WEDNESDAY 10 AUGUST     PUNGALINA

We worked 7am till 9.30pm.

It was our 14th wedding anniversary.

The guests were expected in about 1.30-2pm, so I arranged for a late lunch.

Through the morning I prepared a potato salad and a coleslaw, hard boiled eggs, marinated steaks for tonight. I’d had the meat defrosted overnight. Cooked a carrot and ginger soup to chill.

John met the new guests at the airstrip – we’d heard their plane come over.

After he brought them back to camp, in the Troopy, and they put their gear in their tent, I served lunch – a plate of assorted salads, with ham and  sliced chicken loaf, followed by choc chip muffins and fruit.

We discussed, then, with them what they would like to do, whilst here, from options we outlined to them. Then John took them out in the Troopy for some sight seeing about the place. They seemed a very amiable couple.

While they were gone, I cooked a batch of Cornies biscuits, made up hamburger patties from defrosted mince, prepared fruit salad, whipped cream, started the cooking for tea.

Prepared pre-dinner nibbles – olives, marinated eggplant, salted peanuts, rollups of smoked salmon with dill pickles.

Tea was BBQ meat patties, steak and sausages, with oven baked chippies, corn cobbettes, coleslaw, fried onions. Dessert was fruit salad and cream, followed by a small cheese and biscuit plate. In O’s absence, John ate with the guests, and then chatted with them round the camp fire afterwards. I joined them after I’d finished the clean up

SUNDAY 7 AUGUST     PUNGALINA

We could not take a day off, because of the campers being around. John guided them around a few of the nearer features.

I cleaned out the tents, washed the bedding and towels and tablecloths. There was also a mountain of our own washing to do – so long since I’d had time for same. Did some more cleaning up in the kitchen tent.

John planted a little banana tree – a product of some of the ones by O’s house – behind the first of the tents.

FRIDAY 5 AUGUST     PUNGALINA

There was no trace of any morning fog. Funny about that!

I did the usual breakfast. No one wanted cooked food.

After breakfast, O’s friends left. I sent them off with some morning tea supplies.

Their comments in the guest book read:

* Well done, O. Great spot, great hospitality, finally made it.

*Top spot. Lovely people.

It was mail plane day. A and W dealt with that, and A brought down the camp items that were in the plane order.

John was able to spend some time in the vegie garden, which had been somewhat neglected in recent time.

I made lunch for the survey group. They seemed quite happy to have cold meats and salad plates again.

A couple of campers came in to tent camp. John escorted them to the Squeaky Trees site and did the usual information session with them.

I made an eggplant moussaka for the survey men’s  tea tonight. I was starting to scratch the head a bit for fresh ideas for them – and for ingredients! The meat supply up at the house was getting a bit low. It had been a while since O had killed a beast. This week had been another deadline for the fortnightly supply truck from Mt Isa, but I had not put in an order. O had indicated that he did not want to be tied to being here for that next truck arrival, and would not countenance one of us, or W, going out for it. The lovely lady who put together the “Country Orders” at Woolworths had actually phoned to check if we had an order – such a great service.

WEDNESDAY 3 AUGUST     PUNGALINA

We worked 6.30am till 9.30pm.

Made the usual breakfast, but with bacon and eggs also for the couple man.

I packed smoko items and lunch sandwiches for the departing couple. I was rather happy to see them go – the man was quite hard work! His comment in the guest book: We stayed for 5 days last year and had to come back for another 5 days and we still have not seen it all. Thanks O, Wendy and John for a fantastic stay. O, let us know when you open up new areas.

O had taken the couple up to the house after breakfast, to settle their drinks bill up there and do farewells. I hadn’t at that stage, quite finalized the food to go with them, so did that and drove our Truck up to the house to deliver the packed food. Their farewells had been protracted, so I had ample time.

Their departure was not without impact though. W was working in the open fronted machinery shed, and had a fairly sensitive motor in pieces on the bench. The man wheeled his plane around in the parking area, then sat there with it going on full revs and blowing the dust into the workshop – for about 5 minutes. W was livid!

I had time to linger and watch the survey mob refuelling the helicopter at the airstrip and taking off again, with the survey “rocket” swinging under the chopper.

A came down to camp and was able to strip the couple’s tent, take the washing up to the house, get it all done and dry, and put the beds back together again.

I made a batch of Anzac biscuits and made lunch for the survey men – plates of cold meats and salads.

Two more guests – friends of O’s – came in late in the day, driving in. So dinner was back to the first night roast beef menu. There was enough mango cheescake left from Monday to serve for tonight’s dessert.

O’s two friends were an unexpectedly late booking. O had been chafing at the bit to get away again, to continue the pursuit of his love life. He dined with the guests tonight, but it would fall to John to show them around the place.

O was fortunate that our continued presence here, and reliability, allowed him to leave the place for a lengthy time, at this time of the tourist season.

O had planned to leave on Friday, but told us very earnestly that there would be fog on Friday morning, so it would be best if he went tomorrow instead!

Didn’t really look like the next morning would be foggy…..

TUESDAY 2 AUGUST     PUNGALINA

Worked 6.30am till 9.30pm.

Winter morning by Camp Creek

Breakfasts as usual, with spaghetti (tinned) on toast for the couple man.

Back to the rush to get smokos ready for all, and sandwich lunch for the couple and O.

O brought me steaks and mince, as requested, from the house freezer. Tonight, A and W were joining the meal table.

Cooked a packet sponge for tonight’s trifle. Made coleslaw. Made a tomato and onion salad. Cooked a banana bread loaf. Made bread rolls.

Managed to dash up to the house and send off the Friday plane order There were odds and ends of grocery stocks that I needed to replenish, like gelatine, fish sauce, sesame oil, bottled salad dressings, butter, and A needed some stocks for the house. As O had been eating with the guests every night, she had only been doing meals for her and W. Tonight, they would join the group at camp. I fetched a batch of zucchini soup from the freezer, to defrost for tonight’s meal.

Prepared lunch for the survey men – cold zucchini slice and salads.

Marinated the steaks for tea, to be cooked BBQ style on the fire outside, by John. Made the trifle. Made up a rissole mix with mince, onion and seasonings. I would fry these on the stove. Prepared potato and sweet potato chippies to be cooked in the oven.

Tea began with chilled curried zucchini soup and bread rolls.  Then there was the BBQ’d steak, rissoles, coleslaw, tomato and onion salad. Trifle finished the meal off.

The after dinner session around the fire did not go too late, even though it was the couple’s last night. I was thankful for that.

Artistry in a cobweb

MONDAY 1 AUGUST     PUNGALINA

Worked 6.30am to 9.30pm – the couple man ran out of puff a bit earlier tonight!

Breakfast was as usual. I cooked scrambled egg and smoked salmon for the couple man.

I only had the smokos to prepare amidst the breakfast rush – a bit easier.

Once the coast was clear, I did a run to the house to fetch supplies. Set out zucchini slice to defrost. Made potato and bean salads for lunch, boiled eggs. Made a mango cheesecake.

All five, plus O and John, were in for lunch. Warmed zucchini slice, potato salad, bean salad, green salad with hard boiled eggs. After were fruit wedges – pineapple, paw paw, canteloupe, and cakes.

Tea prep kept me busy through the afternoon. More salad to make plus a fancier green salad than the lunch one. My French fried potato involved par boiling potato pieces, draining and cooling them, then frying them in oil just before service.

Had to prepare some more substantial pre dinner nibbles to be taken out to the Escarpment and also get together all the other things needed for this – glasses, serviettes, plates, some bottles of wine, beers and tinned drinks. All packed into eskies and boxes. Later, the leftovers would come back, to be cleaned up and put away!

Dinner tonight was later because of the sunset viewing. I just had to hope that O would be able to stick to the rough arrival back time he’d given me, so that I could time dinner reasonably well – just an added bit of tension.

O had obliged with another barramundi from the freezer – pre-scaled this time! For tea, I baked that in foil, Asian style, with the hot peanut oil poured over at the last minute. Served that with French fries, pineapple salad, green salad, with mango cheesecake to follow.

Part of the meal planning for these times with guests, involved careful thought to the use of the oven – couldn’t serve too many things for any one meal that involved use of the oven, as it wasn’t that big! At least, the weather lent itself to chilled desserts.

I got very used to this coming and going over the camp