26-28/05/2023 The Pineapple Palace

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We stayed in a little blue caravan tucked in against a verandah with an open-air ad-hoc kitchen, two sun loungers outside under an umbrella, and a neat little bathroom which quite possibly did not have any type of council approval.  Pineapples plastered the curtains and throw pillows, dangled from key rings, and clustered as decorative containers in corners. It was a veritable Pineapple Palace.

 

Our host served breakfast on the verandah in the morning with,  as befitted an eccentric host providing a pineapple palace, no discussion as to what breakfast would entail. We did as we were told and ate what was put in front of us and very nice it was too.

We spent a few days in the Pineapple Palace.  Every morning I walked down to the sea to watch the night retreat before returning to the Palace to find out what I was having for breakfast that morning.

Morning light on city buildings,

...and on the bridge.
 

We spent the days adding to our tea and cake overdose and catching up on two year's worth of family and friends. We went walking and bird spotting in urban wetlands.

Egret, spoonbill, and water birds.

I drank very large cups of tea in a kitchen ruled by cats.

Cat 1; Cat 2 (grumpy); Not-a-cat bush curlew.

Every evening we walked back down to the water and watched sunset, helped by smoke from hazard reduction burns, paint vivid colours over the water.  Fishermen clustered on the jetty and bobbed on the waves while a cruise ship sailed past and planes drew lines of fairy lights over the glittering city.


Day's last moment.

No catch.


We did not, despite having a relative who worked on a pineapple farm and staying in Pineapple Palace, eat a single piece of pineapple during our stay.  T'was indeed a missed opportunity:  how many times could you honestly say you dined on pineapple in a Pineapple caravan Palace?

Good night.




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