No coastal holiday is complete without a spot of fishing….and today was our day to spend wetting the line. Due to limited space in the car, we had not brought our own rods and tackle, though fortunately the boys had a few rods and were able to bring them along and share with the girls. The spot to try was decided…Hindmarsh River, not far from the mouth where it meets the sea. This section offers the potential to catch bream, as even though it is a creek, the salt water mixes with the freshwater from the creek for several hundred metres, giving the fish the ability to survive in the river.
Today however, either the fish were not hungry, or not there…as no one got any good bites. Dave decided to head out to another favoured spot…the Bluff. As the name suggests, a small headland that provides a relatively sheltered side where the locals have managed to have a dirt track carved into the side of the cliff and an old wooden platform built out over the rocks from where they can cast a line, sit back and chat and eat their homemade cakes and sip their coffee. While the kids and Dave tried their luck again, without success, we were treated to the sight that I haven’t witnessed before….a squid being caught. The photo I took is a little deceptive, though with Jamie’s size 11 shoe to give some perspective, I would say the squid was about 15 or so inches long. As it came out of the water it was the orange-ish colour of the seaweed it had been in, when it was laid out on the timber decking it changed to more of a brown….but when the fisherman broke it’s neck, it immediately went white, almost clear….our modern technologies are very clever, but I don’t think we come even slightly close to thinking up as many wondrous things as Mother Nature…
This is Jamie, Jasmine, John and Andrew’s last night in Goolwa…so they came over so we could all spend a little extra time together. Food, whilst being essential to life is one of those activities that help people to relax and feel comfortable…I love food in general, with a few minor expectations (brussel sprouts and liver…eewww) but there are some foods that are widely renowned as being comfort foods…one of these is spaghetti bolognaise. A big bowl of pasta with a tomato based meat sauce, topped with grated cheese (preferably parmesan but we didn’t have any) and a crusty garlic bread on the side…I enjoyed cooking it and eating it.
Sitting back after a meal, with a glass of wine in hand, the stories start to flow. Jamie has a particularly good memory, recollecting stories of his and Dave’s adventures as children. Now, whether they are based on fact or not, they are entertaining…I think the stories may tend to grow a little with age, though hearing about the time they spent at their Nanna and Poppa’s farm at Panton Hill, eating fruit off the trees and Nanna’s apple pies, fishing in the dam’s, riding bikes and climbing trees…I am sure there are still places like that which give kids the opportunity to experience life’s simple pleasures, however with our lives getting more fast paced and compact, it is sad to think that those were the good old days which may never be repeated…except in stories…