The shakedown trip was to Lake Mournpall in the Hattah Lakes National Park, the campsite was a quiet location next to the lake. What a great little place, then it rained, they haven't had rain here for months, so I shouldn't complain. The tent remained waterproof, although the pitter-patter of rain on the tent, the lightning and thunder made for a restless night.

By morning the rain had stopped and I decided to fill in time with a quick little jaunt around the 9.5 kilometre nature trail that promised scenes from Mallee scrubland, native pines, Belah trees, Buloke trees, flood plains, the lakes and abundant wildlife etc. The last 8 kilometres were the hardest, wet sand in the Mallee and next to the lake, combined with sticky clay on the flood plain made the going tough. Still I saw lots of flora and fauna. The overwhelming impression that I was left with was the large number of weeds along the path, Skeleton Weed, Asparagus grass, there was even a Pepper tree growing in the middle of nowhere

I learnt a valuable lesson from the trip. I am carrying way to much useless junk with me, on my arrival back in Mildura, I went through the car and started throwing things out that I thought I might need but don't.

In between times golf has been my main entertainment. Modesty usually prevents me from boasting about my golfing performances, but 41 points and Winning A-Grade at Riverside Golf Club on Saturday isn't something that I should keep to myself.