I’ve mentioned before the terrific social life here in Nhulunbuy. With a population of around 3,300, most people work for Rio, at the hospital or various schools and many have young families. So there is always something happening.

Kyran’s friend Drew suggested prawns and beers at the beach one evening and five or six families turned up with food, drinks, camp chairs and eskies. The adults built a camp fire and the children played on the beach. We were in time for a beautiful sunset.

What a great evening we had. There’s nothing better than eating, drinking and chatting around a camp fire at sunset! And this is a regular past time here. The other evening when just Kyran, Vanessa, Tommy, John and I had fish and chips on the beach, we watched some teenagers catch small sharks from the beach for their You Tube channel (they put them back). This time, we watched a dugong swim up and down just where we were sitting.

When it was dark, the children played with sparklers then toasted marshmallows on the camp fire. They would all have slept well.