Day 418 | A day at Beaufort Inlet: now the body is recharged and the weather clears
rest day
It seemed a precipitous drop on a greasy track as I had come into Beaufort Inlet. With rain coming down in the 5pm gloom it’s no surprise that this morning there was little inclination to tackle the incline.
Can’t we have just one day when it’s calm and sunny? It’s autumn not winter.
Well, no. On a bike you just have to take whatever nature dishes up.
The morning is spent dodging showers and walking around a trackless inlet, until it becomes impossibly boggy and I realise that there’s another couple of hours adventure in the undergrowth to the outlet and beach.
Another shower and I shelter and watch an unconcerned pelican throw down an inexhaustible supply of small fish. I’d never seen them stab and grab small fish at such close range. No wonder they have such a struggle trying to take off.
The afternoon was less energetic, laying under a casuarina on the soft pile of needles, catching the occasional direct sun ray and watching some small variety of stilt attack their prey in a more delicate manner. There’s plenty of crustacea in the inlet, after half an hour of gobbling they return to the shelter from the wind behind a large rock. There’s about 40 in this group and they seem quite contented with their lot.
I’m contented as well. I’ve caught up with some blog entries, (I write them longhand on a pad for later transcription).
Maybe those few 6 hour days on soft roads, and then the 6 or 7 hours walking on the beach at Point Ann on my day off has taken a bit out of me.
Or maybe I’ve just learned to appreciate these moments in life.