Day 38 - 31st October

Kurth Kiln Park to Southbank

Distance Travelled - 105 km

Thunder rolling through the skies woke me at about 4.30 am and although it was still mostly dark it did seem that the skies looked somewhat cloudy and overcast with a distinct lack of visible stars. Fifteen minutes later as I tried to get back to sleep the kookaburras let rip with their morning welcome, shattering the relative peace and quiet between the occasional thunder of the early dawn. Got back to sleep but was awake again at about 5.45 am as the thunder came again, this time much louder and bringing with it visible lightning.

I got out of bed and looking around decided that it may not be too long before it started to rain and seeing as things were pretty well dry in regards to the tent it might be a good idea to pack things away early. Managed to get everything packed away and breakfast eaten and coffee made by just after 6.15 am as the first drops of rain started to fall. Sat in the car thankful that I had everything packed away as a heavy rain set in for about 20 minutes.

After the initial downpour, the rain eased off a bit to a light but steady fall and I relaxed in the car with the earphones in listening to some music. About 15 minutes later the rain eased up enough to go for a walk down to the kiln and back to stretch the legs out a bit and remove a little stiffness developing in my calves. I got back to the car just as the rain started up again, not particularly heavy but enough to be annoying if you were out in it. Spent some more time listening to music and watching little streams form outside in the campground and make their way down the slight incline away from my tent site and towards others down the hill.

By 9.30 am I was ready to leave the campsite and start the trip in to the city. I drove through to Pakenham where I found a Maccas to post the blog at. After that I went for a drive through Pakenham to try and find an op shop or two and to generally look around the town. Having no luck finding any suitable books and spent time wandering I grabbed an early lunch on the way out and drove into Southbank.

I parked just around the corner from Lindsay and Heather's and went off to look around. After a short walk I discovered the South Melbourne markets and instantly regretted having had lunch in Pakenham as there was a bombardment of amazing smells spilling forth from the multitude of eateries within the markets. Disappointed that I didn't feel in the least bit hungry, I continued walking through the markets perusing different shops and stalls and enjoying just looking although I was somewhat glad to be out of the crowds by the time I finished.

Walking back to the car I got in and drove around looking for op shops and after searching through a few managed to find a couple of books that hopefully should get me through to Adelaide and beyond. Then I drove the short distance to the Princes Pier and sat in the sun for a while reading before heading back to park the car near Lindsay and Heather's. Having parked the car I wandered off through the casino and out along the walk towards the Polly Woodside museum only to find it closed when I got there. I had remembered at the pier that I had promised Michelle I would send her a postcard form Melbourne for her class and was now having difficulty trying to find one.

Looked at a few other places on the way back but had no joy hunting out a postcard so had to leave that and hope to find one before heading off. Got back to the car and contacted Lindsay and then met up with them at their place. Spent a while catching up and chatting and waiting for Deanne to arrive, which she did not too much later.

We had a wonderful time catching up and talking about various travels and things that we are currently doing and hoping to do in the not to distant future. It has been an extraordinarily long time between catching up with Deanne so it was fantastic to have this opportunity and I am really happy that we were able to make it happen. We had a yummy tea prepared by Heather while we chatted and all too quickly several hours had passed and it was time for Deanne to head off back to her place. Lindsay, Heather and I chatted for a bit longer before we too succumbed to the need for sleep and so went off to bed. I was too tired to write the blog so left it until this morning. Alas no photography yesterday so no pictures to share.

Today I start the trip back to Adelaide travelling to Dimboola to start off with and then I will decide whether to stay there the night as I did on the trip over or whether to push through and get to Adelaide late in the afternoon into early evening. A lot of that decision will depend on what time I get away this morning.