Today marks the end of our first week away - the time has gone so quickly! We've been to Rutherglen (Vic), Forbes, Dubbo and Narrabri (NSW) and Toowoomba in Queensland and are now comfortably ensconced in an AirBnB apartment at Peregian Beach for a week. When I was so ill earlier this year, the thing I most wanted, apart from not being ill, was a holiday in the sun. The further away we got from chilly Ballarat, the warmer the weather. It's been delightful to throw off the layers and I'm planning a sandal-shopping expedition tomorrow.
Not so delightful has been the state of the countryside. While northern Victoria and just over the border was green, the further we travelled into NSW the more drought-stricken the country appeared. It wasn't diffiult to understand why farmers are having such a dreadful time.
We've seen such interesting sights and had some lovely (and some very ordinary! ) meals - the best was at All Saints winery at Wahgunyah, Vic. Expensive but worth it - what a treat. Visiting the Dish at Parkes was great, Dubbo's open range zoo was interesting and we enjoyed stopping at Goondiwindi and staying in Toowoomba but the highlight of the trip so far was being able to spend some time with the gorgeous Chooky. We made a big detour to take her out for lunch in Coonamble and we were all delighted to see each other. Chooky is one of my very favourite people and despite the hard time on her farm she still has that beautiful smile.
Tomorrow is for mundanities such as settling in to our accommodation, doing the washing (and buying sandals) and planning for the rest of our time here. Can't wait to see what this region has to offer.
