Are we there yet ?

[nucopia]

Well its almost the end of our 10 day trip to Melbourne and Mildura. Its been quite the adventure too we left lake Mac mid morning on a friday to drive down to Albury were we had a 2 bed apartment booked , a 7 hour drive with my 90 year old mom constantly asking are we there yet and were are we staying .. we have a placed booked in Albury mom were are we now Gosford mom we only just left home every so often for the next 7 hours yep same question, same patient reply were are we ..we are passing Goulburn Gundagai .. its not far now mom just a bit longer we picked a great location in the centre of Albury right around the corner from the main street checked in an unpacked the car and got her into her electric mobility chair ..off we go Looking for a place to eat. We found a nice Japanese restaurant and order a meal perfect .

Back to the room and a well earned rest nrxt morning up early to start the next stage of the trip.. a 3 an a half hour drive into Melbourne yea ha !

2 streets away from the highway it starts… are we in Victoria yet , this doesnt look like Victoria .. no Mom we’re still in Albury .. is that in Victoria no mom its on the border oh I didnt know that..

i need a valium and its only 10 am

Cross the bridge into Wedonga and welcome to Victoria.. i gottta ask …

What is it with the Vic kangaroos ???? every few hundred meters the ways app is warning me “ caution ahead “ yep more carnage on the road roos platted all over the place



Its like a mass suicide has taken place disproportionate in numbers to thier counterparts in other states

Sydney to Albury i dont think we sore more than 2 ..now they are splattered all over the road from Wedonga to almost moonee ponds

Very strange

Took us 25 minutes to drive the last 10 ks to my son’s apartment building in Footscray got lost once missed a turn twice while mom’s in the back seat asking is this Melbourne ,i never been to Melboure are we at Liam’s place oh look they have train tracks in the middle of the street yes mom they are for the trams. Do they still have trams?? Yes mom it’s Melbourne .. it looks like Redfern yes mom the terrace houses look like the houses in Redfern God love her its only day 2 of our adventure and we still have another 3 days crammed into a tiny 1 bedroom 24th floor apartment to look forward to ….no where to go but over the edge

 

[user 22230]

 

[nucopia]

Saturday Melbourne turned on a bautiful day for our first afternoon at the son new place. Sunday we drove to Brighton and had fish n Chips at the baths Philippe bay winds almost blew us away so we stopped off at Melbourne markets on the way back and experienced the madness of finding a disabled parking space .. cars stopped in the middle if the road drivers arguing overs spaces it was a real bun fight. But wefinally managed to find a space ..
Sunday evening the weather changed to wet windy and cold that kept mom and the rest of us indoors until we left early Wednesday morning to drive to Mildura.
We had planed to do some more sightseeing around Melbourne while the son was off working but it was pointless taking a 90 year out in a mobility chair in that kind of miserable weather.
She was happy through just to be out of our own house visiting her grandson and his. GF and doing and seeing different things and different places..
Her biggest concern those first few days in Melbourne was hiw long are we staying and how am i going to buy Christmas presents no matter what we said to her in trying to ease her mind she still kept asking when and how..

 

[nucopia]

We had wet weather from Footscray to somewhere around Castlemaine then it started to ckear up
We had a drive around Bridge water on Lodden and spend half an hour looking around Wedderburn before stopping for lunch and fuel in Wycheproof
Which acording to the women at the gas station translats to a grassy mound in the local Aboriginal dialect.
The digger and I tried to recall all the different places we had spent time detecting as we drove through the gold areas and ither places we had visited over the years that would have been nice to be able to take my mom to but impossible given her situation..
Alls my mom kept asking is were are all the grapes in Mildura mom can we go and see them when we get there …yes mom sure we can do that how long before we get there about an hour mom ..

 

[user 4386]

Well its almost the end of our 10 day trip to Melbourne and Mildura. Its been quite the adventure too we left lake Mac mid morning on a friday to drive down to Albury were we had a 2 bed apartment booked , a 7 hour drive with my 90 year old mom constantly asking are we there yet and were are we staying .. we have a placed booked in Albury mom were are we now Gosford mom we only just left home every so often for the next 7 hours yep same question, same patient reply were are we ..we are passing Goulburn Gundagai .. its not far now mom just a bit longer we picked a great location in the centre of Albury right around the corner from the main street checked in an unpacked the car and got her into her electric mobility chair ..off we go Looking for a place to eat. We found a nice Japanese restaurant and order a meal perfect .

Back to the room and a well earned rest nrxt morning up early to start the next stage of the trip.. a 3 an a half hour drive into Melbourne yea ha !

2 streets away from the highway it starts… are we in Victoria yet , this doesnt look like Victoria .. no Mom we’re still in Albury .. is that in Victoria no mom its on the border oh I didnt know that..

i need a valium and its only 10 am

Cross the bridge into Wedonga and welcome to Victoria.. i gottta ask …

What is it with the Vic kangaroos ???? every few hundred meters the ways app is warning me “ caution ahead “ yep more carnage on the road roos platted all over the place



Its like a mass suicide has taken place disproportionate in numbers to thier counterparts in other states

Sydney to Albury i dont think we sore more than 2 ..now they are splattered all over the road from Wedonga to almost moonee ponds

Very strange

Took us 25 minutes to drive the last 10 ks to my son’s apartment building in Footscray got lost once missed a turn twice while mom’s in the back seat asking is this Melbourne ,i never been to Melboure are we at Liam’s place oh look they have train tracks in the middle of the street yes mom they are for the trams. Do they still have trams?? Yes mom it’s Melbourne .. it looks like Redfern yes mom the terrace houses look like the houses in Redfern God love her its only day 2 of our adventure and we still have another 3 days crammed into a tiny 1 bedroom 24th floor apartment to look forward to ….no where to go but over the edge

Maybe we have more roos because you don't feed them (eg 15 per sq km in WA, up to 450 per sq km in Victoria). It rains constantly here.....

 

[Greg_wilson]

You are so lucky to still have your mum with you and to be able to spend time with her. Enjoy it while you can, not everyone is as fortunate.

 

[Mackka]

Yes Greg you are right. All those questions may seem annoying at the time and over the years the same questions however, I for one, would love to hear my Mothers voice asking those questions again. Enjoy the time you have with her Nucopia as one day those questions will stop, forever. Mackka

 

[RM Outback]

Great story nucopia thanks for sharing. Merry Christmas to you and your family As others have said you are very fortunate to spend this quality time with your Mum and I'm sure she feels the same

 

[user 4386]

We had wet weather from Footscray to somewhere around Castlemaine then it started to ckear up
We had a drive around Bridge water on Lodden and spend half an hour looking around Wedderburn before stopping for lunch and fuel in Wycheproof
Which acording to the women at the gas station translats to a grassy mound in the local Aboriginal dialect.
The digger and I tried to recall all the different places we had spent time detecting as we drove through the gold areas and ither places we had visited over the years that would have been nice to be able to take my mom to but impossible given her situation..
Alls my mom kept asking is were are all the grapes in Mildura mom can we go and see them when we get there …yes mom sure we can do that how long before we get there about an hour mom ..

How many "are we there yet" did you subject her to as a child? Do moths have mouths? How many sleeps until Christmas?

 

[nucopia]

If I recall I drove her crazy asking Why

 

[nucopia]

She enjoyed Mildura spending time with the Brother in-law watching the swimming and Cricket.
And we did manage to get her out Christmas shopping , the hard part was getting her to spend any money as she reckoned everything was over priced ..Bought my son a jar of Plumb jam for $6.50 at the green grocers and a box of essential oils for the daughters at $10 each..she is giving the digger my sister in law and me $10 gift cards lol
Friday we all when out to the RSL for my brother in-laws birthday she order soup and a hand full of bread rolls with butter as the rolls were free ...then after we ate threw $50 at the poker machines ....hahahaha

 

[user 22230]

If I recall I drove her crazy asking Why

That's the one ................................... every time I was told I couldn't do something. WHY ? There is one question I asked her many decades ago that I have never forgotten which was. What's for tea ? The answer was. Does it matter ?

 

[user 4386]

If I recall I drove her crazy asking Why

Payback time

 

[nucopia]

Started the drive home early Sunday morning and thought it best if we broke the drive into 2 stages to save mom from sitting the car for 12+ hours
First stage Mildura to Wagga was 552 kms took us just on 6.5 hours with a couple of stops along the way.
Crossing the bridge from Mildura to Gol Gol Nsw you could really see the extent of the massive flow of water that had come down the Murry river. From there to Robinvale any where the river was near to the road, the water had risen and in almost all places was only meters from the shoulder of the road. Euston Robinvale and Balranald the river was held back by make shift dirt levy banks.
Leaving Balranald and heading to Hay the 120km stretch of road was inandated with pot holes. It was unsurprisingly difficult to avoid hitting a mojority of them as when you are approaching them from one direction , often a massive semi is approaching from the other direction..

Booked a 2 bed detached apartment in Wagga Wagga near the golf course Golf View inn , its located just as you come into town.. really nice place with a pool bbq area and surrounded by gardens..
Arrived at just after 2 pm which gave all of us especially mom plany of time to rest and relax after the drive ..
when we were driving through Hay she asked “where are we now ?” Hay i said and 3 times she asked where are we ! before the digger said the town is call Hay mom

 

[user 4386]

Started the drive home early Sunday morning and thought it best if we broke the drive into 2 stages to save mom from sitting the car for 12+ hours
First stage Mildura to Wagga was 552 kms took us just on 6.5 hours with a couple of stops along the way.
Crossing the bridge from Mildura to Gol Gol Nsw you could really see the extent of the massive flow of water that had come down the Murry river. From there to Robinvale any where the river was near to the road, the water had risen and in almost all places was only meters from the shoulder of the road. Euston Robinvale and Balranald the river was held back by make shift dirt levy banks.
Leaving Balranald and heading to Hay the 120km stretch of road was inandated with pot holes. It was unsurprisingly difficult to avoid hitting a mojority of them as when you are approaching them from one direction , often a massive semi is approaching from the other direction..

Booked a 2 bed detached apartment in Wagga Wagga near the golf course Golf View inn , its located just as you come into town.. really nice place with a pool bbq area and surrounded by gardens..
Arrived at just after 2 pm which gave all of us especially mom plany of time to rest and relax after the drive ..
when we were driving through Hay she asked “where are we now ?” Hay i said and 3 times she asked where are we ! before the digger said the town is call Hay mom

Keep in mind that will possibly be you one day.

 

[nucopia]

Obviously we all made it back home safely
The drive home from Wagga was uneventful stopped at Bookham for a rest then another stop at the James Gordon VC rest area near Belanglo.. for a drink and a sandwich..
home just before 5 pm with enough time to unpack the car and drive in to Morisset to pick up my daughter from work at 6..
Merry Christmas everyone
Lifes an adventure where the destination isn’t as important as the journey.

 

[grubstake]

Your mum's a treasure, mate. She's been keeping all of us amused with your great account of her adventures on the road.
Long may she remain at the heart of your family.