TUESDAY 17 MAY     PUNGALINA

After the usual morning chores in the garden, I worked on research for camp needs. It was slow work – the computer speed was snail like! I would have to get some items through the big catering supply firm, but was also trying to find out what I could source from K Mart in Mt Isa – would be cheaper.

John continued work on the framework for the vegie garden roof. He had the uprights all pretty well in place by now. It needed to be a strong structure – able to stand up to cyclones, hopefully.

John “bought” a slab of beer from the Company camp stocks. He would repay it later. We definitely needed to keep tabs on what we might need for our personal supplies, and ensure orders came in on the supply truck.

O killed a scrubber for ding meat. He decided to experiment with air drying some into beef jerky – with a view to saving freezer space. He hung strips of meat up and down the fence of the house area. Great idea – in theory – but in practice, every bird of prey in the Gulf country suddenly appeared, swooped on the unexpected bounty, and had a party. The dings made a valiant effort to drive the birds away but were significantly outnumbered. Experiment a failure!

We did watch Lachy make off with a hefty piece of the carcass, that O put outside the fenced area, for the old boy. Seeing that, one realized that the Ayers Rock dingo would have had no problem making off with a small baby!