Floozn

To the house of a friend, the way is never long, and so it was that in no time at all we were happily ensconced at Encounter Bay.  We were not the only ones digging in.

To our astonishment, this echidna chap decided to sojourn in the Floosie's front garden.

Too much Port Eliott is never enough.  Lady Jayne, Pearl and I had made our pilgrimage a few days previously, retracing our steps with The Beagle but devastated when there was no seafood platter on the menu at Our Hotel.  The Flooz and I concentrated on a bit of retail therapy, visiting every interesting looking shop and even buying stuff!

South Seas was as stimulating as ever

A shopfront I had wandered past and wondered about for many years, proved amusing and au courant with the many hail stone reports coming in locally and from Tasmania.  I have decided the former shop is now just a whimsical home - a little like our River Bank in Wentworth.

There was still no seafood platter at the pub but that didn't matter cos The Floosie is not a shellfish fiend.

She does, however, like a Coorong Mullet and a glass of bubbles.

I had a perfect prawn and crab linguine.  Simple ingredients - parsley, chili, garlic and good olive oil -and something I can whip up at home if I think of it...  And have a tin of crabmeat.  I believe we went  home and had a tagine with a Persian dessert that night.  Could we really be that indulgent?

Possibly.

There were cocktails

grapefruit based, delicious

and healthy with amaretti...

There was a cooking splurge to make more amaretti,

and to make eccles

with reinforcements called in for the assembly.

Cunningly, I made them too big to be sent to Melbourne so had to eat them myself.

For a while I thought I was being haunted by green turtles.

The Flooze showed me the back alleys of Victor Harbor, a bit of a revelation for me who had always found Victor rather bland.

We discussed tattoos, which seemed a rather classy idea in an old Commercial Bank of Australia, not unlike another bank close to my heart.  I also went on a spending spree at the Visitor Information Centre, a very rare activity for me.

A further revelation was Belicious on the Inman Valley Road.  I had often seen the sign for the cafe when driving from Yankalilla to Victor Harbor but had never taken the time to stop.

rock pool in foreground, cafe visible at back

It was a curious place, much larger than I had imagined and hugely popular.

The Floosie loves the place because you can get lime milkshakes there - another thing I didn't know existed.

Brimming with education, I meandered back to Pearl Resort via 'Mr Darcy's house', stopping to report to Mum at Christies Beach.  Mum would love to have these adventures.  Seize the day!  Gather ye rosebuds..., etc.