The purpose of this short prelude to my camping trip with my cycling club was relaxation. All I did all day was a brief trip into Cooroy for some shopping for dinner. I spent the rest of Wednesday reading and resting in the shade. The weather was hot and humid so I didn't need any excuse to do nothing. I actually climbed up on to my bed and had a snooze.
About 5.30pm my new friends took up residence in the barbecue hut and asked me to join them for predinner drinks. I have reduced my alcohol consumption recently as there is some evidence that it can aggravate permanent AF so I drank diet coke. The previous night I had shared their potato bake with my steak which was cooked for me by Jeff. His wife, Sue, and a single lady, Wendy, had cooked up the potato bake. After dinner Jeff had done the washing up. As dinner time approached Jeff fired up the barbecue and asked me what I wanted cooked. I protested that it was my turn but Sue and Wendy said that Jeff was in charge of the barbecue. I had a piece of local white fish which I had marinated in lemon juice and wrapped in foil for cooking on the barbecue. Jeff took charge of it and it was returned beautifully cooked 20 minutes later. I persuaded them to share in my coleslaw and potato salad I had purchased earlier and I had a couple of glasses of white wine with dinner.
After dinner Jeff washed up as Sue said that it was his job. Now Jeff is no shrinking violet. He is an over six foot tall Maori who until recently played rugby league and underwater polo. He had a beautiful calm disposition.
We chatted until about 10.00pm. I found out that they all came from Hervey bay a couple of hundred kilometres north of Noosa. Sue and Jeff traveled a lot in their big caravan. He worked as required as a carpenter and they both took on house sitting all around Australia. Wendy had been married but she had just retired, bought herself a huge four wheel drive utility with a tray top on which she had a slide on camper. They were all good friends and this was a farewell trip for Wendy as she intended to travel around Australia for the next few years. Next day she was parking her ute at the airport before flying to Sydney for a few days to attend her daughter's wedding. On the 5 Feb she will return and continue her travels.
It had been a relaxing and interesting day but severe storms had been forecast overnight so we made sure there were no loose things about to blow away before going to bed.
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