I finally had a good chance to get my big job for winter out of the way today - doing a major backburn in the buffer zones around the house so we have a better chance of survival if a major summer fire rips through here.

I started a bit nervously, smallish and closer to the house, then worked my way further and further out, until in the end I had more confidence and got a 1.5 km fire front around the ring road we’d cleared last year for this exact purpose. It was actually loads harder than I expected to get it going, and I can see now why the old timers wait until there’s a stiff North West wind to light them - you really need some oxygen pumping into it to get it properly raging. It was also much easier to control than I expected too - my fire fighting gear literally consisted of a rake and a pair of gloves - it all came down to just setting the right lines going, then either burning up or down back into them with other lines. Best fun in ages!

Dane and I set off on what turned into an epic 8km bike ride through Meroo National Park today, all the way from the highway down Meroo Lake Road. Dane just kept wanting to go further and further, and the gentle downhill incline made it nice and easy on the way down. The way back was a different story, and I ended up strapping his little yellow bike to my backpack and double dinking him back up the hill. A classic boys’ adventure on a flawless winter’s day…

I might be wrong, but I seem to remember Jasmine started blooming in September when I was a kid, not in late July in the coldest week of the year so far…

This beautiful Diamond Python (not venomous) spent a few days curled up in the winter sun on a log where I usually go and check the surf. He seemed totally happy to have people check him out, and didn’t even flinch if you patted his tail. Hopefully no one put him in a bag and took him home as a pet…

It started well on the weekend, got better through Tuesday with a fun high tide session at Golfies, and then went ballistic yesterday with the best Potholes I’ve ever seen - perfect 6-8ft. Dayan Neve and his mates were taking off about 70m deeper and getting bigger barrels than I’ve ever seen anyone get with my own eyes. It backed off a bit today in the howling offshore, but that didn’t mean my local kindy drop-off spot wasn’t doing its own impersonation of Jeffrey’s Bay with only one other guy to share it with. The wildlife has been out in force too - a fur seal at Potholes lolling about, the usual Dolphins dropping in, the occasional Albatross, and fleets of Humpback whales cruising north for winter. A couple even decided to hang around this morning and put on a bit of breaching show - pretty spectacular for a 45ft, 30 tonne mammal…