Up early this morning. It’s chillier than usual and Ripley creaks in protest as I move around her.

Kelly and Juno are both still wrapped warmly in the land of REM, and the more I try to keep quiet, the more I bump into things, drop things and generate a suppressed cacophony.

I sneak outside to meditate for a while.

We leave Bright this morning after spending 3 nights here. I absolutely have loved this place. The mountain vibe, the quiet walks, the enthusiastic funkiness of the town.

But Bright is a popular place. Skiing in winter, biking & hiking & paragliding in summer.

And today is Saturday. Last evening the ambience shifted as the holiday park where we are staying filled with families, and kids, and groups of men with their mountain bikes.

I was totally entertained for over an hour by a three middle aged dudes across from us. Dressed in muffin-top Lycra and supporting what looked to be 3 very expensive carbon fibre road bikes, they were deeply immersed in fawning conversation that focused on the apparently abundant technical intricacies of the front wheel of one of the bikes.

No kidding. One hour. One wheel.

Later whilst taking Juno for a wizz, I met a lady tidying around her trailer tent a few sites down.

“Magnificent evening” I said. “Looks like you have a great site here next to the stream”.

“Well actually, it’s been great during the day. But at night you have no idea how loud the water is.”

“Last night my husband had to get out of bed during the night and go down to move around some of the river rocks to quiet the sound!”

I kept my face Botox straight and nodded in an understanding condolence.

Yup. I love Bright. In fact, I think I will put it up in the top 3 of my favourite Aussie destinations.