SATURDAY 25 JULY     FORREST BEACH

John set the alarm for early, just in case the bowls club phoned, needing him, but he didn’t get up when it went off. However it woke me beyond the point of getting back to sleep, so I got up. There was no call. John did not sleep in too late.

Blue sky and sunshine, though there was still quite a wind, and the sea was choppy.

We  walked to the village shops – maybe a km away? The newsagency/post office was comprehensively stocked. I bought the newspaper and couldn’t resist a three paperbacks for $5 each, deal.

At the Spar supermarket, John bought bait.

After lunch, we walked along the beach for a while, southwards. The tide was low-ish, which meant there was a very wide expanse of exposed sand. Apparently there was a considerable height difference between high and low tide, here.

There was great firm walking on the wet sand. The outlooks along the beach, north and south, coming and going, were very pretty, and there were the offshore Palm Islands group to look at, too. We could walk in the shallows left in dips in the sand, if we felt like a paddle.

I decided this place was well worth staying at, just for the beach walking – I was hooked!

John got his fishing gear unpacked and ready to use. He phoned Macknade Bowls Club and booked himself in for a game tomorrow.

We decided we’d stay on here for at least another week, if it was possible.

Tea was sticky pork ribs and rice – rather a favourite of ours.

The night was not as windy, it was pleasantly mild and we went to sleep to the background sea noise.