THURSDAY 28 APRIL     PUNGALINA

Up early to set out the breakfast basics on the outside table.

This morning the men wanted bacon and eggs, so I cooked that as well.

In amongst the breakfast organizing, I put the makings for a loaf into the bread maker. It was clear that, when we had larger numbers, bread would be an issue. I was thinking I would have to get some in from outside and freeze it – although space in the freezers at the house would be too limited for much. Suspect I might also have to resort to hand making my own bread, in amongst all else!

The men were going out with O for the day, fishing on the Bluff water hole. So packed lunch was in order – cold zucchini slice, salads (leftovers), cold slices of apple pie. There were Anzac biscuits for smoko. I sent out chillers of cold water, cans of beer and soft drinks in the eskies.

Once they were gone, it was to work. I made French bread sticks, using my basic bread recipe.

O had supplied steak to defrost for a BBQ tonight – to be cooked on a hotplate over the open fire. I asked him for good quality steak – but was worried about that!

Serviced the tents, cleaned the amenities. Did the water jugs. Showered.

I cut up the vegetables that would stew on top of the stove to make a version of ratatouille for tonight. Sliced onions for the BBQ. Prepared potato and kumara diced to be baked in the oven to be “chippies” for the meal. Made up a fruit platter – watermelon, paw paw, rock melon. It was so good to have some fresh produce to work with! Prepped my French sticks – which had turned out well – to be garlic bread.

The fishing party came back with another barra. Also a Long Tom. It was so pleasing that they would now have a frozen barra to take away with them as a trophy.

After the men had cleaned up – and O likewise, back at his house – O came back and collected the men to take them to the Escarpment, on the other side of the river. to watch the sunset. I had prepared nibbles to go – salted peanuts, Chilly Philly with crackers and celery sticks, and a small tray of semi dried tomatoes, fried eggplant, salami cucumber slice rollups. Also packed were stubby coolers, plenty of drink in the esky, paper napkins.

The evening meal was somewhat later, waiting upon the return from the Escarpment. John had the fire going, ready to do the BBQ. The meal of garlic bread, BBQ steak with onions, ratatouille, chippies, then the fruit platter, went down very well, except that the steak was very chewy. So much for O’s “fillet steak”!

Now that the men were staying another day, I had to plan meals for that. The information also came in today, to O, that there would also be a couple flying in tomorrow, probably for two nights. They had heard about us whilst at Adels Grove, where they would be coming from. Eeek! Into some heavy food planning……

O said he had some mince frozen, so I asked him to put that out to defrost. Hoped he remembered, this time! I would turn it into the old standby of spag bol – sufficiently different from the preceding meals. I thought it was a meal that would be appreciated by A and K, though it was probably not the greatest of welcoming meals for new guests! So be it.

WEDNESDAY 27 APRIL     PUNGALINA

Up very early to make sure breakfast was ready when wanted.

I put the breakfast makings onto the outside table. Fruit juice, tinned fruit, cereals, spreads for toast. I asked if the men wanted bacon and eggs but they did not. I was not surprised, in the prevailing heat and humidity.

The camp toaster was useless – not enough power. I had a couple of wire mesh toasters in the van that I could use on the stove burners – much better. Something else to add to the ever-growing list of needed purchases.

It was a very good thing, I decided, that our first guests only numbered two. Much easier to make up the discovered deficiencies when it was only for a small number.

The two men must have thought that yesterday was alright, because this morning they extended their booking from three days to four! Maybe the beef wasn’t as tough as I thought? Might also have had something to do with the weather having put on days that were slightly less humid, with mostly blue skies.

Camp Creek

O had to fly the Jabiru to Hells Gate, in the middle of the day, to pick up the green grocery order. I think he also stocked up on the alcohol supplies, from the Roadhouse’s limited stock.

The freight on my greenery, from Isa to Hells Gate, cost $80 – more than the produce did!

While O was gone, John took the guests sight seeing in the Troopy – to the limited places that had open tracks. They took Anzac biscuits and buttered date loaf for smoko.

While they were away, I cleaned the showers and toilet and checked the tent floors were clean. Guests made their own beds. Before they got back, I did the chilled water run.

I made potato salad to go with the lunch, and (later) a coleslaw and green salad platter that would be for tea. Fried eggplant slices in oil.

I set out the makings for lunch, which was to be assemble-your-own open sandwiches. I put out buttered bread, cold roast beef, some rocket (from O’s garden), fried eggplant slices, chutney, mustard, semi-dried tomatoes from a jar, cheese and tinned cucumber slices (both from my van stock). There was the potato salad on the side and paw paw slices with lime, to follow.

It was a surprisingly successful meal. At their invitation, I sat with the men and John, and managed to eat a small plate of some of the offerings.

O arrived back, with my stocks. I was very relieved, having been wondering what I’d do if something else went wrong! He took the men out fishing again. They took fruit cake for smoko.

I made an apple pie (tinned pie apple and my own made pastry), and a savoury zucchini slice.

I fitted in a quick shower, while the camp was empty.

Then it was prep for tea, which was the caught barramundi from yesterday, baked in foil with ginger, garlic, spring onions to flavour. I made French fried potatoes, using frying pans. The coleslaw and green salad went with the fish and fries. Apple pie and long life cream finished off the meal. It was very well received. The fish was excellent, with the subtle flavourings. I took it to the table on the cooking tray, with the foil opened out, and it was passed around for people to serve themselves. Much easier than me trying to serve and present it attractively, when it was ready to fall off the bones!

I was finding that the day was full, but planning things I could do ahead was preventing any panic.

John enjoyed his little spell of guiding today. In amongst that, and generally helping out around camp, he still had to do the daily watering up at the house.

TUESDAY 26 APRIL     PUNGALINA

First thing in the morning I made another loaf of bread, in order to have fresh for today’s lunch. The one I made yesterday would do for breakfast toast.

Sliced the date loaf and buttered it, and put biscuits out on a plate – for morning tea for the guests to have upon their arrival.

Then got started on lunch prep. Hard boiled eggs, peeled, mashed and lightly curried them. Chopped lettuce, red onion and celery, grated carrot. All these had come with us from Adels, so were somewhat past their prime by now! Mashed a small tin of tuna. Cut fruit cake (a bought one that came with us).

I took the water jugs that were chilling to each tent.

Heard the plane come in to the air strip and a while later O, with the Troopy, brought A and K to camp. All sat down around the morning tea table, outside in the shade.  We welcomed them – John had a little speech that included do’s and don’ts. Whilst the latter must be kept to a minimum, some are necessary – like don’t walk around the camp at night without a light. Then I took them to their tents and left them to settle in. This would be the arrival routine with all future guests.

These two were content to relax, explore camp and the like, until lunchtime. It was a hot and humid day so not one for being super energetic.

Lunch was for the two guests, O and John – and I would have some too, but on the go whilst working in the kitchen tent. Sandwiches – four rounds of curried egg and lettuce, four of tuna, mayo and lettuce, two of cream cheese, celery, carrot and red onion. Fruit cake.

This was not quite the lunch I would have served, ideally, but came up alright, given the lack of supplies. I was so thankful that I’d stocked up somewhat on fresh salad makings at Adels, rather than trust that decent supplies would be here!

After lunch, O took the men off fishing at Croc Hole, where there was a boat moored.

Croc Hole – Karns Creek

Once lunch was over and wash up done, I got started on tea prep.

I had asked O yesterday, to take roasting beef, sufficient for four, from his freezer to defrost. He had forgotten! He did remember to bring the meat with him, this morning, but it was still part frozen. It didn’t look like any roasting cut I had ever encountered, either. I made up a marinade of grain mustard, red wine and garlic and hoped soaking in this would speed the thawing. I put the meat on to slowly roast, quite early in the afternoon, and hoped!

Prepared vegies – potatoes and some pumpkin that O had at the house. Made up a Yorkshire Pudding batter to sit in the fridge. Set the table in the dining tent. Because I only had to set for four, there was sufficient numbers of plates, glasses and cutlery. But I had to use a  glass to put a small arrangement of some varied leaves on the table for decoration – vases were something else needed!

The fisher people returned with a 76.5cm barramundi. So they were happy – and I am sure O was relieved.

O had his own special, complicated, knots for rigging fishing lines that reduces the risk of losing the big fish. Because they regard this as a type of wild life sanctuary, only barbless fishing hooks were used, so mouth damage to fish was reduced. Fish caught could be kept if required for my kitchen, and guests could take one fish they had caught, away with them – frozen for them by O. Otherwise, the catch was returned to the water. I liked that policy.

I served pre-dinner nibbles of crisps and nuts, then roast beef and vegies, boiled peas (from a tin), Yorkshire Pudding muffins (had muffin pans in my caravan stocks!), gravy, mustard. Dessert was slices of paw paw with lime juice squeezed over – both from O’s garden.

The dining tent looked good for the evening meal, with the table set, and a decent tablecloth that had come from the camp stores. The subdued lighting from the outside spotlights along the creek was quite atmospheric. But I needed to get some candles and candle holders to finish it off – and a couple of small vases for table arrangements.

I served up the food in the kitchen, then John and I took the plates to the dining tent, being very careful not to trip over anything – that would have been a disaster! The way was not all that well lit, but we would get to know it well. John had been asked to eat with the guests. I found an excuse not to do so – I was still not feeling like any substantial meals and it would not have looked great for me not to be eating the meal!

John reported back that the beef was still pretty chewy though. I was already beginning to suspect that Pungalina’s feral cattle, possibly chased around a bit before being shot, were not exactly providing prime meat!

After tea, the men sat round the fire pit area outside (too hot for a fire though) and talked with O. John and I did the washup, boiling water in kettles on the stove to do so. Then I did some prep for the morning – put cereals into plastic containers (need more of those), sliced bacon rashers into smaller lengths, put jams into dishes and into the fridge, put the long-life milk cartons in the fridge to chill.

The guests retired to bed quite early, for which I was grateful, as it meant we could too. I was tired – as much from the preliminary tension as from the actual work. Managed quick showers – would have to try to fit my shower in between guest presences in camp, in the future.

MONDAY 25 APRIL

Anzac Day out in the wider world. A work day here.

The camp generator was fired up in order to get the fridges cold.

John did his usual gardening, watering, camp grooming tasks. Today, he had to mow the camp lawns as well. That took him ages.

I did a ferrying trip between house and camp, moving the refrigerated goods, and other requirements, down to the camp.

O brought down the alcohol supplies – stock he had brought from Brisbane – cans of beer, some wines, and also some soft drinks. There would barely be enough stocks of these, I thought, so I was rather anxious about that. When we had the first supply truck from Mt Isa, would get more stock.

I set up a small table near the drinks fridge, with a folder where guests could sign for drinks taken, to be tallied and added to their final account.

There was another table – one that could seat six or eight people – that would be used for eating daylight meals outdoors. This would be moved around to be in shade, as needed.

I fired up the kitchen stove and made Anzac biscuits and a date loaf. I used O’s bread making machine to make a loaf of bread. But the generator power supply was really not adequate for the draw of the machine at some stages of the process. The resultant loaf was not the greatest, but would have to do.

I made sure that the two tents the expected guests would be using were ready, and that the showers were clean and tidy. O must have had a message from A, because he warned me that one of the men was quite large, and we should ensure he had a very sturdy bed, and a very solid chair.

I was becoming quite apprehensive about what was coming.

I filled a couple of water coolers and put them in the drinks fridge to chill, along with the two jugs of water that would go into the tents just before guest arrival tomorrow. After that, as part of the morning tidy up of the tents, the jugs would be refilled, re-chilled and put back just before guests arrived back from whatever they were doing.

I had made a work running sheet, to keep me on track through the next few days.

I had already checked – more than once – with O about what meat he had available in his freezers at the house. I reminded him to make sure the piece of beef destined for tomorrow’s dinner, was adequately defrosted by tomorrow morning. Just hoped he remembered!

SATURDAY 23 APRIL     PUNGALINA

Today saw fairly solid high grey cloud cover

A few days ago, O had told John how to change the oil in the camp generator and today John did this. Another regular task for him.

John put up the tent name signs that we’d brought up from Melbourne for A. He had to go out in the bush to source suitable posts to attach them to, then dig holes for same and put them in. They looked great.

The sleeping tents were Bauhinia, Conkerberry, Grevillea, Hakea and Leichardt, the dining tent Callistemon.

I went around and took a number of photos of the camp that was now pretty much in readiness for the first guests. We had accomplished a lot in the time here, I thought.

A last-minute job for John, just before guests arrival, would be to rake any fallen leaves off the lawned central areas of the camp. He would also have to mow on Monday – grass grew quickly in this heat.

FRIDAY 22 APRIL     PUNGALINA

Today was the weekly mail plane day. A heavy canvas bag hung on a hook in O’s kitchen area. We put outgoing mail in that. On Friday mornings, it was fastened up with a large, attached strap and buckle, ready to go. The plane came from the SE direction, because the Redbank Mine was the stop before ours. Stops before that included Walhallow, Kiana, and Calvert Hills Stations. By the time he reached us, he would have flown some 600kms already, from Tennant Creek, and the day before come from Alice Springs, completing a mail run from there to Tennant Creek. Tomorrow, he would return to Alice Springs.

It was a humid, grey day, with big storm cloud build up. O was not sure that the plane would get here, due to the threatening storms. I wasn’t sure how waterproof the guest tents were, so hoped there would not be a deluge. In the event, the rain squalls that did come were not too heavy and did not last long and the really heavy clouds moved on elsewhere. The guest tent interiors stayed dry! Some rain came into the kitchen tent through the meshed sides – but those sides were free of anything that would cause problems if wet. Likewise the dining tent.

Storm looming over the camp

It was with considerable relief today that we heard the approach noise of the small, single engined plane, and went out to the house end of the airstrip to meet it with the mailbag.

The pilot said the flight had been a bit rough, in parts. I suspected that was an understatement. He unloaded our incoming mailbag, and a couple of small boxes of things for O. BUT – major concern on my part – no box of greengroceries! My first thought was that it had been offloaded at one of the other stops by mistake, but the pilot was adamant that it had not been on the plane. Wasn’t his problem, and off he went.

Storm seen from the garden of the house

Back at the house, O emptied the mail bag and I retrieved my Weekend Australian paper, delivered by the newsagent to the Post Office, for the mail bag. At least, that system was working!

We were expecting the first lot of camp guests next Tuesday, for three nights. I really needed supplies of fruit and vegies. O waffled on a bit, but the gist of it was – after a phone call to the Tennant Creek supermarket – he stuffed up the faxed order by putting it in the machine the wrong way round. All they had received was a blank! Might have been a wizard in the bush but he was not comfortable, at all, with technology.

Great! I had initially, just after we arrived and I found out about this booking, hoped for supplies via the fortnightly truck from Mt Isa, but O had said that the dates for this would not fit, as the first truck through would not happen yet. Later, I was to find out that he had the truck dates wrong!

There was some discussion about the fact that I could not provide decent meals for guests, with just some potatoes, pumpkin  and a few very wilted and limited remnants of what we’d bought from Adels. It was far too soon, of course, for the vegie garden to be cropping anything, although there were a couple of ripe paw paws in O’s garden.

O finally agreed that we could put in a greengrocery order to the Mt Isa supplier, to be sent up from there on next Wednesday’s mail plane, which came only as close as Hells Gate Roadhouse. O would fly his light Jabiru plane there, and pick them up. It was going to be a costly exercise – and inconvenient for him – but he might learn to be more careful!

John made the point that both of us were able to work the fax machine, and could do the transmitting of orders. He also tried to – fairly gently – urge that the computer be set up and made operational,  to help with the ordering processes as most places take email orders. I pointed out that I would need to use a computer to research and order stuff needed to set up the camp properly. I also thought, but did not say, that it would be best if we sighted – directly – communications from A re bookings, rather than have that information conveyed second hand.  O – sort of – conceded that this would happen soon.

The rest of the day was spent working on detailing the camp for the coming guests. And re-working the meals I had planned for Tuesday and Wednesday, to allow for the paucity of green matter!

The clouds of the day made for an interesting sunset.

THURSDAY 21 APRIL     PUNGALINA

Today was daughter’s birthday – 33. No way of contacting her, though – not the sort of thing I felt comfortable asking O to use the house sat phone for. As yet, there was no computer access either as we felt not welcome to use the office computer access point. The fax machine was hooked up in there, but O had, to date, made it clear that he would fax anything needed, like the weekly order to the supermarket for the mail plane. Guess it was a way of keeping check on what was going on.

Usual routine jobs. I went up to the house with John and helped him with the watering, so he could do some other work in the vegie garden – preparing beds, tying up the beans in the teepee structure, and the like. That used up the morning.

The dog whisperer working his usual magic

O let me use the phone and I found out that a remote areas lending service was provided by a library in Humpty Doo, of all places! I phoned the Taminmin Library. They would send me a box of books via the mail plane. They choose what to send, based on what I tell them of my taste in genres. When the books have been read, I send the box back and get another. The postage would all be paid by them! What a great service.

I gave O a sizeable  order for the truck from Mt Isa, due in a couple of weeks. There had been some confusion about dates, here. Initially, O said it was due in three weeks and the order should be in by next week. Then, he must have double checked and found it was all a week earlier than he’d thought. So I’d quickly prepared lists of what I wanted, from Woolworth’s, the greengrocer, and Medley’s, the bulk goods supplier. Some of the Woolworth’s order was meat other than beef, as I didn’t feel we could exist without some variety!

Then O came back with the information that we had missed the deadline for Woolworth’s orders – by a day. I was a bit cross about the inefficiency and casualness, but couldn’t say anything. I know O had lots of things on his mind, and he was accustomed to cobbling together any old thing to eat, but feeding camp guests well was clearly a priority for the owners, so it was important for me! John phoned Woolworths and tried to talk them into taking a late order, but with no success. I was able to fill some of the gaps by adding to the Medley’s order and the rest we would have to manage without.

In the afternoon I pottered about the camp, doing bits and pieces.

After work, wrote my letter to the Taminmin Library, with my details and generalized requests, to go out in tomorrow’s mailbag. I wondered when I would receive my first lot of reading matter? It was already becoming evident that, unless camp bookings pick up, I was going to have some time to read!

WEDNESDAY 20 APRIL     PUNGALINA

Today we continued work on putting the camp to rights, as well as the usual chores.

I had done some food planning for guests expected next week – two men – and gave O my list of food to come on the mail plane. Mostly it was greengroceries from the supermarket, as I could get by with the general stocks that I brought in and which O also did. The order for items to come on the mail plane was due to reach the supermarket in Tennant Creek by Wednesdays.

I had all the bedding and towels washed by now and was able to make the beds up. Ten beds in all to do. I thought the tents looked pretty good, even if I did say so myself.

John found flares in the container that work by filling with insect repellent citronella oil – or kerosene – and then burning to deter mosquitoes . At night, these would add to the ambience of the place.

We were looking forward to seeing what the camp looked like at night, with lights working, flares on and the like.

O brought in a couple of loads of sand from the river and dumped them by the two entry points from the camp into the camp creek. These were where the water was sufficiently deep for people to sit in and cool off – almost thigh high on me, in parts. We had already sampled the creek method of cooling off!

Another job for John was to spread the sand out, to make two “beaches”. When there were guests, these would need daily raking.

After John had made the beaches, we gave them names – Water Monitor Beach and Red Claw Beach. The names suggested themselves because, sometimes in the mornings, John would find red claw yabby shells in those spots, left by the water monitors snacking on same. John thought he might try to make signs for these beaches.

Water Monitor Beach