We followed their gaze to see a driver-less boat, with the motor running, spinning round and round in circles over the water.
Nearby was another boat with a couple of men in it and the local dog whisperer standing on his paddle board watching on.
They asked me to look through my long lens to see if there was anybody in the 'out of control' boat, but I couldn't see anybody.
Apparently, the man from the boat had somehow fallen overboard much further up river. Somebody had witnessed the event and came running to the boat ramp to ask some men who had just put their boat in to go rescue him.
They rescued the man and then followed the boat as it spun out of control and it was dragged by the outgoing tide toward the mouth of the river.
How it missed all the yachts and boats moored in the river, I will never know ... pure luck!
Eventually, the boat ran out of fuel, and the Dog Whisperer climbed aboard and tied a rope to the boat so that it could be towed back to the boat ramp.
When they came back to shore, the man who had fallen overboard, who was quite elderly (I would guess around 80 yrs old) was looking pretty sore, sorry and a bit fragile.
Soon the crowd dispersed and our Seat of Knowledge went back to normal.
******
I've been discussing with a number of the boys, the idea of doing a 'Full Monty' calendar with a dozen of the old local boys as the stars of the show. At the moment, it's just a seed of an idea, but I'm working on it and I hope that I can figure out a way to bring it to fruition before the end of the year and maybe raise some money for a worthy local charity.
It may not even happen til next year, to be complete for 2014, but I'll work a bit harder on it after September.
******
I spied a Brahminy Kite in the tree by the river this morning and it was looking decidedly hungry, so I decided to sit by the tree and wait for it to go fishing for it's breakfast.
I must have stood there for a good 25 minutes with the camera in preparation. I know how quick they can be, and I didn't want to miss it.
My arms were getting tired from holding the heavy 400 lens + camera and my legs were starting to feel it a bit too.
Then Stretch, a local bloke, walked up behind me and said 'G'day Roz'.
As I lowered the camera and turned my head to say 'G'day' back, the Brahminy chose that particular moment, to quietly and gracefully fly down and pluck a fish out of the water. He was so fast, there was no time to raise the camera to my eye and focus, so I completely missed the moment.
My consolation prize was this photo of him returning to the top of the mast with the fish in his talons.
Stretch apologised profusely for causing me to miss my opportunity. It's not the first time that it's happened and it probably won't be the last, but one day, I will get the perfect shot!
Gosh but the life of a photographer can be frustrating at times!
So after an eventful morning at the river, BGWLBH and I took ourselves to Aussie H's place to write out her 70th birthday invitations.
Ok, so WE didn't actually write them out.
BGWLBH used her calligraphy skills to write them all out by herself, then did the envelopes as well. Aussie H and I folded the invitations, put them in the envelopes and then stuck them down. (We did the easy bit!) It took a little over two hours.
BGWLBH did a fabulous job!
We had three hours of lazy time after lunch and then we went for a walk (she walked, I triked) for an hour or so, while Adoring Husband cooked dinner (again).
I took an old fish out of the freezer and when I discovered a Brahminy in one of the tall trees, I tossed the fish out in the open and waited with the camera ready to capture his swoop.
Unfortunately, it was too late in the day, with poor light and I couldn't set the shutter speed fast enough to capture the action without blurring.
I will try this idea one morning when the light is a bit better. One day ... one day **sigh**
Our trip to Eumundi tomorrow has been postponed indefinitely due to inclement weather. We might get to do some local markets, if we are lucky, and hopefully visit the Chicklet family.
One thing is for sure, as long as it's not pouring with rain early in the morning .. there WILL be some fishing to be done! Any fish that I catch, will be put aside especially for my lovely big birds of prey!
Productivity for the day? Invitation only.
Nite all.
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