Port Elliot Farewell

A fond farewell was given to our lovely friend Jacqui whom had worked at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital as a registered nurse for in excess of 20 years. She has been a good friend over the years and a tolerant locker buddy, but  has decided to pack up her kit and pursue work closer to home. Cant blame her, who in their right mind would travel a 100KS each way to come and play with us at the QEH, but apparently Jacqui thought we were worth it all these years.
As a fitting goodbye and a chance to escape we arranged a night away at Port Elliot with the staff of ward south 2, and were fortunate to find accommodation in the Marist Brothers holiday retreat at Port Elliott. "The Bungalow" had in  excess of eight bedrooms, enough to sleep us all. The house is a lovely old building with high ceilings, ornate ceiling roses, open fire place and immense kitchen.
Port Elliot is a favourite holiday destination of our family and so I came well prepared with bicycle  in tow so that I could squeeze a quick ride in along the cycle tracks running the entire length of shoreline from Victor Harbour to Gawler. I only made a short trek with Jodie whom  I had convinced to throw her bike on the back of my car even though she said she hadn't ridden in ten years. It was lovely out in the sun drinking in the views.

The view just one street down from the bungalow. Lovely granite rocks tinged red are typical of the area and form Granite Island, a sanctuary to penguins, a short stroll from Victor.

The guide hall and town hall are typical of the area, utilizing granite in structure

Wind swept trees cling to the rock faces of the granite cliffs

A surf and beach culture is strong throughout the region and is popular with townies and locals alike.

When we arrived back from our ride others had started to arrive and were eager to do lunch. We settled on a short walk into town and dined at the local pub, The Elliot, for beer and tucker.
Lunch eaten we ambled back to commence merriment. Of course copious amounts of liquid were consumed and vast quantities of food were available to feast upon. I don't remember ever feeling so bloated, I ache just thinking about it.
Teresa brought along 4kg of gnochi her mum had made, a bucket of tomato sauce, a trough of cabbage and noodle salad, a honeycomb cheesecake and a huge container of vanilla slice. Her contribution alone would  have been enough to feed us all let alone the mountains of food that was brought along.
Sonya amazed us all with her techno savy by producing a wonderful and clever compilation of many of the people Jacqui has worked with over the years and gave much amusement and merriment with her photo shopping efforts. Contact Sonya on jsam@adam.com.au for photography and photoshopping.

                                               me

Jacqui

Looking towards Victor Harbour

Whale watching is free during the winter months as the southern right whale migrate through the region with young calves. The scenery is always spectacular even if you don't get to see the whales and usually a couple of seals frolic around the rocks at Port Elliot and Victor Harbour.
Sea urchins are washed up on the beach in droves and are free for the collecting. They dry out over a period of weeks and make lovely hanging threads, fragile as they are.

A lovely stay away enjoyed by all
Enjoy the day. Monique