There and back

I guess you could say that this week I am most looking forward to Sunday which will definitely be my day of rest, with no work to go to. It will undoubtedly be interrupted by neglected housework, unfortunately.

You see, sitting here now, I have clocked up 35hours of work so far this week (between 2 jobs of cause) and have about 28hours of work to go. Now that is exactly why I am hanging for Sunday. However other than that I am looking forward to taking my students to Green Island for the day. 8 teenagers to Green Island, it is going to be crazy.

As I am sure you've gathered this is feeling like a pretty long week and tiredness is a key factor in it. Well I probably made that problem worse than it should of been this week by doing something a bit crazy last Sunday.

You see Sis G joined the army at the beginning of the year (the fact that she wanted to was a bit of a shock). As she slugged her way through training we, as a family, cheered her on from the sidelines. The sidelines being of cause nowhere near where she was in NSW. Then after passing her rather intense training she moved to Vic for some more training and fun and to wait for her final posting, for now. Well guess what, after all that time a long, long, long way from family she is now just a measly 4hours from me. Yay!

So that is a very sparcly padded background story for the crazy adventure.

Sunday Sis G turned 18! (Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you ...) And knowing how horrid it is to spend your birthday away from family, especially ours that make a big deal of it, nothing special, just a big deal, I decided to make a bit of a deal of it and kind of surprise her with a flying visit. The thanks and happiness and relayed thanks from her via Mum made it 1000% worth it.

We are all so proud of her and of the courageous, fun, loving, friendly, thoughtful, determined, wonderful adult she is growing into.

She is relieved to finally be 18 and have some restrictions lifted. Actually the army are really good with the under 18s and look after them well.

 Anyway, so Sunday saw me doing an 8 hour round trip with sister time and lunch with some of her new friends in the middle. By about 8:30pm when I got home my 5am start seemed like it happened centuries ago rather than hours. It was a good thing I rang Mum and she became my passenger through my phone to keep me going for the last 2+ hours of the trip.

I have doe some, what seem crazy, driving escapades in the past but not since I moved north.

When I was doing the governess thing it was a couple of times a year thing to drive the kids to school 4 hours away and return that evening.

Maybe one of the craziest was heading home to the Family Farm on the Darling Downs in school holidays one time. I decided it would be a good idea to go to Barcaldine Rodeo with some friends and then drive the rest of the trip the second day. 2 or 3 hours sleep later I was so glad family decided to greet me in Miles and give me a passenger for the rest of the trip. I was determined to make the whole way.

Oh another was when I thought heading to Winton Show ball on the weekend would be a good idea. I think I left early Saturday morning and returned Sunday afternoon ... 6 hours each way. Crazy!

Oh, and Muttaburra Races. Left the station Friday afternoon and met a friend in Aramac. By then it was dark and we shared a car to the station we were staying on with the other govies. A late night, some sleep and then up the next morning to get primped and prettied. Off to the races for the day then dancing most of the night, swagging it for the bit of sleep then up for a greasy breakfast and the return trip. Oh the fun!

Most of the time I don't think anything of driving long distances but it has been a while.

Despite the early start, actually maybe because of the early start, I enjoyed the trip and honestly seeing my little sis for the first time since Feb was so worth it.

  Hopefully I see a lot more of her now.

So, when I left home it was dark, as it is at 5am in the morning. Just south of town I found the fog that really does make it seem wintery. At one point it was so thick I could only see one or two dotted lines in front of me. Now that made for fun driving on a windy, hilly road.

 The highway was pretty quiet so of cause I stopped for a few photos and then for a top of the gumboot photo or two in Tully.

I then pulled into the Hinchenbrook lookout on the Cardwell Range. It turns out they have extended adding a new lookout a little further around meaning some powerline free photos. Bonus.

After a quick breakfast stop the next stop was Townsville. I picked up my sister and we went for a drive to the Strand and after hunting for a car park we got out to explore the not so new anymore addition, the Jezzine Barracks/ Kissing Point lookout. I loved it, we loved it, and I can't wait to get to check it out again.

A bit of needed shopping for her place at the barracks and a lovely relaxed lunch on the Strand and it was sadly time for me to head off. The hours had flown.

I got to Cardwell for the second time that day, just in time for sunset. Not intentional timing but it worked well. The sky was amazing so I had to walk up the pier and click away. I wasn't the only one and those fishing were pretty friendly and up for a chat.

It turns out the colours of the setting sun really wanted to linger, leaving the sky painted in colour for a fair while. 

I got home a bit later than planned due to reluctance leaving Townsville and then my sunset stop over but it was a nice day from start to finish.

So now I have about 28 hours of work to go for the week and I am jumping for joy, on the inside, that I don't have to work tonight, the first night off this week. I don't quite have the energy to jump in real life but I better find it between now and work starting for the day.

Have you done any crazy traveling recently?