We've been out and about over the past couple of days courtesy of a road trip out to Narrandera, Leeton and Wagga Wagga.
It kind of began on Thursday evening. A couple of folks Mrs G knows from work came over from dinner and took the pups away for a couple of days of training and general looking after. Nice guys and I had a good time. The kids were quite sweet - both saying goodbye to the pups and shedding a tear or two. LGR even spontaneously patted both of them.
Friday was departure day. We got out of town a touch before 08:00 and made our first stop in Goulburn. Via some pretty impressive storms and equally as impressive rainbows. We came across a bakery with a massive stone fireplace. LGR and I managed to snaffle a seat right in front of it only to be told by Mrs G we weren't staying - apparently we only needed a pit stop.
Next up was a short drive to Yass and morning tea. We expected the McDonalds there to still have kids toys - but they didn't. They are right in the middle of a refurbishment and it was crowded, loud and not very pleasant. We didn't stay long - but LGR did manage to fit in some homework.
About 5 minutes out of Yass Hayzey announced she needed to go to the toilet. So we pulled over and after 10 minutes nothing happened. Within 60s of jumping back in the car it poured - so the timing was quite good.
We decided to have some lunch at Gundagai after having a peep at the dog on the box. Very small. The kids were more impressed by the talking cockatoo. Lunch wasn't great but it was cheap and we were all rested.
Mrs G took over the driving at this point and I snoozed the portion into Wagga Wagga. We had a bit of time to spare so we ended up walking around a nice little area with a crafted lagoon, walkways, art galleries and a park. It was all vaguely Melbourne-esque and the kids had quite a good time. LGR was concerned about the flame in the War Memorial and Hayzey had decided it was her mission to say hello to every person she came across :-)
The final bit of the days drive was to Narrandera. Mrs G took the while for this one also and we made some pretty good time.
It was interesting to not the landsape throughout the drive. From Campbelltown thru to Mittagong/Bowral it was quite green and lush - rolling hills with greenery everywhere and some dramatic views topped off with magnificent storm clouds. It begins to dry out a little coming into Goulburn but even there it's not too bad. As soon as we were past the turnoff to Canberra the land became noticeably flatter. There still appeared to be a little bit of moisture around and it was quite open and scenic in a very Aussie sort of way.
Gundagai was surprisingly green and Wagga looked to be in pretty good shape too. Once we got past Wagga it got dry pretty quickly. There were empty irrigation ditches and very few crops planted anywhere. Lots of pale yellow grasses with the occasional field of green. Beyond Narrandera it was even worse with the only signs of a viable agricultural setup being orange trees.
Anyways - dinner was at Narrandera with my Aunt/Uncle and cousin. I big old roast dinner which was quite nice. We also slept there and it was fantastically quiet - especially once the kids decided to go to sleep :-)
We woke on Saturday and made our way out towards Leeton. I lived there for what I guess is about 2 years when I was a kid but I seem to have way to many memories for such a short time span.
Driving without a map I managed to unerringly find my way straight to my old house - despite there being a whole heap of new development. It was quite bizarre to see street names and remember them without being sure why I remembered them. The kids weren't too fascinated by the house but when we went to the old athletics track they were much more excited.
LGR ran around the track for a bit then we played some soccer and then had a game in the sandpit. I visited the old stormwater drains that I remember walking through as a kid and also examined the roadside where I was attacked by a magpie while riding my bike. There used to be trees there but for some reason they are gone now. We also had a look at my old school, the pool and that was about it. We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant and the waitress was quite impressed with the kids - who were behaving in a very grownup and cute way.
After lunch we went out to Leeton Ski Beach. On the way we had to get through a herd of cows - something we all found quite exciting and novel.
It was quite an eye opener getting to the beach, and the beach itself. There were plenty of dead and fallen trees and very little undergrowth. Most of the trees were redgum and even along the river edge there were dying off in vast numbers. The river looked to 3-4m below where it should be and was barely flowing. It was very obvious how beautiful the area once would have been and quite disheartening to see how it is now.
By this stage we were running quite late and had to get back to Wagga Wagga fairly quickly if we were any chance of getting to the party on time.
In the end we were late .... but not by much. It was a pretty sedate evening but we got to meet our newest cousin, watch a fire, meet some people and get a feed. And we were in bed by a reasonable hour.
Sunday was back to home day. We got a bit of sleep in and had breakfast at McDonalds (by request of the kids). We returned to the scene of the previous evening's festivities to catch up in a more leisurely fashion and have many hugs with the new bub. Then it was out of there. The trip home was very easy - a stop at Gundagai for some toilet time, lunch at Yass and then straight up the Hume to home.
Geez it was nice to get back ;-)