We all felt in need of a rest day after all
the bumping and setting up and toilet-hopping. Kate and Bill settled into their
camp chairs under the mango tree and spent happy hours reading the stack of Women’s
Weekly mags we pilfered from the toilets and scratching our bites. Kate
suggested to Bill that he may enjoy the back issues of Adventure 4X4 but he was
content with his WW…
The kids meanwhile were thrilled to play all day with the 2
granddaughters of the property owner – Nara (10yo) and Little Ruth (5yo). Nara
rode expertly around the property on a quad bike while the others piled on the
back and had the time of their lives – even the dog. Bill and Kate decided to
turn a blind eye to the apparent dangers of this activity – after all their fun
gave us peace and quiet to catch up on Kerri-Anne Kennerly’s latest exploits
and Joanne Lees latest tell-all. Eventually Nara and Zara teamed up to cruise
around the property, while Little Ruth and Sash played husbands and wives with
a saucepan full of green mangos as their ‘babies’. In between articles, Kate
checked out the beach but felt slightly nervous about getting too close to the
water – we had been told by other travellers about seeing the red eyes and dark
shapes of salties in these very waters. We met another (retired) couple who
come to Honeymoon Bay from Mildura (4 day drive) every year and stay for three
months, just fishing, exploring the islands and relaxing. They had seen a
massive dark shape floating past their boat just a few days previously...
We bumped into a couple who we had met at Mount Elizabeth Station and then again at Mitchell Falls, Margaret and Ivan. They joined us under the Mango tree and we chatted about life, camping and kids. Next day, Ivan and Bill jumped on a boat with George, the caretaker of the place, for the cheapest and most successful fishing charter ever, pulling up their quota of Mangrove Jack and Trevally. Needless to say, we enjoyed fresh fish for the next few night - expertly cooked by Bill with green mangos from the tree above us. Bill considered squeezing the abdomens of some green ants onto the fish for their bitter lime flavour - but our hunt for the ants was not fruitful!
Zara and Sash were sad to say goodbye to Nara and Little Roo, Bill was sad to say goodbye to George and his excellent fishing - but none of us were sad to say goodbye to the nasty nasty sandflies...
Back in Kalumbaru, Bill went to the Police Station to check his emails, while Kate, Zara and Sasha did a tour of the Mission museum. One of the priests from the mission had been a keen collector of stuff - from the local community, from the mission and indeed from all over the world. The museum itself was interesting, but the tour was startling. The young man who showed us around spoke about the excellent work of the mission in turning around the lives of the Aborigines who had previously lived a life of fear and violence etc etc. The kids were kind of interested in looking at the museum and then lying on the floor below the fans, but I was quietly horrified at what this young man was saying. His stories were ignorant and ill-informed and I was surprised that he was so enthusiastic about the work of the mission in the 1930s and 1940s. His manner was paternalistic and inappropriate and I was left with a nasty taste in my mouth.
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