Little miracle

Monday 5th May 2014

 

Whilst sitting outside eating breakfast this morning a little miracle happened. A minuscule little fledgling was shoved out of his nest for his first flight out into the big wide world. So with trembling legs and wings stretched as far as he could manage the little mite threw himself out of the tree, flapped as hard as he could possibly manage and pointed himself in the direction of.......our tent! He narrowly missed landing on BT’s head before coming to a crash land in our frying pan...of all places!

[caption id="attachment_457" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Dinner????[/caption]

Obviously feeling a little dazed and confused the poor little birdy just sat there looking at us with huge wide eyes...what were we to do??? He wasn’t enough for the two of us for breakfast...joking....really...and he wasn’t going to get very far sat in a frying pan in a tent!!

[caption id="attachment_458" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Going for a ride[/caption]

So, we lifted him out and set him onto the picnic table, from there he rather feebly flew to rest on a boat and then onto the beach. naturally we were worried that he might get eaten, or die of starvation or dehydration, so we kept a close eye on him. To our utter amazement, and with his mummy chirping encouragement at him all the while, he hop/flew to his tree and then began the arduous task of climbing back up...it must have seemed like a mountain to him. He eventually reached the safety of his home branch and was rewarded with a worm for all of his efforts from his mummy! We found it totally incredible that this small baby found HIS tree and and his way back home after such a shaky beginning!



Coffee time was spent with new found friends Steve and Di, who have also been travelling Europe in their VW van, swapping stories, great destination ideas and, of course, touring each others vans.

[caption id="attachment_462" align="aligncenter" width="427"] Steve and Di…so lovely to meet you…perhaps we'll bump into one another again on our travels[/caption]

We promised ourselves another trip out on MT today....paddling across the lake..about 5km, to a beach on the opposite side for a beer at the bar.

[caption id="attachment_454" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The 'harbour' at our campsite[/caption]

Unfortunately, the bar was shut…fortunately, we had taken our own ‘cold ones!’

[caption id="attachment_455" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Heading for the beach in the distance[/caption]

It was a great paddle. We are amazed at how shallow and sandy the whole thing is...a fantastic place for all kinds of watersports. Well, we couldn’t spend time on the water without a sail could we...so...as we just so happened to have a little sail on board we sort of rigged it...to MT and our paddles and had a great time!!! We must have looked a site!

[caption id="attachment_456" align="aligncenter" width="640"] We are sailing…we are sailing….dum de dum dum!!!![/caption]

In anticipation of moving on tomorrow, we have taken our Airbeam tent down...it’s so amazingly easy...two valves to undo and the whole thing collapses, fold up, roll BT over it to remove all the air, pack in bag and hey presto...it’s done...easy peasy! To give us a bit  of protection and privacy we have now put up our homemade awning sides....

[caption id="attachment_460" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Our awning…and Billy blogging again[/caption]

Billy made these (with much blood, sweat and tears) before leaving home using a roll of white ripstop fabric that was in the loft...we are really pleased with how they work and at the extra privacy they give us.

[caption id="attachment_461" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Inside the awning[/caption]

We are just sitting in the early evening glow,(trying to escape being eaten by mosquitoes...we have put a net up over the bed now as it’s very hard keeping Bluebelle completely mossie free), and enjoying the stunning view across the lake. All in all it’s been another perfect day.