"Is that rain?" Kev asks. "No. I think that it is sand blowing against the tent", I reply. I zip open the tent and sure enough I feel sprinkles, and the sky is dark. "I think that we should make a move. The sky is dark and it does not look promising. It would be a good idea to pack up now before everything becomes soaked!"!" I boast! We barely get everything packed up before the skies unload. Lucky, lucky! A confused rouge roo bounding through the park almost bounded into us, then into a car parked just up the hill, it was excitingly crazy to watch! Free of all the obstacles in his way he paused as if to say "Phew! Just missed you guys!", then continued on.
Accelerating onto the coast road I find myself inhaling large deep breaths… the coast smells beautifully clean and crisp with this morning shower. As we travel closer towards Coral Bay the rain has subsided but now the winds are picking up. Bonus my riding gear has been freshly washed, and now will be dried. "Woo Hoo", Kev radio's me. "Did you feel that?". "Crazy!", I reply. Mother Natures breath is picking up! Now completely dried out we slow our speed down to handle the surprising swift blustery criss cross gusts that are literally pushing us across the road into the other lane! I look ahead at Kev, he is riding like a hunchback angling his bike 10 to 15% and leaning into the wind. I watch him for angle changes, anticipating those nasty gusts. I breathe a sigh of relief as we pull into our next camping location. That was hard work! I am glad that we only traveled 150 k's.
"I have a nice little patch of grass next to the camp kitchen that would be perfect for you", offered the friendly weathered camp site lady. "You have Grass?", I queried pleasingly "Not only Grass, but our showers are freshwater, the only ones in the area!", she proudly boasted! Wow!, we have not camped on grass since Ularoo! "SOLD!" We putt our way 8km/hr way to the back of the caravan park, and sure enough there is this lovely patch of grass being freshly sprinklered…great! We park the bikes, turn off the sprinklers and park ourselves in the camp kitchen out of the crazy winds that have started to give me a headache. We will give the grass a couple of hours to dry before we set up camp. I cannot believe this wind. The waves are pounding, crashing over the reef, it is definitely beautiful to watch but a shame that we cannot be enjoying this spectacular marine paradise just north of the Tropic of Capricorn. Boat charters and dives have been cancelled for the day with a high chance of the same outcome tomorrow. I decide to focus my energy on laundry and cooking! Our clothes will dry in a nano second, that's a bonus, and there is a great selection of fresh meat and veg at the camp store that I can peruse through. I start a load of laundry then head on over to the store. I feel like making butter chicken! They have have fresh cilantro/coriander for the Aussies, tomatoes, capsicums/ bell peppers for the Yankies, yoghurt, cucumber, red onions, spices, brown rice and chicken…boy, I'm having too much fun! I return to the camp kitchen with a box of goodies, lay it all out, pour a glass of wine and begin to chop. My wound up wind tension begins to ease as I finish my first glass of wine…I pour another and I find my eyes watching this lady walking towards the kitchen. "Oh my God, Oh my God…I know you! I can't believe it Heather and Don!" I call out running over to them! "Cathryn!" Heather surprisingly calls out. "Fancy that, I thought that you were not coming down the west coast. We had not seen you in Darwin and figured that we would not see you moving on!", Heather states. Now Heather and my mother proudly attended Footscray Girls School together. I referred to them as Aunty Heather and Uncle Don in my childhood years. A terrific fancy chance meeting that kept us up chatting for much of the night. You never know who you can meet on the road!?