After two months in my new home, I'm still not sure what a 'typical' day is. Sure, I wake up and have the same breakfast each morning but I rarely go to bed without being surprised by something new. Take yesterday for example: I was woken by a kiwi call around 6.30am so decided to go for an early morning walk to the quarry about 1km away. I surprised a large whitetail deer on the way and enjoyed listening to the birds as they welcomed the day. I want to get a truckload of sand so wandered into the quarry entrance to see if anyone was around. Imagine my surprise when I walked up over the rise and saw a beach at the bottom of the quarry road (see red line at top of map, not marked on the map but visible on Google's satellite photo). I was even more surprised when I saw that the beach was Horseshoe Bay - usually a 50 minute walk from home via Hicks/Horseshoe Bay Roads (blue line on map). This great new shortcut almost halves the distance and, as it is easier walking, would more than halve the time. It's such a buzz when I discover something new so close to home!
Late afternoon brought another surprise. I was watching my two Bambi babies graze close to the house when one became alert, staring intently at the bushline. I followed his/her gaze and saw something move. Bambi was making lots of muzzle movements and then started walking down to the bushline. 
At the same time a large female deer made a grand entrance and touched muzzles with the two babies, one of which tried to suckle. Unfortunately the mother moved away before I could take a family photo but I did manage to get one of mum before something spooked her and they all took off! I thought the adults didn't get very large but this solid mama towered over her babies and the tips of her ears would probably be higher than me - and I reckon she'd weigh more too! Maybe I should rethink my strategy for working in the bush during the 'roar' next month!
The third surprise of the day was when I checked outside just before going to bed and finding a possum investigating my stone dragon on the deck. It seemed quite at home, hence my efforts today to get a Timms trap readied for tonight. Possum has a temporary reprieve however as the Timms trap needs to be adjusted - at present it needs to be hit with a sledgehammer to set it off - but that's Friday's job!
