Monday, Oct 20 - Orchids!!

Pics: The "Trek", Orchid: Scented Sun, Xmas Leek, Purple Pansy, Butterfly

I walked over to the office to see about a orchid tour and chatted up some of the Trek guys. Apparently they spend all year decorating their trucks, get a ton of sponsors, and drive around WA raising money for and visiting kids with cancer. I passed by men dressed as Superman, Vikings, Pirates, etc. . Pretty amusing stuff.
At nine Bob and I joined seven others by a small van and Ayleen, one of the Retreat owners and a botany enthusiast, took us on board and drove us short distances up the road stopping frequently for us all to jump out and see some spectacular orchid. They’re all very small, 1- 2” across, but wildly gaudy. She also pointed out many other flowers that we had been puzzling over. Every color of the rainbow and very complex structures. We returned at noon just as it started to rain on and off.
I took advantage of the rain and went to the office to struggle with their computer. At 3:30 we realized that the café across the street was closing in half an hour for their day off tomorrow. We had a breakfast hamper from the Retreat to finish, but no alcohol, so we got the café to bend the rules a little by ordering two bottles of wine, drinking a glass out of each and carrying them to the car, as they don’t have a Take-Away license. Most of the wine of OZ now has screw caps but we realized too late the red wine we had picked had a cork which by then had been discarded so we had to balance it carefully (and illegally) back to our cottage.
We made a bacon and potato frittata for dinner. Had a slide show and played sudoku.