The World Around Us

It’s not something normal that one can describe. You need a picture to really capture how magnificent the sunset over the river is.

We’re sitting on a cruise boat, heading down the Gippsland Lake towards Metung. The sun is setting as we’re going, and the golden glow on the water makes it seem as if we’re traveling towards something magnificent. It’s almost calling to us, saying that it wants us to sail towards it. But we don’t. In the opposite direction we head, away from the magnificent golden tones of the sun hitting the water, towards our destination.

It’s calm on the river. It isn’t choppy nor windy. It’s a good thing, because I get motion sickness if something moves in the wrong way. I’m flawed in that sense. But I still love every moment of this trip. The cool breeze, light on my face blows my hair back, and throws a sense of calm over the boat.

For a moment, I can close my eyes and relax, as if I were on an actual cruise liner, rather than a boat that takes you from one side of Lakes Entrance, to Metung and back again. Someone shouts that they can see Dolphins out the side of the boat, they’re swimming with us, and every now and then they pop out of the water. First there are two, then three, and then another, a baby dolphin, joins them as they swim in unison. We try to snap pictures of them, but they’re gone before the flash on the camera has gone off. But we bank it in our memory. It’s something we’ve seen. ‘

It’s something we take for granted, the sea life that lives in our very country. The dolphins that grace the Lakes shores and the seals that laze about on the rocks on the other side of the boat, in the glowing sunlight. The journey hasn’t even really begun, we’re on the boat, but it’s the best trip I’ve ever taken. It’s a short journey to another place that I can add to my list of ‘been to’. It may not sound significant, like traveling across larger oceans to Italy or Spain, but in this little piece of Gippsland, not two hours from my home town, another journey can be had. It’s a journey itself because it isn’t done every day. It’s something different.

In Metung, there are a couple of small, local shops. Most of them sell little memorabilia items, like postcards, and mugs with funny pictures on them that say “Welcome to Metung on the Gippsland Lakes”. They’re unique, I suppose. It really is a magnificent sight. Stepping outside your house once in a while, and going somewhere that you’ve never been before… can be a wonderful thing.