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12 MAY 2002<br />Sunday morning I was heading east along the Princes Highway to Stratford. Three hours behind the wheel wasn't too much to handle. I booked into a Budget Motel close to the centre I was due to work in tomorrow. In England there is a town called Stratford and it has a river called Avon, this town in the east of Victoria has the same name and the river Avon close by. Here in Australia I don't know what was named first the town or the river. The names haven't been lost on the residents; every year here in the east of Victoria Stratford has a Shakspere Festival. There was still a week to go but all the banners and poster indicated it's quite a celebration.

Gippsland

Colin Ewington
2006-03-16 10:35:41

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12 MAY 2002
Sunday morning I was heading east along the Princes Highway to Stratford. Three hours behind the wheel wasn't too much to handle. I booked into a Budget Motel close to the centre I was due to work in tomorrow. In England there is a town called Stratford and it has a river called Avon, this town in the east of Victoria has the same name and the river Avon close by. Here in Australia I don't know what was named first the town or the river. The names haven't been lost on the residents; every year here in the east of Victoria Stratford has a Shakspere Festival. There was still a week to go but all the banners and poster indicated it's quite a celebration.

13 MAY 2002
I didn't have to fight the peak hour traffic this morning, by time I was ready to drive around the corner to the centre; it was hard to find anybody moving in town. The two staff, who ran the centre, was already there and I set up my gear at a leisurely pace. We drank coffee while we waited for the children to arrive.

Towards the end of that morning session I felt a little dizzy and had problems with my left eye but it didn't stop me finishing the last shots that were needed and I packed my equipment around 11am.

The Alpine Road starts in Bairnsdale and if you followed the road all the way, you would find yourself on the Hume Freeway near Wangaratta. While the car made its way around the twisting bends of the high country, my left side started to get pins and needles. Not a very good feeling but by time I reached Omeo the problem had left me and I felt better. I parked the car outside my unit, which I had booked for two days. I went for a walk down the hilly main street, taking in the sights of old buildings and kept the camera to my eye for much of the time.
It was 6pm when I decided to go to "Age Hotel" for a meal. There was no signal on my mobile phone and no phone in my unit, so I used the pubs phone to keep in contact ...