Sun, 3rd Aug
16 degree min, overcast and a shower of rain at 5am.
More light rain when we got up for breakfast. Relaxing morning reading as the dark clouds moved across then the sun would shine for a while then cloudy again. I transferred more movies from the big hard drive to the one for the TV. So glad we have all these movies and TV series to watch as well as our supply of books.
After morning tea I did my baking as the strong wind rocked the camper and the clouds and sun alternated. Steve went out to continue dragging the chain from his grid lines and see what might be hidden in the ground.
A shower of rain brought Steve back inside. After lunch we both went out and continued gridding - the wind nearly blows me over and I had to get the headphones to be able to hear the detector. Steve has a speaker on his harness below his ears.
More sun then clouds now but the wind is still strong.
Inside for drinks and cards. The sky has puffy clouds now so don’t think we will get any more rain.
Lou sent a message about a 60 Minutes episode on Sunday on Bruce’s murder in the Palmer. He will give us a call and tell us about it.
The wind settled by bed time.
Mon, 4th Aug
8.6 degrees - getting colder again. Clear sky and no wind. Forecast for only 17 max today.
Lou had rung but we didn’t have enough signal to ring back so Steve put the aerial on the camper so we could boost the phone in the camper rather than the truck. Rang him back. He told us about the 60 Minute story. Apparently a retired policeman says the Strubers are innocent and he is trying to get a new trial done. They have been in jail 15 years now - hopefully they won’t now get off on some new technicality.
Back to our gridding. Spotted a vehicle towing a van come in and it went along then around and then back towards us. I gave them a wave and they came over and when I looked in the front I realised it was Daniel and Lee-Anne who we stayed with at Cape Burney earlier in the year. They had seen the two little pending leases and decided to come in for a look as they only have a couple weeks off from managing the van park. They parked up a bit further along from us.
Continued gridding then back to the camper for a cuppa. There is a light breeze which is still quite nippy but in the sun it is very warm. Had to open the window while we had our cuppa as it was up to 24 degrees in the camper.
Drinks by the fire with Daniel and Lee-Anne. Lovely evening chatting but it was chilly when you walked away from the fire.
Back inside for dinner with the heater on. Michael rang to chat about the engine as Peter is visiting from Sydney who also put in a Cummins engine so the boys chatted for quite a long time!!
Tues, 5th Aug
6.5 degree min, max of 18 predicted. Clear sky and breezy.
Continued gridding out from our camper.
Got to 25 degrees in the camper with the windows open - very nice.
Party time at our place for drinks tonight with the others and Steve went over to ask the single chap if he wanted to join us. His name is Wayne too. He said he met us in Nullagine Van Park a few years ago which prompted our memories and we now remember chatting with him there. He is ex NZ and a very nice chap so we all had a great time chatting.
After the others left we cooked our steak on the fire and roast vegies in the coals - yummy dinner followed by ice cream to celebrate our good luck day.
Wed, 6th Aug
8.5 degrees min, clear sky and breezy.
Continued with our gridding. We have been triple layering in the morning but by morning tea we could take our coats off. The wind is strong but it isn’t cold.
Lee-Anne & Daniel’s friend, Phil, arrived. He has been detecting for many years and had a lease west of here so he will have plenty of stories to tell.
By lunch time it has warmed up that I am down to one layer now. Wayne and Sharon headed into Meeka to get some groceries and meet their friends that are going to join them here.
Drinks at Lee-Anne & Daniel’s tonight as they have Phil parked up with them. Very interesting chap.
Back to the camper for late dinner as the temp dropped with a nippy breeze which got very gusty before settling down for the night.
Thurs, 7th Aug
9.6 degree min, clear sky and windy.
The wind isn’t too cold as we continued our gridding.
The wind is getting stronger by lunch. I saw the funny little lizard that Sharon had taken a photo of the other day and had shown me. He is called a Goldfields Pebble Dragon and has a long tail, fat little body with frog like legs and triangle head. He changes colour to suit his surrounds. He was sitting near where I was digging out a nugget and didn’t move till I nearly step on him. Very unusual looking but apparently very common around here.
Nice and sunny and warm for lunch as the sun is on our dining table side. The wind comes and goes.
Malcolm rang to touch base that everything is sorted for his trip over. It is cold in Tassie so looking forward to some warmth over here then.
After a cuppa we rang Uncle John. He is doing well for 97 and still in his own home. He loves a good chat and to hear what we have been doing etc. It has been over 10 years now since we met he and Aunty Jocelyn in Hobart when they joined Mum & Dad for a week’s holiday. We had a lot of fun with them.
Drinks with Lee-Anne, Daniel and Phil again then we all cooked our BBQ dinners on their new BBQ plate and continued chatting. Spotted some satellites then we saw the Starlink ‘lights’ in the west. Lee-Anne was very excited to see them (8.15 to 8.45pm). She will be looking for them when they get back to the beach.
Fri, 8th Aug
9.7 degrees min, mostly clear sky and windy. It has been 4 years since Dad left this life.
Slowly gridding again and getting shoved about by the wind. Clouds are coming over the sky by morning tea.
Continued gridding to lunch time.
Rang Rick to catch up with his news. Tried Kev and Linda but they were out collecting firewood so we said we would ring back later.
Overcast now and the wind has dropped off . Back to the camper for a cuppa. I wanted to make savory scones to have with dinner and I needed some breadcrumbs for the meatballs so I figured one of the scones will do. Steve took the 6000 for a change but he didn’t get a very long wander with it when misty rain started to fall then it got a bit heavier. I closed up the camper and he got back in time to pack the chairs etc away in the truck.
Rang Kev and Linda back but only chatted with Kev. Steve asked if he would like a visitor as he thought NZ Wayne who loves detecting and fishing might like to meet Kev as he is an ex Kiwi too and loves his fishing. He said he would love to meet him so we will pass on his number and address in case Wayne goes south that way. He usually goes to Esperance to fish over the summer.
The rain stopped and by 5.30pm we headed over to the others for a chat with our drinks by the fire. It is still overcast so no ‘light’ watching tonight.
Back to the camper for dinner - much warmer night so we didn’t need to put the heater on (17 degrees).
Sat, 9th Aug
Still overcast and no wind. 13.3 degree min so didn’t put the heater on this morning.
Annalise sent through photos of Beau after his hair cut - handsome boy and looks so grown up now.
We continued gridding our areas.
The clouds have headed east so more blue sky appearing and a light breeze.
It is hot in the sun now though only 28 degrees in the camper as there is a nice breeze blowing inside.
Sharon had picked up a nice specie at the end so I wandered over for a look. I said we were joined the others for drinks if they wanted to join us. She said they would and would check if their friends wanted to come over too.
Got our drinks and chairs and wandered over the Lee-Anne and Daniel’s camp. Sharon & Wayne had arrived but their friends didn’t come. Phil’s mate, Pete, had arrived so we had a great time chatting. Full moon tonight and the temperature was lovely. We left them chatting as we had to go back to our fireplace to cook our dinner - steak and potato bake in the camp oven. Spotted a couple of satellites zoom through the stars. No ‘dancing lights’ tonight as there is a cloud band to the west.
Sun, 10th Aug
14 degrees min, mostly clear sky with that cloud band in the south now. Max of 27 today and we might get a shower of rain this afternoon.
Nice breeze as we headed off to continue gridding.
Back to the camper for a cuppa.
I walked back to a spot where I had picked up a few bits when we were here with Rick. I managed to find a little bit I had missed and a big hunk of quartz that sounded off. Steve was gridding up towards me along the side of the track but didn’t get anything. He carried my big rock back and smashed it and out came a tiny bit of gold. He got 2 more bits from a couple of other rocks he had been picking up. It all adds to the total. He keeps the other bits and will use the dolly-pot when we get back to Woodgate and then pan it off in case there is tiny bits of gold in the quartz - like the old hard-rock miners used to do.
The wind is getting stronger and bringing more clouds while we had lunch. I decided to stay in the camper and work on my blog while Steve took the 6000 for a long walk. I gave Linda a call too as I didn’t get to talk to her when we rang Kev back the other day.
The wind has blown the darker clouds away so we mightn’t get the predicted rain. Only a few puffy white ones about now.
Got a message from Jenny and Warren who we met at Native Dog Flats in Vic in 2015 when we hiked into the source of the Murray River. They are in WA and wondered where we were. We missed them by a day when we were in Meeka - they left the day before we arrived there recently. What a shame. They have a place at Nambucca Heads now so hopefully we can catch up with them when we start crawling through NSW next year.
We read for a while then joined the others for drinks. The wind is cold this afternoon. We said bye as we are going to move further along as we have gridded everywhere here. Wayne said farewell too as he is heading on. I hope he calls in to see Kev & Linda as we think they will get on well.
Back to the camper for dinner. I always close up before the sun sets to keep the warmth in. It was still 20 degrees inside which was good. It felt like 10 degrees outside.
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