What a fantastic labour weekend we have just had. Summer is certainly on it’s way.

Despite that we are still right in the middle of renovations, we decided to invite good friends Wendy, Andrew and Brian along for the long weekend. This forced us to clear a space in the lounge and dining room, and make the chalets habitable for our impending guests. Nothing like a deadline to get some progress on our project. Sadly American daytime TV would have to wait for a while.

A typical scene over the weekend (eating)

The lushes from the mainland arrived, and we began our gastronomical experience. We ate our way around the island, starting with the Labour Weekend Market Day at Claris where we scored lovely locally baked doughnuts and lamingtons. Then it was off to the Wild Rose Cafe for gourmet burgers, then to the Angsana Thai Restaurant for a fantastic Thai meal. Given that our kitchen was still in a state of disrepair, much of the cooking was diverted to the BBQ or other venues.

More eating

On Sunday, we made up a picnic hamper of club sandwiches, lamingtons, and other delectables, and headed with our beach umbrellas and blankets to Awana Beach on the other side of the island.

Beautiful Awana Beach

More eating, some napping, a beach to ourselves, and an attempt at swimming by some of the party made for a wonderful afternoon.

Life's a beach

But the guests weren’t getting off lightly. There was a cunning plan buried into their invitation to the island. Sitting out in the garage was our 300kg sandstone kitchen bench, and this needed lifting into the kitchen and onto the newly installed cabinetry. So with stomachs filled, a lifting plan was devised, and the bench was inched out of the garage using stools and loaded onto the quad bike and trailer. Then it was inched across the garden, and carefully lifted up the steps and into the kitchen. Half an hour of careful lifting, and the beast was in place. There is now some light at the end of the tunnel for our renovations.

Stop smiling and start lifting!

Yay, we finally have a kitchen bench again

Labour Day (Monday) came, and the guests were now in a state of induced unconsciousness, a result of the beach blobbing, heavy lifting, and the sherry trifle I’d made the day before. The Barrier forces you to relax. The sea was as calm as a millpond, so we decided to launch the boat and go fishing.

Wendy had never been fishing before. Each time the fish bit at the bait, she’d let out a shriek, scaring all the big snapper away. Sadly we only caught small fish, which all had to be thrown back. Then as we came ashore, others who had been out fishing just around the point delighted in telling us of the huge fish they’d been catching. So with no fresh fish for lunch, we had homemade BBQ pizzas instead.

No Wendy, we can't eat that!