End of Week 6 - G'day from Griffith!

Hello everyone! I'm writing to you from my motel room in Griffith at The Grand Motel (sounds fancy - it is all white and really tall doors but no windows in the rooms, just a weird open skylight above the bed). This week we have been to a few places and it feels like it both sped by and took forever!

On Monday morning I woke up with Will around 430am and sent him off to the train station for the long trip back to Brisbane. It was still dark when we got up and I said goodbye to him at reception. It was good to see him but very sad to see him go. Without seeing him I didn't realise how much I missed him! But the best news is that in a week and a bit from now he's back with me in Melbourne for Easter! I went back to bed (after making sure he got on the bus safely) and woke up around 830 ready to pack up and head to Sale.

We got on the road after checking out and began the 285km drive to Sale. We stopped off for lunch on the way in a small down called Traralgon. I got a pesto fettuccine from a cafe and kept some for later. We arrived in Sale and checked into the accommodation. It was a motel which had been kind of renovated, the whole inside was done up like new but the bathroom was still old looking and the sink was in the main room not in the bathroom! Neridah and I took a drive down to the lake and had a walk around it. It was quite nice in the afternoon to be by the water and I saw some black swans! We headed back to the hotel and got ready to go do the lighting plot. All went well and we headed to a 'gastro-pub' (like a fancy pub) for dinner. I got another steak (not as good as the one in Wagga but still good) and a mango cider (yummy!). Headed back home for bed.

We had two shows in Sale and then bumped out. I can't really remember much of the shows because this week has just sped by. But they all enjoyed it! We bumped out and I had dinner from my microwave, a sneaky rum and coke from the minibar and watched My Kitchen Rules. Feeling a bit lonely this week.

Wednesday we woke up and checked out of Sale and got ready to make the 376km drive to Albury. We were heading back to NSW, which didn't quite make sense after we caught a plane to Melbourne from Canberra, right beside Queanbeyan... in NSW. We were all looking forward to it as we got to drive through the Snowy Mountains. We passed a few stretches of road with interesting names like 'Hell's Gate' and 'The Devil's Backbone' (that one was my favourite). We stopped at a cute town called Omeo.

We were hoping that there would be some nice lookouts along the way but we didn't spot any - and after so much driving we just wanted to get to Albury! We finally arrived. It was a fairly large town which was nice. It was quite pretty. We went and got dinner at a Thai restaurant which was very quick and quite yummy. I think we were all feeling a bit the same way - the initial excitement of touring had kind of worn off and we were all a bit used to/sick of checking into hotel rooms and having to go to Woolworths. The things I think I miss the most are home cooked meals, my own bed, having my friends and family to talk to/spend time with and taking nighttime drives with Will. I have to make sure I appreciate those things when I get home. I also am really sick of living in buildings with lots of people around!

The people next door to me the first night in Albury were making a lot of noise! Our rooms were divided by a locked door (could be opened and turned into a bigger apartment). First of all they had a loud movie on with lots of electronic music and people yelling. I kept thinking it was people outside and jumping out of bed to look out the window! Finally they turned the movie off around midnight and I thought it was finally time to go to sleep... but no! They were getting a bit um... intimate and she felt the need to scream and carry on!! Gosh! I didn't like them much after that. And even less at 7am when he decided to take a business call on the balcony right beside my window! Woke up to a rainy day and headed to the theatre for our only performance in Albury. It was a bit of a weird show, a small audience in a big theatre, the sound was too quiet for the first half of the show and we couldn't hear it, everything was a bit out of whack but I think we did well considering.

Even though the audience was small they appreciated it. There were three girls who said "We didn't even know where we were going, Grandma surprised us!" and as I was signing their tickets one said "This is so awesome!". There was also a very forceful little girl who made us all sign her bag and demanded photos. Very short season in Albury, we packed up the set and headed off.

After the shows I went for a walk to see the Murray River. It was very beautiful in the afternoon sun as the rain cleared and there were lots of people with their dogs and kids. Very peaceful. I was feeling a bit tired/slight sore throat. I made tandoori chicken for dinner (bad idea... the whole room smelt like that for the rest of my stay) and watched Pretty in Pink which I enjoyed.

Another early wake up at 7am due to the laundry truck arriving outside my window. I went and got a coffee and we all met up to head to Beechworth for the day. Apparently there was a brewery and pizza place and lots of giftshops kind of like Montville. It was a bit weird, Cam and Neridah knew Nick Backstrom (who is Will's dad's cousin and also an actor) and he came with us for the day.

We took a nice scenic drive to Beechworth and went to the brewery. We all shared a ten beer tasting plate between two people. Some of the beers were very nice but some were gross! Then I had a cider. It seems perhaps there was more alcohol in the drinks than there seemed (or maybe it was my oncoming flu/cold/whatever) and I really just wanted to have a sleep then. But we had a look at the honey place (there were real bees!) and there were all different types of honey, creamy and flavoured with different things. We also went to a massive lolly shop and had icecream. I had a mango and tutti frutti gelati. An Irish Wolfhound walked past and it was massive! We also went to see a courthouse where Ned Kelly had been tried but it was closed and under construction. We headed back to the car to head home. On the way home I saw a massive dog with black and white splodges on it - I thought it was a horse at first!

When we got home I started to feel a bit sick/tired. Spent the rest of the night, queasy and feeling like I needed to be sick (which I eventually was) and watched Happy Feet. I don't know what's going on but I still feel under the weather.

Woke up feeling slightly better but still not fabulous on Saturday morning and we began our drive to Griffith. Was a 298km drive, not close but a lot closer than our recent drives. We stopped off at a small place called Narrandera and got lunch at a servo. Neridah wanted to take a picture of this really creepy house across the road and we ended up getting our car bogged right outside it! Fortunately some people stopped and helped us get our car free. Muddy shoes for everyone!

Eventually we arrived in Griffith and checked into our hotel. We took a walk down to the theatre for the lighting plot. Stomach still queasy. Stopped off an an Italian restaurant for dinner. There is a big Italian influence here because a lot of Italians settled here after a new irrigation system was set up I think in the 1920s. The city was also designed by Walter Burley Griffin who also designed Canberra so there are a lot of roundabouts here.

Up again this morning and I headed off to the Rotary Markets. It was a very small market with stalls with local produce. The land here is very green and looks good for growing. Not much use for us as we only have access to microwaves but I bought some peaches. I had a look at an exhibition at the Griffith Art Gallery by an artist called Kim Gibbs who makes animals out of old metals.

I headed for lunch/coffee at a popular place called The Roastery and they had really good coffee and I got lemon pancakes for lunch! I couldn't finish them all though - tummy playing up again! Met up with Neridah and we took a trip to a local winery which sells a wine she likes - Westend Estate 3 Bridges Durif. We then visited a place called Hermit's Cave Lookout. Between 1929 and 1952 an Italian migrant named Valerio Ricetti made his home here, growing his own crops and using the natural rock formations to create his bedroom, a kitchen and even a space he used as a chapel. Reminded me of something my Poppy would do, but I think he would get too lonely. Here is a picture of it all set up when he lived there.

And here is a photo of how some of it looks now.

Went to Woolworths and bought two soups, panadol, cough lollies and betadine gargle. Hopefully that kills whatever this sore throat/nauseous thing is! Two shows in Griffith tomorrow before we head back to Victoria for two shows in Mildura.

Talk soon!
Steph