Beach Clearance

 I went back for another beach comb as my back is straightening out again after I bulged it a bit last week. I was mainly after the laminated board I left there last time. I noticed that the diversion structures are working well lately with a deeply scored channel running parallel to the groyne wall. The board was still in place so I walked the length of the beach again for another pickup run. Got an empty Jamieson bottle, a can and many plastics and rope pieces. Straws were the hot item this time including one straw in two halves that had washed up about 20 metres apart. Is that a science experiment telling us something? On the way back I found the big ticket item, being a medium sized tyre. Once I got the sand and seaweed out of it I could get it as far as the base of the ramp whilst juggling the full rubbish bag in the other hand. Good thing I have restarted my weight training.  However I still had the heavy board there so now the tyre has been left and the board taken to the bin. Beach combing never ends.

Small Details

 I found a stamp that the designer and engraver had altered slightly to add his own personal touch, a six point star of David symbol hidden in the detail of the stamp. It reminded me of the time when I was working to produce maps way back last century. On this occasion I added an extra town name to the general layout of the map. It was in small print and had to get passed several checks without being spotted as a fake town. This map was part of a booklet and on final production there it was, Brownlowville a new place you could not visit in Gippsland. I thought I had a copy of the sheet at least but could not find it. I have attached some of my other earlier work as a student and also from the MMBW days. These show some of the printing steps where you may be able to slip in something extra but highly unauthorised. There was another guy on the team who was forever putting "pubic space" on the water plans rather than "public space".

a colour proof to check alignment of plates

Moonee Ponds catchment

star circled

Children of the Revolution

 One thing about trying to ease up when you have a sore back is that there is more reading time. Sometimes you get a book that is a bit of a chore to get to the end. This was a whodunit where a body was found on page one and then the rest was a patient investigation which took to page 350 plus to name a killer. A little to patient for me. This is the interview style of thing. You start with someone nearby who mentions a name then you find that person who mentions another name. Before you know it we have gone back 40 yar and talked the talk to the same characters three times over. There were no butlers in this story but there was an accountant. They are always swifty to pull a shifty.

Beach Clean No 299

 The very last thing before leaving our hotel room last week was to weigh the bags. Using a hand held device to awkwardly lift a 20kg bag so it floats free is a tricky thing. After 10 days of activity I did not do it so well and gave my back a tweak that hurt. I have spent three days nursing it and to add to the mess my teeth started spiking up thru my head. This lasted 24 hours and the dentist said a nerve has died and that was the death throes you were feeling. He says he can try saving the tooth by taking the nerve out. In the meantime I have tested my back by picking up some beach junk.  The first item was a large frayed rope coil that half filled my bag.  There was another kindred bag man down there with two bags that he filled. This was good as I did not want to do that much bending. There was also a slab of pressed cabinet board but I left it there for another day. 

Cove Ride

 Last time we were around the Kewarra beach area a new bridge over the creek was being completed to link the bike track with Palm Cove. You can turn this into a 30km ride to Cairns all along bike paths however you have to get out from the beach and next to the highway to do it.  We tried looking for hire bikes in Cairns and the shop owner/mechanic there was negatively talking it down.  Worst bike theft rate in the country, the glass on that highway path is so bad, insurance is impossibly high for bike hiring yada yada. I got bikes in Palm Cove without a problem and wound our way to Trinity Beach right on the shoreline or thru forest most of the time. Last year I attached the gopro to the handle bars but the camera kept switching off.  I did it again with this ride and there was no problem. It may have been a heat issue back then but this time it was in the low 20s. 

Who goes first?

 The air temperature might be 24° but what about the water temperature and it looks dark in there, it's also  slippery, it's also rocky and all with bare feet.  My feet were a dappled pattern when I got back to the room later.  I was hoping for some more sooty grunters but nothing doing. Nevertheless once you got in it was a pleasant flow.  We had finished our egg and lettuce sandwiches so it was time to swim it off. PS we used eggs a bit in the evenings when a large lunch had been consumed, scrambled, poached and frittataed. No wonder we only went out for a cooked breakfast once. No more eggs for a month please.

Chores

 We made sure the house was exceptionally cleaned before we went away so we could come back and just put the feet up. We had no food so made a quick dash followed by another major supermarket haul.  The weather is brightly sunny and not a breeze so I have filled the line with washing from the last 10 days. Why bother trying to find Sun up North it you have it here by the thermometer full.  The lawns have gone jungle like. We may have had a clean house but the outside was left to itself. So an hours mowing effort turned into two as the Minister for Home Affairs suggested mowing the neighbours as well. They have been in and out of hospital she says, mowing their lawn would be good she says. Groan. I did have time to make a short clip of our turtle friends.