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At last I was on the road and heading... Shit... Where’s my phone?...

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At last I was on the road and heading... somewhere... Anywhere? I can’t believe I hadn’t actually picked a direction to go yet. First things first though, I needed to fill the car up. I had a plan to keep track of a number of things while traveling. Statistics like distances travelled and distances between places, fuel prices and consumption, mobile phone and internet coverage and so on. I figured it would be interesting to know and could be helpful to others that are planning similar trips. Either that or I’m way too anal retentive for my own good.

You can find all of these statistics and information on my “Stuff” page. (or at least you will be able to once I figure out a good way of converting spreadsheets to web browsers)

I filled the car with petrol, topped up the tyres with air, made my notes and sat in the car ready to go. But go where? It was time to make the decision that would sculpt the rest of the trip. Do I go North, East or West? Inland or Coastal? Eeny meeny miny moe...

I thought coastal may be more interesting so that narrowed it down to East or West. I would like to say I chose East because of some noble or adventurous reason. But it wasn’t. If I turned West I’d get to see the Great Ocean Road which would be good, but that would mean driving through the heart of Melbourne and then Geelong. To be perfectly honest, I just wanted to get as far away from the city possible, as quickly as I could. Decision made. The east coast of Australia is where I’m heading.

You may be starting to notice that there really wasn’t a whole lot of planning going into this trip and you’re right. The planning stopped at things I thought I might need. Everything else, I wanted to leave to chance, spontaneity and spur of the moment decisions. I wanted to experience freedom. For the next month at least, I didn’t have to be anywhere or do anything that I didn’t want to do. I would just go where each day would take me.

I set off East, towards the rising Sun... that had already risen. A million thoughts were rushing through my mind. Questions and ideas, daydreams of what adventures lay ahead on this road before me. In my excitement I suddenly realised I was driving about twenty kilometers an hour over the speed limit. I just wanted to get somewhere I hadn’t been before. I eased off the accelerator and mentally slapped myself. Getting a speeding fine would not be a good start. Besides, there was no need to rush. All would come and everything would happen at the right time. I just needed to allow myself to take everything in.

As if my subconscious was rewarding the moment of enlightenment, I looked out to my right and saw a small sailing boat parked next to an old rustic wooden pier, in a nearly dried up river. I pulled the car around and parked next to the bridge that was crossing over the ironically named “Deep Creek”. This could make a good photo and my first for the trip.

Click Here To Purchase Print I wrapped a plastic bag around the camera to protect it from the rain and jumped out of the car to grab a few shots. Thankfully the rain had eased quite a bit but I didn’t want to take any chances. I walked up the highway a little bit to find a good angle and snapped off a couple of shots. I also got a few shots looking out over the grassy wetlands, which seemed endless from my perspective.

I got back to the car, anxious to keep moving. A quick U-turn and I was on the road again. Half an hour down the road and suddenly a hundred memories and emotions came flooding back to me. I was in the tiny town of Grantville.

Way back in 1999 I shot my first film here, an action, science fiction, extravaganza called “Lost:Black Earth”. I cringe now whenever I look at it but for the sake of some self humiliation, here it is anyway.

The beach here was one of the key locations. I had to have a look. I turned off the highway and followed the narrow dirt road to the car park. It really hadn’t changed much at all in the ten years since we filmed. In fact as I write this, I’m realising that it is almost ten years to the day. This location marked the first day of shooting and a major change in my life. Now it marks the first day in another major change. Creepy... Wonder if I’ll be back in another ten years, starting something new?

It’s funny how last time I was here, I had aliens running down the beach firing laser guns and space ships shooting down photon cannons, while the heros ran for cover from the explosions. This time, I’m appreciating the quiet peacefulness of the place even though it still has an apocalyptic and other worldly feel to it.

After my trip down memory lane, I continued down the road. I think the break did me good. I could feel myself slipping into a much more relaxed state. The anxiety was being left behind and for the first time I began to feel that I had made the right choice by taking this trip.