Back Again.

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Well hello again from beautiful Deal Island. So many lovely walks since our last entry and even though we now have a new patch lead it is still hard to get onto the internet at the house and I (Kim) am too lazy to come over to the internet seat at the end of the day to do this. We had a nice walk this morning so the weather isn't too bad so here I am now. The Strait Lady visited us early in the week which we were hanging out for because the vegetable situation was a bit dire. We had plenty of potatoes, pumpkin, silver beet, spinach, lettuce and surprise peas so we wouldn't have starved but it was nice to get some salad veggies and carrots. It was good to have some company besides our own for a change too and they were here from Monday to Wednesday morning so we caught up on all the Flinders Is. news. The young geese are growing so fast and most of last years young have finally left the island. We started out with 24 and now we are down to 6 so it's not quite that crowded down the front of the compound but the older geese are still harassing them incessantly. This years young have just started drinking from the water container at the front of our yard and trying to bathe in it like their parents do. It is quite a carry on and most times I have to go and stand out in the compound to keep one of the other pairs of adults at bay while they do it. They soon get to know when I come out of the house that someone is going to get short shift and the offending geese usually hang their heads and slowly walk away all the time watching to see what I am going to do. Too cute really. I suppose they are keeping me fit so there is a positive to it. WE have walked a lot of the hills we hadn't been on in previous trips and the views are so amazing even when of the same thing, but every hill gives a different perspective. Everything is drying out here now as we haven't had any rain to talk of this month. The grass is still growing in the compound and tracks though so the dry hasn't put a halt on that yet. We've only got 6 weeks to go and we will have visitors in about 10 days and they will be here for 10 or so days so the last couple of weeks will be getting over that visit and winding down and getting the place ready for the next Caretakers. Thunderstorms have been predicted for tonight so I hope that is right with lots of rain because the 'roos need water and they are actually looking a bit poor in places and I am sure the lack of lots of groundwater doesn't help. Their young are starting to get out of their pouches and have a look around now too and it is comical when they are out and we come upon them. they tend to run in the opposite direction from their mums and when they realise that they start crying in funny little peeps and they are getting quite big so it is also funny seeing them trying to scramble back into the pouch. So much to see here that every day there is something different to experience. Life's tough I guess on these little islands.

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Photos

D'oh!
Babies learning to bathe.

Carved Rock
On the hill above Little Squally opposite the Compound.

Old Gums and She-oaks
On the way down the gully from Pegleg track towards Garden Cove.

Garden Cove
What a great walk and view.