Sunday 4th April (Lini’s Journal)
Brindabella's Web Diary
Simon Williams
Fri 9 Apr 2010 13:37
after drying all the children and dressing them for bed, the parents
turned round to discover them all naked and in the water again. Roars
of laughter come from under the trees and the clatter of dominos could
be heard well into the night. Under the palms they have pitched tents
and they barbecue on the stones behind the red tinged grass on the
beach.
We called for Phil and Lynda asking if they wanted to come out to
play on the reef. They haven’t inflated their dinghy at this anchorage
and the kayak is not easy to get into from the sea. They paddled out
to Shovell a short while after we had anchored and tied the kayak
alongside. The sea wasn’t quite so crystal clear this morning but I
saw a few different fish together with a marvellously camouflaged
shoal of little yellow fishes (grown up name unknown!) hiding against
grey and yellow coral. I almost swam straight past without noticing
them. Phil and Lynda very impressively managed to get back into the
kayak from the water without needing to climb into Shovell first and
we spent the rest of the morning back on Festina Lente drinking
coffee. Snorkelling round the rocks near to Brindabella after lunch
was all rather disappointing after the wonderful sights of the
morning; we have been so spoilt that visions we would rant about back
home are hardly worth a mention.
I had suggested a beach barbecue this evening so in the galley this
afternoon I assembled today’s rations into a barbecuable meal.
Meanwhile, Si had a frustrating time taking the pressure lamp apart
and discovering it wasn’t fixable and resorting to packing the
hurricane lamp. I plastered myself in a thick layer of jungle formula
and we gathered on the beach with Tam and Will who arrived today and
new friends Barry and Lillian from ‘Tagora’. While we chilled and
chatted with drinks as the sun set, the party continued further up the
beach with more people arriving for the evening, more laughter and
more happy children: Lovely. I wondered what my babies were doing and
thought of all the fun times we’d had camping in years gone by. With
wine bottles empty and eyes feeling heavy we returned to Brindabella
after a wonderful evening and fortunately slept better.