Day Twenty-Two - July 1

It's Territory Day!
Tim has been very excited about today. We went out on a boat to go fishing. We had to be at the wharf at 7.45, so we were up early getting organised with breakfast and sunscreen, etc.
We met our boat driver and fishing instructor, Paul, and set off for a spot of fishing. We zoomed out into the harbour, sending spray up everywhere. Thankfully we are all ok out on the water, no seasickness at all. Before we all had our lines in the water, Toby had a bite! He hooked it and was reeling it in, but the fish darted into the rocks. A battle ensued, which sadly the fish won, and after about 5 minutes of trying to reel and tug it out of the rocks, we had to admit defeat. No one else managed to hook anything else at that spot, so we zoomed across the harbour to another reef to have another go. 

Toby has a bite!

Levi managed to feed his bait to a few fish, which he was thrilled about. Every time he reeled in an empty hook, he celebrated that he had fed the hungry fish. 

Still no joy on the fish front, so we moved again down a sheltered little spot between some of the islands in the bay, and finally we found fish. Toby was the first to land one, and the second. In all, Toby caught three Moses Perch (good for live bait, but not good eating) and three Moonfish. Tim caught two Moonfish and a Javelin fish. Lauren caught two Moonfish. Isaiah caught two cat sharks, which had to be thrown back, and I reeled in a sand shark, again, had to be thrown back. Zane tried his best and had a few nibbles, but didn't manage to hook anything. Levi too. We all had a great time though, and did manage to take enough home for dinner.

First fish

Lauren and one of her two Moonfish

Isaiah & his catshark

Sand shark. Not any good for dinner.

After we got back to the wharf, we went to the show grounds to buy some fireworks. :D

Fireworks earned. Proud boy.

We worked together to clean Lauren's house and to prep dinner before all our dinner guests arrived. The Donaldsons, and some of Lauren's neighbours, Chris and Sarah, and Ben and Nicki came over for dinner and fireworks.

The fireworks were insane. From 4pm, there were explosions every few minutes. I am not sure when they stopped, because I was asleep before it was over. You could go outside the front door and look around and see fireworks in nearly every direction.
We took ours down to the vacant lot at the end of the street. Tim and Ben took charge of setting them off at the back of the lot, and we sat on the footpath to watch. We blew up $210, and had a great show (everyone contributed).

My favourite were the ones Toby bought, called V2 Rockets, and the one called Mother-in-Law. Lots of colours and sparkles.
It made for a very late night though, with the last people going home at 10.30. Tucked in some very tired children and then went to sleep to the sound of fireworks in the distance.