Rest and rejuvenation – Clare Valley.

“I think you need to spend some time resting to give yourself a chance to recover. Now how long shall I write the certificate for?” I sat there a little stunned, staring speechlessly at my doctor. Me? A sick certificate? Time off work? “Ah, is that really necessary?” I asked. The rather dry response was “Well, my dear, if you want to get on top of this before it gets any more on top of you I would suggest that it is necessary. You will have medication that will quite possibly make you drowsy and even less able to concentrate than you can now. Yes, I think it is necessary.”

Of course, it could not have come at a worse time in relation to my work but then ill health does not usually choose a convenient time, does it? While I felt extremely guilty (why I am not sure) about not being at work I certainly felt unwell enough to justify a lot of sleep in the first 36 hours I was home.

Another thing that it had a huge impact on is that I was all set to go camping again this weekend. I already had my shopping taken care of and was planning on bringing the tent and the rest of the camping gear up from the shed during the week so that I could have the car packed and ready to go when I finished work on Friday afternoon. Now, I may be quite strong minded and stubborn but I am not silly enough to go camping on my own when I am not well. How disappointing! I had such a wonderful time during my maiden solo trip at Christmas time and I was expecting more of the same again this long weekend.

Not to be out smarted I sat down and did some research into accommodation close by. Wow! I expected that it would not be cheap being a long weekend but I didn’t expect the prices that I found, nor did I expect to have to book for the whole weekend. I can understand that the industry has to make their money when they can but I am rather naïve in these things.

Okay, time to rethink again. What options did I have… the only one that made any sense was to go before the weekend and get the cheaper rate. There was only one night but at least it was something. Once my mind was made up I searched around for a reasonably priced place in the Clare Valley. For those of you who don’t know the Clare Valley is a beautiful area full of world famous wineries.

I booked a room online at the Clare Valley Motel and threw some bits and pieces into a bag, most importantly my camera and accessories. Though it is not a long drive to Clare I knew that I might need to rest along the way so I was prepared for a longer than usual trip and of course, with my camera in tow time really meant nothing to me anyway.

I love the vision that one sees with when looking for a photo opportunity. Never before have I seen as much detail as since investing in a decent camera. With the convenience of being able to delete the duds at no expense the freedom one has with a digital camera is wonderful.

Upon arrival in Clare, after many stops along the way I checked in to the motel and was very pleasantly surprised with just how nice it was, especially considering the room was at the low end of the price scale for the area. Eagerly I set off into the town proper with my camera. Oh, what a treat the beautiful old buildings in so many South Australian towns are! So much heritage preserved, one can feel the history opening up before them as their eyes rest on these magnificent structures. Not all of them are huge but they all have such wonderful character. I can just stroll through them for hours. As with most small towns the locals were friendly and welcoming also.

None more so than the bricklayer and his off siders who greeted me when I stuck my nose into The Taminga Hotel. “Come in, love. We won’t bite you” called the man at the end of the bar. Hair and beard as white as snow but I think he had lived a pretty hard life and his looks could have been a bit deceiving. There were only the 3 of them in the bar. He assured me that they were just a bunch of brickies enjoying a beer at the end of the day and that they had only just knocked off. They all chuckled when I said that I felt much safer knowing that they had not had enough to drink yet to get out of hand. “What do you do for work, love?” I hesitated, then said “I’m a Site Administrator/Document Controller for a company in Adelaide.” One of the offsiders said “Can you put that in plain English for us?” The bearded one said “Ah, so you have more qualifications than all of us put together! An intelligent one!” I had to chuckle to myself at the misapprehension some people live under. I ordered myself a soft drink and sat and chatted with these three characters. I discovered why the older one wears a beard too… It is obviously to catch his teeth when they fall from his mouth.

Let me explain… we were sitting talking happily, I noticed as we talked that he only had one front tooth in his top gum, the other 5 or so were missing. As he talked, and he was pretty good at it and had an opinion of everything, I could not believe my eyes when the one remaining tooth fell into his beard. Without even faltering he plucked the tooth from his beard, popped it into his pocket and continued to share with me his views on the youth of today and how to ‘fix’ them. I would not have believed what I had actually seen if one of the young guys didn’t have a chuckle and look at me with a cheeky grin on his face. I guess it must be something that happens from time to time!

I finished up my drink and bid farewell to the brickies and set off to find somewhere to buy dinner to take back to my room. The motel offered food but I wanted to spend a little more time wandering around town. 30 minutes later armed with a terrific smelling pizza I returned to my motel for dinner.
After dinner I decided that I would take a stroll. Not really the smartest move, by the time I arrived back at my motel room I was feeling like a wrung out dish cloth.

Why is it that when you are away from your own bed it is so difficult to sleep? I had 4 pillows and 3 cushions to choose from and not one of them was to my liking. Talk about a princess! My head was throbbing, my ears aching, my eye so inflamed that I thought it was going to burst and I still couldn’t get to sleep. Turn the air conditioner off, ah the silence, that is better. Now I am hot. Wreck the bed so I am just under the sheet. Just about to doze off and the people from the unit next door arrive. I listen to them take their gear inside. Thankfully the rooms are good enough that I didn’t have to listen to their conversation once they were inside. Oh come on! Do you really have to shower now? Ah quiet at last. Now the light from the clock radio was irritating me. I put my book on top of it to cover it. Oh, I know so well what it is like for a child to be over tired, every little thing an irritation. I toss and I turn, each time I roll over the room spins crazily ARGHHHH! Just go to bloody sleep, woman! Eventually the medication kicked in and I drifted off to sleep.

Ahhh the bliss of waking this morning to the sound of rain on the roof. Not the best for taking photos but the rain is so badly needed everywhere that one could not possibly complain. After breakfast in town at a lovely little café I eventually started to make my way back to the city, stopping frequently for photos just to enjoy watching some sheep in a paddock or the clouds moving across the sky. Grateful for to be in a position to be able to get out and enjoy some of these finer things in life, the simple, the ordinary and the very beautiful; this country so many take for granted which really is the most wonderful and incredible place to live.