Mallacoota Move pt 2

We spent a bit of Sunday 3 February visiting our house and deciding where we were going to put things.  This would - or at least should make the work of the removalists on Monday 4th efficient.

We noted that inside the house was quite cool - at least compared to any part of Mallacoota not fully exposed to the ocean.  It was 34^o C for most of the day.

On Monday we had time to do our usual walk from the big fishing jetty into the centre of the town.  A highlight of this was seeing our Swamp Rat again.

He scampered off as usual when he saw us but paused at his smeuse.  This is an English dialect noun for “the gap in the base of a hedge made by the regular passage of a small animal” vide this article by Robert MacFarlane following on from his book on the language of Landscapes.

Towards the end of the walk I liked this White-faced Heron, preening and showing off its breeding plumage.

 Also preening were a Great Egret and two Little Pied Cormorants.

The guys from Chess showed up on time and had basically taken 4:30 hours to get here from Queanbeyan: that is not much slower than we do in the Pajero.

 They were very efficient in their work, and very personable and helpful.  By 1330hours the truck was unloaded and they were heading back to Canberra (as the senior guy had to be in Newcastle the next afternoon!  As he's worked for Chess for 13 years he must like his job.

It was again pretty hot, with the BoM station getting up to 31^o C before the sea breeze cut in.  I have been asked for the view from the deck.  Here is the first of many photos of this.

This zoomed image is looking slightly to the left (West) of that and the road is Karbeethong Avenue.  The yellow arrow points to our friend's house.

The wildlife highlight of the day was a pretty large Goanna walking in the paddock just behind our house.  It had bolted by the time I got back with the camera

We were knackered by 1345 so went home, calling in at the bakery for a pie.  But they didn't have any - nor did anyone come out to serve me.  Taken with their decision to close on Saturdays and Sundays I think they must be trying to build a case to shut the operation which would be a great shame as it used to be an excellent place!

A couple of other bits of business acumen were evident:

• On going to the Post Office to reserve a PO Box I was told I could go on a waiting list - about 10 people long and it could take a year for one to become available.  After a bit of back and forth - with a little grumpiness on my part - it emerged I could use Post Restante, Mallacoota 3892 and they'd keep mail for 30 days and parcels for 14 days.  I suggested this could have come up earlier in the discussion!
• The Home Hardware store had only one mower of some brand I had never heard of.  I said the website showed lots of well known brands available on line which could be delivered to the store, but I wanted to see a couple of them before I ordered.  The lady didn't realise they - now part of the Mitre 10 operation - were part of that process.  She didn't seem unduly upset that I was going to Pambula, or at least Eden, to inspect mowers.

The evening is turning to be quite warm ~25^o C and very humid.  Around 2000 hours it was starting to rain and the radar suggests a fair serve is coming.