Welcome to Paradise

This must be Paradise
We are now at Engine Point, in Lincoln National Park. Upon arrival, we immediately felt compelled to rename this little beach and its surrounds PARADISE.

It's been a few days now, the mobile phone has lived in the car (I keep forgetting to check it for messages) and I am starting to forget what day of the week it is. Aaaah, this is heaven. We are surrounded by pristine deep clear blue water on a beach of white sand and little round pebbles; and we can hear the laughter of young children playing nearby (there are 2 families next to us). Like many national park camp spots, there are no facilities, no water or toilets, and certainly no power, so you can be assured the place will not be crowded with people.

Occasionally, if you look up at the water at the right time, you will see a pair of dolphins which frequent the water. If you can be bothered, take the boat for a short ride out into deeper water and drop a line in; there is an abundance of little fish, ranging from tommys (little herrings) to trevally, leather jackets and catfish, which are all respectable when placed next to a greek salad and Weber-baked focaccia.

There is a gentle breeze, which blows lightly across the water, causing small waves to lap at the sand quietly. The water is so clear, you can actually see the schools of fish swimming beneath your boat; and jelly fish too. Our caravan is situated right next to the shore, with only a few feet of sand and volcanic rock between the front door and the water. Our boat sits contended on the water, anchored, and bobbing peacefully in the gentle waves. We put it there 2 days ago and see no reason to move it.

If you take your binoculars, you can while away an afternoon watching your surrounds - tuna farms are located offshore which get regular visits from their farmers, and Surfleet Cove, our previous location, is in sight, on the opposite side of the water. Or, you can simply read and snooze on this, Robinson Crusoe's paradise. All you need is Wednesday, the sexy native girl, to keep you company!

It's been a little while since our last post. Here are some of the highlights of the last week:

Surfleet Cove




EP Farmers Market


The EP Farmers Market is a feast of the senses, well, a feast for the taste buds.
Local chefs, farmers and growers show off their talents including wine, olives (seen right), salamis, wine (did I already say wine?) plus a gorgeous repertoire of chef-cooked delights. We ate the prawn skewers (prawns wrapped in bacon and served with creamy spicy sauce on rice) (above photo), kingfish & prawns on salad, and a bouillabaisse (below photo). We bought the bouillabaisse because a man was eating it next to us and kept groaning and slurping, so we asked him what on earth he was eating. "Bouillabaisse... I've never had it before.... oh my god, it's amazing!!!!"




Peter the boxing trainer, karaoke star & hotel promoter
Jase popped into the hotel (seen above, behind the market) to use their loos and when I went in a few minutes later, he announced to me that we were taking a hotel tour to look at their rooms. Before I had a chance to say "no thanks", a tall slim man in his late 50s with a full head of silver hair and a golden smile approached us, shook my hand and introduced himself as Peter. We let him know that we probably were not in the market for a hotel room and did not want to waste his time, and Peter replied that of course it would be his pleasure to show off the hotel on its third birthday. So into hotel rooms and conference rooms we went, spending a minute or two in each, and before long we were chatting like old friends.

Peter is a jack of all trades; he promotes the hotel part time, and also was a boxer in his youth and now trains boxers ("My proudest moment was shaking Mohammed Ali's hand"). Peter has the classic boxer's physique (and profile) - fit and slim, and has heaps of energy.

We started talking about music and learned that he and his wife do a fun karaoke night at the hotel every Wednesday ("My wife sings like an angel"), where they do a couple of songs to get the crowd going, then hopefully others join in. What a hoot! He also plays guitar, although confesses not very well, and enjoys song-writing. When we asked him what music he has written, he told us the lyrics of his best song, a joyous patriotic singalong song, which has a chorus that starts something like "I'm proud to be an ocker...." A true poet is our Pete, and we loved hearing his lyrics. Although we hoped to see him at the hotel next Wednesday, sadly, we will run out of time and won't get there to see him and his wife.

Life would not be the same without people like Peter. We all need a larrakin in our lives, and I reckon Pete is the one to have.


German bakcpackers
At Surfleet we were invited to a nearby camp "for a few wines" by our neighbours, Wolf and Phoebe ("pronounce it like the beer, VB"). Wolf is skinny and has a great mass of thick curly hair covered by a beret. He wears glasses of which one lens has a great zagged crack through the middle. Phoebe is tanned, fair-haired and has a bull-ring through her lower lip. They are backpacking, have been here 7 months, and are loving every minute, albeit in relative poverty. They started with a van ("I think we were ripped off") which lasted just a few months then replaced that with a beat-up sedan, now spray painted silver with stencilled monograms like stars and martians. They sleep in a two man tent and have no means of showering or toileting other than what nature provides. We chatted until the wee hours of the night, shooting the breeze, comparing stories, and laughing a whole lot about the silliest of things. Being broke, they bought the cheapest wine they could find, a 5-liter cask of red wine ("It only cost $15!"), which is so horrible they mix it with coke (but why buy Coke-brand coke at $3.50 when you can buy home-brand for 99c??). We stuck to our own drinks, beer and ginger beer, thank you very much!

At one point Wolf brought out his fire staff (like they use in the circus) and asked if we'd like to see him twirl that stick and blow fire in the air. Ummmm... no thank you. Not in a national park anyway! Terrific fun, it would be great to see them again.

Wild life at Lincoln National Park









Spalding Cove
Ever wonder what the rich people are doing?

They sail around in fancy yachts and come to shore where they are plied with food and alcohol from corporations such as Lexus and Coke. We went for a day-trip around Lincoln National Park and found a "nice quiet spot to eat lunch". This is what we found: yachts, corporate tents, middle-aged men behaving disgracefully, men weeing everywhere, women falling over and laughing....

Razorfishalicious!
Ever tried a razor clam or razor fish? These triangular bivalves live in the sand just below the low tide mark in southern Oz and taste gloriously like scallops, only a little stronger. We have tried for days, at different locations, to find these treasures. Here, at Paradise, we found them poking out between rocks in the shallows at low tide, just short walk from the caravan. A gentle pull with pliers, a quick clean with a sharp knife, and you can fry these little nuggets in butter with garlic, to toss through pasta with capsicum, chili and spring onions.

Divine!!!! No.... razorfishalicious!!

More fun in the sun

Eve fossicks for mussels at Spalding Cove

The pelicans check us out as Jase prepares fish for lunch

The view of our campsite from the water
One of those nasty little buggers that is going to force me to buy a damn full-body wetsuit!
The view of camp from the boat

Paradise at Sunset