Oysters, jade and other elements.

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The holiday continues, and so does the wind. We have been getting buffeted by wind gusts since arriving, however it did settle yesterday for a while. This morning promised us a sunshine and a gentle breeze, so instead of fishing like everybody else, we chose to go for a drive in search of oysters.

We are in the vicinity of Coffin Bay, famous for oysters, so that’s where we headed. We stopped for lunch at Ellerton, about half an hour down the road. That should give you a clue about our departure time. Over a pie and coffee (good pies at Ellerton) Frank suggested that Coffin Bay was a long way, about 220km, so we should go across to Cowell on the other side of the peninsula instead. Cowell is famous for its jade and huge rocks of it can be found on the sea wall, and oysters are also grown in the area. Assuming it was closer, I agreed to Cowell.

The plot thickens. It turns out that Frank, who has developed a keen interest in astronomy, had purchased a filter from a man in Cleve, one town before Cowell. Once I agreed, he rang the man to check if the filter arrived and arranged to pick it up, rather than wait for delivery. Turns out that Cowell is about 250 kms from Venus Bay. Anyway, we bought our oysters then went for a walk along the seawall to collect pieces of jade. I don’t know how legal it actually is. One would think the wall wouldn’t last long if everybody took bits of it home.

A little after five o’clock, when everybody else is preparing dinner, we arrived at Cleve to collect the filter then off home. Yes, that’s right. It is after 5:00 and we still had to drive about 220 kms. I opened the box with the extremely expensive filter to see what it was. Frank glanced over and said he didn’t think it was the right size. He measured it, and he was right. He didn’t look at it when he picked it up. So back we went. We will receive the correct one in the post.

The almost three hour drive home was interesting to say the least. Between Cleve and Venus Bay we saw two vehicles, a truck and a car. 220 km and two vehicles. Wonder why? I can tell you why. It is because there was a severe weather warning and everybody stayed home where it was safe. No traffic but plenty of lightning. And wind. Gusts up to 90km according to the radio. And rain. And then the realisation that we left home in sunshine and calm. We left the skylight open and one of the flaps in the pop-top half open the van. All I could think about for two hours was that we would get home to a disintegrated van. I am pleased to say the van survived intact. However, and there is always a however. However, the skylight above the bed mustn’t have been locked properly because it was now open and it was raining on the bed. It must have happened not long before we got home because the rain hadn’t made it all the way through to the mattress. The doona, sheets and mattress topper will all get dried tomorrow, probably in the wind. We are grateful Frank, did such a good job of building the van, and that I packed a couple of rugs we can sleep under tonight.

On the bright side, we have three dozen oysters and some op shop bargains.

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