Tempting, but we decided to go to the beach instead – gorgeous!

On the way back, I stopped off at the Men’s Shed. Built with a rural health grant in 2004, it’s overseen by the local health service. Billed as a vibrant space dedicated to men’s activities and interests, I’ve not seen it opened once since we arrived here. Shame – it’s a good idea, and i’d have liked to take a look around. The Men’s Shed website lists it as “fully operational” and the contact is a bloke called “Celia”… Perhaps all’s not well in the shed?

No swimming today, and a little frustrated with the fishing, we decided to take a ramble around the rockpools. The tide wasn’t all the way out, but we had an hour or so of fun scrambling around the rocks, the fresh wind blowing away the cobwebs.

We all decided to try an early morning fishing session as the evening ones weren’t proving fruitful. Off we trotted to the main wharf where I’d watched scores of fish being hauled in on my morning visits. No sooner than we’d baited hooks and thrown in the lines, a squall belted past and blew one of our chairs into the water. A woman next to us screamed because she thought it was one of our small children. Her husband came to the rescue – he had a big hook on a strong line, just the thing for a spot of furniture fishing. He proudly held up his soggy folding catch for his now laughing spouse to photograph.

Enough of that, we thought, let’s go to the market instead. Up the hill to the market square and crack! the lightning and thunder hit. Quite a show, but not ideal shopping weather, so its back to camp for some inside activities.

As is often the case in these parts, the weather soon cleared and we decided on another outing. All the girl- and women-folk took a trip to Secret Beach. This is where sharks can be caught at the right time, but our party seemed content to stay on the sand. In the meantime, I took a leisurely stroll through the rural back roads and enjoyed the peace.

Later in the day we headed off once again to a fishing spot we like to try our luck. The kids love learning to cast a line, and there was alot of casting going on but, alas, not much in the way of a fishy reward. The wind was quite strong which made for a few tangles, and we gave up and headed for the pub where we were sure to reel in the catch of the day.

Further around the inlet, I saw a bloke hop off his pony and tie it up on the foreshore before wandering off in the direction of the moored boats – seemed a perfectly reasonable method for getting around these parts…

Another beach day, a total of 16 friends all congregating once again at Betka Beach. Tashi discovered she could stand up on my floating boogie board and was soon zooming along with the current down the river to the sea. She stood, arms outstretched and a steady look of concentration that attracted admiring glances from all those she passed along the way.  A surfer chick in the making, I think!

We decided to make a fish’n'chip run for the kids late in the afternoon, but just as they sat to eat, the sky opened up and cool rain sent us scurrying to the cars and back to camp. A bit soggy and sandy, the meal was just the ticket for the tired wee ones.

Indra and I joined the Hermans for dinner at the golf club, leaving the kids in the capable hands of our camping buddies. We recalled the night many years ago that we spent a noisy New Year’s Eve at the club. Much quieter tonight, save for the thrum of the backup generator as the power was out in the whole town. I guess it’s a fairly common occurance, I’ve noticed a lot of generators around the place. The food was good, and the beer still cold, but the place seems to be a bit tired and run down. We decided to walk through the bush back to Warwick’s place, the night having turned out balmy and peaceful. It was Fiona’s birthday, so bubbly, cake and sparklers were all broken out and we spent a lovely couple of hours eating, drinking and telling tales.

The kids had a wonderful time. We spied sea eagles, and fed then some fish. We got a glimpse of a seal frolicking about. There were pelicans, cormorants and other sea birds galore.

Indra and I searched the hills for signs of the lodge we stayed in all those years ago. We saw the old farmhouse, but the cabins seem to have been swallowed up by the vegetation, and the jetty is no more. We plan to come back for a closer look in a hire boat.

Further around, past Cemetery Bight and the walking track to the Spotted Dog gold mine, we came to a beautiful inlet which is the site of an historic farm still in private hands. A couple of hundred acres of rural tranquility with a gorgeous house and outbuildings – what a place…

On the way back to the wharf each of the girls had a turn being captain and steered us along the way. A great trip.

After lunch we headed back to the beach. I had bought a rubber boat for the for the girls, and they had a great time paddling about in the river. We’d heard a couple of days earlier that our friends Cath and Matt and their girls (yep, more girls!) were coming to town, so we weren’t surprised to find them at the beach as well.

Cath’s brother Warwick lives in Mallacoota so her family and sister Fiona with son Michael are all bunking in with him. Mr & Mrs Herman senior sensibly opted to rent a unit on the other side of town. Leah the dog completed the extended family. She seemed quite take taken by Indra, and joined her in the water a paddle.

More surfing, plenty of chatting and plenty of cold beer was the order of the day.

I’m keen to get out on the lake. There are a couple of larger boats which take regular cruises, as well as smaller boats for hire. When Indra and I visited Mallacoota years ago, we spent a fair bit of time on the Porkie Bess captained by Simon Buckley. We stayed with friends at on the other side of the lake which is only accessible by boat. As well as providing a ferry service, Simon also took us on some fishing and swimming trips.

When we visited Bucklands Jetty Boat Hire, we hoped the boat on display wasn’t the one offered for hire…

With more than 300 km of shore, there’s a lot of lake to explore, and a lot of boats out there doing just that. There are beautiful little coves and inlets some with sandy beaches, others with jetties and picnic facilities. Oh, and apparently lots of fish… So boating is definitely on out to do list.

This afternoon our other friends Sam, Ellie and Mia arrived. Now we have our own little campsite village – six girls, three mums, and me – sheesh! A barbie dinner with Maddie’s lovely bream cooked in foil, then off to bed.

Tashi had spied some small bait nets in the tackle shop and was keen to get one to try her hand at catching “sea creatures”. She’s absolutely fascinated by all the life in and around the water, so we bought a couple of nets on the way. She spent hours wading about looking for things to put in her bucket, and Indra and I were called in to assist in catching a few little fish which were darting around in the shallows.

Our friends the Morgans arrived from Melbourne just as we returned from the beach, and the girls were excited to see their old friends. Tent set up, we packed a picnic, rigged the fishing rods and headed for a lovely spot on the lake for the evening. The girls love throwing in a line and soon enough, little Isi pulled in the first catch of the day. A small tailor, kissed and thrown back. Next was Maddie – boy what a lovely one she pulled in! A large bream, enough for everyone. Only when we got it ashore did we realise that none of us had actually had to gut a fish before, and nobody was stepping forward to give it a go. Luckily a nice fella walking by with his kids came over to see what all the commotion was about – there was a lot of squealing and laughing throughout – and he kindly agreed to show us how it was done. Satisfied for the day, we packed up and happily headed home.

Ccoull’s Inlet is a peaceful place to sit, drink coffee and think about things.

Later in the afternoon, I walked around to Captain Stevenson’s Point and spied a couple of surfers and their dogs heading across the estuary sands to the ocean beach.

We strolled back to camp via the back streets and found some interesting things to look at.

Ari and Penelope dropped by to say farewell, they were off to the Ben Boyd National Park for a couple of days to camp in the bush. The girls loved seeing Ari and were sad to see her go.

In the evening I took the girls to see Bolt at the cinema – it’s a hall which is fitted out with a screen and hard chairs. We saw kids who had obviously been before, they arrived carrying cushions and pillows to sit on. It was fun, though and we ate lots of popcorn.