how I nearly got banned from the river

Murray River in flood, Teal Flat, South Australia

My partner's family have a property at Teal Flat, which is right on the Murray about an hour and a half from Adelaide. We head up there quite a lot because it's nice after a busy week to feel we "got out of the city", especially because we're saving up for the wedding and honeymoon so we haven't been on a proper holiday for a while.

Teal Flat is a private gated community type of set up; it has an Association which set the rules you need to follow if you build a house and spend time there. It keeps things nice and orderly so everyone can have a good time. Most people who have places here come up on the weekends but there are a few (like my future in laws) who live here permanently.

Last weekend, Logan decided it would be a great idea if I hopped on the ride on lawnmower and took it for a spin. I said no, of course, because bad things tend to happen when I get involved with heavy machinery. "Don't worry, it'll be fun!" he says (famous last words). It was decided that I would sit on the seat and my foot would control the throttle, while he stood on one side and did all the steering... seems logical.

So off we went to mow the lawn. Once we had done our own lawn, we went across the road to mow the common land because we're such great citizens and we were having way too much fun. We were having a great laugh, making jokes about how "the couple who mows together stays together" until mister steered too close to a small tree. "Stop!!!" he yelled, but of course by this stage I had completely forgotten I actually had my foot on the throttle and he had stopped steering because he thought I would stop the mower. We literally went straight over the top of this poor tree.

Quick! we thought. We can put this tree back together before anyone sees (?!) but then we heard someone yell "now you're in trouble!"... It was Logan's mum, standing with the head of the Association (who happens to be very fond of those trees) and his wife. We found half the stake to tie the tree to (the other half went through the mover, and thank God the mower was okay) and destroyed the rest of the evidence. Still... I suddenly feel much less welcome.