A Road Trip....of sorts

This last week of school had been a real struggle to get through. The hurry-up-and-bring-on-the-holidays, I-can't-stand-one-more-day-of-this blues. I was feeling worn down, worn thin, worn out. So Mitch, the wonderful man that he is, suggested that I take Saturday for myself and get out, out of the house, out of town. I jumped at the chance (but feeling a little guilty about treating myself...why are females so good at that?) and after dropping Ella off at a friend's "P" party dressed as a present,

I just kept heading on down the road.

It was wonderful. I had a loose idea of where I was going, but I took turn-offs I hadn't been down before, I stopped at places WHENEVER I FELT LIKE IT without having to justify it or put up with whinging, I took my time and just absorbed the countryside around me.

I could have stopped every 100m to take photos because everything just seemed beautiful and interesting and picturesque,

like these cows...

and these horses....



and these fence posts.


This house, nestled around a corner, was just crying out for a makeover but had the most wonderful character...

and I just loved this barn/shed that looked like it was going to collapse at any minute

AND YET had a new roof on the other side.

I stopped at this lookout

and was just still.....

and just basked in the scent of the eucalypts baking in the sun

and listened to the whipbirds and magpies.

I pulled over on the side of the road and listened to the bellbirds and thought of my Mum, who always made Dad pull over on holidays so she could do the same.

I drove through Kenilworth, stopping at a garage sale and a really dingy op shop where I bought some Country Style magazines, and then up to Maleny, where I browsed the shops and stopped for lunch.

Then turning towards home, I passed through Montville (completely full of tourists...yuk) and Mapleton, where I thought that I'd take a different road back to Kenilworth again.
Little did I know that it would turn into a one lane, isolated, really winding, really steep gravel road to get down the mountain. All I could think of was Mitch saying, "Now don't be foolish and go anywhere deserted or go bushwalking by yourself or anywhere where you could get into trouble." Well this female tackled it with ease (and a little relief when it finished)

and drove back refreshed and ready to be around people again, all the while thinking of Robert Frost and The Road Not Taken.