M.I.A.

Or - Moruya In Autumn!

An enjoyable (nearly) two weeks spent on the outskirts of beautiful Moruya at The Deckie's eldest sister's property.  It was only going to be a social visit (and to stay off the roads over Easter) but we managed to do a little bit of gardening and cleaning up as well.  At least it was one way to keep fit and to certainly make us sleep of a night time!

We also managed to get in a couple of days "fishing".  The first day was on the Moruya River - lots of little fishies that literally sucked the bait off the hook as their teeth were not very big.  Obviously it is a case of the decent sized fish not having worked their way back up the river after the recent heavy rains!

Definitely not big enough!

Our next "fishing" expedition was on the Tuross River - about twenty klms south of Moruya.  Once more, a very nice day on the water.  We travelled as far up the river as we could before the river narrowed considerably and a slight misjudgement (by The Captain) ran us aground on a submerged log.  Fortunately, the motor was undamaged and aluminium boats are reasonably easy to slip off sharp, pointy things with a little bit of encouragement.

After our small hiccup, we stopped on a nearby river bank for lunch and a refreshing, very quick dip in the water.  At least in this part of the country we can do this and not have to worry about crocodiles and other big bities lying in wait.

Lunch Spot on the Tuross River

After lunch, we headed back down the river, tried our hands a lure fishing and even managed to catch a fish.  If it had been just a little bit older (and longer) he would have made a beautiful meal.

Not Happy!

After the jewellery was removed from its mouth, our little flattie was returned to the water and told to grow up!  Not long after this, the wind started whistling up the lake and river so we decided to call it a day and head back home.

This was a good thing as The Deckie had to rest up for a big shopping day the next day.

On Monday morning, The Deckie and The Eldest Sister headed into Mogo to check out a few shops.  A very busy little place but most enjoyable - especially the secondhand bookshops and coffee/fudge shop.  It was a shame that the two house dogs (belonging to The Eldest Sister) managed to eat most of the fudge that we had inadvertently left on the dining room table that night.

Wednesday and it was time for Team Turtle to pack up and move on.  We had to put The New Boat onto the top of the trailer and also The Rav into its travelling position.  The Team didn't leave Moruya until after lunch and our first challenge was going to be the climb up Clyde Mountain.  

Clyde Mountain has a very steep gradient (in parts) and The Deckie was under the impression that The Captain had travelled this road on at least one previous occasion so that he knew what to expect.  It was not until we had reached the summit that The Deckie found out that this was The Captain's first time ever!  Wow, one has to admire The Captain's skills!!

Just west of Braidwood, Team Turtle came across a camping reserve on the banks of the Shoalhaven River where we set up camp for the evening.

Upper Reaches of the Shoalhaven River

Another lovely spot, but once the sun went to bed, the temperature started to drop and kept dropping.  As there was no 240v power and no generator to produce any 240v power, we were unable to turn the heater on and had to go to bed earlier than normal just to generate our own heat and stay warm!!

Today, Thursday, we headed further inland and northish.  Another challenge was now before us - getting through Canberra.  Well, as it turned out it wasn't even a hiccup and we literally sailed through the CBD with barely a cross word between The Driver and The Navigator and no wrong turns.  What is the world coming to?

Team Turtle is now safely ensconced in Canowindra where, over the next week, some of us will be checking out their Balloon Festival and maybe even taking a balloon flight.  Now, won't that be something to talk about?