Day 7 Point Samson- Rest Day

Lovely day at The Cove caravan park which again started at 0700 hours even though they had nowhere to ride to today. Everybody was excited about a day off and Melanie & Jacqui and Fliss & Carmen headed off snorkelling first thing. Collis & I, Anna & Alf and Sheila took a group to Cossack to check out the ghost town and it was well worth the visit. Gayle & Norm went fishing and were supposed to catch enough fish to feed the lot of us tonight-we were planning a fish BBQ but the fish shop closed down.

We were not confident in their fishing skills so decided to buy meat for the BBQ tonight. The shopping centre had bars on their windows but the service at the Woolworths was the best service I have ever experienced at a supermarket.

Everyone went for a swim down at Honeymoon cove and Martin ended up with a Irakanji sting which was well treated with vinegar. Gayle, Roger, Theo & John went to Wickham for lunch but nothing was open & when they asked where the nearest restaurant was they were directed back to Point Samson. The boys then had to drag Gayle out of the supermarket so they could get some lunch.

I spent most of the afternoon preparing salads and meat for the evening BBQ while Gayle made a cake in a microwave with apricots & fruit salad with a jam topping. Jacqui with Melanie’s assistance made a huge coleslaw & Pat & Lorraine made a potato salad- so I’m sure we had plenty of supplies for this meal.

During the afternoon we got the sad news that a very dear friend of ours died in the early hours of the morning over in Texas. This really upset Collis & I and we decided to devote the next days ride to Scrub Hawley. We met Scrub in 2002 when he and his wife Kaia arrived at our front door in Cheltenham Victoria and Scrub was wearing a 10 gallon hat that was taller than him. Scrub, at 71, was here to ride from Melbourne to Perth on our very first ride and Kaia was supposed to be in France with some girlfriends but plans were changed & she was Collis’ helper. Scrub brought me a present of a rattle snake tail that he had caught himself. Scrub didn’t finish the ride because he was blown off his bike by a truck that got a little too close & he ended up with a couple of broken ribs. Scrub had always wanted to get back to do one of the rides but it was never meant to be. He died of cancer at the age of 79. He was a short man but had a huge heart and will be sadly missed by so many people.

Scrub Hawley- we will miss you always. Thank you for your friendship.

The BBQ dinner was enjoyed by everyone and plenty of food was had by all with quite a bit left over. Everyone headed off to bed early except the usual late stayers. 

So many beautiful sunsets!

So much meat!

Rob sewed a cover for Collis' sign out of a towel he found on the side of the road.

Dinner at the local diner (the previous night).

We had trouble with hermit crabs in the camp last night so I thought I would do a survey of them again tonight. There were a huge number of crabs hanging around Anna’s & Gayle’s tents & it was very tempting to put some on top of the tents but I thought better of it. Apparently I didn’t need to as Gayle reckons she could hear them serenading her most of the night. 

 Hermit crabs.