Well my lucky crew I have some amazingly exciting photos I took yesterday and today! Hold on don’t get to excited they are just some shots of the Victoria the State I live in, about the same size as the UK but with a lot less people, like a couple of squillion!
I had to take the TA that some of you know back to S.A. an eight hour trip there and back about 700 km (435 miles) and in doing so we had to cross what’s called the northern plains, it is autumn but it’s still realty pleasant weather, around thirty degrees C, so good for driving, not too good when it gets up to the high thirties and above which it can.
Anyway it was great trip even if it was short and hopefully the TA can get stuck into the tiny house so she can get it back to her block next to ours, I have to say she was a great help getting the elderly folk move up here, I don’t think we would have been able to do so with getting divorced even though we have just had our thirty fifth anniversary!!!
Keep fit and enjoy the stunning photos !!
Mt Arapiles 
Another long stretch of road. 
A big Pub for a tiny town!! 
Another endless horizon. 
Old faithful!
Pat's 1:72 Military Diorama's 
Azazel
Great photos Pat, but now I’m confused between the talk of anniversaries and divorce side by side… hope it’s all ok for you, mate!
LikeLiked by 6 people
patmcf
Ha ha ! Just reread it mate! I’m trying to do posts without the proofreader ! Obviously it’s not working , alls well mate I’ll have to go back to getting the Jill to check my bleating as I obviously can’t be trusted on my own 😅😅😅.
LikeLiked by 5 people
Azazel
Ah, good to hear then! 🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
theimperfectmodeller
Great photos Pat, oh for a blue sky like that in the UK before too long! Can’t imagine doing 435 miles in 8 hours in the UK, double that and an overnight stay to boot! Glad you had a good and safe trip. Makes me realise how much I’m missing travelling right now.
LikeLiked by 4 people
patmcf
Thanks Dave as Auss is such a big country driving is second nature to a lot of us, and I feel you are not alone in regards to the travel bit 🤓.
LikeLiked by 4 people
theimperfectmodeller
To some extent Pat it is less the distance and time in the car but road congestion and road works which just slows everything down. If it were possible I’d be off to Aus to live in an instant but alas …
LikeLiked by 4 people
ericritter65
I was doing the travel-by-car-math-time thing in my head; we used to do 450miles in about 8-9 hours traveling from Maine to Philadelphia (lots of travel through the dense NE corridor!), now living in the South, I just did 400-miles in 6 hours, time/distance really does depend on the countryside!
Speaking of countryside, I never realized parts of Austraila look like Kansas minus the corn and wheat fields!
LikeLiked by 4 people
patmcf
You are right about distance travelled compared with what type of terrain ones in, out on those plains one can really cover greater distances as at times you are on your own, at one stage I didn’t see another car for an hour 🤔.
LikeLiked by 2 people
maenoferren22
Great post Pat and great Photos, glad you got there and back in one piece… on Shetland people look at you like you are mad if you do a run up to Unst as it is like 40 miles away…😂
LikeLiked by 5 people
patmcf
Ha ha ! That’s so good mate! I can relate to that as when I was a young man I spent two years in your fine country and I to developed that attitude.
LikeLiked by 3 people
maenoferren22
I used to love driving long distance, once drove from Newcastle Upon Tyne to the ferry, off the boat in either Antwerp or Rotterdam then off to Berlin, following day to North of Warsaw… loved it.
LikeLiked by 2 people
patmcf
That’s certainly a long one mate 🤓
LikeLiked by 2 people
patmcf
Oh and I bet it a bit more exciting 😅😅😅
LikeLiked by 2 people
ericritter65
I remember growing up in the Philadelphia suburbs and getting the parental units to drive you to the movie theater (6-miles away), you have to plan for a day and pack a lunch! LOL
LikeLiked by 4 people
patmcf
Ha ha , that’s a bit like Melbourne mate , so much traffic 😳.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Jeff Groves
Beautiful countryside!
LikeLiked by 3 people
John@justneedsvarnish
Great pictures, Pat, really enjoyed looking through them! 🙂 That’s a decent looking pub as well!
LikeLiked by 3 people
patmcf
Thanks John, it certainly took me by surprise😳🤔🤓
LikeLiked by 2 people
Pete S/ SP
Grreat photos Pat- stunning infact.
Cheers,
Pete.
LikeLiked by 2 people
patmcf
Thanks Pete , I was just driving along and the thought hit me that Australian countryside is so different that those over sea might be interested in seeing those vast horizons.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Marvin
After the long winter and lockdown we’ve endured over here, those pics of a warm open landscape are a sight for sore eyes!
LikeLiked by 3 people
patmcf
Cheers mate,as you know we have moved a few degrees north and its still quite warm for autumn so that really suits me as I still have a lot of sorting to do, a bit of a bother as they tell me it does get cold here so I cant see myself getting the dio done before spring, weak bastard I hear you say ! a bloody winter when its only down to 2 degrees C is nothing!!! Sorry mate its been a long time since I lived in your magical country so forgive me for my weakness!!!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Marvin
2 degrees C is enough to send me scuttling back indoors! Mind you, it’s the heat that I really struggle with – anything over 24c and I’m passing out! 😀
LikeLiked by 3 people
patmcf
Ha ha ! It’s only because you are not used to it 😅I have lived up in Queensland where it gets humid 🥵now that’s hard to take even though it only 30 degrees C .
LikeLiked by 3 people
Marvin
I think funnily enough that’s why I struggle with British heat. It’s usually quite humid too. When it’s cold literally everything turns to ice because of the high humidity except when very rare cold weather events come from the east (Siberia). Although much colder than usual, eastern cold air is dry = no ice!
LikeLiked by 3 people
patmcf
It is the humidity mate , when we left the farm in NSW which is pretty warm and moved to Melbourne in the mid sixties even down there the summers were long hot and dry , whereas now it can get quite humid , yep the climate has certainly changed over here 🤔.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Ann
Nice pictures, blue sky and open spaces. It reminds me of the time I spent in central Texas back in the ’80’s.
LikeLiked by 4 people
patmcf
When I was driving I said to my daughter that the only place that I would imagine would look similar to was your west. Eric said it reminded him of Kansas !
LikeLiked by 3 people
Ann
Heh, that’s neat; I think your daughter knows what she is talking about. I agree with Eric. The first time I drove though Kansas I thought, “Huh, looks like Texas.” 🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
dave2718
Waves- howdy, neighbour!
LikeLiked by 3 people
patmcf
Hey mate it seems like we are in a similar neighborhood !!!
LikeLiked by 2 people
dave2718
I’m in central vic too- near Heathcote
LikeLiked by 2 people
patmcf
Ah Ha ! your right mate, are you a local or an immigrant like me! although I might have come up from old Melbourne town I was born in Swan Hill ! so I still consider myself country! HA HA !
LikeLiked by 2 people
dave2718
much the same; near Shepparton in my case!
LikeLiked by 2 people
imperialrebelork
Beautiful mate. How lucky are we to live in such an amazing country. I pity our pommy and yankee friends haha. Congrats on the 35 years too matey
LikeLiked by 4 people
patmcf
Cheers mate ! we are so fortunate, having lived in the old country ( you know I sometimes get homesick for!) there are the pluses and minuses Eh! I’ve been listening to your pods and they are great ! but having just gone across that dry desolate area I just felt it wasn’t Orkville !! I think they would prefer the old country!! And as for the 35 mate I think like you I’m blessed with someone that doesn’t think what I do is Dorky!!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Dave Stone
Great photos Pat, hope TA gets everything in order quickly. I know what you mean about moving and relationships, it can test the strongest of them
LikeLiked by 3 people
patmcf
Thanks Dave , I’m sure we are not alone in regards to moving , things are settling down and I’m actually getting some modelling done 🤓.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Mark A. Morin
Thanks for sharing the photos Pat – though at first read I thought you were getting a divorce! I love a long drive but haven’t had one in a long while. My longest was 1500 miles in one stretch without stopping except to eat etc. Was a lot younger and stupider then. I love the heat. Being a New Englander, I always say that I don’t need to shovel heat (versus snow).
LikeLiked by 3 people
patmcf
Sorry Mark I thought I replied, silly sod that I am! you beat me by a squillion miles mate as I think my longest stint back in the early eighties was around 650 miles and that was mostly at night but still warm! I’m with you on the heat mate. Funny story mate we drove from Brisbane to Melbourne when TA was about two, it got to around 110 degrees out in NSW, and as I hate air conditioning the windows were open but it was great to get into the pool at the hotel at the end of the drive, but I wonder if that’s why she loves the cold!! HaHa!
LikeLike