WEDNESDAY 27 JULY     BEACHPORT

The day was fine but even colder. When I took Couey out for her first walk in the morning, there was ice on the boardwalk! The wind continued to be freezing.

After breakfast, John took dog walking through the canal and lake scrub tracks. She managed to find some animal’s manure to roll in. Did a thorough job – both sides. I hoped she’d enjoyed the freedom roll, because she certainly didn’t enjoy the cold hosing down she got, back at camp! Then, John played ball retrieving games with her for a while, to speed up the drying out process. I walked her around the streets, on the lead, to do my part for the dog drying.

John found the coolant level in Truck was down, so went off down the street to get some more. Whilst there, he felt the urge to visit the bakery and came back with a pastie for his lunch, and a Boston bun.

It was a bit of a concern that Truck coolant level was down. We hadn’t exactly been driving in hot weather! Having spent about $15,000 in the past couple of years, having the vehicle thoroughly repaired, things should be working perfectly.

After lunch we went for a drive, back out along the Scenic Drive.

I took some photos.

From the end of the Scenic Drive, John decided to venture along a 4WD track off into the dunes. It was loose and sandy and I was not happy. Just not in a mood to put up with getting bogged, like he had managed to do on some previous forays into sand. So, he soon turned round and we went back to camp.

Tea was Mongolian lamb and rice.

Our week here was up, tomorrow, and we decided to move on. Thought we’d head NE from here, up through Lucindale to Naracoorte. I’d be able to show John where I taught for a year. We would pass the little shearer’s cottage, out on the Conmurra road, where I’d lived – in somewhat primitive conditions: generator power and tank water. When the generator ran out of petrol at about 9.30 at night, it was bedtime. A weekly chore was to try to dig a hole to bury the contents of the toilet bucket – and the cottage was on a low limestone ridge with little soil! The conditions that teachers put up with in those days…….

TUESDAY 26 JULY     BEACHPORT

Another mostly fine but bloody cold day – a really chilly wind blew all day.

We’d fallen into the habit of doing the same walk every morning now, with dog – path, canal, bush.

 Given the weather, we were not motivated to do much today. John spent most of the time on his laptop, playing games, I read and did some crochet of an afghan rug I was making for grand daughter.

Stirred myself to make some flatbreads to have for lunch, with a nice warm soup – from tin!

Our most direct route to the amenity block involved going down the grassed slope from the upper terraced level our van was on. We were both noticing that John was having difficulty walking back up the slope again. Just the short uphill part – maybe ten steps – was leaving him breathless. Today, he actually had to stop for a breather half way up. Very concerning. He reckoned it was just due to the cold air affecting his breathing. Hmmm…..

I crumbed some fish for tea. From the freezebox, not caught by us – John had not been motivated to unpack the fishing gear, here.

SATURDAY 23 JULY     BEACHPORT

I did jinx us. It rained for most of the day and was a rather unpleasant one. The dog’s morning exercise was a fast walk to the shops and back. Spent the rest of the morning in the van, tucked away from the bad weather.

After lunch, the rain was not as heavy or constant, so we went for a slow drive along the Scenic Drive again, stopping in a couple of places to walk for a better view, and to take photos.

But there was little temptation to spend long out of the warmth of Truck.

I made us hamburgers for tea.