Monday 27th May

We had one big scare, imagine: the sun is blocked by dark rain clouds, tall gum trees are growing thickly next to the road. There are three lanes, two going your way and one the other; you are in the lane furthest left. You are driving at 80; the rest of the traffic is going 100. You see a sign “Left lane ends” you need to merge; a light spatter of rain has started. Indicator on, you look in the mirrors and see a truck coming, in the lane you need to merge into. “Don’t slow down otherwise you will not be able to get back into the traffic flow.” The truck goes past and you think it is ok to merge and you can see the end of the lane you are in so Quick! You are about to merge when something blasts its horn and keeps blasting, it is behind you. You think someone must be really close so you don’t merge, no one comes. Finally a red ute still blasting its horn at you shoots past and has to slow down behind the truck in front anyway. You are merging because you have to, you have no choice there is no more lane, and you hope none is in the way. All this happened very quickly, and was not at all nice! I would have had way enough room to merge in front of the ute but I thought it was closer! And he took advantage of me being an L plater, he should have given way, but didn’t. 

We came to a petrol station and filled up and swapped drivers, and then it bucketed rain as we drove along the freeway now going 110. I’m glad I wasn’t driving then. Eventually the rain stopped and we were driving over mountains. We were surrounded by still, green, tree clad slopes that rose high up into the clouds and dropped down into misty valleys. What stories, do those hills hide? What mysteries do those trees know? Billows of cloud lay, as if sleeping amongst the top most branches of the gums. Some mountain tops were shrouded entirely in fluffy white. Did the trees shiver at the touch of the cold cloud on their bark? Green, undulating, white, misty billows, resting, twining, falling asleep on the treetops, bedded down in green. In places there were gaps between treetops and there I could see the tall straight trunks of the great gums.

Later, there was sunshine and hardly a cloud in the blue-blue sky.  I drove for the next 55 minutes, a curve this way and a curve that way but mostly straight. Daddy was sitting next to me being a really good “supervising driver” by talking on the phone, looking at maps (not at the road) and generally not paying attention to what I was doing.  Once a car pulled out in front of us, but it was ok because obviously I was only going 80, which is as fast as I am “legally permitted” to drive. Another time the lane was ending and I had to merge (again) and I found it slightly unnerving -especially after what had happened that morning- merging with everyone else who were going 110.  Eventually we got to Grandma and Grandpa’s place.