It’s my new toy – I call him Van.
He’s still in need of some modifications… although I think I’ll leave the exterior as plain white, so I can sneak around pretending to be a courier, until I open up the back, and people will be wildly amazed by the treasures within.
Well, an update of the Great Crunchie versus Violet Crumble Referendum is due. Currently there is a close scoreline of 8 – 7, with Crunchies in a narrow lead.
Extra points to consider Рthe Violet Crumble is an Australian product, made in Sydney by Nestl̩, whereas the Crunchie is a Cadbury product, also available in the UK, New Zealand and Canada. (Oh, and random facts Рthe slab of Crunchie honeycomb is cut up using a jet of oil Рusing water would make the honeycomb melt, using a knife would lead to shattering)
Vote here – the fate of the nation rests in your hands.
Australia Day was spent on the raft again, moored off Elwood Beach again. We sat in the sun and the wind, and watched the hoards on the beach, and the talented individuals on their jet boats, and then said goodbye to Sarah, who is off in America-land now, and soon to be in Vancouver, where she will be cold, and be able to buy lots of cheap gear.
On reconsidering the forecast on Friday night (and taking into account my sniffing nose), I came to the conclusion that the Grampians wasn’t the best place to be on the weekend – with a forecast of high winds, high temperatures, and lightning strikes, I decide I would spend my weekend somewhere that wasn’t a stinking hot bushfire breeding ground.
A wise move, with over 100,000 hectares now burnt in the Grampians area (no need to get started on the huge amounts of the rest of the state that are on fire), the campgrounds evacuated, roads into the national park closed, and Halls Gap and other towns under threat, as well as sections of the Western Highway being closed due to heavy smoke and poor visibility.
So instead I had a sedentary weekend, lazing around in houses with no air-conditioning, and seeking out water whenever I could, as the ‘mercury’ (as the newspapers insist on referring to it) reached over 40oC. On Sunday, we took to the sea at Elwood Beach, paddling our trusty craft a few hundred metres from shore and mooring ourselves at a buoy. We sat back, enjoyed our esky full of cool beverages, swam around, and enjoyed the view as the wind grew stronger, and the clouds grew darker. We were finally safe from the bushfires.
The forecast:
Saturday: Isolated showers and thunderstorms overnight, locally severe. Showers and storms re-developing during the late afternoon, mainly about the ranges. A hot and mainly sunny day with moderate northwesterly winds easing.
Fire danger: High to very high.
Min 21 Max 40
Sunday: Fine. Very hot ahead of a late change with areas of raised dust.
Min 22 Max 41
The plan:
To go climbing in the Grampians – I’m sure it will be lovely and cool in the shade, and the bushfires shouldn’t go anywhere near us. I might even have some sausages.