What happens on holidays…

 ©Kara Rosenlund

…. Ah, summer holidays…. weren’t you grand…. do you know what happens on summer holidays… you become blissful…. you become more resilient…. you become happier and trust life more…… well, at least this is what happens to me once a year until real life wears it out of you….

… so the thing about me is that I love unpractical old stuff… my very first car was a 1954 powder blue Morris Minor….Dad and I went halves ….. My father and I used to burn around on the northside of Brisbane together as he taught me shouted at me how to drive a manual… Frankie the caravan is a 1956 caravan….stubborn old lady… our house is an old girl… bless her bones – an 1890’s workers cottage it’s called a ‘workers’ cottage for a reason!’… you have to work her hard…. I have always loved the old… I think it is all Dads fault... so what happens on blissful summer holidays….. you blissfully think you have more room and patience in your life for more of the old …..

…. Hello Margot……. So, let’s start at the beginning….. I have always loved old Mercedes… the classic hat shape, the grill, the lights, the bench seats…. the calibre of people who drive these cars are what I call ‘my tribe’…. people who persevere even though really, let’s face it, it can be a pain in the arse to own an old car…… so, 1968 was always going to be the year – its a classic year for Mercedes my secret dream car is actually the ’68 Mercedes  Pagoda, hello $60k …. so it was just a matter of waiting until the right 45 year old bird came along so to speak…..

… and she did…. after researching on and off for years on ‘car’ websites I found my girl on ebay…. yup, ebay… I know…. crazy town.. you would think dodgy huh, but so soooo not….. my parents were convinced it was a hoax ad and I would be abducted.… anyway while on a blissful Stradbroke Island three day holiday previous post….I stalked the ’68 on eBay….. and I did good…. I won her….. i never win anything usually….

… except she was in another state and a little bit regional in her geography…… ah, that holiday sunshine sure makes you think anything is possible doesn’t it…. so, just like that Timothy O and I boarded a plane, hired a car, drove four hours and met our new four wheeled friend and her motor parents….

…. it really was love at first sight… the corner windows…. the leather upholstery… the large windows… her smell….. ah…. love….

…. and just like that the keys were handed over and she was ours…… see you later hire car…. hello old friend ….some things just feel right from the start…. the thing with driving an old car is that it really is a treat, it really is…. you know when you pass an old car on the highway and the windows are down and the drivers’ arm is perched out the window and their hand is catching in the wind dancing in the current…. you look at that car from your air conditioned ‘windows up’ new car and you think wow, freedom….. you know what… it really is…. it really is pure indulgent old school freedom…..

….. so we set off on our long trip home back to Brisbane…. like anxious new parents….. listening to every noise and vibration she shared with us….. we drove….

…. and drove…..

…. bought some apricots from the roadside…. everything looks better in Margot….. 

…. and kept driving some more…..

….. and even some more…… these two shots were taken from the inside of Margot’s window frames…. whizzing through the bush, the slow narrow Australian roads, before the bustling fast highways where built… we passed only tractors…

…. met another old girl on the highway and had a cold ale together…. how could you not….. bless Australian pubs….

…. and we drove some more….. taking it all in…. breathing in 1968 air and slowing life down a bit….. appreciating the good life. Ah, holiday sunshine, you sure make the impossible possible!

K x