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Friday, 5. July 2002
The drive ...
kippers7
01:35h
5 p.m. darkness - we're on our way, it's Good Friday. A quiet, quick drive through sleepy, wet, Melbourne. By six a.m. we're on the Bendigo Road. An hour from Melbourne - 'how much longer' the question repeatedly asked by my two sons. Seven more hours of driving!!! First stop just outside Bendigo at McDonalds - for breakfast. Freezing. Shop busy. I fill up with constant cups of coffee whilst the three lads dig into Egg and bacon muffins. Geoffrey asks for another. How can such a thin child eat so much! Mentally tell myself to get him checked out for worms!!! The land becomes flat. Flat, dry and worn. Occasional fences and clusters of trees, most of the time there is only bitumen, straight, narrow, the scenery unchanging. A few small towns passed through, usually with a railway siding dominated by the concrete towers of wheat silos. A few houses, a shop and usually a hotel. The semi-desert of northwestern Victoria, wheat country. Tyres humming, motor singing its constant note. Children's voices, arguments, Numerous questions. Long silences, peaceful, happy. Games, 'First one to see a cockatoo get's a dollar'. First one to see five crows together gets a dollar. Big argument - five crows equals five dollars! Lots of sympathy from Geoffrey who stops teasing his brother and constantly asks 'You all right Matt?' At last Mildura! Sighs all round. Hunt for chemist - purchase of sickness tablets. Petrol stop, cool drinks, two bags of ice for the cooler boxes. Everyone brightens up. Across the bridge - we're in New South Wales now. Cheers from the boys. A couple more hours undulating dirt road, dust flying, husband swearing 'next car is definitely four wheel drive' boy's squirming. Relief - we've arrived. All tumble out of car - boy's dash off. Mum stretches. Dad relieved ...
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