I was in McLaren Vale, the heart of the wine growing region, trying to find a well-known winery called Fox Creek.
I didn’t have a GPS in the car but I checked on Google Maps before I left so I had a pretty good idea. Pretty good, as anyone can tell you, is not good enough.
I knew it came off Almond Grove Road. Locals would know where that was.
I asked some passers by. Some said it was a little north, another somewhat east, a third said ‘straight ahead’, the honest ones shrugged their shoulders. Dunno, they said. I stopped and asked a guy in the coffee shop. He was adamant it was the next road to the left. It wasn’t.
Honestly, does anyone know where the ^%$&* they are???
* do you know where you are?
ps: I wrote this while I was exasperated
Stress builds up, chances of achieving goal reduce. It happens in animals as smart as humans and as … as instinctive as chooks. When it happens to me I either get really angry at myself or at all the dumbasses who failed to help me. 😂 But… to answer your question … if someone asked me the way to a particular road in my suburb, there’s a fair chance I wouldn’t know where it was. But I can walk the dog around the suburb in pretty good faith that I will find my way home. I guess people know their way around in different ways.
LikeLiked by 1 person
thanks for commenting on this so compassionately and fully. I hesitated to post this because of the ‘swearing’ but I thought, no ! it is a record of how I felt and it has an inner coherence. I love that last sentence of yours 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Nice
LikeLike
well thanks; I expected very little traffic on this post; it’s a bit of a rant, but it’s okay to rant occasionally, isn’t it?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah.. Sure👌
LikeLike
:)only occasionally though 🙂
LikeLike
Lol
LikeLiked by 1 person
Isn’t it amazing how quickly we have lost the ability to read maps since GPS came in! Although, in fairness Mrs Hobbo never lost it, because she never acquired it. Map reading was often a source for heated discussion in our car!😂
LikeLiked by 2 people
sadly I’m one of those males — we are a rare breed I am told — who have difficulty reading maps and in following operating instructions, about as comprehensible to me as ancient Aramaic 🙂
LikeLike
I am a little rhymer
Live in Adelaide town
Is my rhyming ranting?
Dunno,…..
Now to your query:
%$^# just says ‘hell’ . That an’t swearing John
At our age never rely on the memory. Fatal. it’s shot.
OK look up your Google map but make a sketch to go.
And make sure it’s SA not WA……
Did you finally find it?…..
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lol. I did , Don; but it was a struggle; relied on trial and error in the end; I was rewarded with generous tasting samples of recent reds 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
All worth it in the end……
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hobbo/John….I carry a street directory in the car. Invaluable……Wot’s GPS?
LikeLike
do they still produce Street Directories ??
LikeLike
“sadly I’m one of those males — we are a rare breed I am told — who have difficulty reading maps and in following operating instructions, about as comprehensible to me as ancient Aramaic 🙂’. I am the female version of this.
LikeLiked by 1 person
thanks Beth; that makes me feel better about myself: it is not just a gender thing; we need to accept how we are — and work with that 🙂
LikeLike
I always know where I am, because no matter where I go that’s where I are. I might not know how I got there, but there is where I am. Might not be where I want to be, but that’s where I am, nonetheless. Glad to got where you wanted to be!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is a good thing to know 🙂
LikeLike
I never could read maps, so I’m in your column. I never leave home without the phone, google maps and I have a great relationship lol
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂 I never leave home without my mobile phone either: I feel vulnerable without it 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, I couldn’t get you the lines of longitude or latitude, but I have a fairly good idea of where I am. Although as a dreamer, I am often miles away or ahead of myself.
If you do make it to Fox Winery, do tell, how’s their wine?
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂 love that dream reference, so true 🙂 I did make it, and yes ! it was worth it !! splendid wines; I unwound with a gargantuan session of wine tasting and dry biscuits, followed by a sobering cup of cappuccino and a postprandial walk 🙂
LikeLike
Got a GPS but I sometimes know better!!! Then I have two voices in the car telling me where to go.
LikeLiked by 2 people
that can be tricky 🙂
LikeLike
I am home, John, as usual! If you are on a trip, enjoy the scenery. The vineyard might have ceased to exist because
LikeLiked by 1 person
Because during the lockdown, the breweries worldwide faced a great problem. People weren’t partying and not buying enough alcohol to keep them afloat. Or may be it is just a bas case of Google Maps ass usual. Enjoy the journey, no matter where it leads.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I see my editor is making smart mistakes…”Google Map ass usual”…
LikeLiked by 1 person
thank you,Shaily; I don’t know how things are over where you are but here in South Australia we are blessed: extremely low case numbers and all in quarantine, helped by good government and low population density, and we are enjoying our wine 🙂 my thoughts go out to you 🙂
LikeLike