The Pig takes flight (boots n all)

Time to visit Mum again in Adelaide, and it's always best to go the long way 'round.  So I flew to Canberra...

It's winter and I  wore my boots to Hobart airport because they would take up nearly my whole bag were I to pack them.  This was quite a good strategy.  As claimed on the box, they are seriously comfortable but I was a bit warier about the claim that they were safety boots.  They had seemed too cheap for that claim.  However they set off the alarm on the walk-through metal detector and the security guy suggested they were steel-cap toed.  Which presumably is true because when I walked through again in holey socked feet, the detector let me through, and the x-ray scanner thingy seemed satisfied that I did not sport a knife in my boots.

I had a delightful flight to Canberra on a very small plane with a very solicitous steward.  I did not avail myself of the complimentary booze but partook of a small bag of salted crisps - years since I'd had them.  Lady Jayne and her two Ladies in Waiting chased me around the airport.  I have no idea where the public pick up point is - of course there is work being undertaken so it's not just outside the baggage claim area - and I kept being given instructions by security guys that virtually saw me circumnavigate the airport.  Eventually we espied each other and zapped off home.

The next day Lady Jayne and I, sans the Ladies in Waiting who were at school, went to the National Museum of Australia to view the Feared and Revered Exhibition.  I had long wanted to see it and it didn't disappoint.  It did overwhelm, but I stuck to the simple stuff, which is what I like best.

These modern Aboriginal depictions of women made using traditional fibre weaving techniques certainly weren't simple.  Just simply beautiful.

This fabulous exhibit in the museum foyer reminded us we were off on a road trip to Adelaide the next day.

So off we set the next morning, wending our way through country lanes (sort of) to Bendigo, our destination for the night.  Finding a motel in peak hour traffic was a little fraught but we eventually found a place between a Catholic Girls School and a cathedral, and felt very blessed.

Dinner in The Shamrock pub was also a blessing - an Indian-style seafood dish and a big glug of wine because we could walk back to our digs.  Bendigo is a beautiful town and a night time wander after a full day's driving was divine.

The next morning we did a small wander around town.  I wanted to see the Arts Precinct.  Bendigo celebrates its architecture and mining heritage with panache.  Mining is part of Lady Jayne's heritage too.

And then on the road again, destination Adelaide via Dimboola.