Paynesville – bike bide – Raymond Island – no koalas – dolphins in the sunset – Lakes Entrance - pub – Lindsay-on-skype
We got up this morning after almost twelve hours sleep…SO tiring, being on holiday… I went up on deck and watched pelicans gliding right past my head, so majestic and dignified. We were so cold we were not in the least attracted to yoghurt and cereal…over to the shop (we were living in the main street, right opposite the supermarket!) for eggs, bacon, hash browns – very warming!
Well mostly we had a Paynesville day… I have just found out that Paynesville is considered to be, in the Gippsland Lakes area, as God’s Waiting Room…It is a lovely, gentle place. And most of the people are a lot older, even, than Pete and me. I went to the pharmacy this morning, and found it to be absolutely thriving. A real money-spinner, people lining up…for heart medication, arthritis creams etc etc… The pharmacist was a very nice young bloke. He had to ask me to spell my name – H-A-R-M-S-E-N before he was allowed to sell me some over-the counter pain pills (just on case I might brew the pills up in a special boat/lab and turn them into crystal meth…) He found H-A-R-M-S-E-N very difficult but I said, “It is easier to spell than your name!” (I had seen it at the counter…something like Thanatalopololous…) He was delighted, and said, “Yes, indeed. But I must tell you, I think Marguerite is the MOST beautiful name!” So…we were firm friends. I was very impressed because my Dolased arrived down a spiral chute… He said, “Yes, it is an automated system…no, actually, we have little men in the ceiling who scurry around and find whatever we need!” I understood – “Just like Harry Potter!”
I then went to the newsagent and bought postcards; behind the counter, on a fluffy rug in front of a cosy heater, were two small dogs, a pug and a – something wiry and dozy. I said, “I saw that little dog walking along the boardwalk yesterday!” “Yes,” the newsagent proudly. “That is Our Pug!”
I also made friends with some ancient people sitting on a bench right outside the boat eating fish and chips…maybe Pete and I should say in Paynesville forever!
In the morning we went for a bike ride, around the waterfront and backblocks of Beautiful Paynesville. Apart from the scenic highlights, we went to:
a hardware store (Pete’s spiritual home) and
a workshop which specialises in making - ahem – holding tanks….(holding tanks are for poo, to be released into open ocean water, in case you need to know.) Product placement #? – if you ever need a holding tank, do go to Paynesville; the young bloke there was so helpful and so competent…but it would have taken days to do it so we just drained (??) him of all info at his disposal and went on our way.
In the hardware store we met a cheery chap who is traveling around on his yacht, from Tasmania, “keeping Australia on the left.” Colin Cluff/Clough – I am sure we will run into him again…
After lunch we caught the ferry over to Raymond Island. This is a lovely ferry trip of about five minutes. Free for bikes and pedestrians. Raymond Island is Home To Koalas. Or so we are told… Unfortunately the only koalas we saw were ones on a cut-out board where you can stick your head through and get your photo taken, looking foolish, with koala ears. Pete and I, so dignified did not do this. What we did was ride round this very beautiful island, through the silent, neat, pretty streets and into the magical forest, full of giant banksias and some sort of wonderful eucalypts – redgum? Not sure. I said, “Pete! Trees! This is your forte, surely! What are they??” I know he studied TREES, at uni. “Oh gawd,” he said, pedaling along. “They are….trees…eucalypts.” Whatever; they were magnificent, big and high-branching with beautiful bark and thick with leaves. Perfect, surely, for koalas. Our friend Andrew, in Port Macquarie, says you can always tell where there is a koala, because there will be a crowd of people stannding under the tree, looking upward. But…there were houses, but no visible people, on Raymond Island…We did see a big grey kangaroo. “Wallaby”; said Pete, firmly. “With a wallaby in its pouch!” I disagree…it was MUCH too big to be a wallaby!
We rode through forest and down dirt roads, and came to a beautiful (Anglican Church) place, St Barnabas at a’Beckett, which is “a refuge for spiritual and environmental solace” or words to that effect. Another product placement…if you are in need of spiritual or environmental retreat-ing, this would be a most lovely place to come. I am sure if you stayed there long enough you would see…a koala!!!
We got back to 2XS and reluctantly tore ourselves away from peaceful Paynesville. Off to Lakes Entrance! This was a glorious trip up the lakes. Yes I am going to make you totally green with envy…just at sunset, Pete (Attenborough) Headlam spied a pod of dolphins, leaping most energetically from the calm, silky water. They stayed with us as the boat went over them, but showed no interest in playing, they were obviously feeding, hunting some hapless school of smaller fish. As we cruised past we saw them leaping and diving in the sunset-reflecting water…
The water was so still in the lakes, which was a good thing, because…it got dark and we had to negotiate many red and green (and sometimes, confusingly, yellow or blue,) lights to avoid running aground. This is what our friend Tim calls Jan-Water, because his wife only really likes being on their boat when the water is calm and smooth. She would have loved this water…like a mirror!
It was a teensy bit stressful cruising up to Lakes Entrance, trying to work out WHICH red and green lights we were supposed to be following… I stood up the front with binoculars…and then with a torch… You will, I am sure, be glad to know that we negotiated our way, with scarcely any running into very shallow water, all the way to a lovely FREE marina berth in the middle of Lakes Entrance.
This seems to be a prosperous little town. We are next to an enormous catamaran, newly built, called…Liquid Desire. “Let’s go and see what is to be seen!” said Pete, happily, when we finally tied up. What was to be seen was…a pub, ofcourse, just across the road. One of those very big Victorian pubs, with machines, dining room, bar, hardly a soul to be seen but…lovely staff, cheery service, fish & chips! But…no newspapers, no reading material… I made a strategic error and just hopped over there with nothing my pockets except a $20 or so. Pete had his phone and many phone calls to make and receive… From now on I will ALWAYS take either my phone or my book; I have, as I have said before, no inner resources. I talked to our waitress, who was lovely, and who, she said, was reading a true-crime book about Peter Falconio. “I think the girlfriend did it!” she said, darkly. We were very happily engrossed in our conversation when we looked up and found customers and other staff waving their fingers at her…oh dear and oh no….
Now we are back on the boat with Big Bertha blazing away proudly. Tomorrow I think we are leaving every early again, 4am or so, to cross the bar and go…north! To maybe Eden, maybe Gabo Island.
At this very moment Pete talking, on Skype, to Lindsay, his lovely Scottish builder/friend. So…I am a bit distracted…More tomorrow, if we re within Internet Reach!