Just add water, please

Drought and rain have taken a toll on my very old swimming pool. Somewhere amid all of that the plumbing came loose. Professional help was called for and the surrounds look like a war zone in miniature. Pavers pulled up, sand and gravel waiting to fill the resultant hole, once we are sure no more leaks are going to appear.

And when did pool maintenance become such a science? Before the maintenance baton was passed on to me a few years ago, all that seemed to be required was regular hits of chlorine, maybe some acid, maybe some bicarb, and the odd bit of vacuuming. Now there's stabiliser, sanitiser, buffer, calcium, polish, even sunscreen.

But there is one bit of pool magic that I can swear by - flocc. One day my pool looked like pea soup, the next it was crystal clear, except for the sludge on the bottom which was easily "wasted" away.

Pool ownership is a luxury, I know. It's expensive to maintain, but it's my happy place. And this particular pool has been in the family since I was a teenager, and that's a long time.

Water makes me happy, bathing in it, showering in it, swimming in it. The smell of river water reminds me of Christmases at Rocks Crossing, swimming in the Nowendoc River, trying not to step on bullrouts, though we really weren't sure what they were.

So I'm not going to show you my pool as it's a work in progress, the outer edges anyway. Today's photo is from a magic spot we visited a long time ago, a place called Lawn Hill, and while there were no bullrouts, there were freshwater crocs and catfish the size of small sharks - but nobody was injured.

Happy weekend,

Toni Bell

ACM editor

Manning River Times