Amazing what one night away can do!

I'm just on my way home from Moonta Bay and about to get back to work on repairs to Mums house. For some reason, the thought of overnight trips make me feel a lot more anxious than the thought of a longer journey. Maybe that's because for some reason I feel I have to fit a weeks worth of holiday into one night! This little getaway was a real eye opener for me.

I left Mums late morning yesterday, took my time sauntering up the coast and across York Peninsula to stop in on my Aunt Necia for an afternoon coffee. My goal for the night away was simple: catch up with Necia, give her a copy of some photo's from my brothers wedding she was unable to attend, find somewhere near the beach to spend the night, shoot off at the very least one roll of film (in 6x12 format, that's only six photo's, not a big ask really). After I'd had a good catchup with Necia and passed on the photos from my brothers wedding, I politely declined a bed for the night and headed down to the Jetty at Port Hughes... promising I'd be back for a morning coffee before heading off, of course!

In the end, the trip turned out to be everything I needed, and nothing more, which is fantastic. A good nights sleep, an early rise, burning of a roll of panoramic film and half a dozen or so sheets of 4x5 before sunrise, another catchup with Necia, and a leisurely trip home. I also managed to squeeze in finding a good number of caches along the way, which is just a bonus.

Right now I'm about half an hour from Mums, I've stopped to photograph a ruin of a beautiful old farm house... and make a cuppa while I'm at it. I feel refreshed and revived, even though I've only been away for a little over 24 hours. It's a good lesson for me I think, I've learned that my need to get away isn't necesarilly a need for a month in the outback, at least not every time. I've learned that heading off just for a night away can do just as much good as a longer trip, as long as I don't put the expectations of a long trip on it. Have one or two core objectives, one destination. Anthing more is a bonus, but not an expectation. Hopefully this will help me to get out more often, knowing that I don't have to make an epic journey of it.