We could not take a day off, because of the campers being around. John guided them around a few of the nearer features.
I cleaned out the tents, washed the bedding and towels and tablecloths. There was also a mountain of our own washing to do – so long since I’d had time for same. Did some more cleaning up in the kitchen tent.
John planted a little banana tree – a product of some of the ones by O’s house – behind the first of the tents.
The survey men left, after breakfast. They had been great guests – so easy to look after.
We had found some times to talk to them about their work – most interesting. The helicopter pilot was obviously very experienced. He was on contract to the survey company. He also did work on water bombing bushfires, and search and rescue.
They had not used up all of their avgas drums – a bonus for the property, because they were left behind.
I spent the rest of the day starting the clean up in the kitchen, ferrying stuff up to the house fridges, and turning off the camp ones. It was only a few days before we would need them again, but it would be nice to have daytime peace again, without the generator going.
With this long run of guests we’d had, A and W had benefitted from meal leftovers going up to the house for them. The dings had also gotten a lot of scraps!
It was so very nice, in this late afternoon, to have a happy hour again – just the two of us – sitting out in Cane Toad Clearing. The dings graced us with their presence – all three of them. Beau even left the babies to come and visit – briefly. She then went back to the house and mother duties, but Scunge and Lachy spent the night with us, curled up around the little warmth given out by the solar light we had in the clearing. Nice to have them! It was a bit like they were welcoming normality again.
Lachy investigating John’s beer; Beau taking a break from babies; Scunge frowing as usual
It was also great to be able to have a good long shower, without having to rush in and out between guest presences in camp, and amongst all the work. I luxuriated in it.
I was soooo tired!
There was no trace of any morning fog. Funny about that!
I did the usual breakfast. No one wanted cooked food.
After breakfast, O’s friends left. I sent them off with some morning tea supplies.
Their comments in the guest book read:
* Well done, O. Great spot, great hospitality, finally made it.
*Top spot. Lovely people.
It was mail plane day. A and W dealt with that, and A brought down the camp items that were in the plane order.
John was able to spend some time in the vegie garden, which had been somewhat neglected in recent time.
I made lunch for the survey group. They seemed quite happy to have cold meats and salad plates again.
A couple of campers came in to tent camp. John escorted them to the Squeaky Trees site and did the usual information session with them.
I made an eggplant moussaka for the survey men’s tea tonight. I was starting to scratch the head a bit for fresh ideas for them – and for ingredients! The meat supply up at the house was getting a bit low. It had been a while since O had killed a beast. This week had been another deadline for the fortnightly supply truck from Mt Isa, but I had not put in an order. O had indicated that he did not want to be tied to being here for that next truck arrival, and would not countenance one of us, or W, going out for it. The lovely lady who put together the “Country Orders” at Woolworths had actually phoned to check if we had an order – such a great service.
We worked 6.30am till 9.30pm.
O left very early. We heard the engine noise of the Jabiru departing.
No one wanted cooked breakfasts, just the usual cereals and toast.
I made sandwiches, the usual sort of smoko and extra lunch items, to go out with John and the visitors.
Made up a batch of carrot and ginger soup to chill for tea. Made bread rolls. Made a coleslaw and fruit salad.
I fed the survey men cold meats and salads for lunch, including leftover cold roast beef.
After some sight seeing about the place, John took the guests fishing, in the boat on the Bluff Waterhole. They had no luck with the fish.
Calvert River water hole
Tea was the soup and rolls, BBQ’d sausages and rissoles and corn cobs, fried onions, the coleslaw, green salad, followed by the fruit salad and cream.
We spent some time sitting round the campfire after tea, with the two men, chatting, but they did not stay up too late, for which we were grateful. In O’s absence, the onus for socializing with the guests fell to us.
We worked 6.30am till 9.30pm.
Made the usual breakfast, but with bacon and eggs also for the couple man.
I packed smoko items and lunch sandwiches for the departing couple. I was rather happy to see them go – the man was quite hard work! His comment in the guest book: We stayed for 5 days last year and had to come back for another 5 days and we still have not seen it all. Thanks O, Wendy and John for a fantastic stay. O, let us know when you open up new areas.
O had taken the couple up to the house after breakfast, to settle their drinks bill up there and do farewells. I hadn’t at that stage, quite finalized the food to go with them, so did that and drove our Truck up to the house to deliver the packed food. Their farewells had been protracted, so I had ample time.
Their departure was not without impact though. W was working in the open fronted machinery shed, and had a fairly sensitive motor in pieces on the bench. The man wheeled his plane around in the parking area, then sat there with it going on full revs and blowing the dust into the workshop – for about 5 minutes. W was livid!
I had time to linger and watch the survey mob refuelling the helicopter at the airstrip and taking off again, with the survey “rocket” swinging under the chopper.
A came down to camp and was able to strip the couple’s tent, take the washing up to the house, get it all done and dry, and put the beds back together again.
I made a batch of Anzac biscuits and made lunch for the survey men – plates of cold meats and salads.
Two more guests – friends of O’s – came in late in the day, driving in. So dinner was back to the first night roast beef menu. There was enough mango cheescake left from Monday to serve for tonight’s dessert.
O’s two friends were an unexpectedly late booking. O had been chafing at the bit to get away again, to continue the pursuit of his love life. He dined with the guests tonight, but it would fall to John to show them around the place.
O was fortunate that our continued presence here, and reliability, allowed him to leave the place for a lengthy time, at this time of the tourist season.
O had planned to leave on Friday, but told us very earnestly that there would be fog on Friday morning, so it would be best if he went tomorrow instead!
Didn’t really look like the next morning would be foggy…..
Worked 6.30am till 9.30pm.
Winter morning by Camp Creek
Breakfasts as usual, with spaghetti (tinned) on toast for the couple man.
Back to the rush to get smokos ready for all, and sandwich lunch for the couple and O.
O brought me steaks and mince, as requested, from the house freezer. Tonight, A and W were joining the meal table.
Cooked a packet sponge for tonight’s trifle. Made coleslaw. Made a tomato and onion salad. Cooked a banana bread loaf. Made bread rolls.
Managed to dash up to the house and send off the Friday plane order There were odds and ends of grocery stocks that I needed to replenish, like gelatine, fish sauce, sesame oil, bottled salad dressings, butter, and A needed some stocks for the house. As O had been eating with the guests every night, she had only been doing meals for her and W. Tonight, they would join the group at camp. I fetched a batch of zucchini soup from the freezer, to defrost for tonight’s meal.
Prepared lunch for the survey men – cold zucchini slice and salads.
Marinated the steaks for tea, to be cooked BBQ style on the fire outside, by John. Made the trifle. Made up a rissole mix with mince, onion and seasonings. I would fry these on the stove. Prepared potato and sweet potato chippies to be cooked in the oven.
Tea began with chilled curried zucchini soup and bread rolls. Then there was the BBQ’d steak, rissoles, coleslaw, tomato and onion salad. Trifle finished the meal off.
The after dinner session around the fire did not go too late, even though it was the couple’s last night. I was thankful for that.
Artistry in a cobweb
Worked 6.30am to 9.30pm – the couple man ran out of puff a bit earlier tonight!
Breakfast was as usual. I cooked scrambled egg and smoked salmon for the couple man.
I only had the smokos to prepare amidst the breakfast rush – a bit easier.
Once the coast was clear, I did a run to the house to fetch supplies. Set out zucchini slice to defrost. Made potato and bean salads for lunch, boiled eggs. Made a mango cheesecake.
All five, plus O and John, were in for lunch. Warmed zucchini slice, potato salad, bean salad, green salad with hard boiled eggs. After were fruit wedges – pineapple, paw paw, canteloupe, and cakes.
Tea prep kept me busy through the afternoon. More salad to make plus a fancier green salad than the lunch one. My French fried potato involved par boiling potato pieces, draining and cooling them, then frying them in oil just before service.
Had to prepare some more substantial pre dinner nibbles to be taken out to the Escarpment and also get together all the other things needed for this – glasses, serviettes, plates, some bottles of wine, beers and tinned drinks. All packed into eskies and boxes. Later, the leftovers would come back, to be cleaned up and put away!
Dinner tonight was later because of the sunset viewing. I just had to hope that O would be able to stick to the rough arrival back time he’d given me, so that I could time dinner reasonably well – just an added bit of tension.
O had obliged with another barramundi from the freezer – pre-scaled this time! For tea, I baked that in foil, Asian style, with the hot peanut oil poured over at the last minute. Served that with French fries, pineapple salad, green salad, with mango cheesecake to follow.
Part of the meal planning for these times with guests, involved careful thought to the use of the oven – couldn’t serve too many things for any one meal that involved use of the oven, as it wasn’t that big! At least, the weather lent itself to chilled desserts.
I got very used to this coming and going over the camp
Worked 6.30am till 10pm. We were starting to feel quite tired.
Breakfast was as usual. The couple man wanted a cooked breakfast, so I cooked slices of ham with creamed corn on toast for him.
Again it was a busy rush to get the groups off – the men with their smoko, and the couple and O with sandwiches, biscuits, cake, fruit, smoko needs, drinks and water. It was the same sandwich fillings as yesterday – hard to think of other fillings that would keep without going too soggy and without disintegrating over the rough tracks.
Cooked some bread rolls. Made a bean salad. Finished off the gazpacho with some fresh chopped cucumber and capsicum. Made a fruit salad.
The survey men’s lunch was plates of cold meats and salad, including the bean salad.
O was being very good at remembering to bring my frozen meat requirements for the day – with A to jog his memory! Today I needed chicken breasts from the freezer.
Prepared the usual nibbles for the late afternoon. Served chilled gazpacho with rolls, followed by Asian style chicken breasts with oven baked potato and a sauteed mix of zucchini and carrot sticks. Dessert was fruit salad, served with little wedges of hedgehog.
We were kind of working ourselves into a routine again, but it was still all go in the kitchen. I was not sure which was harder: the pressure of larger guest numbers, as was the case with A’s party, but which was only a few nights. Or the pressure of extended stays, with fewer numbers. The latter certainly needed a greater variety of menu, and a constant keeping up of the biscuit and cake supplies.
Skunge dingo had been spending quite a lot of time around the camp, and cosying up to John. She was used to spending all her time with Beau and now that Beau was busy with her puppies, I thought Skunge was feeling lonely.
Worked 6.30am till 10pm.
I made the usual breakfast. The couple man wanted eggs and bacon as well.
It was quite a flurry to get the lunches and smokos done in time. The men’s smoko was biscuits, date loaf. I made sandwiches for the couple and O – egg and lettuce, ham, cheese and celery. Added biscuits, raspberry slices, fruit cake. Had to make sure they had a water container, and a smaller one with the wife’s water, the tea and coffee makings for smoko, fruit boxes and fruit.
Once they had set off, I tidied the tents. A cleaned the showers and toilets.
Made bread rolls, gazpacho soup for chilling, likewise cucumber soup. Cooked a carrot and ginger cake and a double batch of Cornies biscuits. Made pannacottas.
Made the survey men’s lunch – open sandwiches, using leftover cold roast beef as I had done before, with a variety of salad makings. It could be relied on to present well.
I made a batch of hedgehog. Trimmed the steaks for tonight. I had asked O to bring me some reasonably tender ones, this morning – hoped he’d managed the tender part! Did the other dinner prep.
Made the usual assortment of pre-dinner nibblies – really only for the couple, as the survey men tended to wait for dinner.
This was cold cucumber soup and little bread rolls, steak in green peppercorn and brandy sauce, with oven baked potato and green salad. Dessert was pannacottas with berry coulis – mashed tinned raspberries and strawberries.
There was no time for resting on these days. A came to help for some of the time and did cleaning and some kitchen hand work, which I really appreciated. But I really missed M’s help – she tended to show more initiative.
Again, our couple stayed up late, with him doing most of the talking. I could tell that O was itching to go back to the house, but he had to stay and do the expected host thing. I could not close up the kitchen till they had gone to bed, in case they wanted late drinks and the like.
We worked 6.30am to 10pm.
O arrived back during the morning with the supplies from the truck, so I had that to sort and put away.
It was also mail plane morning. Suspected it would be some time before I would get to read last weekend’s Australian, which came on the plane, as usual.
We were expecting a couple in today, coming in their own plane, for five nights. They had visited here last year, too, so this was a return visit. I finalized a tent for them.
Did the men’s breakfast. Like yesterday, they did not require a cooked component, so it was relatively easy. I sent them off with biscuits and cake for smoko.
Marinated chunks of roasting beef for tonight.
The expected couple arrived, were met by John and brought to camp, settled in, and joined the survey men for lunch.
Lunch prep involved me making roti breads, boiling and mashing eggs to make a curried egg spread, mashing tuna for a spread, mashing cream cheese, chopped ham and pineapple together for a spread. I served the roti with these and the cannellini bean spread made yesterday. Made a green salad to go with this. I warmed up leftover Apple Danish and served slices of that, with the ginger cake made yesterday, and fruit, as afters.
I was hoping that the cakes I’d made fresh, together with a reserve of sultana cake, and zucchini cake, in the freezer, would see me through this period.
We sat down with the couple and worked out their program for their time here. They had some very clear ideas, due to their previous time here. She had some health issues and had brought her own supply of water, which I had to keep chilled and separate just for her. I felt some sympathy for her – not easy to be touring remote places, with unknown water quality, with such issues.
They would just relax at camp for the rest of today. Tomorrow they would be taken to the wetlands, Fern Springs and that area, with lunch out. Sunday would be down to Bathtub Springs, Bluff Waterhole and those parts, again with lunch out. I did like lunch out days – much easier! Monday they would explore some caves, Bubbling Sands and Croc Hole, have lunch in and nibbles on the Escarpment for the sunset. Tuesday would be either the Lower Calvert or Hot Dog Creek – lunch out again. O was going to be busy over that period, being the guide!
Preparing the evening meal kept me busy through the afternoon.
The nibbles I prepared for tonight were salted peanuts, eggplant, semi dried tomatoes, olives, salami rollups.
Dinner – at 7pm – was the usual roast beef meal with all the trimmings, followed by an Apricot Cream dessert. Coffee was served with Pocos.
The survey men headed off to bed early, but now the couple was here, O – and ourselves – must stick around till the couple was ready for bed. The man was content to sit round the fire and talk – for ages. Talkative type. I hoped he might be more tired on future nights and turn in earlier!
This Adventurous Age 