It’s a first. I’ve never even been to Victoria — unless you count flying into a conference in a Melbourne hotel and flying out again.
To get this far south from Coffs Harbour, the J and I have been traversing some pretty serious hills. We don’t like hills. We particularly dislike hills that include skinny roads and narrow bridges. (Narooma, for example. We did not like that bridge much, but the town was very pretty.) I’ve discovered that the Princes Highway (did you know all these years I’ve thought it was the Princess Highway?) presents more twists and turns than a Jenn J McLeod plot?
We were ‘tempted’ to stop in Eden (NSW’s most southern coastal town) so we did. We were very weary (and extremely wary of snakes and apples in Eden). But we needed to regroup and prepare for the BIG crossing. We also had to eat all the prohibited fresh fruit and veggies because apparently, we take them over the border. (Of course, we washed them down with wine, as grapes are also on the prohibited list.)
So, it is a first. Wish us well for the last leg as we prepare to tackle a border crossing into unknown territory and take up our first Victorian property sitting job as of Saturday.
Some things we found en route:
Tranquility in Croki,
real estate to die for Eden,
sneaky stingers,
cheeky birds..
sound advice,
sad stories
and castles in the sand.
Oh, and the tiniest of libraries (run by Milton volunteers)
pussy cat tails (a childhood memory),
and interesting weather.
Speaking of weather…
Can someone tell the south coast… It’s December, for Pete’s sake!
Why do I have the car heater on today?
and sound advice.
NSW we love you and we will be back, but first there are places to see and people to meet, libraries to conquer and small towns to visit.
Yes, there were tears, both happy and sad when we hugged our house-sitting host goodbye last month. We spent six fabulous weeks in Cawarral, which is somewhere in the middle of Rockhampton and Yeppoon on the Queensland Capricornia Coast. (You might recall I set a story in the same region after staying on a cattle property last year.)
Yes, we are officially house-sitters and care-taking our way around the country by looking after vacant houses, maintaining properties and gardens, and feeding and loving animals while their humans head off on holidays. We did up a website, printed some business cards, and the requests started coming in and if our first sit in Cawarral is anything to go by, this roving life just got better.
Check out the pictures: the view from our van was stunning, the company cute, and the experiences were the type you tick off the bucket list — the highlight for sure was being midwives to Lacey the Appaloosa mare (check out the video below).
Of course the birth had to happen just after midnight, with Michelle banging on the caravan door: “Come on, girls, we’re having a baby.” So we chucked on long pants and shirts and fought off mozzies that were bigger than a Black Hawk helicopter, while keeping nosy stable mates at bay and taking really bad video recordings. We soon realised the birth was not going to plan, but Michelle took charge and there was a happy ending. His name is Barney, and if you would like to work your way through some very dark and badly done recording (it does get better when we needed it to) you too can witness the miracle of birth.
Best of all, we have made friends for life in Michelle and John (and Paddy – the award-winning Palomino, Clancy – who thinks he’s a dog, and Wilbur with the wonderful eyes. Coco, who is actually a dog, was also the perfect puppy therapy). Missing you all in Cawarral, but there are new communities to get to know. Next stop — Bairnsdale, Victoria. We hope to back in Cawarral for Christmas next year. Barney will probably be with a new family by then, but we got word recently another bub is on the way, so he or she will be a few months old by then. Can’t wait.
Thank you Michelle and John for your friendship.
Peek-a-boo Paddy
Not a bad view
Just because they inspire me
Sonya’s cute dog is based on Coco-licious. Only she’s not a Cav!
The long way to Mudgee Readers Festival – a big literary event in a small town.
Opening night: with organiser Portia Lindsay
And what fun! From opening night drinks and mingling with *warning: name-dropping ahead*: Kate Forsyth, Charlotte Wood, Jane Caro, David Dyer, and more) books and bookish types took over the pretty streets of Mudgee, where every second shop is a cafe and every second person a book (or wine) lover.
Officially, I was there as a presenter and I talked ‘Books With Heart’ with Amy Andrews, Alissa Callen and Charlotte Nash (about how the heart finds its way into all sorts of books: fiction, memoir, medical, sporting stories, even . . . cook books!! A robust cab sav is required in such instances! That’s ‘offal’ I know! ) We stuck mostly to fictional hearts: hearts that flutter, bang, burst, pound, race, tear, rip, break, swell, jump, thump, beat, bleed and skip and love, hate, ache, sigh, melt, palpitate, sink, shatter, somersault, radiate, glow, embrace, adore and feel. We discussed how hearts talk to us and betray us; become our weakness and our strength; and make us spontaneous and (according to the character in my next book) sometimes makes us wait.
Laughing about serial killers in the outback!
Then, for something a little different, I had a few laughs with Candice Fox about outback serial killers and psychopaths. In fact I asked Candice for her thoughts on the most effective means of warding of potential psychopaths from my caravan door while free camping. I offered her a list of strategies:
Leave out a pair of size 11 work boots and an empty box of bullets?
Set up a chunky dog chain and a big, empty dog bowl—the words STILL HUNGRY visible on the bottom?
Or a sign that tells the truth: “Beware – two angry, menopausal women on board?”
(Yes, she thought #3 might work, too.)
While the welcome was warm (the atmosphere too) the temps were a tad chilly. (Minus 2 over night.)
Despite it being winter, Mudgee was a great destination. But …
Of course my book tour of NSW started well before Mudgee. We took the long road, starting with the launch of book four – The Other Side of the Season – at my home base – The Coffs Coast and after that a whole lot of small towns.
Nambucca was nice
May 19, 2016 Author talk: Nambucca Library Lots of lovely local media.
Coffs Harbour was commemorative
May 25, 2016 Library Event/Official Launch Book number 4 of my Season Collection with moregreat PRINT MEDIA and a book signing at The Book Warehouse.
MOREE was magnificent
Catching up with Nicole Alexander and Greg Barron.
July 9, 2016 Library Event and a catch up with Nicole and Greg
NEWCASTLE was noteworthy
(I mean, seriously, look at the size of the poster!)
Now THAT’s a poster…
August 20, 2016 Book signing: Big W, Charlestown (biggest shopping centre EVA!)
Back to NAMBUCCA
Elizabeth’s Turning Pages on 2NVR Radio
August 25, 2016 RADIO interview: 2NVR Radio – Elizabeth’s Turning Pages.
So, there you have it.
And home in time to remember Mum on her birthday and share Father’s Day with Dad.
Oh, and by the way… If you are into stats, we did around 3,200 kms and fed the beast about $650.00 in diesel. While it was a great experience and fun, I do hope my tour helped to get my name out there and I found some more lovely readers. Word of mouth is the best compliment. (Have you told someone today about the last great book you read?)
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