Ups and downs

Well, got back from my trip away yesterday absolutely stuffed so didn't hang around to write something about it yesterday. I did, however, check email to find that out of 42 emails, only 1 wasn't spam. Hmm, a serious case indeed. Anyway, about the weekend.

I left Saturday at 7:30am for the long drive to Penola. I was expecting the holiday traffic to be awful but thankfully wasn't too bad. Stopped off at Tailem Bend and Padthaway along the way to stretch my legs and have something to eat. So funny, with country towns. Some are actually quite big and busy, and others are so quiet, you wonder if anyone actually lives there at all or if someone just dumped 3 houses and a general store along the street and left.

Anyways, got to the campsite at about 12:30 and started to set up my tent. No one was around, they all seemed to be out doing stuff, but it wasn't long before they returned for some lunch. I was ultra happy when I found out Nerissa had been and gone, and that I didn't have to put up with her for the weekend. So, set up my tent, unloaded the car then sat reading for a while. After an hour or so caught up with Peter, Kate, Jo, Brad and Spencer and we went foraging for reptiles. The old lifting up rocks and logs trick. We found a few skinks, which made me happy, as Peter showed me how to identify them and I managed to hold them without them escaping from my clutches. We went to check the trap sites, got back, had dinner, then had the campfire going. After a while, we decided to go spotlighting in Penola Conservation Park, it took about an hour and was excellent. Saw lots of beasties.

The night was freezing, and is the only downside to camping in my opinion. Oh, no, not the only downside, it gets annoying after a few days to squat going to the toilet, but anyway. Woke up so many times so bloody cold. When I eventually crawled out of bed, it wasn't long before we were off to start the day again, checking trap sites and such. I got to see my first wild echidna and sugar glider, yay! In the afternoon Peter brought out all the reptiles we'd caught so far (including a baby brown snake) so people could take photos of them. I really have to get a decent camera, was so annoying. That night was a bit more fun around the campfire, but no spotlighting or anything.

Now, the last morning, here's where things get wierd. We all woke up, packed up our stuff then started heading out to pick up all the traps. We did one site, went back to camp and someone thought "Howard's sleeping in a bit, better check on him". So they go to his tent, call out, no answer. So they have a look inside and are met with a really shocking site - Howard had actually passed away during the night. He was about the age of my dad, so no one would have ever expected it, but when the police came, they found lots of medication in his belongings so it looks like he had heart problems. Was a real shock. That was the first time I had met him, so it didn't effect me as much, but still was just so unexpected. So, after the police were done and we packed up some more traps, I took off and got home about 4:30pm, totally exhausted.

Back at work today, and tonight, I have a committee meeting. The fun never stops!

So yeah, was a good weekend that ended strangely. How was yours?