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Published: December 2nd 2009
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Day 214 - Cervantes
We stick our heads out of the caravan door this morning to see if there is any sign of anyone else yet, there isn’t so we can enjoy a few more minutes in bed! What a laugh we had last night and we hope that the lovely neighbours who asked if we had obtained a fun permit from the local council didn’t mind when we gleefully answered Yes and then laughed ourselves silly til about mid-night. We were in the caravan though and it’s pretty sound proof - we hope!
When the others do start to surface most of them fall head long into the proposed curry ‘competition’ that will feed us all this evening at dinner time! Amazing isn’t it that the first thing we’re thinking about when we wake is what to have for dinner! There are three teams taking part, Simone who has enlisted the chopping expertise of Beth and Zali, Nige who is going it alone and then Darryl & Mark who have the influence of Kenny assisting them. They’ve successfully taken over the fabulous camp kitchen which has an oven, hob, microwave, picnic benches and is housed within a real
brick building - most unusual for a camp kitchen as the majority are open to the elements.
As the teams work on their meals the rest of the camp enjoys reading, blogging, entertaining the kids or relaxing. I spend a bit of time with Zali helping her read a new book called the Pokey Little Puppy and I’m astounded on how much she can either read or remembers from the one other time that she’s been read it. It’s quite amazing. We have a great game of Snap too but change the word snap to Parrot to make it a bit more interesting, plus of course you have to shout Parrot really, really loudly or it doesn’t count! All good fun.
After lunch the group walks into town in search of ice cream but on the way we find a wishing well - you don’t have to guess too hard what most of the kids wished for and we do indeed find ice cream, so the wishes must’ve come true! The big ‘attraction’ in this area is the Pinnacle desert and as there’s now a discovery centre on the site too it seems sensible to head up there
with the kids before it closes.
Off we go in convoy with the wrong kids in each car, which really doesn’t matter so long as we all end up at the same place before the end of the day! The discovery centre is great and we find information about the blue tongued lizard Kenny picked up this morning and the tiniest of tiny possums - the Honey Possum - which hardly any of us knew existed. We’ll be hard pushed to spot one though as they are smaller than your average sized apple!
The Pinnacle desert is the strangest thing, hundreds of limestone pillars stand proudly in the sun. There is no rhyme or reason to their existence, nor why they have survived in this particular spot for so long but like so many other of Australia’s special areas they are unique and quite fascinating in a weird sort of way! The kids have a great time clambering on one or two of the very sturdy looking ones, the convoy drives through the desert and a few of us choose to walk and get a close up view. Nige thinks it would be an interesting place to come
for sunset so with the decision made to return later we head off back to the caravan park so the rest of the boys can go fishing.
I’m still battling with the blog updates, but while the internet is connected we get a Skype call from Mum and Dad K which diverts my attention for the next 40 minutes or so. Dad still hasn’t got a date for his op but rather suspects it will be the middle of December when it does happen, here’s hoping it’s sooner rather than later so they can start actively planning for next year.
The boys, with the exception of Nige, go off fishing which leaves the girls back at camp sorting dinner out with the kids. The curries have been cooking throughout the day and the kids are the first to sample the delights.
Nige and I head off to the Pinnacles for sunset but to be fair there wasn’t much of a sunset and what light there was hid behind cloud for much of the time we were there. It’s a great spot though and we had an interesting time trying to work some photography out, my idea of
shining the headlights from the car onto them didn’t necessarily help but it gave us a laugh.
Meanwhile Darryl was out fishing with the rest of the boys who were desperate to even up their dreary tally of late. Ken managed to catch a small Whiting which he was very proud of. Like a true fisherman he gutted it, cooked it and ate it all himself on his return to the park. Good on you Kenny!
The kids were dispatched to bed at their own request and we all headed to the camp kitchen for Curry Delight night. Thankfully we rampaged through the camp kitchen with such gusto and joyfulness that anybody already in there who had finished their own dinner packed up and left so we had the place to ourselves again! It’s not that we’re antisocial, anybody is welcome to join us but we are a bit excitable and in a caravan park there is sometimes an almost vow of silence, it’s all very odd.
There was no holding back when it came to ribbing each curry team, Simone’s veggie feast, Nigels beef mosoman and then Darryl and Mark’s Butter Chicken. They were all divine
and served up with a host of banana in coconut, tomato in pesto, mango chutney, popadoms and naan bread - talk about spoiled rotten! It was a hard choice to make in terms of a winner but I would have to pick the beef followed by the veggie then the butter chicken. The kids all loved the butter chicken and there were lots of compliments for the veggie - everyone did very well.
With the washing up completed in no time at all there was only one way to finish off the evening, a bit of Italian Custard! Bless you Mauritzio for being such a top sport. More fun, games and laughter sees the end of another day and it’s not long before we’re all crawling into bed for a good nights sleep.
Love to all
Dar and Sar
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Tony
non-member comment
Fishing
Shag, After reading the blog it has come to my attention that when you return i will have to teach you how to fish ! Your exploits are reminding me of Justin's poor attempts to fish way back at Enfield. Tight lines (as we fisherman say)