Tuesday 19 July 2011

Day 8: Daly Waters to Mataranka

A late start!
I only had  a few k's to travel today so I took it easy. A short early morning walk, an orange for breakfast, the last one, and then into the car. I paused at the local WWII aerodrome, but found little fascination in an old hangar and the static displays.

With only a short drive I dawdled and had a late breakfast in Larimah at "Frans". This was a hilarious interlude. Fran is an elderly woman, later claiming to be 68, and her sign said home cooked pies and scones and other simple fare. I stopped for an egg and bacon pie and a coffee. The coffee was surprisingly good and the pie was served on a plate with some bubble and squeak on top. Fran is also a shrewd operator and does not display any prices, that lot cost me $15 all up when it came time to pay.
Her little pull in area is covered with signs. "don't park here - there is no room", "don't come into my office - I will invite you in" and similar.
After I had been served a number of other people stopped and it became quite busy. Fran is a little bit dotty and became flustered at the rush. She fussed around saying she could only serve one at a time, she was 68 years old, she had been away yesterday and didn't have a lot to offer people. She kept dissapearing to her kitchen and then coming back to check orders and then bringing the wrong items out. It was like a comedy sketch and the people waiting were almost all in stitches.
The food that I had was very well made and the scones that she produced also looked excellent, so it was worth the wait and the laugh. At payment time you were then invited into the office for the financial transaction.
I was offered a sweet also. I took 2.
After this interlude I ended up at Mataranka and met up with long time family friend Heather. Heather was staying with a friend while waiting for her husband to join her. She was also a little bit bored as Mataranka does not have a lot to offer in the way of entertainment. We whiled away the afternoon with catch up chats and G&T's. That evening we have a very nice meal at the nearby Taroona Manor. Barramundi with freshly made salads. The food was well prepared and the chef joined us later as she new Sue, the lady with whom Heather was staying. It was a pleasant evening.
The Bludger was well fed.

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