The honey (40kg!!!), capsicums, eggplants, lettuces and half of the tomatoes come from the roof. The cucumbers and corn come from the veggie patch and the rest came from tubs and pots either on shelves or on on the ground.  There are still plenty of capsicums, cucumbers, tomatoes and chillies to come, but the corn is finished, except for one plant.  With the corn done so early, it seems like we could get another crop of something before it’s time to plant to put in the winter crops of brassicas and peas, but I can’t think of anything fast-growing enough. Neither the avocado or lime have set any fruit this year, so there will be no more food from the trees until next spring/summer. There will still be a final honey harvest before the bees are settled down for winter.

From Port Welshpool we followed the channel out past Snake Island and into Bass Strait passing stretch after stretch of sandy beaches with rolling mountains of Wilson’s Promontory behind. On our lunch beach, sat atop some lovely granite boulders we saw three other kayaks approach and pull in. They had had a similar trip planned to us but the wind forecast for the following day had led them to change their mind and head into Corner Inlet that afternoon. We pushed on the last South to Five Mile Beach, capsizing in the surf on the way in but finding fresh water further up a tidal creek to desalt ourselves in.

The promised Easterlies picked up in the evening and whipped up swell and surf sufficient to keep us at Five Mile Beach for two nights. The small campsite filled up with a several bush-walkers, most of which spent a couple of nights and walked out the same way – the track over to Tin Mine Cove being overgrown after closures from fires and floods. Almost everyone, spent their rest day walking the length of Five Mile Beach and watching fish caught at the mouth of the tidal creek at low tide.

Early Saturday morning we got up and peeked at the waves. They seemed tame enough to get off the beach and although there was still a light breeze, the swell didn’t seem to be breaking except on the beach. We packed up and headed out passing Rabbit Rocks. As we approached the beach at Rabbit Island a lone seal hopped off its rock and came to say hello to the kayak. The beach on Rabbit Island was smooth except for thousands of tiny penguin footprints leading from the shore to the rooks. We pushed on across the swell on a seemingly never ending paddle to the North-Eastern tip. We surveyed every cove that we passed for possible campsites, but none were sheltered from the wind. Despite the promise of morning North-Easterlies we pushed on around to Tin Mine Cove.

Tine Mine Cove turned out to be pretty popular with boats, and several fishing boats and yachts were anchored by sunset with drinks and chairs and dinner brought onto the beach, at least until the mosquitoes came out in force. Along with our little tent was one other pair that had made the walk over from the Eastern Shore and were going on out via Chinaman’s beach the next day.

We considered the updated weather report of Nor-easterlies strengthening to 15knots by midday and weighed it against the current that wouldn’t flow our way until after midday and would pick up to 8 knots in mid-flow.. In the end we decided that the tidal current would be preferable as we could cut across some of it and decided on another early start.

Despite a slight headwind and the current we crossed the 10km stretch to the North of the channel in little more than an hour and knocked off the last 6km fast enough to be back at the dock by mid-morning. After unpacking and desalting in the strengthening sun, we were more than happy to enjoy flathead and chips from the Welshpool General Store.

I find bats cute – kind of like a teddy bear in a nylon cape – but I know many people are scared of them or believe them to be filled with diseases. Certainly, with the numbers of flying foxes currently flying around Melbourne, it’s hard to imagine that they are endangered, but Flying foxes are currently classified as threatened. Due to deforestation in Queensland and a greater food supply in south eastern Australia (orchards and gardens filled with fruit trees!) Grey Headed Flying Foxes have migrated down south. Initially they settled in in Melbourne’s Royal Botanical Gardens but were discouraged until they relocated as they were causing destruction to the rare tree species established in those gardens. For several years now, there has been a stretch of river, complete with a path and viewing platforms from which to observe them at Yarra Bend Park. This summer the numbers are in the tens of thousands and sunset brings the spectacular site of the colony waking up and filling the sky with wings as they move out to feed…

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I am a little late in reporting it, but the first harvest of the season was 20kg of golden, runny honey from the upper honey box. Plenty of happy, busy bees and two full brood boxes beneath, so we expect a lot more honey this summer!

The keeping of bees is like the direction of sunbeams.
― Henry David Thoreau.