Fangorn, Road Trip and Benji

Conducting a funeral is never fun, conducting two in one week is even less fun, particularly when one (Today / Friday) is conducted in a 43c heat. The funeral on Monday saw the church packed to capacity but the funeral today was even bigger and we had to  erect a gazebo outside and have extra chairs in the shade. There was more than 170 there because that’s the number of Orders of Service ( O.O.S.) I  printed and the ladies distributing them at the door ran out and I couldn’t print others because the church photocopier can’t process A5 paper and that part of the O.O.S. I printed at home from the computer. Even with the two reverse cycle Daikin Air- Conditioners running at their coldest, it was still sticky in the church – so many people. Lunch in the hall was  relatively easy and the two big A/C units there did keep the temperature at reasonable levels, given the number of people  Anyway, that’s it and although  we told our friends in the Funeral Service that it was nice to see them, we really hope not to see them for a little while longer than four days.

When I came back from Mount Gambier I really didn’t have time to do much, subsequently I didn’t download the photographs from the camera. I

didn’t go to the blue lake or the sinkhole gardens this time but I have heard that the possums are back in residence again at the sinkhole gardens so I will get down there next time – which should be in May. As I said, the weather was odd so you will see that reflected in the photographs of the River Murray – both sets taken at the same spot  – one Friday – one Saturday – and there is quite a difference between the two. The Friday is a bit misleading since that was really the residue of the Thursday night storm and by the time I reached the Forest of Fangorn – well, Penola Forest – but it looks like Fangorn!-  the weather had, surprisingly,  cleared and it turned out a really nice day. Driving through the forest area is always interesting – just watch out for the big timber trucks. Although trucks are not all I watch out for – if I ever see a person in a long  robe, a pointed hat and a white beard, I’m outta there!  By the time I reached  Naracourte the weather was really nice and driving was  enjoyable.

The drive alongside the forests is always very quiet and considering the amount of traffic i.e. heavy  timber trucks,  the roads are in very good condition. I didn’t have time to go to the Winery this trip since I had to be in Mount Gambier for Friday afternoon and didn’t have a lot of time. I rather like the wines of the Limestone Coast. Most are small  wineries and not readily available in the larger regional shops – or, indeed, in many of the shops outside the region. I like  Browns of  Padthaway T. Trellis Shiraz, which is a small family estate, but I like most of the wines of this region more so than the Adelaide Hills or the Barossa. I also like the wines from the Margaret River in Western Australia. If  you go into any of the  bottle

shops most of the stock  available  is from the larger, well known wineries and little of other regions.

The weather, as seems to be usual at the moment, is very changeable. I took Benji out for a drive this afternoon and we went out to Point Lowly – about 25 miles from here. As Annabell often says, he doesn’t care where you go, he’s with his daddy and that’s all that really matters to him.  I assume he enjoyed the drive – he settled down on the front seat and lay there all the time. He never seems to want to sit up or stick his head out of the window, just  sits quiet and peaceful.    The weather  out at Lowly was a bit cooler and a bit more windy and some of the photographs I  scrapped because they were out of focus – or fuzzy. It’s like a lot of driving

around the area – not a lot to see.