Deepwater/Rules Beach

I hopped a train and headed North into Queensland. Thirty hours later I was at my next host property. Ray and Glen own a parcel of land in Baffle Creek. It's about a 15 minute drive from Rules Beach. Having been raised in Florida I am no stranger to beaches. Although I can say I have never experienced the awesome feeling I felt of seeing no one else's footprints (yep, those are my footie prints) on a completely unspoiled beach. No sign of man, no buildings, roads, lights, or sound. Just me and the Southern Pacific Ocean.

I have had quite a few chances here to explore and even do some fishing. Of course I have been working too. Lets start with the exploring and fishing. Ron took Glen and I out onto the river to do some night fishing as the tide turned. The sunset pictures I took just before we launched the boat. Our catch included 1 pike eel each. Nasty Buggas! Glen caught a grunter but he wasn't a keeper. Ron managed to be the fisherman of the night, being the skipper it was appropriate. He landed a few bream, catfish, and a huge "buck" mud crab and a "jenny"close to the same size. What did I catch besides a pike eel? Hmmmm... A Koala (yes into the trees), a log fish (yes an underwater tree), oh, and a bream too. One of Glen and Rays' other neighbors took me out to do a bit of deep sea fishing. His name is Glen too. We put the boat in at 1770 and went out about nine miles. This is the channel out, looking down from the cliff side. 1770 is to the left around the corner. The water to right side of the sand bar is Bustard Bay.

Straight out on to the horizon somewhere is where we actually went fishing. We were in about 120 feet of water. The catch for that day included 2 dolphin, 1 for the skipper(Glen) and 1 for Shawn another boat mate. We took a half dozen mackerel, 3 red emperor, and a huge sweet lip. My catch, no koala's (they were safe on the mainland), the sweet lip, 2 red emperors and a mackerel. I didn't get a chance to try the dolphin but the others were all extremely tasty. It was a beautiful day. The water was a deep blue and clear. The dolphin kept circling the boat in pairs of two. I think there were at least four at one time. The mackerel were snapping up the bait as soon as it was in the water. We kept seeing sea snakes popping up here and there to catch their breath. Glen actually caught one on his line once. Given that they are venomous we just cut the line on that guy. We also caught a few iodine bream. Apparently they get that name from they scent they have when cut into. Not good to eat!

On the way back in we were approached by a pod of Bottle Nose Dolphins. They gave us a pretty good escort back towards 1770. I think there were eight to ten of them total.

So now the work... I helped Glen build Apples' romp area.

Closed in a door to the pantry and used the opportunity to create a shadow box, per Ray and Glen's request. Glen said he didn't know how to hang gyprock and plaster. In hind-sight, I think he knew because he sure picked it up quickly.

He filled in the hole above the bathroom door and down each side. Oh and he was also responsible for the doorway itself. The wood hasn't been stained yet but its Beautiful! I wish I had some pictures of the shelves we built using the same type of "flitchers." Some of the other Jobs I helped Ray and Glen with included...Working with Ray clearing the Teak Paddock (Ray I never did get that photo of you on the tractor), organizing the shed/garage, feeding the creatures, doing some "feng shuiing and space maximizing, and watching Big Brother. Oh wait, that wasn't a job it was a requirement, and yes Glen I am now hooked.

" This is Big Brother, Glen and Ray to the Diary room. Glen and Ray, Big Brother wants you to stay in touch with Allen. If you fail You will be immediately sent to the punishment room. If you succeed You will gain entry into the rewards room. That is all." Ok enough silliness! I must say I don't enjoy it nearly as much without being able to discuss it with you guys.

After an injury or two I had the chance to be a bit creative. I took a few walks and gathered some of the grass tree blooms(old ones of course) This is the fruits of that effort. I hope the guys have stabilized it though. At this stage if you touched it they would spin out of position. It some what reminded me of working on the fountains in my pond. For those of you that know, well you know!

The Guys also plan on using the grass tree as an icon for their property. I took a piece of smoked glass and created a silhouette of one of the grass trees from the property using black paint. The photo isn't the best given the fact that the painting is on glass. I hope you can still appreciate it. If you look really close you can see me taking the photo.

Well I have already introduced you to Apples. Here are a few photos of my bed buddies(actually Little was the first, then Sharna, and close to my last night I had to ask Mac to make some room for me, as all three had taken up residence before I even made it to the bed)...

Almost daily we would let the turkeys, ducks, geese, and one very lucky rooster out for a pick , scratch and a stretch. This is Barley and Cinnamon obviously doing the stretch segment of their outing. I can't wait to return to Brokeback Ridge to visit all my new mates. I miss you guys!(and Gals)