#Sawtell is drying out now. On my way home from work today, on the verge of the street where yesterday there was a shin-deep lake that ruined my shoes, I spotted a stranded turtle. It's shell was about the diameter of a tin of peaches.

I stuck it in my shopping bag and carried it round the corner to the nearest creek-cum-drainage-ditch, setting it gently on the bank with it's feet in the water. It wouldn't budge until I backed off a few metres, then it looked about until satisfied that it was relatively safe, leapt into the air, and vanished with a plop into the still rushing, murky-brown water.

At least it won't die of dehydration in the next 24 hours. It was possibly the most useful and satisfying thing I've done in years.