Back on December 30, we finally broke free of our Adelaide lockdown and headed on the long road back to Wagga. It took us nearly 12 hours to cover the almost 1000 kilometres. Dave and I got an online permit to travel through Victoria, as we hadn’t been in Sydney. The others, however, could only apply for their permit on exit day, so they decided to travel via NSW only – which meant an overnight in Broken Hill.

We left Adelaide around 8.30am. It was strange to drive through the parts of Adelaide we had planned to visit but couldn’t! First stop was Pinaroo where we had a five minute brisk walk along the main street, and, as there was no Caltex or Shell, put $20 of diesel in my car to make sure we made it to Ouyen, which we did, in time for lunch.

If you are ever in Ouyen, it’s not a bad place to stop for lunch. In the main street there is a nice clean toilet block in a small park (important to know 😉 ). Opposite the park is a pretty decent bakery, where I had a freshly made ham and salad roll (forgetting when I ordered that I had overloaded on ham recently). The only detraction was that it had margarine rather than butter – and too much of it. Other than that it was fresh, plenty of beetroot, onion and lots of pepper – just the way I like it! Dave was hoping for a scone, but they didn’t have any so decided on a lamington which was quite large and according to him ‘better than most’, washed down with a chocolate milkshake, of course ?

Between Pinaroo and Ouyen we crossed the border into Victoria. Cars were being checked heading into SA, but not going out so we drove through without any delay. After we filled the car in Ouyen, we drove towards Tooleybuc, where we crossed the border into NSW. Again there was a checkpoint, but when they saw our NSW number plates, we were again waved through.

Tooleybuc to Balranald was a flat, fairly lifeless drive and when we turned onto the Sturt Highway the flat monotonous view continued through till our late afternoon stop for a driver change in Hay. I drove from Hay to Narrandera, and am not sure if it was because I was getting tired, but oh my what a boring 175kms that is! Apart from the many new nut farms there are along the way, there is not a hill in sight and there was barely another car on the road.

We got home just before 8pm, emptied the car and without fully unpacking headed to bed. I know we had barely exercised all day – but we were exhausted.

Dad, Pamela, Victoria and Braden spent Thursday travelling to Wagga, while Dave and I unpacked, got up to date with our washing, did a bit of shopping and spent lots of time playing with Darryl! In the afternoon I made some sushi and some more of the carrot and yoghurt dip to take with some flat bread to Bek’s for their New Years Eve party.

Dave and I didn’t get anywhere near like making it till midnight, but enjoyed the party none-the-less. Dad and Pamela even lasted longer than us!

The good thing about not staying up late was there was no new year’s day hangover – so I made everyone (including those that may have been a little seedy) a breakfast of zucchini and feta fritters (home-grown zucchini) with avocado salsa, a poached egg and crispy bacon. Not a bad way to start the New Year 😉

As I mentioned earlier in the blog, we had decided to ‘do’ Christmas again once we were all together in Wagga. Yesterday (Saturday) Will and Emma, Dad and Pamela, Victoria and Braden, Bek and Karl and Emilia and Alex had Christmas Day, Mark II. It was great to be at Bek’s house, to enjoy the warm afternoon in and by the pool. Dinner preparation was, as usual, a shared affair. Bek started with some nibbles. Karl made a delicious pumpkin dish with marinated feta, plus an equally yummy barbequed warm cauliflower and nut salad. He also carved some of the fabulous Wagga Free Range Ham which I had been eagerly anticipating since I ordered it back in November! Pamela made her famous potato salad, I made a Greek salad plus used my home-grown zucchini to make a zucchini parmigiana. Emilia made the fairy bread and I piled a kilo of king prawns onto a platter adding some cocktail sauce and lemons.

Before dinner we had opened any remaining Christmas presents and between main and dessert we held ‘Silly Santa’ which was its usual good fun. I ended up with a ‘Movie Trivia’ game which I rapidly re-gifted to Dave, and Dave ended up with a pink ice-cream shaped phone power bank – which he also re-gifted – to Emma. It was Emma’s and Braden’s first ‘Purvis’ Christmas (Will and Emma have been in Grenfell with the Taylors for the last few years) and therefore their first Purvis Silly Santa. They seemed to get the hang of it pretty quickly.

I was so keen to have a slice of Karl-made Christmas pudding. Dad was too; it’s a highlight of Christmas for us both. Karl uses my Mum’s pudding basin and her recipe, which makes it extra special. I made a ‘Mango-Misu’ on Victoria’s request, so those who don’t really love Christmas pudding enjoyed an Aussie version of the traditional Tiramisu – layered with Mango and Cointreau ?

And so endeth the saga of Christmas 2020 for my family. Not what we had planned, but like the rest of 2020 had its plusses and minus and just a few dramas.

I hope that you have enjoyed this little blog over the last couple of weeks. It will go back on ice until we next travel again – hopefully that’s not too far away.

Ciao friends, here’s to a happy and healthy 2021!