That is a really cool looking tent. Looks like a beautiful place, I'm envious.

We play Settlers of Catan with some friends a couple times a month. My friend Michael wins EVERY SINGLE TIME... until last night. Last night, I finally pulled out a victory. I had 8 points and hordes some brick and wood and in one turn managed to throw down enough road to have the longest one and won. -It was awesome.

Did you enjoy learning the game? Think you'll play again?

From my wife's blogging about this trip :

Disconnected Part 1

Friday Day 1 – After hooking up the boat, and making it through morning rush hour traffic, we hit the road and flew to Thames. After that, it got tricky. The hills are pretty steep and getting up them was a bit of a deal, but coming down was worse. I could smell the brakes on the really steep hills, as Brian tried to keep the speed controllable. It was white knuckles to Colville. From there, the road is no longer paved, and hugs the side of the mountains all the way to Port Jackson. Did I mention that it's a one lane road? Brian had to toot the horn on several blind curves, and we were glad he did, since it saved us being hit at least twice on the way there. After that last hairpin turn on the gravel we finally had Pt. Jackson in site, and I released my death grip on the armrest. We arrived at about 2pm, and checked in. We chose a site that was both isolated and in the middle of things. No immediate neighbours on any side, but close to the toilets and water source. The wind was blowing to beat the band. Erecting a tent in it was a joke, and not a very funny one. I was leaning against the canvas to hold it up, using my entire body weight, which is considerable. After much sweat and crankiness, we got it up and filled. Within minutes of getting the top on, we had visitors coming over for a peek. Most of them were English tourists. I was exhausted, and I can only imagine how tired Brian was after the harrowing ride up here, then erecting the tent in the wind, he must have lost a gallon in sweat. But because he is the best husband in the world, he offered to cook the steaks for dinner. After dinner we were all tired, and went to sleep as soon as it got dark. The winds kept at us all night long.

Saturday -After incredibly high winds which whipped at the tent all night, the morning came up like a lamb. I got up at my usual crack of dawn time and went out for a walk. I walked half the length of the beach and back, then made breakfast for the boys: home fries and breakfast burritos . I cleaned up the dishes and then Josh, Brian and I spent most of the day reading, napping or swimming. The water was lovely and warm after 3 pm, when the sun had heated the beach, and the incoming tide hit the warm sand. We had sausages (made by Lesa's dad) for dinner. After dinner, Brian and I took a walk on the beach, and then we played a game of Jungle Jam, which I lost. We then started a game of Settlers of Catan, but couldn't figure out the rules, partially because we were all so tired. We turned off the solar powered fairy lights, and went to sleep listening to the sound of waves.

Sunday - I woke up at the break of dawn again today. I walked the entire length of the beach and back, said “Hello Ladies” to the cows at the far end of the beach. No one was out but me. I felt like I owned it all. When I came back, Brian was awake and we had breakfast at our little picnic table overlooking the water. I once again realised how lucky I am. Whenever I want to remind myself, I try to remember that I'm doing what most people dream of; living on a South Pacific island, and this morning, I was eating Cheerios and bananas with cold milk overlooking a South Pacific island beach. The world well may be fucked with climate change, but for today, it is perfection, and with luck we will be sailing and catching fish later today.

It's been a beautiful hot day. Josh has spent most of it in the water, while I painted my little medallions. Brian and I figured out how to play Settlers, and I won the first game. Still no way to get the boat down the beach and to top it off the car battery needs a jump start. I think I'll go for a walk in the water. Josh met a girl his age named Ayla and her younger sister, Storm. Josh and Ayla have become fast friends. They spend every free minute together, just talking or playing in the water.

We got some help later in the arvo and were able to get the boat down to the water, and launched. I christened her with a bit of my own blood, which came from getting a finger almost taken off by the motor mount. It wasn't a huge cut but it bled like a sumbitch. We powered out into the bay and then attempted to get the sail up. While I was inside the cabin trying to help untie some knots holding the centreboard, we were bobbing up and down like corks. I felt something I haven't felt in decades...sea sick. I got out of the cabin as soon as possible and concentrated on the horizon, but it was too late. I fought the monster for another half hour while Brian erected the sail, but surrendered my coke float to Posiden eventually and spectacularly. Brian, usually the one in that position understood completely, and immediately offered to return to shore. I felt badly, but accepted. It was getting late and I felt like shit. We got back to shore and Brian called for Josh to come help hold the boat while he got the trailer. I trudged back up the beach and back to camp, washed my feet and promptly threw up again. By now, I was tired, dirty and really didn't care if the boat was on the trailer or upside down in the bay. I grabbed a shower bag, some clean clothes, and my shower kit and headed for the ablutions block. The water was lovely and hot, and by the time I was done, I felt much better. Brushing my teeth really helped. I went back to the tent and made a cup of tea, as Brian and Josh came up the launch ramp with Honey. Somehow, Brian wrangled another tow and got her back to our campsite before the storms which were due Mon, hit.

Earlier in the afternoon, Brian and I had gone downto play in the water. I happened to notice that there were a lot of closed tuatuas in the sand (bubbles), so because the tide was just turning, I was able to get down into the sand and pull up handfuls of them. I sent Brian for a bucket and filled it with about a hundred of them (well below the limit) and rinsed them in cold water to help clear the sand, and then we went for our boat ride. After my restorative tea, I felt better and decided to make a tuatua chowder. So I sauteed some onions in butter, added some stock and cubed potatoes, then threw in the cleaned and scrubbed tuatuas to steam open and release their juices into the mix. I seasoned it a bit and when they opened, I removed them from the heat and carefully took out all the meat, and tossed the shells. I returned the whole lot to the stove and thickened it with a milk/flour mixture and cooked until I liked the texture. I like my own food, but DAYUM! This was good soup! I had a mugfull and I was full. We had about 4-5 servings left over, so Brian did a bit of a walk-around and offered it to anyone who had a container to take it away. Very shortly thereafter, one of our neighbours (Penelope) dropped by with a large bowl and carried it all away. She came by this morning to tell us how delicious it was. I felt gratified. I mean, how often do you get fresh homemade clam chowder on the beach when you're camping? Surely not often enough.