Easter Blows In

There is a kind of concentration camp mentality obvious around me. You know how it is. When people have been through shared experiences, there is a certain connection. That's what I am seeing around me.

I had intended to stop in Mt Gambier for a few days but the weather was so hot that I decided to head for the coast instead. In retrospect, that may not have been the best move. I got as far as Southend and settled in for a few nights - and so did the weather.

Eve held the wool for my knitting

Josh, Eve and Isla made sure
the Easter Bunny came to me

When I set up on Thursday, it was lovely - light sea breezes and clear skies. On Good Friday, the weather turned wild with 45 knot winds. I had stopped in the waterside camping area attached to the Southend on Sea caravan park, only $8 a night plus a cost for showers. Most of the area was settled by families there for the four days of Easter, many in tents of all sorts and sizes. Even those in motorhomes or caravans battened down and closed up everything as sand swirled around the camp and tents came adrift.  There were two groups fairly close to each other in the same type of tent. Both had broken poles and one had a torn tent and went home, The other family rescued the extra poles from the bin, combining all the poles to reset their tent.

Most who were here for the weekend, left early Monday (today), even those who had planned to stay for part of the school holidays. There were three families near me who left early. They had been very helpful when I needed to fold my awning away in the wind, especially Paul. Think of my brother Frank ten years ago. Add another five or six inches in height, ginger beard to his chest, dreadlocks to his waist - very useful to have when muscles were needed. Interestingly enough, he is a secondary school teacher - and probably has great credibility with the kids, though not sure about the administrators of the school! His kids, Isla and Josh, together with Eve from another tent, adopted me a bit and made sure that the Easter Bunny left me some eggs.

A group of eight vans is due to set up near me today, with one arriving so far. Apparently they all come here every year for a week. They plan for a camp fire later and I'll zip over for a while tonight. I've just had two ladies from the caravan park over for a cup of tea. They are here with their husbands, who are brothers, for five weeks. They suggested I visit them later today but I said I'd call for a coffee before I leave tomorrow.

I took my awning down this morning as it is getting windy again. Now that I have no attachments, I can move the van if I want to but I think I probably have the most protected spot. Because I hadn't booked, I got squashed in at the end of the grounds with fairly thick, low lying bushes on two sides, bushy dunes on another and caravans on the fourth side. 

After  rolling up the awning on Friday night, I made the most of Saturday and spent the day exploring close by. There was a market at Beachport, where I bought two delicious pork sausages (yes, I do cook occasionally) and tomatoes and cheese for my afternoon biscuits. The town was crowded for the markets but further afield the traffic was almost non-existent.  I went to the Pool of Siloam (not the one in the bible!) which is supposed to be seven times saltier than the sea. It was too cold for anyone to be swimming so I couldn't see how buoyant swimmers would be.

Pool of Siloam
Beachport, not Galilee

Jetty once 1200m, now 700m long

I have never seen this sign before

Robe was just a bit further on so I kept driving. It is a pretty little town and was absolutely packed. One of the shop keepers told me that Easter is their absolute most busy time. There was a real holiday atmosphere and the town was busy and bustling.  I went to St Mary Star of the Sea church which was commissioned by Julian Tenison Woods and included a school taught by the Sisters of St Joseph. Mary MacKillop was a regular visitor here. The church is not in regular use and had a sign for a mass on Sunday and asking people to brings chairs or rugs to sit on. I assume there are no pews, but the church was locked and I couldn't check for myself. I'll add a couple of photos to the Mary MacKillop blog, and more during the week when I go to Mt Gambier and Penola.

I enjoy writing these blogs but find the photos very frustrating as they are almost impossible to position and I have to go with what the program decides is the placement. So the layout is not what I want. I hope when it comes to printing the book at the end, that there is the opportunity to reposition photos. I will be upset if my final result is all higgeldy-piggeldy!