March 4th, We went to the Bateau Bay Bowling Club with Gwen and Neil (our neighbours) for Dinner and raffles. Gwen came away with 2 meat trays and Val won a leg of lamb, so a good night out for all of us.
March 10th, The fishing has been good, since last Friday I have caught 3 flathead, all between 40 – 42cm long, plus 2 bream, so considering that I don’t take the boat out on the week-ends ( leave that to all the visiting weekenders) I’m happy. We went to The Entrance Diggers Club tonight, with a large group from the Caravan Park, for dinner and raffles. The group collected a good share of the prizes and Val came home with a meat tray and a veggie tray.
March 17th, Another relaxing week, fishing, reading and generally doing very little. Val has started to knit a different style of scarf, which Joan’s daughter (Jacyln) will sell for her at the Markets, for $20 ea. Last weekend was the Country and Western weekend, which attracts huge crowds to the Entrance. We enjoyed the music, which we can hear in the Caravan Park from across the water, and on the Sunday went over to soak up the atmosphere and look at all the stalls in the Park. We went to the Diggers Club tonight with the Caravan Park Group, for raffles and dinner, and had another good night with Val coming home with a meat tray and a spaghetti bolognaise tray.
March 19th, The weather has been pretty poor, overcast and windy and today, when we had Steven and a group of his close Turkish friends and family coming for lunch, it decided to rain on our parade. Luckily, we had a few nice breaks in the rain and Val’s lunch of tempura battered flathead with her now famous Changs Noodle Salad and a green salad were enjoyed by all, with some nice wine, while I had a great beef snitzel. The meal was finished off with , Val’s also now famous, English style Trifle dressed with fresh cream and strawberries. I can feel the weight piling on and wont need to eat for a week. It was a great day and it was good to catch up with Nikos and his Mum, Jandan, and meet Ilkare’s now expectant wife, Lutfeya. Our guests left around 5pm and Steven stayed on till 8pm. Time does get away when you are having a good time.
March 22nd, The water was at least a foot higher today, following all the rain we have had. I went fishing in the morning and came in with a flathead and a flounder. I took Val out late afternoon to see if we could catch a few blue swimmer crabs but no luck.
March 23rd, I decided to try the North Channel today and see what I could catch. I took a fish head with me so I could drop a crab line while I was fishing. I was sitting quietly in the tinnie, fishing away, when suddenly there was a loud splashing/flapping noise behind me, I turned to find a Cormorant with my fish head in it’s beak, trying to fly off. I grabbed the paddle, stood up and was now beating the surface of the water to chase this annoying bird away. It worked, but anybody watching would have thought I had lost my marbles or worse. The only thing that saved the complete crabbing reel, line and fish head was that I had used a spring clamp to secure my line to the top edge of the boat. I came in for lunch wit a flathead and a great story about the “Cormorant’ THIEF. I was enjoying a nice fresh ham sandwich for lunch when, Crunch, I bit into a hard spot in the ham and broke a front tooth off, bugger! Not only did that spoil my homely good looks but I now had to find a local Dentist to fix the problem. I was thankful to get an appointment at Pacific Smiles at Erina fair tomorrow.
March 24th, Up early this morning and off to Erina Fair for my 9am appointment at the Dentist. No problem with the broken tooth, simply dress off the stump (nerve already removed) and add a new tooth to my existing plate. I decided to get 3 other front cleaned up to remove some stains around the old fillings. The quote for all this dental work was $780. No such thing as a cheap Dentist these days, especially as the HCF refund will be $354. My appointment is next Wednesday to do the 3 filling replacements and the 7th April for the denture work.
March 30th, The weather has been very ordinary, very windy, not great fishing weather all this week. Val has been busy planning a Lambs Fry Dinner for tonight. Our dinner guests are Gwen and Neil and Carole and Rob, all friends in the Park. It was a great meal, enjoyed by all and the night was finished off with a game of “Sequence” with Carole and Rob.
April 5th, The bad weather is still continuing. Sandra came down today, so we met at The Entrance Hotel for lunch and to catch up. It has been 12 months since we last caught up, so we have made tentative arrangements to see her again when we are at Coffs Harbour, at the end of May.
April 7th, Up early this morning to get to my 8.30am Dental appointment, at Erina Fair. Today I’m having an extra tooth added to my existing plate, so it’s only for impressions this morning and back at 4.40pm for a fitting. The teeth are now good and welcomed the delicious roast lamb dinner that Val put on in the Camp Kitchen to-night. Gwen , Neal, Carole and Rob joined us for dinner and we all had a great night.
April 8th, The weather hasn’t been suitable for taking the boat out for a fish, so late afternoon, I got the urge to throw a line in off the bank and try out my new fishing rod. Within 15minutes I had pulled in 3 flathead then the fish just stopped biting. Strange but True. After I filleted my catch and cleaned up, we went to the Bateau Bay Sports Club for raffles and dinner. We came home after Karaoke with 2 meat trays and shared it out among our group.
April 9th, Joan and Robert came down from Cardiff for the day, bringing our mail. After lunch we decided that the weather was slightly better, so Robert and myself set off in the tinny to try our luck. The fishing wasn’t great, no keepers and when we had a fish up the North Channel, the swell was bad and the boat bounced around badly, jolting the bolt loose from the anchor shackle and when I went to pull up the anchor, all I had was the rope in my hand and only one half of the shackle. Bugger, now I have to buy a new anchor. We introduced Joan and Robert to “Sequence” and they now like this new game as much as we do.
April 10th, Greg and Dianne brought Jessica and Annaliese up to spend the first week of their Holidays with us. This is a time we look forward to each year and the girls always have a great time.
April 11th, I took Jessica and Annaliese out for a fish in the boat, Annaliese caught the first fish (a small throwback bream) and Jessica reeled in a 41cm Flathead. I didn’t catch a keeper but enjoyed the company. Once again shown up by the Girls, why me?
April 13th, This was my revenge day, it was windy but I decided to go out fishing. The girls were busy playing with their friends and didn’t want to come out with me. That’s OK, I’m a big boy, so to my delight I was happy to show my catch on my return, 4 Flathead and 2 good sized Bream. My best ever fishing day, without a doubt.
April 16th, It rained all day yesterday and through the night. The only bad weather day since the girls arrived. The girls have had a great time on holidays with us, playing with their friends from 7am to dark, eating well, sleeping well, active all day, fishing, sand painting, air tattoos, kids bingo and lots more. When we had a break in the rain, I pulled the boat out of the water and put it up on the car, ready to leave in the morning for Sydney
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