Saturday Morning Musings...

FLIES FLIES FLIES.......

They're everywhere at the moment. A consequence of the very dry conditions, is that the flies are also quite thirsty so seek out any moisture they can find. I've never noticed it this bad in Kangaroo Valley before and infact anywhere on this coast. Some locals are also saying it's the lack of dung beetles which keep down the fly population ? There is a lot of cattle farming around here, although where we are located not a cow in sight ?
Dennis and I went for a 5k walk to get the paper this morning and I managed to transport a vast quantity of said flies on my clothing into the village , deposit them, and gain more for the lift back ?!

This leads me to the next issue ; a schoolgirl error on our part borne out of lack of knowledge. We packed ,with good intentions, dark clothing and minimal to zero whites (Von snuck one in) to make the laundry simpler. However flies it would appear love sitting on dark clothing hence my mobile fly transportation.

So this week has seen a number of FIRSTS which gave me a theme...

 We have started the Hunting down of all the BIG Things around Australia ! New Zealand had got in to the spirit of it as some of our visitors will testify; The Big L&P Bottle or the Big Gumboot to name two. However for those that are unaware, the Aussies have gone all out in a bid to attract folks like us who have nothing better to do than photograph them.
In all seriousness ....well not that serious it is a great way for some of the smaller towns around Australia to attract tourism particularly when many other forms of income generation are struggling ; i.e farmers.

This if you weren't sure is a BIG POTATO and not as some locals call it a Big Turd/Poo ! It is in a small Town called Robertson which is also famous as one of the filming locations for the movie 'Babe'.

Other Firsts this week included our FIRST Free Camp in Jamberoo ! Part of our Tests and Tries Month is to test out whether we can free camp sufficiently to minimise costs along the way and how all the various gadgetry behaves when not connected to Power. So far so good and the Solar Panel on the Roof does it job during the day and the batteries stood up well. Shower etc is also working well now, albeit this free camp did offer up toilets and showers at the local swimming pool. We were basically in a small roadway with bays next to the Sports Oval/Tennis Courts so great for people watching and comparing "Rigs". Although having struck up a conversation with a couple from Picton about their 'Rig'- Jayco pulled by Ute ; the conversation started to take a turn when blaming the climate changers for the drought - We beat a hasty retreat hahah !
Free Camping is a great option both for us and also for the local communities who now advertise as RV Friendly Towns to encourage you to stop and buy a coffee or a beer etc. All very safe and parked alongside of us were two single women travelling in their vans with dog. Appears everyone is doing it !

Another FIRST was the inaugural trial of the Quarter Acre Pot which I am sure my chef will be better able to explain as I think she will be doing cooking features along the way ? It's like a slow cooker but not connected to power ; it uses thermal energy. So is all heated and part cooked , put in the thermal pot and whilst you're driving it cooks away until you reach your dining stop.                        

Von had decided.......

to cook the National symbol for Australia ; Kangaroo 🦘 as a
stew which was a challenge and one unlikely to be repeated in that particular method of cooking !








Suffice to say this cooking method is a work in progress unlike the good old pan grilled Queensland Prawns.
A favourite or ours when we lived in Australia was the availability and price of Prawns.

So clearly the FIRST Prawns of the trip were duly purchased and cooked to perfection and washed down with a rather perfect Verdehlo/Chardonnay blend bought at our FIRST Wine Tasting Adventure. This was part of my Australian Fine Wine Fund that my lovely Residents at Bert Sutcliffe Retirement Village presented me with as a leaving gift. We chose 'Two Figs' winery as we don't give 2 figs haha ,and it was local to where we are currently based. We also liked that it was called Sunday Afternoon as..... everyday now is like Sunday Afternoon !

So as I bring this weeks missive to a close , this is my FIRST morning without Von as she went shopping to Berry Market with Irene at 0700.
Dennis and I have had time to have an early 5k walk , do two loads of washing ,and am pleased to say write my blog in this tranquil spot amongst the gums and the grazing wallabies. The cicadas are now revving up as a sign it's warming.

** apologies for the pictures and text all over the place ; I am still learning as the Blog is a FIRST too !

Gidday from us , xxxxx

I'm posting this before the Punctuation Police return home heeheeheeeeeeee x