GRAVEYARD SHIFT

I woke early this morning. Having got up to make a cup of tea I noticed that the harbour was very still. It was a change from the choppy water after the storms of the last week (remnants of Cyclone Evan) and while the sun hadn't come out it was great conditions for a kayak.

I headed out across the bay and at this time, before 7, there wasn't much activity. Some fishermen were readying their boats and there was only one couple of idiots, typical holiday recreational fishermen who ignored the speed limits and shot away from their rental accommodation and sped between the moored boats. There were two guys in the boat and neither were wearing life-jackets. They seemed to be heading out of the bay towards the Heads where there would be rougher water. Fools. The police had to rescue two morons on jet skis out there before Christmas despite the severe weather warnings.

Summer is when the morons with boats come out to play.

The water was so still it was easy to slip along and I'd soon got to the other side of the bay. I decided to visit the pioneer cemetery which is accessible by sea. It is almost overgrown in its bush setting which gives it an ethereal character.

I mooched around for a while reading the inscriptions on the old gravestones. Apart from the ones who lived to a ripe old age (90's) most of the younger ones seemed to have drowned out in the harbour making me think of the twits I'd seen earlier.
I sought out all the distant relatives (there were quite a few) with gravestones from the 1860's to mid 1900's.

I don't mind cemeteries. Its good to have a sense of the past and to be reminded of how short life is. It makes you appreciate the good things day to day.