Day 19: travelling to the south coast

The caravan park where we stayed that night

This was Easter Sunday, a very special day for Christians. We had intended to go to church in Jindabyne before we travelled on. But I had very little energy at this point and David decided the drive to our next stop was enough to try to attempt. I'm sad that our plans ended up sabotaged like this.

I continued to be amazed at how two hours of driving can easily take you into a very different area of Australia. For example on this day we drove from a very dry highland region to verdant coastal. It was a stunning drive that I wish I could have appreciated more, but pain was disturbing my nights and I often felt quite sleepy. 

I drove some of time this day and it was a struggle, probably a bit dangerous! I was just glad to feel well enough to drive. Some recent drives would probably not have been so difficult if I had been at the wheel—it’s not that David is a bad driver (on the contrary, he's an excellent, very considerate driver), but that I’m a bad passenger on winding roads due to my lifelong nemesis of a tendency to motion sickness. But meds and pain also contributed to the nausea, I suspect, as we're living in a “home on wheels” which is surprisingly wobbly.

Snowy River, of Man from Snowy River fame

This day, after three days of trying, I also managed to make a dentist appointment in a place we could get to. I found a place in eastern Melbourne open until lunchtime on Easter Monday. It was still a public holiday, but it seems that city dental care is better than country care. Rural health care has always been a challenge in this sparsely populated country. This trip, though, I've been surprised by how remote much of the southern east coast is.

We entered into Victoria this day, the pointy eastern end.

Enough about me. 

We were staying in completely new territory to both of us. We've rarely been to Victoria and never to anywhere east of Melbourne, the state capital. It's amazing how much of the state is out that direction! Unfortunately we didn't get to linger out there, but we did get a passing view. 

Snowy River

The owner of the caravan park made some big claims about the local coffee, just reinforcing our preconception that Victorians are proud of their coffee culture. We didn't get to check out his claim, however, as we arrived just before dinner and left early the next day.

Another photo of the van for Dad :D