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Clogged again!

The journey home from Coffs Harbour took 7.5 hours for a distance of 550 kilometres. We left early and stopped at Big Oyster at Port Macquarie for some fresh oysters and prawns to take away, then at the centre of Port Macquarie for a bathroom break.

That was it until we reached Sydney. The traffic started okay out of Coffs Harbour, but at the Kew turn-off south of Port Macquarie there had been a big accident and a traffic jam remained.

Finally it started moving, but traffic was heavy, especially north of Newcastle, where again it got clogged.

I was tired of dealing with impatient Volkswagens and show-off Mercedes, not to mention the usual range of dickheads in utes. I made a wrong turn in Sydney and ended up on the Pacific Highway, where I had to let a speeding policemen past and then contend with the luxury car entitled not letting me back in.

The traffic was so awful that I didn't want to risk hitting peak hour by delaying further. So we arrived hungry and cranky and without having eaten.

When we picked up Kita from the boarding kennel he was anxious and clingy, yelping in confusion when he couldn't find me. Then he slipped into the pool in the dark and I had to rescue and wash him. 

Six and a half hours after arriving home I finally had a shower and went to bed. 

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