Up bright and early the next morning – as is the way with our boys, we got into the dinghy and went off the explore the beaches and surrounding bush land. My plans to get us all bush walking and burning off some energy were thwarted by the ‘crocodile – warning’ sign on the beach. Bugger! So we played on the beach, climbed on fallen trees and dropped off rope swings into the water. Gerhard did some stunning upside down acrobatics hanging from the rope and dropping into the water, much to the boys’ delight and was met with their exuberant cheers and clapping.

We followed this with a spot of (totally unsuccessful) fishing as the sun set and we enjoyed the glorious light. Lots of stunning photos – none of which truly depict the scene which was in fact the boys & I being ravaged by sand flies: Gerhard of course untouched :-). The boys and I looked like we had measles, with red welts all over us.

The next day pretty much everyone else left as it was the end of the school holidays. Bliss..

Gerhard and the boys went off in the dinghy to take soundings to measure the depth at low tide, to establish whether we could exit the anchorage by a different channel the next morning with the high tide (lots of maths schooling ‘in the field’). Whilst they went off I baked my first batch of muffins in the BBQ and everyone voted them ‘best ever’. Can’t beat hungry tummies when it comes to appreciating dodgy cooking! It was a baking hot day and whilst they’d gone with life jackets, caps and sunscreen, waster bottles and a snack I did wonder how long I should leave it before I sent for help/ raised an alarm? And who exactly was I going to call, and what was I going to say? Was it likely that the crocodile had spotted them, and they’d had to fend it off? Had one of the boys fallen and the boat capsized? None of this really meant that relaxing time on my own was really very relaxing after the first hour had passed!

Anyway, they came back a few hours later, smiling, hungry and full of their adventure – and no croc sightings.

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