Cape Otway – December 2010
Day 2 – time to do nothing
Wednesday 29th December
As is often the case when we’re on holiday or travelling around, we lose track of time. As such it was a surprisingly late finish to the day yesterday and so this morning should really have been a bit of a lie in. Unfortunately, Jennifer was awake at sunrise and made sure to let everybody know it. At home, this needn’t be a problem since her bedroom is far enough away and she can usually sit there and amuse herself by singing or something until we decide to get up. Here in the tent, however, we have barely a few microns of canvas to shield us from her morning chorus. Consequently, this morning’s rousing was faster than our bodies would have preferred. Not long after Jennifer woke, I heard her utter that which I most feared – ‘I need to do a wee’. As expected, this was followed swiftly by a sharp nudge in my ribs – international language for ‘you bloody brought me here, now you bloody deal with it!’ Rather annoyingly, our patch is not terribly close to the toilet block and a further difference in elevation makes for a bit of a hike. Still, all part of the adventure I suppose.
Sandy’s note: If Chris had brought the portable potty like I asked him to then he would not have had to get up so early ;o)
Although our sleeping mats are quite comfortable, last night wasn’t as restful as I had anticipated it might be. I found myself waking at various times with the need to turn over to alleviate the pain in my back or hips. Perhaps a second sleeping mat might have been a good idea. If the remainder of the week proves just as uncomfortable and if we ever go camping again, then I think we’ll buy a second sleeping mat for us. You can never have too comfortable a bed.
We used the washing up bowl to cart everything we needed for this morning’s breakfast over to the kitchen area this morning. We met our neighbours there and enjoyed a relaxing breakfast. Today was going to be a relaxing day with pretty much nothing on the agenda for us other than to spend the day here at the camp-site and to generally lounge around. Not long after breakfast, the sun was up far enough to start the temperature souring. Sandy took advantage of the fact that this turned the inside of the tent into a sauna and decided that a few more winks were in order. For my part, I spent a bit of time playing with the kids before finding a nice spot outside of the tent under the shadows of the surrounding gum trees for a bit of a nap myself. Both kids found other kids to play with and were in their element. All was well in the world.
Some of the meat we brought with us had started to thaw in the cooler so we decided to cook this for lunch on one of the communal BBQs over by the kitchen area. The camp-site owners were throwing a birthday party for their Son and the whole camp-ground was invited. There must have ben upwards of sixty or more adults and kids all told. I took the opportunity to catch up on today’s blog and that has taken me to this point.
For the most part, we carried on relaxing throughout the remainder of the day. We spent a lot of time just milling around the tent with the kids and our neighbours. They are really nice people and our kids have all been playing with each other happily. At various points throughout the day, we’ve looked after their kids and they ours. Henrik took all the kids out looking for sticks and kindling for this evening’s BBQ feast.
It’s still taking a bit of getting used to seeing so many Koalas perched in the trees around us. We’ve also been fortunate enough to see a couple of kookaburras (possibly the same one twice) perched at eye height right behind our tent. I managed to get up very close to snap some wonderful photos. It was staring intently at various points on the ground and every now and again it would swoop down and poke at a patch of grass to pick out a huge grub. Either the grass is full of grubs or this bird is a fantastically astute hunter.
With the kindling that the kids brought back and a bag of fire logs that I bought earlier this afternoon from the main office shop, Henrik and I got the BBQ under way and the eight of us sat down to a nice evening BBQ meal.
After that was all said and done, Sandy took the kids to get washed and cleaned up and I spent a few minutes tidying up the tent and sweeping the tarp that I’ve tied down in front of it. Once the kids were down, I had a nice relaxing shower and we’ve all now just started to chill out for the evening. The temperature will soon start to dip now and this will drive Sandy into the tent. I may yet hang around a bit and chat with the neighbours before turning in myself. We may well visit the Otway Fly tomorrow so that should be fun.