It took me half an hour to write this, and half a minute for you to read it. I wonder if you're really paying attention to the world longest title.

I've been pretty lucky this year. By virtue of circumstance and geography I've managed to see more sunsets, sunrises and the clearest night skies (as well as shooting stars and satellites) I've ever seen. I'm constantly impressed, amazed and left to ponder how and why we all came to be. It's a real blessing.

The other day I went to visit a friend in one of the other remote locations. It was a couple hours drive through the boonies to get there, but oh so pretty. I really enjoyed getting to see some of the riverland towns and surroundings. They felt so busy and alive compared to my tiny town!

I found myself driving back at night, perhaps a slightly silly thing to do, but still very pleasant. The sky was moonless, one section of the road virtually straight for over 90 kilometres. That some road had been entrancing during the day, but the dark star lit sky had become majestic with the headlights cutting a swathe through the trees. I only saw four other cars in two hours. It was a pleasant way to to travel.

I kept my eyes out for kangaroos hoping not to plow in to one at 110ish km per hour. Fortunately I didn't see any. Two-thirds of the way home I got to drive on to a ferry in the dark, in order to get across the river. Pretty much the middle of nowhere. The diesel engine of the ferry fired up as I approached from the steep bank, rumbling in to the still warm sky. I was the only person on board apart from the driver on a quiet weeknight in the sticks. As I drove off he reminded me to look out for roos. The significant amount of roadkill I'd already driven by had been warning enough though. I thanked him and resumed my drive.

What he should have been telling me though was to look out for wombats. As I was taking off from the ferry a wombat appeared in my high beams, only just distinguishable from the dark road surface. A rapid deceleration later... And luckily we didn't come together. It was pretty nice to see a wombat unexpectedly though.

I came out to the sticks to make sure I'd be happy spending the rest of my life in a big hospital. I feel more and more challenged by that notion every day.