Thomas Williams

Code Camp Oz 2005 Diaries - Friday

My Code Camp experience really started when I left work at lunchtime on Friday April 22nd to start my drive up to Wagga Wagga. I had planned my route using whereis.com Map and Directions Search, which gave me a map about the size of a CD case and 30 or so steps of written directions like “Turn <left,right> at <street name>, <suburb>“. On paper the map and written directions looked concise and complete, and heroically I set off without a Melways or street map of any kind, instead choosing to rely on the goodwill of strangers should I get into any trouble.

I had planned for around a 6 hour drive to cover the 500 or so kilometres between the south-east suburbs of Melbourne and Wagga Wagga. I took the Hume Highway from Melbourne to the New South Wales border which made for great driving as it was double-laned and had a 110 speed limit. I learnt about the joy of cruise control on this leg of the trip. I also learnt how boring it is to drive 6 hours by yourself - mental note for next time: take a travelling companion! The hours on the road alone meant that I got to admire the passing Australian countryside that looked straight out of a Henry Lawson poem. I certainly had the right time of year (autumn) and the right time of the day (late afternoon) to enjoy the sights and listen to Peter Stanski's Microsoft Developer's Show.

By the time I was in New South Wales, night had fallen. I had diverted from my map to get petrol so I asked for directions at a service station, where the attendant turned out to be really helpful. As I was driving along I passed his first 2 markers without trouble, but I was getting a bit worried as I drove for a further 10-15 minutes without seeing a road sign. It was then that an irrational fear gripped me: maybe the attendant had a practical joke at my expense, maybe I was heading in completely the wrong direction! Should I turn back now I keep driving? 

I'm glad I kept going because the Wagga Wagga turnoff down the Olympic Highway was just around the next corner (so were a long line of trucks that I gradually overtook on the open stretches), and I realised later that in the 130 kms or so from Albury to Wagga Wagga the signage is pretty light on. The road was also single-lane which slowed down as it passed through townlets (they were very small towns indeed).

By 8:30 that night I arrived in Wagga Wagga and found my hotel, the Lincoln Cottage Motor Inn. It was a bit out of town, but a very nice place. By that time all I wanted to do was eat, so I dumped my bags and drove out cautiously (I still had no road map, only my male location intuition to guide me), got a kebab, and went back to the hotel and fell asleep to the sound of the road trains I had passed earlier driving past the hotel.