Jan 1: New Year... New Problems

As the tradition continues, the first day of the year always seems to involve a bit of a hangover. Well nothing beats a hangover like a giant breakfast and a swim in the ocean. We all hit the beach to try to regain a sense of normalcy.

Mick, Oscar and I finally got going around 3pm en route South again to find a proper surf beach. A scorching hot day, we stopped in the tiny town of Narooma to enjoy a refreshing beer at the pub. We lucked out and found a parking spot, right in front of the bar.

Normally, this would seem like good luck. Of course, normally your car starts without difficulty. In jumps Oscar to the rescue. Armed with a meager set of tools, and a handy 20 year old reference manual, we flip up the seat and begin diagnosing the problem. Or the series of problems. Oscar is courageous (and dare I say ferocious) about attacking the problem,. We are short of oil. The distributor cap seems rusty. The airfilter seems dirty... a half hour in, with much (not-so-helpful) advice from the lively crowd above, we manage to start the van by tapping dust out of the air filter.

We make our way to the beaches at Mimosa Rocks. It was late to start surfing and the waves weren't stellar, so we enjoyed a quiet glass of wine overlooking the ocean instead.

And I saw my very first Wallaby!
And my first possum!
And my first Goana - a giant water monitor lizard!