I am writing to you from the road between I guess Orbost and Lakes Entrance in I suppose it's still EastGippsland. The one thing that hadn't occurred to me when I booked this trip from Canberra to Melbourne via Traralgon was that the winding road might make me feel ill, but I assume that is what's making me feel a bit ill. Certainly as long as I look out the window it's kept in check. But aside from the extreme boredom of having to look out the window, I really like looking out the window and seeing the lush bush and fields of East Gippsland go by. I am a big fan of this part of the world and would like to see more of it.
I am not sure why but we are operating out of timetabled order; instead of stopping in Orbost for 40 minutes which is what the timetable says, we stopped for about that long in Cann River. Where tbh there is nothingbut some toilets, a park and about three cafes. And a post office, a couple of pubs, a petrol station, and some homes. I think that's it. And a visitors centre. I really don't know why we stopped there, I think the driver explained in some way but the back of the bus was so noisy I couldn't hear him. Someone must have told him he was not as audible as he might have been because he then did a 'testing, testing' thing but didn't actually repeat himself.
So I have had bouts of nausea, nothing shockingly awful but it's never pleasant is it.
You probably are waiting for my ultimate Canberra - NLA assessment to drop, OK well here it is. Canberra great as ever. University House Hotel very nice indeed. Second tramline proceeding apace. NLA full of incredible treasures that you just can't believe have been kept basically for your (my) delectation. I mean, clearly no-one had looked at that interview with Betty Lucas for over a decade, because access was only available either with her written consent or after her death, and she died in 2015. Everybody who works there is ridiculously helpful and they carry themselves with a particular grace, because they know they hold the keys to the people's stories.
Anyway I have come to be of the opinion that the timetable is really just options and the driver makes a bit of a calculation about where he can stop for how long without making anyone late, and as long as he gets us to Traralgon in time for the train the other bits and pieces don't really matter. Like, there are a lot of stops in the timetable but I don't actually think we're stopping at many of them because there's no point - no-one's bought a ticket to be picked up there. Now we're just coming in to Swan Reach which is a scheduled 2:30 stop and it's exactly 2:30 and I blinked and basically missed it, and now we're in Johnsonville which is a 2:34 stop and it's 2:31 and I guess... everyone in Johnsonville is perfectly happy with their lot and does not want a bus thanks.
The road is getting less wind-y and I am not feeling sick anymore. I might even chance the reading of a book. Or go back to the other thing I was doing, the writing of a book - assembling chapter 8 of my next book which is due in 3.5 months. It would be nice to get back to Melbourne and to the end of the week with that 'smashed out' as the kids potentially would have it. Oh no, writing 'smashed out' made me feel nauseous again.
Later:
So I am now on the train, which is much better, though crowded. I am in that hell is other people phase which always takes anyone over after they have been in public for a whole day and everyone suddenly starts obviously coughing in a gross way everywhere. I still have two hours to go but assume I made it home, spruced myself up and went and got Perry and we were all reunited and cheerful thereafter.
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