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We finally made it out the island. We left Flinders Island at dawn. The weather was predicted to be favorable, but not quite. Seas were rough and the boat was leaping, bouncing and crashing. When we neared the island, I said I was glad at least we waited for a calm day! It turned out it was one of the worst rides to the island the Parks Reserve Manager had taken.

The day was glorious though. Blue, clear skies and the wind died down. We got a tour of the island, all its systems and equipment, including a 3 cylinder, 4wd truck, the Beast, which has issues. Not acting too beastly at the moment, but it managed to get our stuff up the hill to the compound.

We spent most of the day unpacking and loading the refrigerator and pantry. Then we took a short walk up Barn Hill, overlooking the compound. I slept well until the winds picked up and it sounded like the house was going to blow away. The compound with the house we are staying in is the white area in the center of the picture. The compound contains the only living quarters on the island and right now we and the wildlife are the only ones here.

Since food has been such an important issue in our planning and shopping, I am going to at least list the meals we eat. It should turn out to be close to 300 when we are done. Here’s what we started with:

1) Lunch: grilled cheese and carrots

2) Dinner: peas from the garden, israeli couscous and grilled steak with apple pie for dessert, one of my best ever. And we had our first taste of cask wine. Not too bad.