A Western Australian saga.

[drron]

So to the menu.
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The house of the woman whose idea this was.
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Music and song was on hand..

 

[drron]

Correction to the fish in that tub: they are baldchin groper.

They do look like it but they were definitely pink and Jay was calling them snapper.
Probably just a poor photographer.

 

[JohnM]

They do look like it but they were definitely pink and Jay was calling them snapper.
Probably just a poor photographer.

Nothing wrong with the photographer; something amiss with Jay.

Baldchin groper

www.fish.wa.gov.au

Pink snapper

www.fish.wa.gov.au

 

[drron]

Of course it may be the few wines I have had.Will wait to see the next days catch.I can't remember 2 days of bald chin groper though.

But back to the lunch.The entrees.The ceviche was fantastic.the sea grapes were a great addition.The crayfish was well crayfish.
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I snuck in a beer as well as the wines.
The Kitchen crew.Guy Jeffreys produced an amazing octopus juice on this-
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[drron]

More music.
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Then the main course.A little too spicy for mrsdrron.
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Then the chefs had their say.
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[drron]

Now to dessert.I was waiting for the seaweed meringue.But it tasted just like meringue.
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And again what this meal was prepared on.
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And time to take it a bit easy.
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The flow chart for the meal.
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And the heritage listed loo.
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Though it is no longer in use.
We went around and met the staff and gave our thanks.
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And time to say goodbye.
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Really glad we went.I enjoyed the day and the food.Though felt really full and had obviously imbibed a little too much.They just kept filling my glass!

 

[drron]

The light was amazing leading up to sunset.
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[drron]

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[drron]

The last of the sunset.
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I must admit I have no recollection of dinner that night.I know we went but only picked at it
But breakfast was really good with the eggs Benedict pretty good.
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And only then saw the day's activities.

 

[JohnM]

Though felt really full and had obviously imbibed a little too much.They just kept filling my glass!

I'm looking forward to doing that sort of thing with you one day... Maybe not good for the physical health, but awesome for the soul.

I'm looking at a trip to Qld in May 2022. I have some Intrepid & Peregrine credits to use, which I can combine. I want to knock them off and a trip up the coast of Qld is about the only thing in Australia and NZ that appeals. Phoning Intrepid tomorrow.

 

[drron]

Not sure what we will be doing in May2022 though I will be fully retired by then.Could do with some help downing a few old bottles of red!

Now for Day 4 and a start at Pelsaert Island.
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With the obligatory sea lion.and osprey.
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Another island where residents have been moved off but still reminders of the past.Apparently massive erosion of the beach front after the cyclone.lots of objects appearing.One woman picked up a piece of pottery with a design that certainly could have been old Dutch.But I have pictures of more substantial things such as a block of concrete and the site of an old jetty.
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A couple of impressive vessels.
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[drron]

The beach here is just millions of little shells.
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Shearwater (mutton bird) burrows everywhere.
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Then a nice display of several different sea birds though mostly 3 species of tern.
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Most of the terns took off leaving just a few brave birds.
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[drron]

At the narrowest point of the island is a boardwalk you can use to cross to the othere side.Not allowed anywhere else apart from this and the shor and a couple of very short wal;ks.The whole place is covered by shearwater burrows.
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[drron]

On the ocean shore the "beach"is very different and mainly broken coral.
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The water is so clear.
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At this end of the island is a rock jetty which was used when the guano miners were here.Tramways brought the guano here to be loaded on to ships and directly exported.Some took a swim here.I did a little more exploring.
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This construction was courtesy of the guano miners.
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[drron]

The last of Pelsaert island.
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Rather than swim I followed the tracks to the highest part of the island.It is the highest part of the island as it is the guano stockpile which was left behind.
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Fittingly there was a shearwater burrow in this pile of bird droppings.
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And finally saw some pigface on the islands.
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[drron]

Back on board and the crew were putting together all the fish frames,heads and scrap pieces for the pots.
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And then lunch.Mrsdrron went for the crayfish and salad while I had the Indian curries and fish.
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[drron]

After lunch it was another snorkel off Post Office Island.Entry from the teders.As I feared I was pretty hopeless getting back in the boat but that's life/Wonderful coral and fish.The non snorkellers could have a glass bottom boat ride.
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Then we had a visit toBasile Island for an interesting chat with an old timer.The island from above.
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And the drone photos from 2 days ago.Big rat island and Little Rat island.
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But now onto Bastile island.Still home to a few cray fishers but pearls ans seaweed farming now also being carried out here.
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[drron]

More of Basile Island.
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We all wondered what these were.
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They are sea lion blinds you put up if leaving your home so that a sea lion doesn't decide to take over ownership of your home.
They were outside the home of a long time resident Peter Armstrong.Still catches crays but now also farms sea weed.A real character.His wife has an artistic bent as have a couple of his deck hands.
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[drron]

This is a pearl farm set up.The jewellers in Town whose shop I showed..

As luck would have it as we passed the pearl seeder arrived.
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The church with the sun going down beshind it.Built by the residents of the Island.
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Now the crew member had the right idea and took the photo from the side.
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Italian brothers run this coffee shop.Said to be very good but they have already caught their quota of crays so back on the mainland.
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Old equipment everywhere.
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[drron]

At one end of the Island a natural bonsai garden.
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And I wonder what this is for.
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Back to the boat and some fish wings for snacks at the sunset drinks.
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