Lorikeets at Big 4 Airlie Cove Campground
By this morning we were positive that there was something wrong with our refrigerator. We’d stored all of our perishable goods in the campsite refrigerator overnight, and this morning ours was totally warmed up. So I called a refrigeration repairman from the campsite office, and he indicated he would be here by sometime after noon.
The repairman came after lunch, and it turned out to be a very simple problem. I didn’t realize there is a plug on the refrigerator. It had become unplugged, probably when some of our gear fell against it. So that cost us $50 to get the repairman to plug it in. Anyway, we fastened the plug in place more securely with a zip tie and tape. We’ll also watch it to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. Live and learn.
It was really not a bad day today. It started out raining, then the sun at least broke through the clouds. Every couple of hours it just opened up and poured for a few minutes, but it didn’t rain constantly today. We went swimming this afternoon. There were a bunch of young adults in the pool mostly just drinking, but throwing a ball around. They weren’t obnoxious at all and we swam several laps in the pool. We think they may be army personnel (almost all men, two women) as they are camped here in tents with two army vans. The pool is pretty small, so a length is maybe 10 m.
This morning I went to a shopping centre on the bus, and tried to get my watch battery replaced. The clerk said she couldn’t do it as then the watch wouldn’t be waterproof. So I bought a battery at another store and changed it myself with my jackknife. Seems to be waterproof. I figured if the clerks at Walmart can change it ok, then I’m at least that competent! I also got a skin for the phone as the display is getting scratched, and we put some of it on Enid’s camera as well. The buses here give you a two hour ticket, so you can get on and off as often as you like in that time. They charge different amounts when you get on the first time, depending on your final destination.
This is graduating high school students break week here in Australia – “schoolies week” – and literally the students call themselves “schoolies”. They were getting on and off the bus using a pass that said “schoolie” on it, and some of them were wearing tee shirts with the same title. We were marvelling today at the Australian language that puts an “-ie” or “-y” on the end of almost everything: barbies (barbeques), truckies (truck drivers), brekky (breakfast), genny (generator) and on and on.
Tomorrow we are heading farther north. There is a free campsite on a beach about 350 km north of here where we plan to go. Then we are going north of Cairns to Port Douglas to go on a snorkelling tour out on the Great Barrier Reef.