On the Move

About 40 minutes East of Pakenham, on the Princes Highway, is the small town of Yarragon. The short drive from Pakenham to Yarragon takes in some of the delightful rolling green hills that Gippsland is famous for. It is one of our favourite drives, and the choice of lovely little eateries at Yarragon makes the trip very worthwhile.

Yesterday morning we were both keen to get out of the house and head off somewhere in the car. Since Yarragon seemed like a good idea, that is where we headed. It soon became obvious that many others are keen to get out and about again. The highway was comfortably full of other vehicles. mostly heading away from Melbourne.

We arrived at Yarragon around noon and brought some take away lunch to eat. After lunch I had a multiway video chat organised with some of the American ladies who were on the barge with us last year in Provence. So much has happened since that trip, that it now seems a lifetime ago, but it has been good to renew the memories we shared together.

Considering that I was in the Victorian countryside, the video chat worked very well. They were able to tell me that the situation in Portland was similar to what was happening in so many other towns, all over the USA. They are now subject to an evening curfew and there had been widespread rioting and looting in the city. They all agreed that Australia looked like a much better place to be at the current time. All things considered, I would certainly prefer our current prime minister to the idiotic clown that the USA has.

This morning dawned fine and clear. That gave us all the motivation we needed to get out on the bikes again. We continued our exploration of a number of new bike paths between Pakenham and Berwick. It seems that every time we start, we discover more and more freshly laid concrete. We even discovered a new underpass under the Monash Freeway that we did not know existed.

We stopped at the Main Cafe in Berwick for lunch and enjoyed a lovely time in the winter sunshine. Although things are still not the way they were, they are moving in the right direction and we are beginning to see brighter times ahead.

On the return ride we followed some different paths, arriving home soon after 1.30 pm. It had been a thoroughly enjoyable couple of days. The stock market has also made some significant gains over the past few days, so that is finally making retirees breathe a little easier.Read more