Wildlife and Weather

Port Stephens and its surrounds really are beautiful. Port Stephens itself is a massive inlet, which seems to go for miles and miles, stretching in all directions. The water - even in the inlet - is a beautiful clear blue, and the sand is powdery and white. All the little beaches and bays which surround the port - both inside and out - are pretty, and most seem to be separated by rocky outcrops and steep hills. Just walking along them, you really do feel like an adventurer!

While walking yesterday, we came across a koala in the wild - not every day you see one of those! I reckon you must walk past heaps of them in the bush, but never realise that they're even there. This one was having a good munch on eucalyptus leaves, and it was perched on a branch not much thicker than my thumb - how it didn't break the branch I'll never know. They tell me there are a lot of koalas in this area - unsurprising, since most of the forest here is untouched (and is indeed national park) so it gives them a good space to live. Thinking of this, it makes me sad - sometimes, I feel like we humans are insatiable invaders that just don't care about anyone or anything other than ourselves. Sigh.

We had a big thunderstorm about 2am this morning - it was VERY loud, and the rain really did bucket down for an hour or so, but then abated to a drizzle - which has endured until now. It's been thundering in the distance again for the last couple of hours, but nothing like last night. We are nice and safe and dry, but still, rain is a bit of a downer while in a caravan. We were worried about Grace last night becase of the racket, but when I checked on her, she was fast asleep, holding her pillow over her ears.

I bought a new mobile phone the other day since my old one had just about died - its clock was losing time, and about 4 times a day it supposedly couldn't find the SIM card - very annoying and inconvenient. I took the opportunity to change carriers, to hopefully get better signal while travelling, and also so that Anna and I had different carriers (so we have mobile signal between us more often). I got me an LG flip phone, which I'm pretty happy with. It took Grace approximately 30 seconds to work it out - no exaggeration - despite never having seen a flip phone before. She now happily grabs the phone, flips it open (with a LOT more ease than I do, her fingers are smaller and less clumsy), turns it right way up, presses half a dozen or so random buttons, then holds it up to her ear, and babbles into the microphone, having an imaginary conversation with someone. Who said kids were silly??