Simple travelling

A pillow from home made an excellent table for me as we travelled along. I had the GPS, the itinerary and the map as well as my knitting. Hanno did most of the driving.

If you're a regular reader here you'll know Hanno and I were off travelling around the countryside to promote the book recently. Penguin paid for my expenses but we were still quite frugal ... because we are. : - ) I was born in Sydney and left there in my late 20s, so I am not city savvy anymore and it was a bit of an eye-opener for me to see so many people drinking from water bottles they'd bought that day and the amount of takeaway food being eaten at all times of the day, not just at mealtimes. But I am only walking in my own shoes, I make no judgements here, I was just surprised by it.

A lunch stop - checking emails and the weather map on the side of the road.

As usual, Hanno and I did our own thing. I had packed a small plastic box full of coffee mugs, a sharp knife, butter knives, forks, spoons, salt and pepper, tea, plates and bowls to take with us. We generally had the breakfast offer in the hotel or motel, but we also took a small package of Weetbix with us, and some milk, in case the breakfast didn't suit us or we had to leave early. Most nights we went to the local Woolworths, bought half a roast chicken and some salads and that was our dinner. It was much easier than finding a restaurant that served reasonably priced good food and we both enjoyed our little chicken picnics.

We also bought sliced wholewheat bread and I usually made sandwiches for our lunch the next day. Every morning we filled our water bottles from the tap before we left and if we were moving from one town to the next, we filled the Thermos flask with boiling water as well.  At one point we hit a town in the early evening and decided to have Red Rooster for dinner. I'd never had it before and Hanno said it was okay. It was not. It was very salty and almost cold. That Red Rooster was a first and last for me. And I guess that's the point of all this. We tried to eat simple food in or from places we trusted, and we wanted it to be portable and fast. The Woolies option worked for us - chicken or ham and salad, eaten for dinner, then using the leftovers for lunch the next day. Two birds, one stone.

While we were away, we also thought about recycling. On several of our breakfast trays we had jams packaged in small glass jars that had pop-top metal lids. Those same lids were on small glass bottles of fruit juice, also on the breakfast trays. We washed the jars and bottles and brought them all home to be used for small storage jars or for little bottles of sauce that I'll probably make up sometime during the year. They were irresistible to me - glass, small and capable of being sterilised in a water bath and sealed for storage in a cupboard. Gold!

One of the country roads near Dorrigo NSW, along this road we found a farmer selling organic potatoes - Dutch creams and Kipflers. We bought a bag for eating and a bag for planting.

I drove a fair distance on the way down because Hanno had a sore knee. When his knee was better, he took over the driving and I was well content because I'd brought along my knitting and something to read. That is always a smart move - take some form of entertainment or craft with you so on those long drives and during the evenings in the hotel, you'll have something to do.

The wonderful old town of Millthorpe above and the beach at Byron Bay below.

We also took lots of photos along the way to help us remember the people we met and places we visited.  Most of all though, we talked. A driving holiday is a great way to slow down and reconnect. Of course we argued too. Hanno's driving didn't come up to my standard and my driving didn't come up to his ; - ) but most of the time, as we wove our way through the countryside, often along back highways and country roads, we got to see the real Australia and each other. It was a lovely way to spend a couple of weeks.