freeway synchronicity

After an absence of some 4 or 5 years, and now equipped with the brand new Mazda, I decided yesterday to pay a visit to an old favourite, the RAAF Museum at Point Cook, on the wrong side of the West Gate. What a nightmare!

Not the museum, which I loved as much as ever, but the trip there and back!

I'm not so comfortable driving in city traffic at the best of times, so I timed my travel to occur after the morning peak, expecting a reasonable journey across the bridge, only to find it was almost bumper-to-bumper, due to extensive roadworks and a 60kph limit through to the far side.

Worse tho, was the enormous number of heavy trucks using the freeway. I was in a constant state of alarm all the way, with huge semis overtaking on the right and left and bearing up from behind, generally travelling a little faster than I was, and leaving little room to manoeuvre in case of emergency. I was in a sweat by the time I arrived at the Point Cook turnoff... and every time subsequently that I thought about the trip back home again!

... Which was, if anything, even worse! The freeway and bridge journey was just as stressful, but due to the roadworks and bizarre signage, I was unable to ascertain which exit to take.

Finally, concerned that I was about to be trapped into using the pay road, I veered off the freeway into a part of South Melbourne that I had never known existed! It took almost 20 minutes, stuck in heavy traffic at only 2:30pm, and following well-disguised detour signs, before I found my way to a familiar stretch of road, and could confidently set a course for home!

Coincidentally, the very next morning, I found an article in the Age describing my own driving nightmare of the day before, so I'm not the only one shellshocked by the experience.

Unfortunately, it's likely to be a loooong time before I venture across the West Gate again... at least, not before all those roadworks are complete!