SATURDAY 24 SEPTEMBER     BROKEN HILL

And John turned 65 today. I took a photo of him on the day – it showed his bushy Pungalina beard. The biggest and bushiest beard he’d ever grown.

We decided to stay on here longer. There was time to fill in before the house sitters finished. There were still some galleries I wanted to see, and other sights to look at. We also had to go to the Horizon Gallery in town.

So decided to treat ourselves to a little luxury and move onto an en-suite site that was available. Was $168 for a week, essentially $28 per night, with a seventh night free.

Moved the van. That was not a major effort – we had not done a full set up when we originally only expected to be here two nights. Walked things like the outdoor table and chairs to the new site.

The bathroom was definitely a little touch of luxury. We put the awning up and in general set up to be comfortable for the week.

Then drove to the shops, to get papers and some food supplies for the weekend.

Spent the rest of the day being lazy at camp – reading papers, and watching the AFL Grand Final on TV. I suspect the football was a significant reason why John wouldn’t dawdle down the Birdsville Track! The game was close but a bit ho-hum as far as I was concerned. Two interstate teams did not really interest me much!

I cooked a roast chicken dinner – a great favourite of John’s – for his birthday tea. Roasted bird and vegies in the electric frypan, on table outside the van. We cracked a decent bottle of wine, too.