I just missed a fleeting rainbow between the two smaller hills. Clouds scudded by all day as squalls passed. We had 18 mm rain, which means part of the road to the jetty was covered in sand and part of the shoulder fell to the beach. In between showers, I shoveled, worked in the garden and walked to garden cove. Oh yes, and continued to weave on my backstrap loom, wove a kumihimo braid and worked on a sock. Leftovers for dinner!
Another beautiful sunset. I could post a sunset view every day, each one is stunning. This was a couple of nights ago. I was closing things up outside, looked for boats in the nearest harbor, East Cove, and saw there were none. Then I checked the propane tanks. We have lashed nine large empty propane tanks to the end of the jetty while we await a replacement shipment. Should be fun loading those tanks on the truck. While I was looking at the tanks, I saw a person walk among them, I checked again for boats, nothing seen,.Hmm. I walked further down the track and saw two tents pitched near the jetty. We have visitors!
Two kayakers, Mark and Chris, are making their way to Tasmania this month. They will have to spend several windy, cooler, and wet days here while several cold fronts move through Bass Strait. They are experienced, well equipped and patient. It’s a good thing because they probably won’t be able to leave until Friday, when the winds move to the northwest and seas settle down. It’s blowing a gale this morning, 40 mph wind, and the sun is shining. So nice to be on land at times like this.
My garden saga continues. The last of the corn has been eaten off the stalks. The peanut butter I put in a trap was eaten but the trap did not spring! Most of the traps are old and maybe the vermin are small. I spent yesterday oiling the traps and resetting the one that tripped. I worry what they will eat now that the corn is gone. And what about us? My seedlings are looking sweet. I can only hope they don’t mind strong winds.
I’ve traveled halfway around the world and the highlight of my week was video chatting with my daughter, son, daughter-in-law and grandkids. Ties that bind.
Stuck on an island with you! Well not stuck exactly, but we are not going anywhere soon.
Weather is turning a bit cooler is windy but still lovely. One visitor asked how we liked the wind. Much better on land than on a boat thank you very much. We only have to deal with downed trees and branches. Even when it howls, we have a safe shelter. The animals don’t even seem to notice.
The geese still yodel to one another from outside our bedroom window in the middle of the night despite Tim’s barricade. I sometimes sleep right through it.
The garden is keeping me busy. Still with heaps of tomatoes, zucchini are slowing down. Something has been eating my corn!! Now we only have five ears left. It looks like a possum may have gotten in. I have set a live trap for it, baited with a young ear of corn, and a couple of rat traps because I saw one scurrying around the other day. I feel like Chevy Chase in Caddyshack, hello Mr. Possum, it’s only me… I’ll try to avoid blowing the whole place up in my attempt to clear it of vermin.
Days fly by. We have already been here for one month! Food stores seem to be holding up. Yesterday was a mad baking day: pie crust, biscotti, granola, English muffins and … tomato soup. I had a bowl with fresh English muffins and homemade ginger ale for lunch and it warmed my soul.
Sunset looked like a fire in the sky the other night. The colors just kept shifting more beautifully until night fell.
It takes a month to settle in and get to know and remember this place and its rhythms. Visitors have been few. We had a gale for a few days, which slowed the pace of visitors arriving, while those already here stayed put. When the weather calmed, we received the next wave of visitors (one boat) as the sailors island hop their way back north to the mainland. We walk or run one of the seven primary trails on the island, which end at beaches, every day. Then we sit and watch the water. We don’t buy ANYTHING! So nice to be removed from consumerism. The fact that the internet is terrible, usually nonexistent, is mostly a blessing in disguise; unless you really want to get in touch with someone. In a real emergency, we have an EPIRB.
The Cape Barren geese run past our bedroom window in the middle of the night and make all sorts of noise. Tim has constructed a little barrier to keep them away from the water tank and it may have helped. There seems to be quite a rigid social order among them. I watched a family arrive at Garden Cove the other day and the parents weren’t satisfied until they had completely banished another pair from the beach. One day, a goose plopped itself in their water basin and sat there while what appeared to be her ladies in waiting, groomed her. She would get up periodically and shake out her feathers. I don’t even know if it was a female but I get to imagine. Each night, a brush tail possum saunters by our sunroom, where there is usually at least one skink sneaking about. We’ve seen a pod of dolphins in two of the coves repeatedly. Unfortunately, those little red jelly fish with long tentacles are back and Tim doesn’t like to swim with them.
Cooking and the garden continue to keep me busy. Mostly harvesting the garden, still with heaps of tomatoes, zucchinis and cucumbers. Green beans are finishing up. We still have several pumpkins, two patches of beets and carrots, arugula, lettuce and capsicum (peppers). I make yogurt, bread and ginger ale every few days. I am using the most primitive, backstrap loom to weave some beautiful bands, one of which is adorning my sun hat. Mostly I am enjoying this domestic bliss in an island paradise. Who wouldn’t?
Harry the huntsman spider is over MY side of the bed.
I’ve adopted a live and let live attitude this trip to Australia but they may not land on me! I’ll omit a close up view for the squeamish.
We’ve had a west wind, which blows away our internet reception for some reason. But the weather is fine today and we have a bit of trail work to do. Maybe I’ll have reception at 1000 ft elevation near the lighthouse.
This brown falcon lives and hunts around the compound. Now that I have spotted him, and he has spotted me, I see him all over the place. Sometimes swooping, other times just keeping an eye out. We are in the midst of a gale and here he is hanging on to the fence post. Same with me. Winds gusted to 50 knots, frequent squalls blew through, hail pummeled the roof, then the sun shone. Repeat. I checked the garden early and shored up some broccoli, and checked again after the hail. So far only some delicate lettuce, and perhaps the zucchini, suffered. Time will tell.
The radio said there were 3-4 meter seas in Bass Strait and here in Murray Pass, it looked like smoke on the water. Always nice to be secure in these conditions.
Tim has been more committed to swimming than I. He brought a sleeveless wetsuit which is good for the water temperature and the occasional small jelly fish. I mostly dip. I watched a pair of manta rays off the jetty the other day and if internet ever cooperates will post a video. On the day I took this picture of Garden Cove, I watched 3-4 dolphins swim close to shore. Another video, another day. It was lovely to watch and to have the time to just sit and watch until I and they tired of it or moved on.
Some of the seaweed is so pretty, they make a nice still life photo. We’re lucky to have so much beauty around us.
Except for this guy, which is abundant in the waters around Deal Island. It is a giant cuttlefish. We see the bones (?) all over the island. If you ever kept a caged bird, it is the white shell they liked to sharpen their beaks on. Any way I keep a sharp lookout. On the beaches, it looks like people lost the insoles to their sneakers but is only the remains of the cuttlefish.
Big wind brought a big cat. This power cat is nestled nicely for the moment. We haven’t met the residents but they took a walk to the lighthouse yesterday and tooled around in their dinghy. I always get to thinking that we are only visitors here. Deal Island will carry on with our without us. Only the geese, wallabies, penguins, birds, spiders and snakes (only little white lipped snakes) are permanent residents. We just try to make a small mark of keeping things working and tidy. In that vein, I shoveled a barrel of goose and possum poo.
Flame robins welcome visitors to the museum. They are fun to watch flitting around the bird bath.
These limpets aren’t too mobile. I spotted them at a low, low tide. They didn’t look like they are going anywhere.
I never tire of this view of the compound from Barn Hill. The cluster of buildings is the compound, which includes the Museum in the former superintendent’s house, the workshop/garage, fuel, generator and radio sheds and the garden. Our house is surrounded by the trees which serve as a much needed wind break. Weather has been mostly fine, although I don’t see that term used in the weather report lately. We had a good downpour two days ago.Yesterday misted on and off as the clouds drifted by but we both went swimming in Garden Cove, a beautiful cliff lined beach, after we finished some projects around the house. We had seen some red jelly fish last week but they seem to have drifted away. Boaters reported they only had a mild sting, and tasted pretty good cooked. No thank you to both.
The handy sewing machine in the house is is carrying its load. Yesterday I used silk thread I brought to weave, to sew a plastic window screen to place on the entrance door where visitors check out the maps and come to talk to us. Next I found some material to cover the arms of a recliner which has the foam popping out of it. Now I can get back to weaving.
The last of our recent crew of visitors left yesterday so we are on our own for the first time this trip. We love to talk to visitors but we also love to have the island to ourselves. I guess that’s why we enjoy care taking in remote settings. I had decent enough internet where I did some work work. So strange to renew a patient’s script from 16,000 km away!
Here’s a reverse of the first photo looking up towards Barn Hill. You can see part of the solar array that provides our power on the right. It encourages me to use all the electric appliances in the house. I have used the bread maker, rice cooker and slow cooker. Tim doesn’t follow me around turning lights off as much as he does at home. The garden is enclosed in green screen to block the wind and keep most of the animals out. It’s fully enclosed with chicken wire and netting. To the left is the workshop, which is organized quite well this year. We’ve spent plenty of time working on projects in there in bad weather. It sings in the wind. The Museum has a wonderful collection and is housed in the nicest building with the three chimneys. It is partially obscured by the paint and fuel sheds. In the foreground is an old pump house, tank site and very important plumbing fixture for our water supply.
And the lighthouse from afar. We couldn’t see it most of yesterday due to the fog. Tim heard a boat’s foghorn and I went out to look for the boat. He pointed out how silly an idea that was. I never saw it.
Island and North Country Life 