Tuesday 20^th March

A great King Island day.  We didn’t get off to a very early start.  All inhabitants of 2XS seemed to have been hit by Maxwell’s Silver Hammer – none of us woke up until about 9.00… All that rockrockrock of the waves, all that sea air.

When we finally got to shore, we whizzed round the island in Sally’s big 7-seater Toyota.  Cheese factory first off – oh the joy of the Tasting Chamber!  And yes we bought up very happily.  Not sure how we have managed to fit all our big chunks of cheddar etc etc into the small 2XS fridge spaces.  Some of the beer had to move over.  Actually, before the cheese factory we went to a beautiful gallery/tea room just near the wharf.  All very schmick and stylish.  The gallery owner, Marilyn Chapman, has done many of the paintings on display, and they were just gorgeous.  We were very tempted to buy a great big one, only $450, but maybe Jabba doesn’t need to sleep with two bikes, a solar panel AND a big canvas… I did buy one very small baby doll in lovely hand-crocheted clothes, for our new baby Rose.  (Jabba doesn’t have to sleep with the doll; it fits in my clothes cupboard.)

Next stop Cape Wickham – the tallest lighthouse in the southern hemisphere.  I took a photo immediately and texted it to Pauline – we had gone to this beautiful spot in, I think, 2005, on a work trip.  Those were the days… Work trips are very much a thing of the past.

We drove across to Narracoopa, and then made our way to Richard and Sally’s farm on Red Hut Road, with a bit of a detour to a fabulous bit of coastline with some amazing new architect-designed houses in splendid isolation.  Sally and Richard’s house is a hive of cheerful activity.  Their two remaining children, Maddie and Peter, – Jessie has gone to boarding school in Adelaide – are a delight.  Richard and Sally are extremely hospitable.  We had brought some King Island cheese, and some wine, but it was very much coals-to-Newcastle because Sally, with Maddie’s help, had prepared a veritable feast – BBQ steak and sausages, salads, potato casserole, salmon, slow-roasted tomatoes, the lot.  And her beautiful orange syrup cake for dessert.  Her friend Tegan, who has her own hair-dressing salon in Currie and who is a most beautiful and charming girl, had brought a big fruit salad.  I feel as if I never need to eat again.  As well as this…Sally led us to her store cupboard and decanted many jars of beautiful home-made produce into our grateful hands – zucchini pickle, tomato relish, crab-apple jelly, plum jam, quince paste… Weehee!!

Pete got anxious about the wind direction and the effect of aforementioned wind direction on 2XS at anchor, so we had to rush off without lifting a hand to the piles of dirty dishes… Oh poor Tegan and Sally, who just wanted to watch Packed to the Rafters!!

Snapshot: Richard has brought us back and he is now cosily ensconced at the 2XS table with a beer.  Jabba has made me a cup of tea and I am going to sip it and then trot off to bed.  We are planning to leave at 2am to get to Hunter Island, near Three Hummock Island, by daylight, before the bad weather front comes along.