After grabbing our bags from the luggage carousel at Melbourne airport we headed down to Hertz to pick up our hire car… it seemed to take a fair bit of time to organise though. Ah these melbournites are just not that professional are they now? 
The gentleman on the other side of the counter looked a bit worried… hmmm…. wonder what was cooking…..while we oggled at other passengers pick up their luggage, looking at the ceiling, outside, the Hertz representatives wrinkly forehead, the rear of his old windows computer (ughhh!) he made a third (yes I was counting) frantic call. He could hardly keep the glaring secret from his high flying customers anymore. Oh no, he was about to CRY! We reached for our used tissues. He paused and decided to gave away the secret. We were preparing to drop our jaws but the news didn’t suprise us much. Hertz Melbourne had over booked the airport outlet by 60 odd cars! Jolly Good! Splendid! But we got our turn and moved right along to champion a drive in the wet weather. Oh I love singing driving in the rain…
After quite literally dragging ‘my baggage’ (LOL well, mine didn’t have casters) we finally spotted our car. I was going to drive!!! yippie… *excited* …. and her name was…. AG-00-LY Cute!! We revved Agoogly a tad got her in gear and wheeled out in the middle of a torrential rain and went our merry way for almost 3 kilometer when the signs started looking funny! ‘Course in all that excitement of the drive up Black spur, Mystic Mountains and the genuine sympathy we had for the Hertz we totally forgot to ask for a melway – Melbournes street directory! Drat! Oh the excitement of being on unfamiliar roads without a map… but soon found that we’re heading towards Adelaide! I kept my eyes peeled for the nearest roundabout and did a full 180° oh so very quick and there were no cars at the roundabout but having forgotten to indicate i got warned nicely of course… , tried to change the topic quickly oh and it worked (I think). Hit the number ’3′ button on the FM Radio and on came a lovely jazz station… oh we are such old souls… we love our little creature comfort.
I drove merrily along going through little puddles of rain water gathered on the quasi perfect spirit-leveled tarmac, … oh did I say, the distraction worked and Grandpa reminisced Dorothea McKellar’s “My Country”
I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
……. I hummed and tapped to the rythym and blew kisses to the planes taking off in the distance passing Tallamarine… as we ventured gradually to the land of ‘hook turns’, rain, cold wet sunny, windy Melbourne!
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror –
The wide brown land for me!
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