I drove from Adelaide to Mount Gambier and Yahl today, departing at 7.30am and arriving around 2pm after three stops along the way.

It was a clear run out of Adelaide with little traffic because of the King's Birthday public holiday, which I had forgotten about.

My journey was 450km, which is quite a distance after I drove 700km last Thursday.

I stopped one third of the way at Meningie for a coffee and to stretch my legs.

The town is on the south-east side of Lake Albert (pictured) near The Coorong, and has a population of 860 people. It's fairly isolated as the only service centre between Tailem Bend and Kingston SE.

I stopped again in Kingston for petrol and the town with the big lobster was buzzing with long-weekend activity. That prompted me to avoid the coastal route to Mount Gambier and veer inland through farming country and detouring around Millicent.

It was a good decision and I avoided most of the caravans and motorhomes which I saw at Kingston, and I'm sure there were even more at Robe and Beachport.

I don't have very fond memories of Mount Gambier. I didn't enjoy my time at The Border Watch for a range of reasons that I'll put into my memoirs when I retire.

It was disruptive for my family when I moved to Adelaide for work, leaving my wife and three of the children behind while I settled in the capital ahead of their arrival at the end of the school year. My eldest daughter actually stayed in Mount Gambier for another 12 months to complete Year 12.

We later had trouble selling the five-bedroom, three-bathroom house (pictured) that we had bought, being caught in one of the isolated regional property downturns that have occurred in Australia over the past 25 years.

Despite that, I don't think people should avoid bad memories. Sometimes we have to confront them to understand them.

Today was particularly poignant, being the second anniversary since my ex-wife Juliet passed away in 2024, given we shared many of those experiences together before we divorced.

I only stopped in Mount Gambier to look at the old house and to stock up on supplies.

I'm staying in a cute AirBNB at Yahl called Whiskers Cottage. It's only 7km from Mount Gambier, but far enough and fresh enough for me to feel free of the past.

There's not much online about Yahl, but there are some heritage buildings here, including an old general store (pictured top) and a former church next door to where I'm staying, which is now a residence.

The countryside is green and fertile. Many of the homes have either been renovated or built new, and it looks a prosperous community.

Tomorrow I plan to go for a walk at Mount Shank and maybe around the Blue Lake or maybe not. Having passed through Mount Gambier and dealt with the past, it may be better to head in other directions and go forward to the future.

I'm in Yahl for two nights, and then head to Port Fairy via Nelson, Bridgewater and Portland, which I'm looking forward to.