39TDS

My Cooey, (my Dad's) was a proper poachers gun. It completely disassembled itself and ejected the spent cartridge after every shot, if it managed to go off at all.

I was talking to a friend today about his 11 year old daughter and how worried he was about the fact she had now found Youtube. How bizarre that by that age I already had a shotgun, an air rifle and various knives and it was considered perfectly normal for me to be off out for as long as I liked with them and no real boundaries of where I went with them (within reason).

Mission Beach (Qld) has had 510mm of rain in 3 hours. It's difficult to even imagine that much rain, for comparison most of UK would expect something like 1100mm/year.

Went to Bangkok once for a few days on the way home from Oz. What an eyeopener that was! Absolutely lovely people but a very different world to what I am accustomed to.

I am very envious of the sea fishing in NZ, nice fish. 👍

Townsville has had over 500mm of rain (20") in the last 24 hours. We will need a boat not a camper! Plenty of fishing spots I guess as long as you miss the crocs.

Big slice of honey glazed belly pork, steamed leeks with Shropshire blue sauce plus a few leftover beans. All washed down by my own made oak matured cider. Absolutely delicious and total cost under £3.50. The beans seem a bit of an odd inclusion but they added a surprising amount to the meal.

The police tend to believe the first one that calls them, especially in these situations. Try to make sure it is you or you get the bother not the landlord.

Probably spend as much time in the tackle shops as actually fishing! My favourite rod was bought in Australia, it is a Shakespeare travel spinning rod. Cheap as chips, lovely thing to use and capable of a very wide range of fish weights and techniques. Can't get that particular model here which is a shame as I would think they'd be very popular. Yes I do take a rod and have done quite a bit of beach fishing but have always put back what I caught. I don't recall ever catching anything I fancied eating is the main reason for that. Have done some freshwater fishing there and caught Sleepy Cod out of creeks, they made nice eating. My son was living and working over there and I actually flew out so we could go fishing for the weekend. Spent the weekend camped up in the dunes and fishing off Rainbow Beach. Folks said I was mad but absolutely no regrets. A friend of mine went fishing is some carp lake down Essex the same weekend, I reckoned he would likely have had a £1000 rod and it cost him £20 to get there. I had a £20 rod and it cost me £1000 to get there, I had the best deal. I've been to Esperance, it was a long drive from Hyden and when we got there the beach was shut. Didn't stay long. From there we went to the Valley of the Giants amongst other places. The tingle trees are something else. Bridgetown is just along there somewhere, massive bridge over the river all made from timber. Right down on the bottom left corner there is a wooden water wheel on the beach, now so encased in limescale you would think it made entirely of stone. A truly fascinating country and for the most part no people to be seen.

Thank you. We have been quite a few times now, done from above Cairns clockwise to just above Perth over several trips. An incredible country, impossible to convey just how big it is. We just hire a camper, get out of the city as quick as possible and then just wander about as we please. Proper holiday.

Top right hand side of Australia next month in a campervan. 30° day, 20° night. Gone all posh this time and van has AC. 😎

Plate size is all in the mind, I like the limit it imposes on portion size and it feels like I have had a massive meal. (I can always have a refill ) There was some other garlic in there but I actually like the elephant garlic cooked whole and eaten like a veg. They were in with the lamb and cooked well but yes, they are not over done.

Elephant garlic is very mild and an almost creamy texture. I doubt I would go out and buy it to cook with but I grew it so put it in there. For most of my life I have been fiercely against garlic which I think stems back to a few rough sea crossings to France as a young child. The mens toilets were a sea of regurgitated garlic and other unpleasantries, it had a lasting effect on me. I grew some just 5-6 years ago for the hell of it and have become a big fan. I can't explain why that might be but I do only use garlic I have grown. For some reason growing your own, or using something you have made/produced yourself or even just knowing the person that did make whatever it is makes it so much more rewarding. Most of the time it really does taste better too.

I used to like red wine but it started keeping me awake at night, like too much caffeine. My heart would be banging away and me awake until the early hours so I stopped. Then I had a load of chemo and radiotherapy for throat cancer and although that stopped me drinking the spirits which I enjoyed I find I am able to enjoy red wine again, so I do. I strongly advise just putting up with not drinking it as the method I used is very much not recommended but every cloud and all that. 😎

Roast lamb shank with roast carrot, parsnip and elephant garlic, mashed carrot and swede and boiled Charlotte potatoes. Drowned in butter, mint sauce and gravy. Washed down by a nice red wine. All cooked in/on my wood fired stove using trees I grew and harvested myself. All seems very sustainable and very few food miles involved (apart from the wine but Sainsbury’s is only about 6 miles away lol)