Unplain Plains

The drive to Sydney was quite eventful. Day 2 was the longest leg, from Freeling, north of Adelaide to Wagga Wagga. A total of 959 kilometres. I'd planned to be on the road at 6am, but a flat tyre discovered just before bed the night before meant we had to wait for the local garage to open and to be safe I decided to replace all four tyres with brand new ones. We were on the road by 9am.

After about an hour I heard a helicopter hovering over the car, and after a quick glimpse upward I realised that I had another deflated tyre and I pulled over to the shoulder of the Sturt Highway. After unloading my swollen boot of possessions I changed the tyre like the burgeoning professional I was becoming, put the limper on and drove at half the speed limit to Waikerie. There we found a tyre shop and a bored mechanic who helped us put the spare back in the boot for good.

About five hours behind schedule, we resumed our trip through the riverland and into NSW - the land of many many clouds. To the North, Brisbane was receiving flood warnings. I had the easier task of driving through brief but exciting downpours. Luckily, I had new tyres.

By dusk we had only just reached the Hay Plain, a sprawling, boring mass of land only made interesting by the 360 degree horizon with its variety of eccentric, contrasting cloud systems. It was quite beautiful, and I wished I could both drive and take photos. In the end I took a few during a break for a crappy pizza that we ate for dinner.

Night and steady rain fell around the same time, with me about 200km West of Wagga Wagga. Much of the rest of the trip was spent on half repaired roads that were washed out in last months floods. Eventually we reached the motel and I was able to take off my pants, open a beer and wash the grease from my fingers. I felt like a man, and after 14 hours of driving smelt even more like a man.

East of Euston

East of Euston


Highway

Highway


Hay Plain

Hay Plain


Wentworth Falls Lake, Blue Mountains

Wentworth Falls Lake, Blue Mountains

Comments

Sue Wellington

Love this photo, getting good with the camera.

February 28 2011 - Like
Sue Wellington

Looks great

February 28 2011 - Like
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