Mallacoota Day 3. Coastal Walk with dolphins and glossy blacks

We woke to another perfect morning although a heavy pall of smoke again lay over the town and estuary. There is burning off in progress around the area and as well many campers have fires in the evenings.
The men made a decision to fish from lunch time today, after a long day on the water yesterday, although John was ready to go by 11.30. I couldn’t persuade Judy to walk early with me before it got too hot, so I chose to do the return walk along bush tracks from the township to Davis’ beach, approximately 5kms return from the well signposted track head which is a few hundred meters back along Genoa road from the shops. It is part of the newly completed Mallacoota Coastal Walk and meanders through bush and coastal heath landscapes.
When the tide is low this can be done as a circuit, returning along the beach to Bastion Point, however I wasn’t in luck when I arrived at the beach as the water was too high. It is one of my favourite walks around here, partly shaded by trees, and there are a few gentle short undulations and boardwalk ‘bridges’ for a bit of variety. Sometimes there is a huge goanna on the track and lots of birdlife. Today I heard the ‘cracking’ noises of glossy (red tailed) black cockatoos feeding and looked up to find a pair just above the track. They were still there on my return. At the beach lookout, there were four dolphins frolicking in the calm blue waters as they made their way west along the coast. There are always some wildflowers in bloom although Autumn isn’t the best time for these.
I returned in time for a mid- morning coffee with Judy and then we strolled to the well-stocked IGA Supermarket to collect a few provisions before going back to the van. Before I knew it the morning had disappeared and I hadn’t managed to get any of the ‘household’ chores completed! Obviously my priorities are in the correct order…the mundane can wait while the great outdoors and friends are to be enjoyed!
John and Darrel headed out in the boat after the usual entertaining episode of Darrel donning his waders, and I was there to farewell them.

We didn’t see them before dusk again so had an afternoon to read, relax and watch the world pass by. I am really starting to enjoy a novel about Henry VIII titled ‘Wolf Hall’ by Hilary Mantell which won the Booker prize a few years ago and is one of the 20 books I bought from Amazon recently for our kindles. It took some time to get into but I am glad I persisted now.
Judy and I spent some time together too as within a few days we will be going our separate ways until Spring. She is also able to make me coffee using her Nespresso machine and my coffee pods. Late afternoon I took our prepared meal up the hill to her van and when the men returned after dark (with more fish), we reheated it and ate together. It was a much cooler evening with a chilly breeze but we sat around and the men discussed their days fishing and solved the problems of the world and we talked about tomorrows plans. Of course there was the usual banter about who had caught the most and the biggest fish…
There is one drawback about our site. It appears to be under a flight path for some of the huge numbers of fruit bats so we have noticed what looks like their droppings on our awning…..hopefully it will not cause too much damage before we can drop it and clean it off on the day before we leave. A day yet to be decided.
Our solar and batteries appear to be working well, showing full before lunch time each day and I am able to use and charge my laptop, the wifi and phone whenever necessary, as well as run water pump, lights, radio and TV as much as we want. It is what we thought would happen as we had the same set up in our previous van and were pretty much able to stay as long as we wanted in one place so long as there was access to water and gas. It is reassuring to know that it’s all working well before we head to more remote places though.