A week or so ago, I went on a bit of a road trip with my Dad and brother, up to the goldfields area of rural Australia, where we all feel wonderfully at home (despite having no connections there).
we drove.
and drove
and drove...
got lost by trusting the GPS
but it was a good kind of lost.
mountains followed us for most of the way
snaking along by the side of the car
rising up in front of us
It was rather comforting- this great, flat dry expanse that seemed to go on forever, but contained and watched over by the mountain monsters. Though I have little to no connection to Australia, I was happy to drive through it and know I wasn't a part of it- and that was okay. I'm just a traveler from another world.
anyone else out here? No...
oh look, another car! We couldn't see the driver though, and assumed he was off bushwalking.
At last we get to the place we're going- Castlemaine! Oh how I love this place- a city that feels like a country town, rows of gorgeous old buildings, friendly people and a killer supermarket! (You know sooner or later this is about food.)
Here's the view from the caravan park- the one we always stay in when we come up here. It sits next to the botanical gardens so it's like camping in the grounds of a fancy mansion. I wasn't camping though, let's make that quite clear. I am not a tent person, I'm barely an outdoors person. We had a big trailer with walls, electricity and running water, because I am not a hobo. Also I like caravans. I like the smell, the outdated decor, the scaled down accoutrement, the tiny windows by the bed.
Here's the view from the front gate of the antiques fair- yeah that's why we drove 9 hours! Never let it be said this family doesn't go out of it's way to get to some good old fashioned junk diggin'.
Tiny little cottages in tiny little 'barely there' towns
some painted sunny colours, proud and fresh
Some still wear their first ever coat, and sit alone in quiet hills.
Castlemaine is apparently the hot rod capital of Australia- we didn't see any, but there was a fab Valiant owned by the people next to us in the caravan park.
I have more photos, but you can only put so much in one post. So they can be for next time. And yes I bought a criminal amount of stuff!
6 comments:
Looks like a wonderful drive. Thanks for sharing the countryside with us. I'm with you on the 9 hours drive for a flea market idea. That's the sort of thing we would do. (in fact we're flying over 9 hours going to a certain flea market in Uruguay next month! )
I bought a criminal amount of stuff too this weekend but it was at the gem show. Will be sharing it on the blog soon.
xoxo Kim
Beautiful road pictures, well I can do that sort of things too.. I mean 9 hours drive for an antique market. But not with my siblings! My imagination is wild about your "criminal amount of stuff"!!!
those little tiny houses are so great! make me happy :D
Love that car and it's in my favourite colour! I don't think I'd cope with a 9 hour drive, it nearly killed me driving 6 1/2 hours down to Cornwall last summer.
Great car and wonderful trip. That car reminds me of a salvaged ones I saw on Salvage Reseller. The damages are minor so I'm thinking of buying it and having it repaired.
Yes nine hours is a long drive for a flea market but my eyes did perk up when I saw the tents in the field... Lovely that you and your dad have outings together... Happy to see you out and about and enjoying life..
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