We slept in, not having to be anywhere and the van warming up nicely. I was determined to get a lot of errands done today, like laundry and a visit to the Apple store for a new phone, a fix for my flat tyre and collection of my door handle from the post office. It all seemed a bit daunting, so I dawdled, which turned in to a whole morning’s procrastination. I made us egg, bacon, onion and avocado sandwiches for breakfast using the bread from last night while we watched a Super X race which had been on over the weekend. It’s crazy how many men and bikes they can fit on a small course and the repetitive jumping they do over the thirty minute race. It definitely doesn’t have the finesse of Formula 1!

I cleaned up my van a bit, preparing for the errands of the day ahead while Dan played around with his broken door handles the worked from the inside but not the outside, something I am most familiar with! Turns out the Explorer doesn’t have the best design with the handles riveted on and terrible access to replace them. Dan decided it was all too hard and so resolved to give Cleo a bath down at the lake instead. I was up for a shower too so we all went down to the bank just by the shack. It was a nice little secluded spot, but I decided to keep my swimmers on lest a boat should drive by. We all had a good soaping, Cleo probably enjoying the experience least out of everyone, she’s not much of a water dog. Still on the procrastination train and wanting to make the most of the sunny sky, Dan and I laid out our towels and sunbaked, talking away as our bodies soaked up some vitamin D. Eventually I took my swimmers off to get the all-body tan going since we hadn’t seen a single person since we’d been down there. Oh, to be naked outdoors!

Before our skin started to burn, we decided to retreat to the shack for some more procrastination in the form of cards before I got going. In this round we were pretty well evenly matched until right at the very end when Dan pulled out a Joker and kicked my ass. We had a bit of a scare when just as we were shuffling for the next round, Dan heard noise outside and feared the police were going to reprimand for camping out last night. It was a false alarm, just people who’d driven up to inspect the prices. Now there really was no excuse for me to not go on my way. I had another quick dip in the lake to cool off since it was really warming up, then drove on into the city.

I was the model of efficiency while running my errands. My first stop was at a tyre shop where they confirmed that the tyre was leaking from where it had already been patched which meant it was not repairable. When they quoted me $80 for a new tyre, I thanked them and went on my way, not willing to spend that much. Next stop, laundry. I found a Laundromat and put a huge load on then was straight out the door to go to the post office. That was seamless too, my package was handed to me no worries. Back to the Laundromat, I spotted a hole-in-the-wall tyre shop and pulled in. The Mexican guy who ran the place barely spoke a lick of English, but we communicated well enough for him to understand I needed a replacement and that he could offer me one for $30. Done! Even better, he changed the tyre on the spot, taking him all of three minutes. After we’d stowed the new piece of black under the car, he told me he only accepted cash. With only $23 in notes, I gave him all the quarters I’d just got for my laundry, managing to only just get to the $30 price tag. That done, back to the Laundromat and I managed to scrounge in the centre console for a few quarters to put my clothes in the dryer. I blogged while I waited the twenty minutes for the dry cycle, then piled everything into the car and drove on to the Apple store.

I walked through the fancy shopping complex to the Apple shop, arriving minutes after my appointment time of 4pm. Nailing it! While waiting I did a software update to my computer but I was soon looked after. I explained that my phone was playing up and I wanted a $300 replacement. My guy tried to upsell me to an iPhone 7 or something at least newer than my “four year old” technology, but I ended up just going with the cheapest. I waited around for my computer to come alive again before uploading everything onto the new phone, having a screen protector put on it (I learn from my mistakes) and walking out the door. It was past 5pm and I was over it, just wanting to get back to the lake where Dan and Cleo were waiting for me. I made a quick stop for beer and groceries at, you guessed it, Walmart, then was right onto Carefree Highway towards camp. Dan was waiting for me on the dirt road the skirted the edge of the lake. From there, I followed him along some rough roads to a new secluded cove. On the way, poor Cleo jumped from the car when Dan flung the tail of his car out going around a corner. The poor thing landed hard and Dan was straight out to get her into his arms. She’d obviously been terrified and decided her chances would be better outside the car. Cute as a baby, she cuddled into Dan’s chest, shaky and traumatised from her experience. As all dogs do, she soon got over it and enjoyed her run alongside our cars as we got close to camp.

Our cove was even better than the last since it hadn’t involved as much rough driving and there was firewood waiting for us in the firepit. This lake just kept getting better and better. The sun had set as we drove in so Dan got a fire going straight away and we sat on my Thai mat by the fire, the warmth necessary for a cool night. I ate the subway sandwich Dan had bought for my dinner, my tongue being burned by jalapenos, but it was an otherwise pretty good feed. The fire burned late and since it was warm enough and not too windy, we played a round of cards on the mat by the fire. With the doona and a few pillows out of Dan’s car, it was a comfy setting. We didn’t need any more light than what was thrown by the moon and the flicker of the fire to see our hands. The wind really picked up a while later so we retreated into Air Force One for the night.