Friday
10th
October
SHE
SAID:
We
had a big day out, leaving at 7am & getting back at 6.15pm!
I
had arranged to meet potential new house-sit owners at a little place
called Kordabup, in the hills north of Denmark. The sit is for 6
weeks over the summer holidays.
Of
course, I planned our meet up around orchid hunting, too. We had some
success, with a last-minute addition to the trip, which was an extra
200km onto the day, but I got to see a brand new to me orchid, so
well worth it in my head!
The
house-sit was not for us. It was on acreage in the forest, which was
fine, but the basic living, even though we’d be in our van, was not
what we wanted. The composting toilet was basically a hole in the
ground dunny; there were water tanks, pumps, hoses etc everywhere,
mish mash fruit trees, veggie beds & watering to be done daily.
And the place is un-insurable, so they wanted us to fight any fires
that may happen whilst we were there!
Nope,
not for us! I said we’d let them know. I messaged them an hour or
so later after talking with Geoff, saying it wasn’t the “right
fit” for us.
 |
The aliens have landed! |
 |
A damp & wild coast line |
HE
SAID:
Well, that was a long day. Well over 500km. I was
knackered at the end, but the souvlaki at lunch powered my machine, I
guess. Varena has seen so many of the WA terrestrial orchids that
finding new ones for her to see is a rare event. So, when she
received word of a newy that was only an extra couple of hundred
kilometres away we had to grab the opportunity. You never know if
these little buggers will elude you, get eaten, or just give up the
ghost, so getting there promptly was needed. Despite bending a couple
of the targets because they were so frigging small that I didn't see
them when i walked in, we managed to find plenty, keeping Varena very
happy. There were also a few thousand purple enamel orchids, which
are common, but we'd never seen so many in such a relatively small
area.
The house-sit preliminary visit
paid off, as the place was a dump. The young couple were young and
enthusiastic, but they wanted caretakers that would work free in poor
conditions, not house-sitters. We were probably a bit too taken aback to
say no straight up, but after a chat we both agreed that it was
nothing that we wanted to be a part of. If we have to crap in a hole
in the ground, and
still have to do watering of trees and gardens, chook minding,
mowing, and fight any fires to defend the house in a eucalyptus forest because they are
uninsurable, then we are not the house-sitters you were looking for.
There is no quid pro quo. It would be an awful time.
Teams with Julian and Kiyoka just
after we got in was the usual fun.
