Why does it always rain on me? (Hamilton Island)

We didn't expect this after the rain

It would appear that yesterday's beautiful weather was an aberration. Last night was a series of torrential rain squalls that were preceded by strong wind. And so began today until the island to our north was totally obliterated by low cloud and rain. Then as suddenly as it blew in, dear reader, it disappeared and the sun returned. The weather changes more quickly than we change Prime Minister. Which of course allowed us to maintain our pattern. Breakfast, a walk on the beach, back to the unit to plan the remainder of the day.

Today is our last full day here; tomorrow we are out at 10 and on the plane back to Sydney at 1:30pm. As a result of that full stop in our week we had already planned out today. I have a massage at 11:30 following which we will walk into the marina and sample a pie from Bob's Bakery. The afternoon will be spent sipping champagne and falling asleep on the verandah, being lulled by the waves and rustle of the palms. Dinner is pizza, delivered to our door. We have given up trying to get dinner reservations. That is the plan anyway, so we'll see how it goes.


First to the spa for my massage. It had the usual beginning. Welcome, come in, please complete this waiver that says in the event we kill you it's not our fault. The room is comfortable, an Ecoya candle burns in the corner giving of vanilla fragrance. The lighting is muted, there is relaxation-therapy music playing quietly in the background. It's easy to sink back into the chair and think you are being transported to a better place.

Now I wouldn't say the peace was shattered, not immediately, but everyone in the waiting room slowly became aware of something discordant, something that didn't fit. Two pre-teens were sitting on the steps of the spa, just outside the door, with their father. It was the bickering that first attracted our attention. Then they started whacking the steps with some plastic blow up toy and the magic serene feeling was replaced with tension. The tension we were all there to alleviate. Clearly their mother was on the other side of the spa rooms enjoying the last of her massage.

Dad was taking no interest in his miscreant off-spring until one clobbered the other with aforementioned plastic toy. Threats were issued, as hollow as a Scott Morrison promise. Nothing happened. The children became louder until tears from the girl-child resulted in forcible separation. She then turned her attention to the fountain.  Inaudible statement form father. Girl stares defiantly. Another statement from father as she calmly reaches forward and puts her hand in the water. Too late, Dad was on her before she saw him move and as she tried to run his vice like grip tightened on her arm as he uttered the age old line, "What part of no don't you understand?" Simultaneously drawing her to within cms of his mouth he whispered further threats through clenched teeth directly into her ear. There followed a few minutes of quiet before the Balkans erupted into war again. I was then called to the massage room. Poor woman, thought I, she will be emerging from inner nirvana into a maelstrom. I hope the massage was good because it's effects won't last long.

The Hobies were out for the first time

An hour later I floated from the massage room and returned to the unit to collect Jayne before our walk into the marina and Bob's Bakery. Up the hill and down the other side and along the waterfront, being mindful of the dodgem cars. Alright my astute reader, they are golf buggies, they are just driven like dodgem cars. In an unrelated observation, Jayne says that most of them are driven by women with the male as passenger. No further comment your honour.

The pies at the bakery are recommended. Not in the class of a Willis pie, but still very good.  The super large sausage rolls didn't rate. Too much carrot. We had lunch on the waterfront, enjoying a moment of sunshine. We punctuated the walk home by stopping for an ice cream at Ned Kelly's. No, that's not really the name of the store, but the prices they charge are highway robbery, $7.90 for a waffle cone with a sloppy single scoop of ice cream. The two ice creams cost more than lunch at Bob's!

The islands were not visible through the rain this morning

We were a little hot and bothered by the time we returned home and opted for a swim while the sun was still shining. While we were floating around in the Coral Sea, the weather did its thing and the island across the channel disappeared in rain and cloud. Time to make our way to the pool to rinse off the salt and the rest on the balcony and watch the rain that was surely coming. In other words, it's champagne time. The afternoon melted into evening as the showers came and went. We were serenaded by sulphur crest cockatoos and crows - such musical, lyrical sounds.

As relaxing moment dissolved into relaxing moment Jayne decided it was time to increase her heart rate by ordering dinner online. Forms are always a challenge, online ordering systems are an art akin to the highest levels of torture. It was a close run thing - the ordering process commenced at 4pm and the shop closed at 9:30pm, but she was successful. Order locked and loaded, red wine at the ready. It was probably time to contemplate one last lap of the beach. Too late, it's raining again, which brings us to today's title from 1999 by Travis.

And that is just about it from HI. There will be one more post sometime during the week to wrap everything up and share some final reflections. Otherwise, the next major event is August: Darwin to Broome on a cruise - yes I know dear reader, who'd have thought it? Me on a cruise? We shall see.

Until then ...