Melbourne to Meander

After more than three months away the time to return to Meander had finally arrived. All we needed to do was get from Melbourne to Raymond Island in one day in nice weather....Sounds easy enough!

 The weather delayed us a few days which gave Lauren and the kids the opportunity to catch up with some of our friends (more on that later) while Giles spent some time checking in and catching up at work.

Luckily for us the trip from Melbourne to Paynesville (where Meander has been waiting for us) has been done before, the connections are all in place. All we needed was stamina! The drive to Paynesville usually takes 3 1/2 hours. Our journey on public transport took us 6 1/2 hours (door to companionway). We travelled using 6 different modes of transport. 

Activities that occupied us during the journey included waiting, looking out of windows, reading, minecrafting, playing patience, playing Uno (with other kids on the train), eating, sleeping and taking photos!

Leg # 1: Giles drove the kids & I to the Collingwood station before returning our car to the office for safe keeping

6:05am Collingwood Railway Station - Waiting for Daddy & the train

6:20am Leg # 2: Collingwood to Southern Cross train

6:36am Southern Cross Railway Station - Waiting while Dad collects the tickets

6:54am Waiting while the conductor checks the train

7:18am Leg # 3: Melbourne to Bairnesdale train

11:17am Bairnesdale Railway Station

11:20am Time for a walk

12:14pm Leg # 4: Bairnesdale to Paynesville bus

12:34pm The early start begins to catch up

12:40pm Paynesville - Waiting for the ferry

12:45pm Leg # 5: Paynesville to Raymond Island Ferry

12:56pm Leg # 5 Raymond Island - Walking to Meander

1:53pm Home Sweet Home...let the unpacking begin!

What I enjoyed most about the trip was the gentle connections. No running madly along platforms with heavy bags, no getting (overly) grumpy with kids when they were worn out from carrying heavy bags, no mad panic about making an important connection....it was all just sweetness and light.... well, not really but the connections were awesome! My kind of travelling!

Now for our next adventures...