My friend Jools and I decided to go to Maria Island for the weekend.  Maria Island is a 40 minute ferry ride from Tribes.  It has no shops, electricity or other mod cons.  You go there to bushwalk, mountain bike or commune with nature.  Despite its proximity I had not spent more than 20 minutes there previously and, though it is beautiful to look at from Raspins Beach (where I zumba), it has always struck me as a tough, rugged place, and a little forboding.
We arrive around 12 noon.   The ferry disgorges the incredible amount of baggage that people have,  then there is much friendly banter as people compete for huge metal trolleys to carry their goods to the campsite.  This was the most exhausting part of the day and evocative of labouring convict gangs.  Once we had set up camp we returned the trolly to the ferry terminal, only slightly less heavy than before.  A spot of lunch, then down to the beach for a swim.  It was the ideal day -  sunny and warm.  After a lazy afternoon we decided to have dinner on the beach too.  We returned to camp to get the provisions and encountered others out for a feed.

Some continued to get the greatest exercise value from the day

while we just enjoyed the view and being there.

And eating, of course, with an elegant drop of white.

Here am I looking more sun-pashed than kissed.  It's a long time since I've been sunburnt.

The warm, moist air was balm and very reminiscent of St Davids cliffs and beaches.

Returning to our tents, we both noticed how lovely the light was on the hill and cottage

so we investigated.  It turned out to be the Visiting Magistrate's Cottage, long abandoned.  How lovely that, at some time, someone sought to establish a terraced garden here.

Having got this far we thought we'd keep going,

making many friends along the way.  This wombat has a baby in its pouch.

We went as far as The Painted Cliffs which are famous for their bright colours

though somewhat muted by moonlight.

That night we returned to the campsite and I was amused by the tents glowing like toadstools.  They don't have quite the same effect by morning.  I was a little embarrassed by my old tent but Jools convinced me it was Vintage, possibly a little shabby chic.

The trolley gives it the air of a bag lady but was perfect for carrying the tent bits and sleeping bag, and really I could have managed without the massive trolleys provided at the ferry.  Which was demonstrated the next day when we broke camp and carried all our belongings back to the wharf.
We were well ahead of schedule so sauntered off on The Reservoir Circuit.

We got a little distracted when Jools noticed the snake (thought to be a tiger snake) sunning itself.  The day before we had watched as it hunted in and out of the crevices in the stonework beside the creek.  My shadow reveals that by now I had taken to wearing a hat.

Back up to the rangers' cottages and other stone buildings we went.  As usual there was no escape from Art.

These fig trees caught my attention.  Sadly I could see no ripe figs and didn't fancy stepping into the longer grass.

We made it to the convict built reservoir.  After the forest tracks, it seemed like a lush lido.  The photo below does not capture it at all.  We would have lingered but a raucous multi-generational family got there just before us and shattered the green calm.

On the home run, just before getting lost, we saw this magnificent building and suspected Kevin McLeod must be in the vicinity.  It is The Engineers' Building and seems to evolve from the rock face behind it.

After a small panic and nearly going in totally the wrong direction (for which I have a talent) we did our best to keep up with a family of super jock mountain bikers who were returning to Darlington but refused to dink us.  We did well enough to find a familiar and correct path.

I spent some hours trying to think of the best word to describe Maria Island and the best I can come up with is 'benign'.  I recognise that this is partly because we had such perfect weather and because there had been recent rain so there was soft, green grass.  It is also to do with the abundance of animals we saw close-up and the beautifully maintained buildings.  Tomorrow I will go off to Zumba and the island will not seem so distant to me.