Monday
17th June
It has all been GO in Gove!
Yesterday we set off for a CarAdventure
in the morning, with Carsten and Mercedes (from Yacht Forty-Two.)
First stop was a small car boot sale at
the beautiful (all of the infrastructure in Nhulunbuy is beautiful, mind you,)
golf club, where Pete very happily bought a new head torch from a kindly man
who is trying to raise money to buy a taxi for a teacher in Bali. (He will have to sell a LOT of head torches…)
We then did a quick spin around a few of
the beaches – so lovely… SO tempting to go swimming, but the fearsome warning
signs said NO.
Pete and I had tried to find the Roy Marika
Lookout the day before but had ended up in a full circle, back at the
beach. Yesterday we were more
successful, and we were mightily impressed – they weren’t mucking around when they
said it was a lookout! They had created
a thwacking great metal tower, up and around about four storeys high. We were able to overlook the whole Nhulunbuy
area. Pete and Mercedes were very happy
taking photos.
Carsten said this reminded him of when
they were at the Grand Canyon. They were
admiring the stately wonder of it all when a huge tourbus turned up. A crowd of Japanese swarmed out, with the
guide shouting something which indicated that they had FIVE minutes, no more!
They all stood between Carsten and Mercedes and the view, raised their cameras
aloft, went click click clickety CLICK and then all piled back on the bus. They possibly didn’t actually SEE the Grand
Canyon at all!
We really enjoyed Carsten and Mercedes
company. They are nice to each other,
and full of enthusiasm for everything they see.
A winning combo, really.
Mercedes doesn’t speak English quire as well as Carsten, but she is very
keen. She said to me, before we left, I want you to teach me some new words! Good words!
Like GHASTLY!! I like that word
so much! Apparently I had introduced
ghastly into our conversation last time we had been together. Well what a lovely challenge! By the end of the day I had covered a large
piece of paper towel with wonderful words and definitions. synchronicity,
serendipity, enigmatic, hideous, belligerent…on and on it went.
We also stopped to take photos of
anthills, always fascinating…
They had a quick time to shop at the
supermarket, then Pete took them back to Forty-Two while I strolled around
Woolworths with a bit more leisure (and yes I still managed to forget
potatoes…) It was a while before Pete got back, so I had time to take a photo
of a lovely bird (haven’t identified it yet…) and to talk to some friendly
Aboriginal women who were right next to the bird. They tried to get it to turn its head to look
at the camera, but, of course, it flew away.
Good ice-breaker, though.
Next – Hannah and Gaz! We picked them up from their accommodation at
the hospital and whizzed them out to 2XS.
Such a lovely afternoon, just a few hours sailing around Gove Harbour,
with chicken salad and slightly yucky bread rolls.
We took them home after a quick drink at
the Yacht Club, and set off for the airport, not a minute to spare, to pick up
Andrew and Max. They were just taxiing
up to their parking spot when we arrived – synchronicity!!
Back to the Yacht Club for another quick
drink; then a BBQ on 2XS. By the time
this was all over…so was I… I left these three lovely men to chat and sank into
my beloved bed with my iPadbook…
So this morning what did we do, before
breakfast?? Action stations…
And here is 2Xs, from the air, right where
it is right now – a small blot on the seascape…
We few around the coast for a beautiful hour,
over magical mystical island, surrounded by the twinkling blue Arafura Sea and delightful
little beaches. All ruled by – fearsome crocodiles…
Then – Boys Own Adventure – back to the boat
and out into Gove Harbour, fishing. Unsuccessfully
but never mind… Andrew was happy:
Max was happy
And when we got back, right on 5pm, time
for an anchoring beer – all three men were very happy!
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