TUESDAY 20 AUGUST     FORREST BEACH

It was again a hot day.

After breakfast, at about 10am, John was ready to go fishing down at the creek mouth. We loaded Couey into the car and I drove John to the walkway between the houses at Cassadys Beach, and he walked the rest of the way. He took his mobile phone with him, so he could phone me later, and I could pick him up again at the same point.

I didn’t walk Couey on the beach because I wasn’t sure how long John would last at the fishing, in the heat, and needed to be available to go collect him.

I did the usual things around Bus – reading, sewing, chatting a bit with the fishing neighbour’s wife.

We watched the antics of a couple of idiot drivers who decided they wanted to camp up on top of the sand dune area at the back of the beach, rather than in the main camp area. One was towing a camper trailer, the other some kind of homemade enclosed trailer.

As anyone with half a brain could have foreseen, they got bogged on the loose sandy slope. After churning it up for a while, trying to get out, they then proceeded to reduce their tyre pressures. Rather late for that! Dumb and dumber….

The camper trailer one had gotten a bit higher up the slope before getting stuck, so he set up camp there – I guess, deferring the issue of how to get out again. The home made trailer one had to unhitch and manoeuvre vehicle and trailer separately, with help from some other campers who were more charitable than I would have been. He had to settle for a camp down in the ordinary area, after all. Morons, both of them, but they did keep a goodly number of us entertained for the best part of an hour.

Neighbour B  arrived back at camp about 3.30pm. He said John had still been at the creek when he left to walk back. I admit to being surprised he had lasted  this long, in the heat. John phoned at almost 4pm for me to go fetch him.

Couey refused to get in the Terios, maybe thinking that if she went with me, she would get “dumped” in a strange place, like John had been? Nor would she get into the Bus. I was definitely out of favour. So, I left her tied to her usual place in front of Bus, where B’s wife said she’d keep an eye on her. I expected all sorts of antics as I drove off in the car. There was the usual frantic barking that happens whenever one of us goes off in the car (it happens at home too), but Mrs B said she stopped barking as soon as car was out of sight. That is useful information to know.

John had caught a bream and a flathead. He’d enjoyed the day and was happy he’d made the effort. He didn’t get very sunburned either.

By contrast, B had caught 22 whiting, 7 flathead and a big golden trevalley. He gave John a flathead, because he only keeps whiting for his van freezer. John was very admiring of his fishing prowess.

After the fisherman cleaned his fish – and himself – we went to tea at the hotel, as it was the Tuesday special. John had the seafood trio – battered reef fish, garlic prawns and salt and pepper squid. I had the squid, again. The meal cost $27 because of the seafood trio. It was all very enjoyable – the usual cook was back.