The Month of May

It's four weeks nearly since I last posted. My my, a lot happens in four weeks. I thought I'd better write it up before it all melts away in my distant memory. It's raining and cold outside and in about 48 hours time we'll be officially in winter.

Libby has Covid. She came down with a bad cold about last Tuesday. We didn't think much of it, until she got an SMS from Anne Oberg saying her and husband Steve had tested positive. Anne and Steve, old neighbours from Gembrook, had stayed with us for three days last week, from Wednesday to Saturday. Steve had a bad cold when they arrived, he coughed regularly the whole time he was here. He said he caught the cold from a friend they stayed with in Ballarat. By the time they left us, Anne had come down with it too. After we got the SMS we did the test thing and Lib's was positive. Gord and I were negative and we've had no symptoms till today although I'm now a little concerned as I have developed a runny nose and am a bit sneezy. I'll do another test in the morning, not that knowing it's Covid means much, as it seems it's no more than a cold for most people. But you are required to isolate for 7 days and I don't relish that.

That was a tough week leading up to the election. We had visitors staying and Lib had an old nursing friend and her partner in town also. We had lunch with them on the Friday and they came for coffee on the Saturday. Grace did her training with Lib, 3 years at the Wangaratta Base hospital, in the mid 1970's. She married and moved to Perth soon after. Lib and two other nurses visited them in the late 70's, and apart from a brief visit to Gembrook some thirty years ago when her 3 kids were young, Lib and Grace had not met up since. So it was a good catch up. Grace was divorced some twenty years ago and now has a female partner Sue. They were travelling back to WA after a trip to Vic to see Grace's dad at Mt Beauty. They had a caravan and stayed five nights at Pt Elliot. Grace lost a son about ten years ago. He was aged 23, out in a boat at sea fishing with two others when a king wave hit the boat and it sank. One survived after treading water for 19 hours and finally being spotted by the Channel 7 helicopter after a massive search. One body was recovered but Grace's son was never found. The survivor helped him stay above water until exhaustion caused him to let him go. A sad story. Grace and and Sue searched the coastline for years looking for some sign of him but never did.

In some ways having visitors was a distraction from the mad media in the last days of the election campaign. So now we have a new government and a restructured parliament with some real people. Let's hope for better than what we've had for the last decade. The well heeled have prospered certainly, but it seems it has been at the cost of huge social and environmental issues that have suffered neglect. I was amazed and horrified at the blatant bias shown by the Adelaide Advertiser. That factor, Australia wide, may have worked in 2019, but not this time. All praise to the Independents is my view.

Hot on the heels of the election was news of another school mass murder in Texas. And the ongoing war in Ukraine. The news was full of rape trials and murders here in Australia, Adelaide too, and if you are not careful you could end up in total despair at the apparent downward spiral of humankind. History tells us it is not new. Evil and atrocity have always been with us.

On a happier note, I have been enjoying pulling weeds down by the river for half an hour or so when I take Pip for a walk. Slowly, slowly, section at a time, I'm making good progress. It's a real joy to be there in the quiet of the trees and do something to help. The Friend's Group, which has two working bees a month now there's no heat or snake season, does a mighty job. It's great to be part of. I'll copy and paste below an email one of our conveners sent to The Deputy Premier who is also the Minister for the Environment relating to pollution the river.

The Friends of Hindmarsh River Estuary (FoHRE) wish to bring to your attention and seek your respective office assistance regarding pollution event(s) which has impacted the Hindmarsh River.  

The source is not a natural phenomenon, but perhaps a loss of containment - intentional or otherwise.

We and other local residents are extremely concerned with the pollution - being observed as an extensive slug of creamy grey discolouration of water and associated foul pungent smell.

A predominantly white residual sludge remains in places on the river bed. A sample has been collected.

The pollution resulted in an extensive 'kill' of small native fish and we believe negative impacts on the diverse aquatic ecosystems of native fish, frogs, and macroinvertebrate communities, many of which are deemed rare and sensitive. Since the event, there is a noticeable reduction in visual evidence of fish and water insects normally observed.
There appears to be a corresponding reduction in bird numbers, that rely on the river for food (fish, insects, plants).

The community has a deep love for the river, with local residents and the Friends of the Hindmarsh River Estuary contributing many hundreds of volunteer hours applying biodiversity conservation concepts to control emerging threats (i.e. invasive feral plants/animal pests), maintain intact (viable) landscapes, reversing decline/reinstating ecosystems/habitats and recover threatened species.

The significance of the river is well documented having been listed on the Register of National Estate, the Victor Harbor Community plan, environmental management plan and deemed a ‘biodiversity hotspot due to its high species richness & high number of threatened species (Southern Fleurieu Coastal Action Plan & Conservation Priority Study 2007).

The Friends of Hindmarsh River Estuary and the broader local community respectively request your assistance in identifying the source of the pollution and implementing strategies to prevent its reoccurance.  Working together we can enshrine environmental values,  protecting and maintaining the aquatic ecosystems of the much loved Hindmarsh River.

Kind regards

Mark Richards

Co-convenor

Friends of Hindmarsh River Estuary

Also on a happier note, I was listening to ABC radio a couple of weeks ago. They have a nature guy on every few weeks or so. Apparently there's huge colony of tree martins moved into the Adelaide Parks where they roost at night. This has been good news for the city birds of prey like the Peregrine Falcon, I think was the one he mentioned. There's been sighting of two Canada Geese on Kangaroo Island. This is not good, apparently they are a problem in New Zealand, and the worry here is they may compete and displace our Cape Barren Geese  which are native on these shores. Aren't birds amazing the distances they can fly.

Winter will be over before we know it. We need more rain in these parts. 

PS Edit. Also good news. Two southern right whales seen the other day locally.

Edit 2 My test this morning negative. Gord's too.

 

 

Holiday

 Our Roof Reno finished on Thursday 7th April with a coat of paint applied. The tiles are now monument grey in colour, and the house looks nice from the street when we come home, helped also by the paint job we did on the bricks on the south side of the house to match the render colour on the front. 

We then made plans to do our trip to the Eyre Peninsula. The plan was to drive to Ceduna by the main highway then return along the coast. Accommodation (pet friendly) was difficult to book as it was school holidays, but I manged arrange a motel at Port Augusta for our first night, thinking it would be too far to Ceduna in one hit. We left Monday 18 April. I'd found a cabin for two nights in Ceduna at a caravan for the Tuesday and Wednesday but couldn't find anything in Streaky Bay for the next night so we packed a little tent and sleeping bags and mats in case we were caught out somewhere. Most caravan parks have tent space even if their cabins/van sites are booked.

The overnight stay in Port Augusta was uneventful. We had pizza for tea from a few doors up the road. Pip woke me during the night so I took her for a wee walk, then again early in the morning. We planned to stop at Kimba for lunch. I didn't fuel up, thinking I would down the road a bit, but the servos were behind us so I kept going thinking there'd be one along the way. Mile after mile of no settlement I looked at the fuel range it said 130 km. The sign said Kimba 110km so I thought well if there's none on the way I know I can get to Kimba. There's an iron ore mine town at Iron Knob but you have to deviate off the highway. We didn't, in case fuel was not available there, and kept going. The km posts noting Kimba were spaced at 5k intervals, as was the range dial on the dash. As we went the difference between the two kept reducing. The fuel warning light had been on for a long time when we reached the 5k Kimba post, and the range clicked to 5k before the roadside 5k post. As it turned out we made it. We fueled up and after a dog walk we were on our way again.  We lunched at Wudinna on bananas, boiled eggs and cheese on bread that we'd packed, and got to Ceduna on time to the cabin at the Shelly Beach caravan park. The cabin/cottage was great, split in two with shower and toilet one side and separate bedroom and kitchen the other, with an enclosed space dividing the two which was handy for Pip to sleep. We left the door to our section open so she could wake us up for the wee walk. I took her for an early morning walk at the Ceduna racecourse which was across the road.

We went for a drive west on our full day there. We came across some ruins with a plaque saying it was the site of the homestead of Bill(?) McKenzie going right back to the 1880's. An early pioneer, he was gifted thousands of acres not far from Denial Bay. There were remnant brick wells there he filled with water which he condensed from sea water and piped to his wells. It struck me that there was someone desalinating water way back then probably using the same principle used by modern desal plants but of course on a rudimentary and small scale. Denial Bay was the original settlement for the area and Ceduna started later with the coming of the railway and Denial Bay as a commercial precinct was finished by 1946. Without going out of my way visiting museums (for another time), it was evident from info at Jetties and towns that the coast has a rich history as nearly all transport to towns with goods for farms was by ship from Adelaide, there being no road system back then.

I tried again to find a cabin in Streaky Bay for the next night in Streaky Bay using google then phone and this time managed one for one night, in the Foreshore Caravan Park.We bought fish and oysters at Baldy's Seafood which we enjoyed after an evening walk along the beach. It was an easy run to Streaky Bay the next day, only an hour or so. Streaky Bay is a popular holiday spot for Adelaide people so it was quite busy for the school holidays.We only brought one fishing rod with us so I found another in an opp shop. We tried fishing off the jetty with no luck. That evening at Lib's urging we went for a walk a few hundred metres from the park and fished from the bank. Lib caught a little whiting (too small to eat we released it) which gave her a buzz and a taste for more fishing in the days ahead. 

Streaky Bay low tide sunrise

Cape Bauer

Tahlia Cave

We left next morning, our destination Port Kenny for two nights, already booked from home. We took a tourist drive along the coast to Cape Bauer where the scenery is stunning from the clifftop. Another stop at whistling rocks and the blowhole, then Murphy's Haystacks (an ancient rock formation), also intriguing. Lunch at Baird Bay, a fairly isolated quiet holiday/fishing place with a camping ground. The cabin at Port Kenny in the caravan park was half the price of those at Ceduna and Streaky Bay so I expected it to be down market and I was right. It was tired and grotty. I went to put something in the rubbish bin in the bathroom to find it hadn't been emptied and contained what looked like pink ladies underwear. The walls and floor were grubby and dusty. We put a load of washing on in the laundry and I went to the shop at the office to buy pegs. I went to the back door as it had an old sign "Milk and Bread for sale" visible, and  walk around to the front meant going over a wire fence or walking around a few hundred metres. I opened the gate and went to the door and rang the bell and instantaneously a bloody dog had me by the trousers at ankle level, growling and snarling like a nutter. It let go when a bloke came to the door and yelled at it, then me, saying don't come to this door, this is private, go to the front. Which I did. 

Murphy's Haystacks

When we'd arrived I paid for one night, even though we'd booked for two. We decided one was enough. I rang the caravan park at Elliston, our next destination, to see if our booking could be moved forward, but no it wasn't possible. The helpful young bloke I talked to said there were tent sites so we said we'd do that tomorrow. As it turned out we enjoyed our overnight stay in Port Kenny. The cabin at least had a good electric frypan, good fridge, and a comfortable bed. And it was quiet, only a few vans and tents in the whole park. It had a TV and we watched St Kilda v GWS. There's little in Port Kenny, just the caravan park and a jetty and some houses. 

The drive to Elliston included a stop at Venus Bay where the rugged scenery was spectacular. There's not much there but it seemed newish with quality holiday homes and good boatramp etc. Then to  was Tahlia Caves, Further down the track was Walker's Rock which we deviated a few k's to for our picnic lunch. There's just a camping ground there with a toilet facility but the beach and bay were pristine beauty. By this time we were almost overawed by the magnificent expansive coastline of the Eyre Peninsula.

Walker's Rock

On the highway before Walker's Rock there was a sign "Colston Bread 1km." I would have stopped and bought some but as it was on the right, at a self serve roadside stall, I kept going as there was a car up my ginger. The knowledge of it was to come in handy later. Elliston is a smallish town with one IGA supermarket, a couple of caravan parks, a pub, a roadhouse, a cop shop, and not a lot else. A grouse long jetty and cliff top walks/drives both sides of the town and a beach, it's no doubt a popular holiday spot. When we got to our caravan park mid afternoon, at reception I told the bloke we'd like a tent site. It was Saturday, of a long weekend as ANZAC day was Monday. I said we had a cabin booked for Sunday and Monday nights but had rung yesterday and there was nothing available to move our booking forward. He said, "I can do a budget cabin for you for $75."  I consulted with Lib she said yes take it, as a tent site was going to cost $35 anyway. As I was paying a young bloke came in, the son of the bloke at the counter. He overheard the father say "it's cabin 3" as he gave me the keys. " Cabin 3?" he said a little startled. I twigged it was he who told me on the phone yesterday there were no cabins available Saturday night. "Yes" said the old fellow with a bit of grin. The young bloke shrugged his shoulders, turned and walked away throwing his arms out in a silent show of disagreement/dismay/dissent, I couldn't be sure.

Cabin 3 looked like a tool shed from the outside. We went in. It stank almost overpoweringly of carpet deodoriser. We opened the windows and left the door open to air it while we went to the supermarket. Lib was hanging out for a steak, to cook in the community kitchen that night. Cabin 3 still stank when we got back, but not so much. We had a cuppa and talked about the cabin. Why had the young bloke told me there was no cabin, and then be so strange when his father said there was? Curiosity with some anxiety got the better of me. I thought, maybe it's been recently fumigated and not had sufficient withholding period. So I went the desk to find the young bloke there and asked him to level with me. "Is there something wrong with cabin 3? The smell? Fumigated? Chemicals? Bed Bugs? Why your father's grin and your show of surprise? He assured me all was OK. He liked to keep that cabin for a workman who often came to town and had made a tentative booking. I accepted his explanation but we left the doors and windows open the whole time we were in there. It wasn't too bad, we watched the footy as it had a TV, Freo Carlton I think, Lib cooked a good dinner and we slept well. We were glad there was AFL reception as the next night in our upmarket cabin, Sunday ANZAC eve, Melbourne was playing Richmond and we didn't want to miss that one.

We left Cabin 3 and went to the IGA to buy some things. It was closed. I went to the baker next door to get some bread. "Sorry, no bread till Tuesday." Things are a bit different in Sth Australia. We drove back to 'Colston Bread' about 15k's back and bought delicious fresh break and sticky date buns. The rest of that day we fished at Loch's Well about 20k out of town. The stairs down were 273 steps (I counted on the way back, with numerous stops). It was a spectacular place to fish off the beach. Southern Ocean in front, misty spray, cliffs behind. Isolated. I hoped there was no-one watching us from the top with a mind to ransack our fully laden car. Lib caught a nice whiting which we shared for entree, and we had a meal of spaghetti with a tin of meat sauce bought at the roadhouse for dinner, interrupted by a massive thunderstorm which spooked Pip and disrupted the TV reception. Heavy rain pelted and sheets of water were through the park. The people who moved into cabin 3 we saw evacuated after the storm so it must have leaked. The TV reception cut in and out for a bit but we were able to watch Melbourne beat Richmond.

We'd decided that 2 nights at Elliston was enough, and only took the second cabin one night. I had no success on the phone finding pet friendly accommodation at Port Lincoln for next night, but I did find a cabin at Arno Bay about an hour past PL. The guy said he had nothing really because of school holidays but after I said we'd pitch a tent he said he did have one budget cabin that was not really good enough, just a step up from camping, so I said yes we'll take it. It was a lovely drive to Port Lincoln, an impressive city, after a quick visit to Coffin Bay which was crowded. We stopped in PL to shop, and will be back to spend some time there. The Arno Bay cabin was a bit of a dump, the screen door fell off when I went in, the fridge didn't work, the little sink drained very slowly, but it had a kettle and a TV and was close to the community barbecue and shower block. The park had a nice relaxed ambiance. Nice bay and beach. Late afternoon we took a walk along the nearby mangrove boardwalk along the creek and saw big flounder fish swimming in the shallows so Lib said let's fish here tomorrow and stay two nights. So we did. Didn't catch anything. Arno Bay we really liked and we'll be back there for sure before too long. 

Arno Bay

Mangrove boardwalk Arno Bay

We did the long drive home the next day, leaving at 7.30am and getting home at 4pm after a picnic lunch at Crystal Brook. All in all a great trip. Magnificent coastal scenery. Sorry if my recount of our trip is a bit boring. I went through it again remembering what I could for my own record on this blog.

The day after we got back we had a phone call from the first roof restore company (the one I cancelled as I was tired of waiting). They said I had a binding contract with them and their lawyers would be in touch to seek payment for materials they had prepared for me and their costs to that point. Ha! If they follow through with that I'll promise them I'll give them bad publicity at every chance in the neighbourhood citing their unreliability. I'm watching the mail box.