Monday 13th January, 2025
It was feeling so lovely to be here at Cosy Corner that we have pretty much decided that we will stay here for the rest of our time in Albany. That means we have three more nights here and I need to pay at the ticket machine.
In view of this, we took advantage of Site No. 1 coming up and have moved into this spot. This meant a bit of packing up, but not too seriously as I drove slowly to the new site. This site has more shade and is a little closer to the beach.
There was a little light rain overnight and into the morning, but it cleared by late morning and it was sunny for the rest of the day. We didn’t do much, beyond enjoying our new site. At about 5.00 we went down to the beach and walked about 1km to a relatively sheltered spot where we’ve swum before. The water is shallow and there is a rocky island a little way from shore that seems to protect the area. A short while after we arrived a mother and child arrived, with the child going immediately into the water. When she was joined by another child they swam out to a rock and played around there, jumping into the waves and obviously having fun. They were still out there when we left.
The children helped to make us feel even more safe, given that we stayed fairly close to shore. We really enjoyed the swim and later sat for a while on a bench overlooking the swimming area.
Then home to snacks and a little left over wine. We had leftovers for tea, an easy option. I had fried eggs and bread to go with our salads for lunch.
To stay here longer we will fill up our water tank, get some more drinking water, and do some shopping. As we are meeting friends for lunch nearby on Tuesday, which means driving out, it will suit us to continue into Albany to stock up.
Tuesday 14th January, 2025
We had quite a storm overnight. I closed some windows and brought the hatch down a notch (which meant bringing the Starlink in as well, I was worried about water dripping down the cord). That was after the storm had been going for a while, so probably too late, but I felt better.
Wednesday 15th January, 2025
We joined some friends at The Old Dairy Café in Torbay yesterday for lunch. It is in a beautiful location on the top of the hill. The day was almost chilly and there was a mesh protecting us from the wind for most of our time there. When they finally opened it up we could really appreciate the views. We had a lovely time catching up.
Afterwards we drove into Albany to dump our toilet and fill up on water. Deciding to have three extra nights here meant that we really had to stock up a bit. The potable water tap next to the dump point, which we have always used, had a sign underneath ‘not for personal use’, which was very odd as it wasn’t clear that it wasn’t potable anymore.
We rang the visitor centre who rang the council on our behalf. They confirmed that it was no longer suitable for drinking and that we should use the tap at the Rose Garden. That has a sign saying ‘for camping’. It’s close to the IGA and I did some shopping whilst Stephen filled our tank and water bottles.
It was still cloudy and a bit cold when we got back and we took it as a sign to have a quiet evening in. We did go down to the beach for a short while after sunset.
This morning (Wednesday) we took a walk down to the beach to practice flying the drone. I’ve done it quite a few times, but always have such a gap between flights that I forget. I really need to watch a tutorial before we go out. Stephen stood and provided shade so that I could see the controller screen whilst flying. It felt moderately successful, though I came home and watched a couple of tutorials.
We have a small drone which would not cope well with wind, but luckily there was only a slight breeze which didn’t cause any problems. I do need to be prepared for flying as everything needs charging beforehand and there are often firmware updates. They take quite a while on our Starlink internet as although the download speeds are very good, the upload is relatively slow.
Stephen made us cheese sandwiches for lunch, our normal lunch. I bought a chocolate flavoured coffee yesterday and Stephen liked the smell of it, so we are having it for afternoon tea with a shared Melting Moment.
The Number 1 site that we have moved to has good afternoon shade, which makes it very comfortable to sit and do our ‘work’. I mean reading, studying astronomy, watching tutorials and answering Starlink queries on Facebook.
Thursday January 16, 2025
We went down for a swim last night at about 5.00 p.m. The conditions seemed slightly different to last time, with waves coming from different angles. It was a short swim, more of a dip, then we sat on the bench for a while whilst I flew the drone again, just to keep in practice.
This morning we did some chores (handwashing clothes, emptying the grey water and the toilet cassette. We had quite a cold night, but this morning is pleasant, sunny with a cool breeze.
