We were awoken early at 0600h by the sound of the tree spraying trucks sent around by the Mairie. They use overhead booms to spray the tops of the trees, while there are few people or vehicles moving about underneath. It’s a bit of a nuisance being woken so early, but if it saves the trees (unlike the Canal du Midi where most of the plane trees are diseased and have now been cut down), then it is worth the inconvenience.

I followed the National Rugby League State of Origin Game 2 being played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Normally these games, between New South Wales and Queensland are only played in Sydney and Brisbane, but this year they decided to play one of the three games in Melbourne (as a neutral venue). With a crowd of over 91,000 in attendance (the largest-ever State of Origin crowd), I guess you could say the experiment was a success! With the series now tied one-all, the decider in Brisbane in a few weeks should be a good game.

A week ago, the grey water pump wouldn’t kick in as a result of a stuck float switch, with the result that the bilge in the engine room was filled with grey water. I fixed it accidentally by moving the switch and all seemed to be OK. But today, the damned thing wouldn’t turn off! No amount of fiddling with the float switch would turn it off or on. So I called out to Iain across the canal, and he came over with tools in hand. Turned out the float switch was well and truly buggered, so he installed a new one after making up a new mounting bracket. While testing the pump afterwards he noted that it did not seem to be functioning properly, and a little investigation showed that the non-return valves were not working as they should. He suggested fitting a new pump, and we luckily had one in a box in the engine room (thanks, Chris Farmer). But as it was getting dark, I decided that was a job for another day. In the meantime, I will just keep an eye on the grey water pump to make sure it keeps working, and check the engine bilge frequently to make sure it stays dry.

In the evening, Rita and I went up to the house to continue rehearsals for the Fete de la Musique.