‘Everything’s on the table’, or that’s what some would have us believe. But it was today. Our Lightning Ridger friend and family laid out a morning tea feast on a ‘converted door’ – 20mm deep, 300mm wide and over a metre long – I want one of those. We were then overlooked by the whole family (some of whom weren’t there) watching from a photo in a converted window frame with their focus on the table.
We chatted about lots of things before leaving with our friend on a tour of his property, and opal mines which were also part of his property once. A guided tour around town was very enlightening ending with a tour of an opal shop with a delightful local. It was back to the farm, some untouched goodbyes, and a late leave. We had time for a one river walk along the Barwon at Brewarrina.
Many native fish species are thriving there because of a unique plan involving an extensive weir, flanked by myriads of boulders below the overflow which formed a natural bridge while turning the escaping water into tiny creeks. To make up my minimum 10kms for today I will go for a late night walk around Bourke, who knows what I might see.
Our thoughtful host has given us an extra 1/2 hour in the morning allowing me to attend my PD exercise class in Sydney by Zoom before we start to look for new waterways.

At times I wish to be there in the centre
To be a part of that fast flowing stream,
And then a bridge calls out for me to enter
And takes me there, so I can live my dream.
At first a rock – the water gather round
A log- it carries on its deep blue shoulders,
A bird that sings a tune – a quiet sound
That disappears when I become the boulders.
The rock stays strong as feelings swirl about
The log lies back and just goes with the flow,
The bird, a tender loving cry – no shout
The boulders try to block – no wish to grow.
The bridge across its feelings speaks to me
“I once was whole, I used to be a tree”.