Woke up this morning around 7am surprisingly. I had a hell of a time getting to sleep last night. Went to bed around midnight after watching a bit of tv. Then just lay there I could not get to sleep. I saw 1am tick over on the clock then I remember seeing 1:30

I must have fallen asleep, as shortly after it was 8 am and I was waking up . Got up to find the house empty. Then remembered Emma had a Polaris session at 7am this morning... So plan was coffee, pack my bags ready to load them into the car when it returned. Then watch some eastern states tv till Em returned.

Car loaded and on the way to Emma's work and the cafe we had breakfast in yesterday..... Different staff today but still did a bang on job creating my vegan friendly breaks... Even added eggplant today... Top points boys.

The plan today was to have a look through the other museum in town, MAMA (Murray Arts Museum Albury). I thought this would take me some time, filling the morning before I needed to be at the train station to board the train. But alas this wasn't the case. The main area was closed as they were still setting up the new "Marilyn" exhibition. So it left just the two secondary areas... Which didn't take me long to look through at all....

Problem I had now was so much time to kill ... So what to do. Decided to go for another wander. Found a supermarket so bought a travel pack toiletries bag.... Deodorant, shampoo etc. then found myself gravitating back to the large grassed area between the museums called the QE 2 square. It is rather green, and I had noticed both mornings walking over the grass that it was very wet.... But there was no sign of rain or sprinklers... So I suspect it is watered from below.... It is a rather large expanse of grass to water this way, but I can see no other answer. I tried to google qe2 square but it only gave me information about the buildings surrounding it and very little about the actual square itself.

The square has a few large shady trees at its circumference with large colourful deck chairs situated in the shade... So that, I decided, was my plan I would take up a chair in the shade and chill out and watch the zoo that is Albury. It was quite pleasant sitting watching the comings and goings of the square. So different to the copious amounts of walking I had done the previous day .

I was really enjoying my private little area of shade when all of a sudden the door behind me opened and a plethora of young children and what I presume to be their mother came flooding out onto the grass. They must have had some sort of tour through MAMA. A mothers club or something. But there it was my private secluded spot was now a sea of munchkins and MILFs. Not unpleasant but completely changed. The quiet and calm with a gentle breeze through the leaves had transformed into a motley collage of colour, giggles and motherly conversations. I sat watching the "show" for a while amused at the antics and interactions.

The spectacle was short lived as 12 o clock had arrived and it was time to meet Emma for lunch. Emma wanted to take me to the Canvas Eatery , on the edge of the qe2 square. It is a rather yuppy venue. Filled with what I call plastic people.... All show and shine and no substance to them. The place looked very nice... Staff were friendly enough. The menu is mainly Mediterranean-inspired, but had few vegetarian options. I managed to convince the waiter to adjust one of the menu items to cater for my vegan needs, only to have it delivered to the table unchanged. So had to send it back. When it finally arrived it was a rather small serving. Very tasty but not at all sufficient to fill the gap.

During lunch a friend of Emma's happened past. She was the person putting the new Marilyn exhibit together. She invited us to have a look through the Exhibition before it opened. Problem was Emma had some meetings to go to after lunch so I had a choice to make.. Go look at the exhibit and make my own way to the train station or have Emma drop me at the station early and sit and fill my time there. I opted for the lateral I really didn't want to do any more walking in the sun..especially lugging my bags with me. So off the the station it was.

I bid farewell to Emma and sat in the air-conditioned waiting room. It was only an hour and a half to kill anyway, which flew past quite quickly. Window seat again... Cool. Maybe this time I would get to see something. Shortly after sitting down a rather sweet young girl came to occupy the seat next to me. Excellent I thought....... Oops too soon. Shortly after a tall skinny Indian guy came up and said sorry that's my seat.... And showed his ticket.... Damn I thought.....the sweet young girl wandered off and looking rather sheepish sat in a spare seat further down the carriage .... I'm not sure if she actually had a ticket... Maybe she was trying to get a free ride. I watched her change seats another couple of times than she went through to the next car and I didn't see her again.

So I was stuck with the Indian guy. Well at least he wasn't asking me a series of personal questions like the guy on the trip up to Albury. Well I suppose I still had my window so that's where my attention was focused for now. There was surprisingly not much really to look at other than open land and trees. Oh well maybe I just sit and chill...

The three hours went quicker than I anticipated it wasn't long before I was disembarking and searching for the local train to take me to Bernard's. I had to buy a swipe card, known locally as a myki. The trains announce reminders to remember to touch up your myki when entering and leaving a station. I feel sorry for all those people called Mikey.... They must have a hard time with that. The train ride out to Berwick (apparently pronounced berik) was rather long. I'm sure I even started seeing paddocks and cows near the end...lol

Bernard was there to meet me at the station. Phoenix was away at a conference in Newcastle. She apparently has a new job and was on training or something. I'll have to wait till she returns to find out all the details. First stop was supermarket so I could fill the house with vegan friendly food... See Bernard is thoughtful...lol

The unfortunate thing with having such a small lunch back in Albury and not eating on the train was I was starving... So bought way too much food..... Well maybe it will be eaten when I leave.... Lol ( not likely)

As tradition has it first night is always junk food night so my suggestion was pizza... It's easy to vegan up. Vegetarian pizza with no cheese. That was consumed in front of tv watching the last witch hunter... Well most of it. I started dozing off near the end so am a little vague on the ending still so will have to watch it again later....with that I decided it was time for bed.