In March this year twenty years ago, we were spending Padma's birthday at Moruya where we had an enjoyable midday lunch in the beergarden of the "Adelaide Hotel" overlooking the Moruya River when a man on a pushbike pulled up for a rest.
He had a tiny Maltese puppy in his backpack which made us talk to him. He turned out to be an Austrian by the name of Robert Krenn who was pedalling from Melbourne to Sydney (a distance close to 1000 km) and who had ridden his bike all over the world with many stories to tell.
We invited Rob to stay with us at Riverbend and he turned up late that same afternoon to overnight in our guest cottage. We talked and talked and became very good friends. And his little Maltese puppy and our dog Malty became very good friends as well! So much so that when it was time for him to leave next day late in the afternoon, we suggested to him that if he ever needed a good home for his little puppy, we would be very happy to take care of him!
Late that same evening, Rob called us from Burrill Lake, some fifty kilometres north of Batemans Bay, to ask if we had been serious about our offer to take care of his little puppy as he felt we would give him a much better home than he ever could. Of course, we had been serious with our offer! So we got into our car and drove north to meet Rob at his campsite where we drank hot tea and ate iced finger buns, walked along the beach and gazed at the stars, and talked some more. We returned home well after midnight with the new member of our family whom we called "Rover" as he had already travelled so much!
Malty and Rover became very good friends and the house became a very lively place with Rover exploring his new home. At night he slept on our bed between the two pillows, usually on his back with his four legs spread out in all directions. He was a dear little fellow and a great addition to the family!
All this happened more than twenty years ago but we haven't forgotten!
