Adventure 5.

So much traveling is just traveling, so not much to say. 

I drove all day yesterday on the left side of the road. It was alarming how cars seemed to be coming right at me, even though it's just a mirror of the same thing in the states. My biggest problem was that I kept hitting the wipers when I was trying to use the turn signal, then I'd get flustered and miss the turn altogether. 

Got honked at two or three times, so I know I was probably out of bounds. The lanes seem much narrower here, at least until we got to the M (the equivalent of an interstate.) Turns out, the road from Sydney to Wollogong was all traffic until we turned onto a national park road, and emerged on the other side on Princes Highway. Now we're in Wollongong, which I'd never heard of but which is somewhere between Eugene and Portland in size. We naively thought is was a little town and wandered around lost for a while.

Thank goodness I got the advice that all McDonalds have wifi services, so we are able to stop and sort things out.

Even though we thought we were getting international service on Linda's phone, it doesn't seem to be working or we aren't doing it right. Fortunately, we still have email to communicate with Sabrina.

I left Sabrina in total charge, ordering and all, but it's interesting that she still lets me kibbutz a little without complaint. It seems like the younger generations are much more cooperative in that way. Boomers just seem more competitive and jealous of there prerogatives. 

I've learned this about myself: it's not that I don't want to delegate, it's that IF I delegate I want to delegate the whole damn thing. That's why Sabrina has been given that power, because I know she'll do it responsibly. 

(Same as, I'm not really a workaholic, it's just that if I'm going to work, I'm really going to work, and if not, not.)

Anyway, we wandered a little off the path in the national forest, but didn't buy any permits. Linda doesn't feel like she can walk too far, so we're pretty much going where a car will go. 

Finally got out of traffic at Wollongong, the ocean spread out in front of us. From here on, we just have to stick to one highway, Old Princes Highway, which is kind of cool. Goes to Churchill, then to Melbourne, then on the western edge up to Adelaide. Keeps it simple.

We're only driving about three hours a day, taking every turnoff we see. Both of us have the power to say, "Go that way," and we go. 

The vegetation is tropical, but unlike Ohahu , seems dry this time of year. No wildlife yet, except the Ibis's and some crows with white tails. (Looked it up.. Pied Currawong?