Friday 6 September 2013 – Around Hervey Bay

This morning we had a bit of a sleep in until a quarter to eight, which was pretty amazing considering the general noise around caravan parks in the morning.  Perhaps because I needed to finish the book I was reading before I went to sleep, I read until a bit after 1am.

After breakfast and shower, etc we sat around till late morning – me just reading (starting on another book) and Grant just sitting, or making cuppas or washing the front of the van – all of which got done by about a quarter to eleven when we set about thinking what we’d do today.  We needed to raid the hole in the wall and I wanted to go to one of the local shops for a look around as well as have a walk, but as Grant has a sore heel this morning (why????) he didn’t want to walk.  So we set off together – me walking on the beach to Torquay – not that far away, maybe a couple of kilometres, and Grant driving there, replenishing the finances then waiting for me on the beach so I’d know where to stop walking!!

I was just walking past the Torquay jetty when I heard my name being called out, and there was Grant, standing in the walkway onto the jetty.  I had been trying to spot him way ahead of where he was, as it seems a lot further to drive there than when I walked.  We hung around on the jetty for a while, seeing if anyone was catching anything (a few whiting were the unlucky ones), but mostly watching this really big stingray just lying in the quite shallow water beside the jetty and VERY close to the shore.  Luckily there were no kids in the water anywhere near.  We watched it for quite some time, and it seemed to be settled in for the day, even though the tide was going out, and by the time we left there, its tail was sticking out above the water.  It almost looked a bit dead, but it wasn’t, because every so often it would do something with its wings and sand would billow around it.

After we left the jetty we did a bit of shopping then got some lunch from Subway (healthy) and sat and ate it on the foreshore, then went to the yummy ice-cream parlour and had a double ice-cream (equally healthy!!!!) before getting home at about 2.30.  By then I was hanging out for a cuppa, so it was enjoyed as I read a few more chapters of my book out in the sun.  Yes, the weather today is almost back to what it was for the first two weeks we were here.

Tonight we went out for tea with Lauris and Ray and their  former neighbours Elaine and Terry who are really easy to talk to, and now we’re back in the van, jamas on (heater, too) – Grant reading his book, rugby on the wireless, kettle just about boiling, me doing this blog and ready to get back to my book.  So it’s goodnight from the blogger!