Gismo Queen and her King

Flinders Island Friday 15 October 2021

It’s Show Day! How awesome was it to awaken slowly to the sounds of waves, and roll over to look down at the beach and the sea! The sun was shining so all boded well for the annual Flinders Island Show. We enjoyed a cuppa in bed before eggs and bacon for breakfast whilst watching the tide go out. We were on the road by 11am, not seeing many cars we had to wave to but I guess they were all at the Show. The Show’s COVID plan had crowds capped at 999 or else they would have needed masks so it did make us wonder what happened to the other 87 people who live on the Island! No sooner had we driven in the gates when I saw the first person I knew - which really went to highlight thst there were more non-locals at the Show than locals. Liz (a local, but I know her from the events scene in Launceston) was a little surprised to see me so we had a great chat. We eventually parked the car and headed in. As we traversed the showgrounds, we ran into Nicole who used to work for me, Tas who sold us our tractor, Naomi and Michael (the parents of our fellow passengers from yestreday - apparently we are quite obvious with my pink hair and Greg’s cane!!!), then Jennifer, Des and Gabe from yesterday, Janie (MP), Jeffrey from Elders, Jeremy from Gallagher, staff from the business Greg’s cousin’s husband runs, Michelle and Ross (MPs), then one of the guys at the brand new Mens Shed is the brother of one of our neighbours.....it was hilarious that we knew so many people in a place I have never been and where it's been more than 20 years since Greg was here!! All of the food vendors kept selling out of food so we were getting pretty hungry. We checked out the new Men's Shed as research for the proposed Lilydale Shed and were very impressed. Eventually after finding something to eat while watching the beer skulling competition, we decided to head home. In true Island fashion, I had to give way to an echidna crossing the road halfway up the dirt. Home in the sunshine, I decided to explore westwards along the beach today. This required some rock clambering and bush bashing as I told myself I would just get around the next point, then the next one, then the next one! It was quite magnificent, with great rocks, another echidna and finally to look out over North Pasco Island. I just kept taking photos as it was all so stunning. On my way back, I nearly tripped over a wombat. Both he and I got equally big frights. He ambled off towards his burrow while my heart rate slowed to normal. Slow cooked pork belly for dinner tonight as we lit the fire again for a cozy night in listening to the waves crash.

posted by Tracey @ 8:43 pm