Port Esperance and Dover.

Days of inactivity and gloom had us in a funk. As lovely a bay Sandyrock Bay might be, it was time to move on and have a different experience. Port Esperance and the township of Dover beckoned.  We thought we'd go and take a look even if it did mean going further south and encountering a little swell. Not real swell, but seeing as most of the Channel is like a lake, the appearance of the groundswell is a proper reminder of where we were.

On the way there we encountered more aquaculture and on a bigger scale.

 

 Good weather or bad, the little fishies have to be cared for and the sea birds look expectant too.

 

The pictures do confirm that it was hardly a 'bright day' but it was new scenery and to get into the bay we passed 3 islands named 'Faith', 'Hope' and 'Charity'.

Still gloomy

We'd been in touch with Sheokee and they'd looked at the weather forecast too and knew that they couldn't remain in Cloudy Bay so they said they'd be happy to join us at Dover. "Meet you behind Rabbit Island" they said.

We knew that there was a General Store in town so the Bloke took me to shore to seek out some bread and bits and pieces. First we aimed at a jetty that we noticed was a private gated one as we got near so we thought we'd take the dinghy into a beach. We tried wading and dragging the dinghy in but found our feet sinking deep into the sand and nearly getting us off balance. More than once my 'Pinkies' (Pink Crocs) got sucked off my feet. Yikes, forget it. We retreated and made for the boat ramp instead and the Bloke put me ashore while he waited with the dinghy. I was 'on the clock' and despite having only the vaguest clue as to where to find the shop, I headed off and spotted a few items of interest on the way.

 The Port Esperance Sailing Club

 Opposite the RSL and next to the Church,
I found this fenced off area and wondered what it might be.

This is timber country and on closer inspection 

I concluded that I was looking at a timber cutting competition arena.
This type of clamp was fixed to each post in the arena.

 No time for a closer look at the War Memorial, but the 'Digger' was overseeing the community and the Bay.

 I think that 'Noah's Arc' possibly came to rest in Dover.

Another abandoned dream for sale in someone's front yard.

You can't hide the fact that this resident is concerned about the cold and in fact looks like they've only recently decided to add to their wood pile in view of the failure of summer to visit this year.

This is 'Slaughterhouse Road' - a No Through Road.

A dead end apparently.

I succeeded in buying a sausage roll for the Bloke at the Take-Away on the main road and suddenly, the time that I'd been away shrank to hardly a moment, as be gobbled it down with appreciation despite in never being anything like a 'contender' on his league table.