Why do things never go
smoothly despite planning and preparation?? This morning we set off for
breakfast which we consumed in a small café around the corner from the motel.
Great coffee….did I mention that Australia serves the best coffee? I ate baked
beans and toast! I know, full of sugar, but it was a throw back to my youth!!
We then walked up to the bank to draw some cash which we have done around the
world with no homeland issues…..in Africa the machines couldn’t hold enough
notes to feed demand as you needed a wheelbarrow to cart your $500 home, but
all you had to do was chat with the bank manager…..and try again….and you had
money!! So, we were stunned when our request for cash came back with a message
from the machine that our financial institution had “refused” the request. We
spoke with a teller inside the bank and she couldn’t figure out what the
problem was other than that sometimes the home bank shuts down and is
unavailable to “talk to” the foreign bank….and it would be momentary. We tried
again. No luck. So good old Scotiabank had let us down again! I try to like
this bank. I/we have been customers for more years than I can remember, and still
they continue to let us down. You would think I would learn. Unbelievingly, I
pulled out my TD bank card and inserted it into the machine, answered all the
same questions, and bingo….money!!! A small annoying occurrence with a huge
lesson.
Our drive today was
uneventful. When we left Eden the skies were black, the wind raged, and small
drops of rain splattered the car, and that lasted most of the day with the odd
teasing by the blue sky that the sun might shine. We left the coast behind, and
the first part of the journey was on a narrow, windy, two lane road through
secondary coastal rain forest and low mountains. It was very pretty, and we had
it mostly to ourselves. We emerged from this scenery into a flat plain of lush
green pasture land with cattle and horses grazing calmly and heading to Lakes
Entrance on the Gippsland Lakes, Australia’s largest inland waterway. We took
an excursion off the A1 for lunch and drove down a point at Metung where you
could book a cruise of the lakes. Robin and Gretel, if you read this, the point
resembled the point on George Island up at Killarney. Do you remember the rain,
the wind, the waves in the Lake…..and trying to eat lunch sheltering under the
trees?? Well, today was not too much different!! We pulled out our jackets and
ate our salad and yoghourt hurriedly while guarding our plates from the wind
and beating the rain shower by minutes!! Great fun!!
For the remainder of the
journey we just got the job done to cover the distance we hadn't done yesterday. Tonight we are staying
in Traralgon. I’d say it is more of an industrial town as opposed to being a
tourist town.
We had dinner at the
Bowling Club. Well…..we ate in a sailing club, and a soldiers’ club, so why not
a bowling club? The common denominator is ….gambling!! It is so different from
our culture. If you are from out of
town, you can eat and gamble at the club (you have to live 10k away) if you
“register” when you go in. The food is good and tonight the menu was very
varied. The population of the town is about 25,000 and the dining room was
vast, and busy. So obviously, these establishments do very well!! Quite unique.
Now we are tucked up in our
motel with big plans for tomorrow!!
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