North of the Divide

When I was a child, I quickly learnt that one of my father’s basic tenets of his belief system was that “it is always sunny north of the Divide”. To my inquiring young mind this always invoked my immediate response “Gee dad, if it never rains there, what do the poor people do for water?”. I never received a satisfactory response to that question, but the mantra was repeated so often and with such sincerity, that of course I just had to pass on this same piece of truth to my own children.

Today we had the perfect opportunity to put it to the test. As we left our home in Melbourne, we were greeted by a dismal grey sky, cold temperatures and steady rain. This could have constituted something of a setback for us, but did I worry ? Of course not, because I knew that it absolutely NEVER rains north of the divide. Since we were going to be driving to Wodonga, and since Wodonga is well north of the mystical divide, I knew that we would be greeted by perpetual sunshine.

And that is pretty much how the day unfolded. For the first hour or two the windscreen wipers beat out a steady rhythm, trying to keep the road visible, however by the time we reached Yea, the rain had stopped and patches of sunshine were breaking through.

We joined up with 8 others from the team to have a coffee, before continuing on our way to Wodonga. The further north we travelled, the better the weather became. As we pulled into our motel in Wodonga, the temperature had risen to a balmy 20C and the sky was almost completely clear. I guess that vindicates what my father always tried to tell me. I suppose I should now share that truism with my grandchildren…..Read more