The Iron Reef is our major submission to the BrickLink Designer Program, Series 11 — a minifigure-scale diorama of a grand old riverboat, *Bessie*, run aground and slowly taken back by the land. Rust, foliage and a hundred small lives have turned the wreck into a reef of iron: a whole ecosystem grown over a single, stubborn ruin. Around 4,000 parts and 4.5 kg of brick, six minifigures, three stickers, and a footprint of 812 × 304 × 491 mm.
We came to see Bessie this year and found her… well, time has had its way with her. Then again, it has with us too. Can't pretend otherwise.
There was a time—Santorini, thirty years ago—when we were different women entirely. Reckless in the best sort of way. Certain the world was ours to wander. Now we're older… and richer, though not in any way a banker would measure. Rich in stories. In the long thread of family that's grown around us.
Our daughter came along, with her husband. Melanie, who complains endlessly about the lack of signal out here. Little Jules, who doesn't seem to mind at all. And my wife… always with her camera now. As if she's trying to pin each moment down before it slips away. She forgets things more these days. Small things. Sometimes not so small.
I've made my peace with it, as much as one can. The sharpness that once defined her… it's softening. Nature takes back what it gave, in its own time.
Still… I miss her. The woman who laughed at the world's nonsense and said, "Come on, let's just take a boat and go." And we did. For years, we did.
Until one night, a bit too much drink, and she drove old Bessie straight ashore down here. That was the end of our wandering, really. Australia became home after that. Not by plan, but by consequence. Funny how life settles you.
I miss many things, if I'm honest. But there's something to be said for what remains. So I come here, with all of them. I fish. I keep it simple. Country. Family. Home.
Those are the things that endure. The true things.
