Small Joys

Who will win the contest?

The choice has been made!

My life is made up of small joys and Kalbarri provides a host of these every day.

Yesterday afternoon we went to sit under a tree on the grassy bank of the river. The noise from the tree was deafening and we realised that Spring has come early to Kalbarri as there must have been between fifty and a hundred birds choosing mates. Girls were sidling coyly along branches while boys shuffled hopefully behind them. Boys who hadn't yet found a girl were arguing quite fiercely and trying to drive each other away from the tree. Those who had accepted each other were sitting very close and lovingly preening each other.

The noise was so deafening that our dog Pip became completely overwhelmed and made it quite clear that if we didn't take him home he would go alone!

If I were asked to give a name to a single living creature that epitomises 'Joy' the it would be the Galah. They play...oh how they play. They hang upside down from power lines, flapping their wings and screaming. They slide, wings outstretched down tin roofs and fly upwards to do it all again. They swoop and glide in flocks of up to 500 as they search for the best trees in which to roost for the night and during the day they feed off the grass on the river bank completely unafraid of the humans and dogs who are passing.

Another joy is our travelling salad garden which provides us with fresh greens for our lunch and dinner every day. There are garlic bulbs planted among the lettuce and these seem to do a good job of keeping insects at bay.

I planted a cherry tomato plant and this morning, to my joy, I found three little tomatoes hiding coyly in the leaves. Naturally I praised it for producing fruit while it's still officially winter time..

Great banks of Bougainvilleas grow up the trees behind our caravan, glorious bunches of pink, salmon and deep red flowers that bloom for the entire 6 months of our stay here

These exquisite and normally timid birds flit around the van all day ...we never grow tired of watching them and never take them for granted.

'What a wonderful bird is the pelican,

Its beak holds more than its belly can.'

Totally charming and daily visitors to the foreshore where children have the joy of feeding them with fish.

Last, and certainly not least, watching my husband Marc going for his daily swim in the river.

I was watching him one day when to my horror I saw something dark swimming just behind him. I couldn't attract his attention and as there was nobody around I could only watch until he arrived at the other side of the river.

On his return he was laughing as, when he reached the other side, a dark shape swam under him and then popped up very close to stare him in the face...a seal looking for a swimming companion!