from the comfort of bed. doesn't get much better than that people. ;)

the morning of day 4 came a little later than expected. yes, there was a bit of lazing. i was on holiday. gotta love those and i do. when i eventually got out into the real world i made my way to the museum of contemporary art near circular quay.







annie leibovitz exhibition at moca - fascinating story-telling photos, really enjoyed walking through the gallery. quite a few people about but not as crushing as a few exhibitions i've been to in melb - yes, we're serious about our art and culture in melbourne. ha!


then it was just about seeing the sights. there's a lot out there to be seen.










it started to rain as the plane was leaving the terminal. didn't bother me at all. what a glorious few days seeing a wonderful country with friends.



bring on the next roadtrip i say. :)

roadtrip baby...

me on an empty tram. how awesome is this?? one stop all to myself (except for the driver of course). trammed over to richmond to meet jamie and simon and to start the roadtrip. yehaw!


the trip didn't truly officially start for about half hour after we hit the road because we were driving in the wrong direction, south instead of north. i was sitting in the back so i hold absolutely no responsibility for this na-na-na-na-na lap through half of melbourne.

okay, strangely enough i didn't get photos of the places we drove through but here are the main towns on the route we took today: Glenrowan, Myrtleford, Porepunkah, Bright (where we may or may not have had lunch), Smoko, Harrietville, Hotham (Heights), Dinner Plain, Omeo (i accidentally renamed it Oreo, and across from the garage there was a slide exactly like the one that used to be over the road from my nan's house, so over i skipped, jumped the fence and had a slide... wwwhhhheeee... and then a choc mint ice cream). then onto Hinnomunjie, Benambra, the dirt track through the Nariel Valley, Colac Colac and Corryong.












and then we arrived at the border... i was waiting for a big dashed line and had i thought to take along some chalk there would be one drawn across the road right now. ;)

below is my view from where i think the borderline was and looking back at victoria. (strains of a madonna song running through my head).


the handing over of the keys. a special moment and i'm certain that behind those glasses there were tears in jamie's eyes.


and into new south wales. doesn't look much different from the victorian side of the border does it?


look who's back behind the wheel... bbbrrrrrmmmmmmm....


then onto Khancoban, through Thredbo Village and finally Jindabyne.









we were cloud driving for the last half hour and it was breath-taking. one moment we're complaining about the sun throwing shadows through the trees and making driving more dangerous and the next the cloud descends, well actually we ascended. pretty spectacular.



it was dark by the time we arrived at the banjo paterson inn, jindabyne. we were just in time for dinner - phew! a parma saved my life.

1.1.11

really? already?

so there was not a large amount of activity going on today, especially if it meant getting off the couch and out of my pjs. but this down time gave me the perfect opportunity to go through my three diaries (ie, diary, journal and calendar) to work out what 2010 was all about. and as it turned out i did manage to squeeze quite a bit in. there were the usual movies, dinners, gigs and parties but some of the highlights in no particular order except by date shall be listed below...

*moving into my home (first time since living with my folks all my worldly belongings are out of boxes)
*roadtrips
*golden plains music festival (but not the rain)
*canberra for the impressionist exhibition
*turning 40
*sovereign hill (and not just for jenn, as it was a lot of fun)
*the requisite trip back to perth for family and friends
*sydney writer's festival (4 days this time, joyful even without a beret)
*36 photos and a song
*flynn was born (yah julie and vince - i had absolutely nothing to do with any of that)
*working on alex's short film
*another MIFF (42 films this year)
*mum, chris and reg visiting melbourne and all staying with me
*2 day film summit
*carnival of mysteries (start of melb international arts festival - BRILLIANCE!)
*LA CHICAGO NEW YORK (and all the wonderful people that came with that trip - meeting flynn for instance)
*1927's the animal and children took to the streets at the malthouse - wow
*leonard cohen @ hanging rock (yes, the hanging rock)
*blondie and the pretenders at the rochford winery
*meredith music festival (not as wet as the plains, but still... come on)
*draft one of webseries
*my very own red bicycle with basket
*fireworks on new year's eve

see why i need a day on the couch? recuperating from the year behind - but looking forward to a magnificent 2011. it had better live up to all it's promises. and let me tell you the planning has already begun, it's going to be sublime. how could it be otherwise with the fabulous friends and family i have. keep smiling, stay safe and live your life fully in 2011.


me on couch at the beginning of the year that is about to be in comic book format (gotta love a mac). x

*****

p.s. i just checked out neil gaiman's journal and there is a fabulous post that mirrors exactly what i want for you this year, but also what i want for me...

"May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself".

do it.