500 days

Today I am on the road for 500 days!

Those special ‘anniversaries’ are always a good moment to look back at the road traveled so far… Especially on this day, as I am bidding farewell to Melbourne.

Usually, I am pretty matter-of-fact on my travel days. No nostalgia, pack, taxi, airport, flight… Just – snap fingers – get on with it!

Today is different.

I woke up later than expected, still had to pack, but all was done pretty fast. I said farewell to Sara, Lisa and Action, and walked over  to Lemon, Middle & Orange to get some coffee.

Waiting for my take-away latte, I sat down, and had a look at the scene, and then got really nostalgic. A sad song on the radio might have contributed, but I think for the first time on this trip I could have cried, leaving a city.

I drove off shortly before noon, and back into the rain that had showered Melbourne the previous day – just when the sun came out in the city.

All the long drive towards Lake Entrance, some 320 kilometers, it was drizzling or outright pouring down, to an extend that I didn’t bother to stop anywhere for a walk or see anything the landscape. A few fields, cows… And water, water and more water coming down.

Without stops I arrived in my hotel in Lake Entrance in the afternoon, in the rain.

Clouds over Lake Entrance, in synch with my mood.

A quick drive through the little beach town, still in the rain, then it cleared up. I drove over to nearby Metung, a small village on the lakes, for a stroll and dinner.

There were some pretty dramatic skies, but the rest of the village was pretty much as dead as Lake Entrance… Most cafés were closed, and not many people around.

I am a bit melancholic. The good-bye to Melbourne, the weather… And I realized that from now on, I am returning home.

I am pretty much on the other side of the world, the antipodes of Brussels are not that far from here (well, actually they are about 2000 km south-east off the coast of NewZealand, but close enough).

Every step now, every kilometer driven, every flight, will bring me back closer to home. I am, inevitable, returning.