Oh Yay!! I have news. Yesterday I went to the other side of the mountain. And, believe me, it felt so good. That tight feeling I was getting in the pit of my stomach, that terrible locked in feeling I get from time to time, that need for big spaces around me has gone. Probably only for the time being. But gone all the same.
I thought I'd been longing for a good cup of coffee but when it came down to it what I wanted most, what I missed most during our Lockdown, was a drive in the countryside. Cups of coffee have been available for the past week or so but I was determined to not be an old age rebel and to stay home like our leaders had instructed. But when my daughter offered to take me to town and to be the one to venture out of the car for a coffee for me, I jumped at the chance and asked to go to Dargaville. She thought I was nuts to choose to go to Dargaville but it was Mother's Day so I had my way.
Once we were on the road, the call of the back roads was too much and I asked her to take me the long way round so I could see more of the countryside. The day seemed brighter to me than it really was, I was quite surprised to see the clouds in this photo, all I saw was my hills of home and sunshine.
Dargaville was like a ghost-town, the only places open were the service stations, the supermarkets and the one cafe I like to frequent. Their large windows opening to the street allowed them to operate in a safe, non-contact way. I just had to take a photo of the waiter's huge smile as I talked to him from the car.
It seems most of the takeaway meals they have been serving have been taken away by customers to eat at home as they were very short on take aways utensils. Which we didn't know about when I ordered soup and my daughter requested a salad. We ate our meals along the bank of the river with small wooden spoons. And the hills of home in the background. Nothing could have been better.
The Dargaville seagulls have been doing it hard with no people around.
A grand trip out and a beautiful area. You should pop over every other day.
ReplyDeletePS. Take your own mug just in case they've run out. Make sure it's the largest you have.
DeleteThey spend years training us to use our own mugs but now we can't use them for fear of passing on a/the virus. We were given our coffees in a cardboard stand up thingy and couldn't leave it there because we might have touched it when we took our coffee from it. I tell myself it is for safety but it does appear to border on paranoia.
DeleteI doubt it is paranoia. Politicians love only three things, themselves, cash and control.
DeleteThat's great!
ReplyDeleteI worked in Dargaville for nearly a year it hasn't changed much has it?
ReplyDeleteAmy, it hasn't changed since I first saw it in 1974! I liked it then because it reminded me then of small outback towns in Queensland with its wide streets and laid back people. Still like it for the same reasons.
DeleteMy immediate reaction was 'Dargaville! Why?' But, of course the open countryside drive there makes up for the place itself. I remember it as being a long street oddly devoid of soul. I have it somewhere in the back of my mind that we couldn't find something we were looking for when we were there but that could just be my mind playing tricks.
ReplyDeleteCan't remember what we could have been looking for, Graham. It's hard to not find something in Dargaville. And you're right, the drive there is a big part of the attraction. Gosh it was good!
DeleteAha! So the yodelling I heard was from you, Pauline! :)
ReplyDeleteYour joy is contagious! Keep taking good care. :)
Could have been the yodelling, Lee or the off-key singing! I felt the happiest I have in a long time.
DeleteOh, the joy of being able to go somewhere, and do it in a safe manner! Maybe you should be taking a drive around once a week for this very reason, just to stay mentally healthier.
ReplyDeleteI plan on taking regular drives now that we can, messymimi. We come down a level in restrictions tomorrow!
DeleteSounds and looks like a lovely outing. We're not in complete lockdown here but as I don't want to take the bus I get no further than my feet will take me. Luckily I can walk into town; but it's been a long time since I saw the countryside!
ReplyDeleteI hope you can get out into the countryside soon, Monica. I'm glad your feet are getting you around where you need to go.
DeleteHow nice to be out and about! We appreciate ordinary things so much more now.
ReplyDeleteAmalia
xo