So, have just had a fabulous weekend, which was mostly taken up with a roadtrip with Donna Hanson and Matthew Farrer. ROADTRIP! We’ve just had halloween food come in at work, so I managed to load up on eyeballs and bodyparts and ghost chocolate for trip snacks. Oh, and the wonderful Trudi Canavan’s 40th birthday (I want Trudi’s library. No, let’s be truthful – I want the whole house).
I learnt my lesson from last time, and so arrived at Sharyn Lilley’s place in Culcairn (the resting place on Friday night) having not eaten for hours, so ready to tuck in. And she delivered – pumpkin soup, and lotsa little pastries (my favourite was the honey and mustard one). It was amazing to see her kids – it’s been a couple of years, and they’re so grown up. Happy little chappies too. My bed that night was fantastic. Normally I have issues sleeping in strange beds, but not this time. Perhaps that was due to the late hour (didn’t get to bed until 2am, gasbagging too much) but I prefer to think it was because it was one of the snuggliest beds I’ve every been in. Just the right amount of sink, with support still there, and one of the fluffiest doonas I’ve come across.
We took off from Culcairn around 10 on Saturday to make our way to Melbourne, and stopped for lunch at Benalla. The Gallery Cafe there is a favourite of Donna’s, and it passed both my and Matthew’s test. My dish was okay, but the food generally was good. Then we wandered around the gallery itself, checking out things and the others bought up big at the shop (I wanted to buy a set of notecards I saw there, but didn’t have the money. Hopefully next time).
The local exhibition we looked at was very interesting – all seemingly inspired by what I gathered was a recent council/government decision to change a local lake. However, I couldn’t get away from what I call the wankery of some of the artist descriptions. One in particular really got to me – the artist had taken some photos, and then in his artist thoughts crapped on for ages about being alone and watched – nothing about the actual artistic process. Now, I’m prepared to go with the thought that he spied this thing, started photographing it cause it grabbed him in some way, and then as he was photographing got to thinking about loneliness, and isolation and so on. I know that sometimes, artists start work wanting to portray a particular thought or idea, but I’m willing to bet that more often, as in writing, you discover the point of the work as you’re creating. But to pretend that you had some high intellectual ideal – particularly in a situation like this where the work wasn’t actually that good and it was more luck that you got the photo at all than any real skill – really irks me.
Okay, moving on. When it was my turn to drive (we all shared the drive each day – made the trip quite easy, and also gave me the chance for my car nap), Donna decided she wanted to avoid Melbourne, and tolls, and the motorway. It took a bit of doing, but finally the GPS calculated the route. Well, it ended up being the funniest and one of the loveliest drives I’ve ever been on. At one point, when the GPS is telling us we’re just 20 minutes from our destination, we were driving down a country road so small that it was barely wide enough for the car. I looked at Donna - “I’m not wrong in thinking Trudi lives in suburbia, am I?” “No.” “You do have the right address typed in, right?” Every time we turned onto a new road, it seemed to be getting skinnier, and further from any sense of civilisation. By the end, Donna and I were in peals of laughter.
Turns out it was right – we somehow found a finger of nature poking into Melbourne that ended just a few kilometres from Trudi’s. It was a terrific end to the drive.
Was great to catch up with Trudi and Paul – this was the first time seeing them since Conjecture, thus the first time since getting the contract. Always good to have advice and support from someone who’s been there, and can pat you on the knee and go “yes, that’s the way it is, you’ll be fine”.
The party was fantastic fun – the dressing up was great. I managed to catch up with a few Melbournians that I don’t get to see much, and there was free cocktails produced by some admittedly pretty cute barmen, and fantastic music, and the game console was a massive hit. Again, it was getting onto 2am when we toddled off to bed. Didn’t sleep so well this time – not because of the foldout bed (which was quite comfy) but because the margaritas and my reflux decided not to get on with each other.
The plan was to leave at 10. Donna and Matthew didn’t get up until after that, and by the time there were showers, and breakfast, and we helped clean up, it was midday before we hit the road. Another countryside trip, this time not as much fun as the day before, although we did discover a beautiful little pub in Yea. where we had a much needed coffee (Matthew’s already thinking in terms of retreat there). Lunch in Seymour, where the kitchen at the pub kindly did a late lunch for us (they were technically closed).
On again to Culcairn, and a quick chat again with Sharyn. Then I was driving again, and in keeping with the day before my drive was the one with the adventure – a fantastic rain storm around Gundagai. Boy, did that rain pump down! Luckily, Donna and I were at that point torturing Matthew with Abba and Meatloaf, so we got through it well enough.
It was after 9.30 when we got home last night – Matthew off to do some writing to meet a deadline, which had my jaw on the ground. No way could I do that!
It was a wonderful trip – lots of laughter, and friends, and squealing over the slimy sensation of the jelly eyeballs (they were so cool, except almost impossible to open). There’s talk of a bit of a roundabout trip to or from the retreat in January. Should be a hoot – especially if Donna programs the GPS again.