Tunnel Creek

July 27^th

Pack up day again but nobody minded because we were off to Tunnel Creek which we have all been looking forward to and it didn’t disappoint – it was definitely a highlight of the trip.

Tunnel Creek is exactly how it sounds, a creek that in the wet has carved out a tunnel in the rock about a kilometre long. When I say tunnel I would have to say it more resembled a cave, it was quite wide and very high in places with lots of stalactites and stalagmites and bats (I chose to ignore the fact there were apparently hundreds of bats living in there).

You had to have a torch because it was pitch black once you were inside and I very kindly stopped to let some people come out before I headed all the way in and by the time I got inside everyone had gone ahead and left poor little me not having a clue which was the best way to go. I however, am no fool, coming up behind me was a tour group being led by a barefoot aboriginal man who seemed to know what he was doing so I joined them. Turns out that was a really smart decision because towards the end of the walk the water got quite a bit deeper and instead of being in cold water up to my chest I was only in cold water up to my waist!

When we returned to the opening of the tunnel a few of us stopped to get sand and rocks out of our shoes and Thomas spotted a small water snake sunning himself on a rock – I was pretty glad we spotted him at the end of the walk and not the beginning.

Back in the cars we headed back to Winjana Gorge for a picnic lunch – yes ham sandwiches yet again and we once again all felt a bit disappointed not to be staying for the Paul Kelly concert that night but we jumped back in the cars and headed off to do our last section of the Gibb River Rd. In the end the most damage we sustained on the Gibb was a slow leaking tyre, broken electric brakes on the camper trailer which Paul managed to fix himself (can’t tell you how proud I am of him) and two broken eggs. Considering some of the damage we have seen from flat tyres to wheels completely falling off I think we have done very well.

They say the Kimberly gets into your blood well I would have to say that is true – Paul and I are already planning what places we are going to on our grey nomad adventure – but the Kimberly also gets into your car and camper and shoes and clothes – so while I will miss the beauty of the Gibb I will not miss the red dust and dirt!

A one night stop in Derby to do a grocery shop, fill up with petrol and have Barramundi and chips for dinner for tomorrow we head to the coast!

Geike Gorge

July 26^th

After all being disappointed we couldn’t see Paul Kelly in concert at Windjana Gorge we are pretty sure we may have had a private concert last night – there was a guy playing guitar a few sites over who played Paul Kelly songs and sounded a lot like Paul Kelly.

It was a leisurely start to the morning as we decided to do the 11 am Geike Gorge (our last Kimberly gorge) boat cruise which was good because it gave us (well Paul really) a chance to finish off the washing. We made a quick stop into the IGA to pick up some lunch supplies – which was met with groans of ‘not ham sandwiches again’. To which I replied, if they didn’t eat so much at dinner there would be leftovers for lunch!

It was only a short drive out of town to the national park so we arrived with plenty of time to spare – 3 whole minutes but the important thing was, we made it. All the kids were put on the boat first, our 11 were the only ones and for some reason all the older people also on the cruise didn’t want to sit behind them – although I could see their point, we didn’t want to sit behind them either.

The river was full of little freshwater crocs and the ranger put the kids to work spotting and counting them in the end we had varying numbers between 31 and 41. This Gorge was quite different to the others (aside from the fact that we were sitting down and leisurely cruising through it rather than walking over ridiculous numbers of rocks). It was part of the Devonian reef which was like the Great Barrier Reef 130 million years ago and the wet each year is eroding away the rockface leaving these amazing patterns. At one point the rock becomes a pinkish colour and the ranger explained that it was the result of an ancient algae.

After the cruise it was a quick picnic lunch in the national park because there were some fishermen keen to throw their lines in. We had ‘forgotten’ to take the kids rods – not because we didn’t want them to fish but more because we still hadn’t untangled their lines after their last fishing effort – not to mention I’m pretty sure all the lures have now been eaten by trees. So we headed back to camp where Tom and I played cards while Claire, Paul and Sam went up to the pool which was apparently freezing. You might be wondering why I haven’t mentioned Luke. Luke got himself adopted by the Burgesses at lunch time so he could go fishing. Of all the kids he has certainly showed the most passion for it .

Once everyone was back at camp the kids seemed to be amusing themselves so we decided it was a good night for wine and nibbles – actually every night is a good night for wine and nibbles but we have to pace ourselves! After a while the kids started grumbling about being hungry so we thought we should probably feed them.

After eating the last of our Kunanurra sausages which were hugely popular we packed the kids off to bed with a movie and about 15 mins later decided to head off to bed too – I think Sam was the only one asleep before me. I hope when I get back to the east coast time zone I will be able to stay awake past 9pm!

Another Day Another Gorge

24th July

The gorge of choice today was Bell. To try and compensate for how slow I am compared to the others the Garments headed off a bit earlier than everybody else . This was aided by the fact that we have run out of bread so throwing down a bowl of cereal for breakfast didn't take very long.

It was a 10 km drive from the camp ground to the start of the walk. The walk itself was unsurprisingly rocky and a steep decent but for a pleasant change the walk actually got easier. The view from the top of the gorge was beautiful it was a layered waterfall with a crystal clear water hole at the bottom. Knowing my walking capabilities I elected to stay on the rock overlooking the top of the falls the kids however couldn't resist the lure of swimming in the waterhole and decided to walk down into the gorge.

Once everyone was leaving the bottom of the gorge I reluctantly left my sunny rock to head back to the car and for once I wasn't holding everyone up.

We went back to camp an packed up to head to Windjana Gorge. As we arrived yesterday there was a sign saying Windjana was closed for camping for a week except for Sunday 24 th. We figured everyone would be camping there seeing as it was the only day it was open but when we got here the sign said it was closed for a week because there was a show playing here. We opted to believe they were open for tonight and came in anyway - obviously everybody had followed the sign at the turn off because we practically had our pick of campsites.

Once again it was a late lunch after setting up but the kids were happy because it consisted of nibbles dip and leftovers.

Seeing as we have a beautiful afternoon free the kids had to do their journal writing. Of the 11 kids it is the same few struggling with their journals. In our family it is poor Luke . I have taken to getting him to dictate it to me and I write it and all he has to is copy it and we are still struggling.

My main focus at the moment is to have a hot shower. You know you are dirty when you are covered in dust and dirt and you can't stand the smell of yourself. There have been a few swims in the last couple of days and a very quick wash down in Matt and marees shower tent the other night but I am craving a three hour soak in the tub with a scrubbing brush!

I have just realised we have been on the road for four weeks. The kids haven't once said they have missed tv but there have certainly been a lot of squabbles. But there have also been some fabulous family moments to make up for it.

Manning Gorge

23 July

Guess what I did today? That's right a walk over rocks! Seriously though it was a relatively easy walk until the end when we climbing up and down cliffs oh but so beautiful when I finally got there.

The kids had a great time jumping off the waterfall into the crystal clear water. One of the great things about this walk was you started by having to swim across the river (we all ignored the fact that there had been three freshwater crocs sunning themselves there yesterday).

It was really cool you walked down to the edge of the river and there were big polystyrene boxes to put your things in and swim them across. There is a little dinghy that you can use if you don't want to swim which I thought would be good for me because I had clothes over my swimmers and was carrying the camera. When we got there the dinghy was on the other side of the river so Tom being the wonderful son he is said he would swim over an get it.

In the end it was Tom Luke Josh and Riley in the boat trying to row it back over with the two planks of wood that were oars. As Michael said, it didn't look like it was going to make it any time soon as it was being captained by the pirates of penzance. Josh and Riley abandoned ship half way over and poor Tom. who was doing really well rowing, was being hampered by Lukes own special brand of help. Paul ended up swimming out and pushing it into shore.

On the way back it was much more pleasant to swim across and by the time I got there I was so hot I swam across in my clothes.

We could easily have spent the whole day, there but the time came to walk out so we could have lunch and pack up the camper trailers. After a quick lunch and pack up we drove the 7 km back to the roadhouse to get yet more petrol (our most expensive yet at over $2 per litre. It was the on to Silent Grove, a campsite 10 km from Bell Gorge.

The Garments were the first to arrive because the others had decided to walk into another gorge on the way. So the pressure was on us to not only find a good site but also try and save enough room for the others. I think the place we found fit the most essential criteria - close to the toilets and close to the tap.

The campsite is called Silent Grove, although after all the kids got here it probably needs to be renamed 'not so silent grove'. Once we set up it was journal writing time for the kids. Claire and Tom have been really good at doing their journals although Toms can be a bit light on sometimes, Luke however is finding it very difficult to do because there are always footy's to kick or rocks to climb or rivers to fall into.

All this walking is making us exhausted though, we were all in bed by 8:30. One of these days we really should stay awake longer than the kids.

Cruising Along The Gibb

22 nd July

We said goodbye to El Questro this morning after Paul cooked us a breakfast of pancakes ( a way to use less bread as we are down to 2 loaves for the next five days).

We turned onto the Gibb River Rd pleasantly surprised by the condition of the road ( I am thinking the grader has been through fairly recently). We got to the legendary Pentecost River quite quickly and Paul, after stressing about it for months, drove through it like he had been doing it all his life.

It was a long drive today but one thing that did amaze us was the way the colour of the road changed. It went from a dusty grey to a beautiful red. I know it sounds bizarre to say the colour of a road was beautiful but it really was something to see.

Maree in her quest to see as many gorges along the road as possible suggested we go to Mount Barnett gorge because it was only 2 km off the main road. It seemed like such a good idea at the time until we felt like we were driving in circles through the spinifex towing the camper trailers. Eventually we got to the end of the track and wait for it, it was a rocky one hour walk! I had a complete revolt from my four who point blank refused to do it - the fact that it was 2 pm and they hadn't had lunch may have had something to do with it. After speaking to a few people who had just finished we decided to have a picnic lunch by the sandy creek and then head on to Mt Barnett roadhouse, our stop for this evening.

The three families are setup in a semi circle and we all decided to stay hitched as it is only a one night stay. As soon as we finished setting up we sent all the kids in search of firewood - a blissful 10 mins. Now we will have to follow through with the promise of toasted marshmallows again.

Hot and Cold

21 st July

We started the morning with cereal and BBQ toast (Paul has become quite adept at cooking toast on the BBQ). It was then into swimmers and packing lunch (which basically means grab a loaf of bread and throw what is in the camper trailer fridge into the car fridge).

Our first stop was zebedee hot springs - a little piece of heaven. I was a bit reluctant to get in at first 28-32 degrees didn't really sound all that appealing but I am so glad I did - lying back in the water looking up through the palm trees was just beautiful with the water cascading over my feet - heaven !

It took a lot for us to move from our comfy rock but we were off to Emma gorge. Emma gorge is a 1.7km walk over - yes that's right - rocks but in this case it was so worth it. Once again I was dragging up the rear and when I finally arrived everybody was already out of the water. Turns out nobody had stayed in for more than a few minutes because the water was freezing. Thomas very kindly offered to swim out to the waterfall so I could get some photos of him. We have seen a number of waterfalls on this trip but I have to say this one would be up there as one of my favourites. It is a droplet waterfall and the colours of the rockface in the gorge were just spectacular. Not to mention all the lovely scenery on the walk in the best being the turquoise pool just before you get to the falls.

On the way back I twisted my bad ankle on a rock so was even slower going than I usually was but I made it out eventually and paul had lunch, a cold drink and an ice pack waiting for me.

All the kids have wanted to do for the last couple of days is fish so while the adults sat back and relaxed when we got back to camp the kids got out their rods and alternated between fishing i.e. Losing lures in trees and collecting firewood. Of course they all managed to come back soaking wet and covered in sand and mud so they were all packed off to have a shower while Paul and I got dinner ready ( a nice simple BBQ) with meat bought from the butcher in Kunanurra - this guy is fabulous really reminded me of my pops butcher shop when I was little.

After dinner Matt got the fire going and the kids all roasted marshmallows for desert although it took Sam a while to work out you needed to hold them over the fire not just eat them off the stick the minute they go on .

We eventually got the kids off to bed - Sam fell asleep in my arms watching the fire which was lovely it was just like he was a baby again, the adults sat around the fire. We alternated between watching the fire and looking up at the stars. The stars have to been seen to be believed here. I have seen stars in the country before but nothing like this - they a truly amazing.

Once again we are all being party animals and have gone to bed before 9 pm.

Just to give some stats to the people who care (you know who you are).
Distance travelled so far 7148 km
Total fuel cost $3144
25.9 L/100km

Gibb River Rd or bust!

July 20th

It was a lovely slow pack up this morning because we only had an hour and a half drive to our next stop.

We were ready first and didn't have any last minute things to do so Claire and I decided the boys needed to see the Ivanhoe Crossing which, when we got there was flowing even faster than yesterday. The boys thought it was really cool. We then headed back into town and Miramar National Park. It was supposed to be a bit like the Bungle Bungles - personally I didn't think so but it was pretty nevertheless. The others arrived just as we were finishing our walk so the Garment's made a pit stop at Coles and bought some morning tea which we took to Celebrity Tree Park.

After Paul refused to sit under the tree planted by John Farnham - we found the next shadiest tree and sat down to our rather sad morning tea of jam rolls (Paul's choice). We had a game of hide and seek behind all the trees and I discovered I am raising a bunch of cheaters who are being taught by their father!

Back on the road again we had one last petrol fill up and headed out of town. Once we turned on to the Gibb River Rd we stopped to let down tyr pressures and dicovered we had another slow leak in one of our tyres (not the one we just had fixed), so we pumped it up and headed off onto the dusty corrugations - by the way that is an undersatement. There is no wind so the dust from the car in front goes nowhere, no wonder Matt likes to go first!

There were a few mud holes and river crossings before we arrived at El Questro station, our home for the next two nights. It was a quick set up because at 3pm we still hadn't had lunch.

We decided to go for a drive to Explosion Dam but we weren't really sure where we were going so we ended up driving down to Chamberlain Gorge which was really pretty with the late afternoon sun on it - it was also my type of gorge - you drive right up to it - no walking involved!

Once back at camp Deb, Maree and I got out our matching Nitmiluk wine glass holders and put them to the test, three three bottles we polished off would indicate they work quite well. While I was putting my coldie holder through it's paces Paul cooked a magnificant risotto which two thirds of the family ate (good odds for us) thank heavens I packed a heap of rice cakes for my non eaters.

Windjana Gorge

July 25th

Another early start, but as the days quickly heat up it is better to walk early in the morning. And what a morning it was! After a lovely night at Windjana campground we were all a bit sorry we couldn't stay longer like we had planned - we even tossed around the idea of buying tickets to the Janamarra play just so we could but with 11 kids who probably wouldn't like it we decided it would make it a very expensive stay. As we walked into the gorge we passed where the play was being performed and thought it would have been excellent seeing it with the gorge as the backdrop.

What we thought would be even more excellent would have been if we were there on Wednesday night because Paul Kelly was playing - and yes we are seriously contemplating going back there!

Windjana Gorge was quite different to the others we have visited in the Kimberly - for a start it is not part of a running river system in the dry and there is absolutely no swimming and when we got down into the sandy beach area we could see why. There were plenty of freshwater crocs out sunning themselves. Thank heavens for zoom lenses!

We walked along the gorge for a while and then headed back to the cars and took off for Fitzroy Crossing - what we didn't realise was that Deb and Mike were so far behind us leaving so when we got the the end of the raod from hell (it was very rough and corrugations galore and probably hasn't been graded since the Beatles last hit record) and we couldn't raise Deb and Mike on the CB. We waited on the side of the road for a while trying to get them and then turned around and went back the the very end of the road and waited and just as Matt was about to unhitch and go and look for them a car came out so we asked if thiey had passed a Land Cruiser towing a Kimberly Kamper in trouble and they hadn't so we figures they weren't broken down.

In the end we decided to head into town and at least book campsites (which they wouldn't let us do for Deb and Mike even though I was going to pay for it) so we drove in and found three sites and parked on theirs until they arrived. Anyway turns out it was as simple as a wrong turn and they got here not long after us.

Fishing was the order of business this afternoon. I did Sam, Claire and Luke's rod (Luke has taken quite a liking to fishing). Sam of course, having the attention span of an ant, threw his in once and when he didn't catch anything decided he had enough. We managed to lose a couple more lures, tangle a reel and catch absolutely nothing - so once again no Barra for dinner and we have to go back and have some pasta.

Possibly the best thing about today is that the place we are staying has washing machines which means clean clothes tomorrow! We are all starting to stink a bit - I had planned on wearing clothes for two days out here but I didn't factor in the amount of dirt and dust and with packing up each day we are getting filthy. I think Luke has worn the same board shorts four days in a row and swimming in waterholes isn't rinsing them out!

Kunanurra

19th July

Happy Birthday Shaz!

A day of preparations today - groceries for the next 8 days, gas and a little bit of sightseeing.

I won't bother with any details about grocery shopping - the boredom might make you nod off so I will tell you about our afternoon. The boys decided they would rather watch a movie and veg around the pool so Claire and I set off with absolutely no idea where we were going.

Anyway our impromptu sightseeing tour took us to Kellys Knob Lookout (I had a giggle at the name but Claire didn't really get it). After that we went to Lily Lagoon in the middle of town - very pretty and then we decided to drive out to Ivanhoe Crossing - we were bitterly disappointed when we saw a sign on the way that said the crossing was closed but we thought we would go and have a look anyway. When we got there we could certainly see why it was closed - the depth would not have been a problem but the speed the water was flowwing would have swept you off in a second.

Back in the car we seemed to be driving in the middle of nowhere but eventually we got to the Hoochery distillery - the only legal distillery in Australia. I sampled some delicious liqueuer (chocolate and coffee flavour) but I refrained from buying a bottle which I am really regretting now)

This evening Paul and I felt like alchoholics when we went into town to buy some wine for the next few days. You can't buy casks anywhere in the Kimberly and you can only buy two bottles per person AND you cannot buy wine until after 5pm. Tragically we had to hit a few bottle shops to stock up!

Back to the camper trailer for dinner and I will finish writint now because there is a game of Phase 10 I am missing while I update.

A New State

18th July

Not a particularly interesting day - we packed up and left Katherine Gorge and headed into Katherine for breakfast and to get the tyre looked at. Thankfully the tyre was just a valve and it was the best kind of repair - Free!

We set off across the Victoria Highway heading towards Kunanurra - approximaely 55okm. I will confess to ne being overly enthusiastic about a big drive but this one had two huge advantages - the drive was beautiful. Gregory National Park was spectacular and we would have loved to spend more time there. The second big advantage was that we gained one and a half hours when we crossed the border.

Crossing the border was fun - we had caught up with Matt and Maree about 25km before the border so when we got to the actual border crossing it was a quarantine stop so because of the queue Maree and I were the only ones able to get out of the cars to get a photo under the 'Welcome the Western Australia' sign. Being the mature grown women we are we were taking stupid photos of each other doing star jumps and other dumb poses. When I got back in the car Claire wanted to look at the photos and her response was a shake of the head and an 'oh mum'.

We arrived in Kunanurra and set up and because we had gained an extra hour and a half we spent the extra time sitting around the pool and doing washing.

17th July

Well today has been full on. Full on nothing the most energetic thing we have done all day was walk up to the visitor centre to book ourselves on a 3pm gorge cruise.

Matt and Michael took some of the keen fisherkids to try and catch dinner while Paul took the rest of the kids to the pool - all mine went swimming. The fishermen returned with nothing so I guess it will be spaghetti Bol for dinner after all.

The gorge cruise was beautiful. Very relaxing going up the river in the afternoon sun with these amazing rock faces either side of us. We did the two hour cruise which did the first two gorges. You actually get out of the boat at the end of the first gorge and walk along the path through the rocks to get on a different boat to do the second gorge. As we were walking to the boat we passed a colony of bats. The photo below was just one tree of many and yes all those little black blobs are bats!

Let me mention here that I hate bats almost as much as I hate snakes an we have seen both here. The bats would number in the 10's of thousands. Luke woke me up going to the toilet this morning so I figured I would go with him - I took out my ear plugs (used to dull the symphony of snoring) only to be met with the sound of thousands of bats squawking at each other - so being the brave individual I am I decided there was no way I was going out there so I figured I would wait until the bats had gone back to bed before I ventured outside (yes I let the seven year old go out by himself)

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Other than the cruise the most productive thing we did today was book sites in Kunanurra for tomorrow night. We have to have powered sites so we can power up before heading onto the Gibb and I think we ended up getting the last three powered sites in Kunanurra. So we have to get the tyre fixed in Katherine tomorrow morning and then we have a big drive to cross into Western Australia.

16 July

Not much to report today. We woke up to find our rear drivers side tyre completely flat so after breakfast the first order of business was to put the spare on. Paul did that while Claire and Thomas helped me pack up the camper trailer. Once the flat was off Michael and I had a look at it - there were a couple of spots that may be punctures but I suspect it is more likely the valve was damaged when we put the tyres down yesterday to drive on the dirt. We had planned to get it looked at when we got to Katherine but all the tyre l places were closed.

When we got to Katherine I had to take Claire to the hospital. She has been complaining of having a blocked ear for a couple of days but this morning she said it was hurting. At first they thought there might have been a bug in there but then decided it probably wasn't a bug but it was inflamed so she has to have antibiotic ear drops 4 times a day.

Driving out of Katherine to Nitmiluk national park we saw our first camel which we were all far more excited about than it probably warranted.

Once we got to the national park I was pleasantly surprised by how nice the camping area was (although very expensive I think for an unpowered national park site ($40 per night). The kids are happy though because it has a pool.

Our Creek Crossing - check out the video

Friday 15th July

What a huge day. We left at 8 this morning and I am currently typing this up on my iPhone at 6:15pm while Paul fills the tyres back up.

Our first stop as usual was to get yet more petrol (we have spent over $2500 on fuel so far) and the fabulous bakery in Jabiru for some fresh bread for lunch.

We spent 50km on a dirt road leading into twin falls and Jim Jim falls. Our first destination was twin falls which had a brilliant creek crossing - it was 70cm deep so we got to justify our snorkel purchase on the car. Paul got to drive through it going in but all the girls drove coming back out.

But more about the falls. It was an easy walk to get to where the shuttle boat leaves. Our group filled one of the boats so we got to jump ahead of the tour group coming in just behind us. What a beautiful boat ride so peaceful and the water was so crystal clear you could not only see the bottom but several big barramundi swimming past us it was such a shame we couldn't swim there due to a few resident crocs who apparently all that enthusiastic about being relocated.
Once we got ashore it was a walk across rocks to get to the base of the falls which were beautiful.
We got to take the shuttle boat back and headed off to Jim Jim falls. After lunch in the car park we headed of on what Claire and I have dubbed the walk from hell. The sign at the start says 900m - yeah pigs eye it was! To you give you an idea of how hard this walk was it would take a really fit person who was used to climbing over boulders probably 45 mins so it took me just over an hour to wall 900m!!!!!

I can't even say it was worth the walk, don't get me wrong there is no doubt it was beautiful but after seeing the falls in Litchfield I didn't think these were as spectacular. So after climbing over all those boulders to get there it was heaven to dive into the freezing water to cool off and then we had to do the walk from hell in reverse to get out. I cannot tell you how relived I was when we got back to the car.

The absolute best part of the day and the thing that made the walk from hell completely worthwhile was the fantastic way my kids helped and encouraged each other I can't tell you how proud I was of them particularly Claire and Thomas. We have also decided that Luke is part mountain goat because of the way he scrambles across the rocks. Even sam is fairly surefooted on the rocks when we can convince him to get off paul's shoulders.

A Day in Kakadu

Thursday 14^th July

It was a bit of a slow start this morning but we eventually got going. Our first port of call was the Bowalie Information Centre which has a fantastic display of the history and Aboriginal culture of Kakadu. We then went to Nourlangie Rocks where we walked through the bush to see a cave where aboriginals used to take shelter from the heat and we also saw a lot of examples of rock art.

As usual I was lagging behind everybody but this time it worked to my advantage. I got caught up in a tour of seniors who had the most fantastic aboriginal guide – all I could think of was if I hadn’t died my hair before we left home I would have fit right in with them and not looked quite as conspicuous as I did. While I was tagging along with them the guide pointed out a drawing that was a man upside down with red circles around the elbows and knees – he explained that this was a sign that this area was ‘sickness land’ which is where uranium has been found .

Another reason it was great to be behind today was that I was the only one who got to see the wallaby with the baby in its pouch.

We then went to Arbangbang Billabong where we were planning to do the 2km walk around the perimeter which was great until we got there and saw the sigh that said crocs have been known to come up to the walking track and there was a photo to prove it! So we headed to Sandy Billabong which was beautiful and we were the only ones there. Paul and Josh even saw a croc waaaaaaay in the distance. We had lunch here and the kids payed some kind of geography/maths game that Georgia taught them so we all figures that counted as their school work for the day.

After lunch the Burgesses and Wooldridges went up to Ubirr and the Garments went down to Yellow Water. I was really keen to do a sunset cruise on Yellow Water unfortunately the cost was far too much for us all to go so Luke and I went while Paul took the other kids to the resort for a swim.

Luke and I loved it – we got to see heaps of birdlife, whistling ducks, the floodplains and even a few lazy crocs!

Jumping Crocs!

Wednesday 13^th July

Left Darwin this morning and heading to Kakadu. We stopped in at Adelaide River to do a Jumping Croc cruise. We turned down a dirt road which felt like we were heading into the middle of nowhere – along the way Paul thought he saw a cow – turned out it was a water buffalo. He (the water buffalo) wasn’t being very co-operative for a photos so Paul rolled down his window and started making ridiculous noises to get his attention – it could have gone either way but thankfully he chose to look at us rather than charge us.

Once we got the tour launch site and bought tickets we still had 30 mins to wait so the people who run the tour bought out one of their snakes for all the kids to have wrapped around their necks. Not surprisingly my big three were the first in line but we couldn’t convince Sam to even touch it.

Once we were on the boat it was absolutely fantastic as you can see from the photos. Kids loved it and Paul, who had to sit downstairs with Sam said that one of the crocs that was swimming towards to boat was eyeing Sam off like he would be a tasty little morsel.

As we drove into Kakadu we stopped for a turtle to cross the road – as the road was the Arnhem Highway we thought we should probably set him in a better direction. The kids thought he was great but we couldn’t even convince Sam to get out of the car to look at him.

We arrived at Kakadu Lodge, our campground for the next three days, in the early afternoon and with the promise of a swim at the end we seemed to get a lot of help setting up. The mozzies up here are ferocious though and at the moment I look like some kind of leper with all the big welted bite marks on me – a small price to pay though to be somewhere so beautiful.

Another Quiet Day in Darwin

Tuesday 12^th July

A leisurely start to the morning. We had arranged for a mobile welder to come and weld a new bracket to th A frame of the trailer so we don't have to keep fiddling with bolts and shifters. In my infinite wisdom I suggested we weld the new one next to the old so if Paul gets it into his head to break it again we at least have a back up!Once the welding was done we headed off to get the bolt to repair the driving light - Darwin the city of repairs.

Next stop was the old Fannie Bay Gaol. Very interesting place and only closed in 1979. During the bombing of Darwin the prisoners were all released and told to fend for themselves and if they were to kill a few Japs they would probably get a medal. During Cyclone Tracy the lower security prisoners were all let go too.

Back to the camper trailer for lunch and for the kids to catch up on journals and do some schoolwork and for me to do some much needed washing and then off to the pool where I am currently sitting watching Paul and the kids swim while I decide if I want a cocktail - oh who am I kidding of course I do! Cheers

A Day in Darwin

Monday 11^th July

A slower pace today – we headed into the centre of Darwin and took a lovely walk along the Esplanade (of course the walk was interrupted by a half hour toilet search). The it was a quick lunch of barra and chips and the down to Dr’s Gully to watch the fish feeding.

Luke particularly loved feeding the fish and even Sam touched one – he was so cute when he was describing how slimey they were that I thought I would try and get the description on video – of course once the camera was on he refused to talk – I have such co-operative kids!

The fish feeding was pretty impressive – the numbers and size of some of the fish were incredible and we all had fun sitting in the hot sun throwing bread out to them.

After feeding the fish their lunch we went to the Northern Territory Museum and Art Gallery – while the art gallery didn’t do much for me personally, the museum was fantastic. There was a big section on the animals found up here and a stuffed 8m croc with a video on how it was caught. Then we went into the part I had really been looking forward to – the Cyclone Tracy exhibit. Cyclone Tracy is one of my earliest memories so I found it fascinating to see the original news bulletin and see replicas of the rooms that would have been in houses back then (was great to show the kids things like a dial telephone).

The kids found the sound booth great – a recording done of the actual cyclone hitting. I don’t think they could fully appreciate though how terrifying it must have been.

Once we finished at the museum we had to head back to the campground because we had a mobile welder coming at 3.30pm to fix the jockey wheel. Sadly just as we drove in he rang to say he wasn’t going to be able to make it that afternoon and could he come the following morning. The kids didn’t mind their sightseeing being cut short for no reason – they got to come grocery shopping! Of course they came under sufferance with the promise of a swim as soon as we got back. So in the end it wasn’t a complete waste of time coming back early because it meant we actually have food to eat for the next few days.

The Best Day So Far

Sunday 10^th July

We were all a bit sad to be packing up this morning, although in typical Garment fashion we were the last to wake up and everybody else was already folding tents – we must have inhaled breakfast and the kids actually did all the jobs they were supposed to because we ended up being first done! We left the trailers at the camp ground and headed into Litchfield one last time. Turns out we saved the best for last. We went to the Florence Falls Lookout which gave spectacular views of the falls. Then we headed to Buley Rockhole – WoW!

The kids (and yes the mum) had a fantastic time sitting in the rock holes and sliding down the rocks. I think we all agree that we could happily have spent the day there but Howard Springs and Darwin were awaiting us.

We stopped in to pick up the campers and headed to Howard Springs for a highly nutritious lunch of chip sandwiches in the park. It was very disappointing to find the springs were closed for renovations so we couldn’t swim but we had a lovely walk around them until the ferocious mozzies got the best of us and we started toward Darwin.

The place we are staying is fabulous – Darwin Freespirit Resort – the kids were very keen to help set up when there is the promise of a swim at the end – I think we may have broken the 10 minute set up record! It was only a short swim though because we were planning to go to Mindil Markets to get dinner and eat it on the beach while we watched the sun set over the Arafura Sea.

Mindil Markets were fantastic – although busier than normal apparently because the beer can regatta had happened that afternoon (we all a bit sorry to have missed it). Claire bought herself a pretty sundress and got a henna tattoo on her foot and the boys came away with a croc tooth necklace. Sam blew into a set of wooden pipes – I guess that was one way to get us to buy them for him

After our purchases we got dinner from one of the stalls and went and sat on the beach with a glass of wine in hand and watched the spectacular sunset. Aside from being incredibly beautiful I was amazed at how quickly the sun went down - you could literally see it sinking into the water.

Another Day in Heaven

Saturday 9^th July

We headed into town to top up on petrol this morning and had mobile reception so we called my nephew Daniel for his 11^th birthday only to find he was out fishing. So I hope he had a great day.

Back into Litchfield and our first stop this morning was Wangi Falls which were beautiful and probably the most photographed falls and water hole in Litchfield as it was the easiest to get to (made for a nice change really). Unfortunately the water hole was still closed for swimming as the wet had lasted longer than usual the water level was still too high.

Moving along the next stop was Blythe Homestead. We were actually lucky to be able to get down there – yesterday when we entered the park the road was closed but had opened by the time we were heading home. Turns out the road had been closed for a good reason about 300m in we came to a nice high creek crossing. Being the good friends we are we all made Matt go first so if he got stuck we would know not to follow. Thankfully he made it over fine so we followed – kids thought it was great.

Further along we got to do another creek crossing just before we arrived at Blyth Homestead. The house itself wasn’t much more than a tin shack but inside there was the most incredible written history of the family who used it. It was used as a satellite homestead for the family of 14 kids. Basically the father sent the kids out to run this section of the property when they were about 10 (I can see his point of view some days).

We headed further down the dirt road to Sandy Creek (where we had a quick lunch in the carpark) and Tjaynera (yeah they got dubbed the Tjiunana falls) which were beautiful. Yet another gruelling bushwalk in and a ridiculous number of rocks to climb over – apparently only 1.7km but once again well worth the effort. I arrived just as Matt had finished taking a picture of a water snake that had been swimming near the kids. Thought about not getting in the water for a nano-second but was too hot after the walk to let a little (ok, large) snake stop me. Stripped down to my swimmers and stepped onto a rock in the water and it was freezing! However, it looked far too beautiful not to swim out to the waterfall. I was a bit concerned at first about how black the water was but when I started swimming I realised the water was actually crystal clear, it was the depth making it so black.

Once back in the car again we headed back out the way we came in, and went to Tolmer Falls Lookout. Sam fell asleep on this stretch so I stayed in the car and sent Paul and the kids in to have a look – apparently it was ....... wait for it.....a......waterfall!!!

Back at camp that night we fed and showered the kids and packed them off to bed and settled down with a Baileys – life is good!

A Little Piece of Heaven

Friday 8^th

What an exhausting day! We started off at the Magnetic Termite Mounds which are amazing to see – they are flat surfaced and when there are a lot of them it looks a bit like a graveyard. We then had a look at a massive Cathedral Termite Mound which the boys particularly enjoyed because they could see the termites moving around inside it. We then headed to the Bamboo Creek Tin Mine which was interesting.

We then headed off to Walker Creek and this was more like the Litchfield I had seen in photos. We followed along the creek (mostly) and every 500m or so we would come across a swimming hole. After spending nearly 45 mins at the first we knew we wouldn’t be able to swim at them all so we swam at the first and the third ones we came across for a swim. I don’t think words could do justice to how beautiful they were so I will let the photos do it for me. Despite the long walk (3.7km) the kids loved it.

After a quick lunch in the carpark at 3pm we decided to head off to the Cascades. The brochure said it was a 1.3km walk which we all felt would be easy after the one we had just done – how wrong we were. Their idea of 1.3km and the average person’s idea – very different. Not to mention how hard a walk it was – you get lulled into a false sense of security at the start with this lovely wide, flat dirt track and then it became less of a track and more of a rock climb with a couple of unmarked creek crossings just to keep it interesting! Eventually we got there – of course I was the last to arrive only to find out my delightful son had bet his sister $50 that I wouldn’t make it! I have to say though – once I blocked out the thought of having to do that walk in reverse to get out – it was spectacular and well worth it. We all had a wonderful time swimming in the water hole and sitting under the waterfall.

Back at the campground we were all exhausted and had the world’s easiest dinner of steak sandwiches followed by our own camping chair cinema. Off to bed now so we can do it all again tomorrow.

Saturday 2nd July

It was a long drive but we are spending the weekend at an oasis in the middle of the Queensland outback. Boodmajulla National Park (Lawn Hill) sits on the Queensland/Northern Territory border up near the Gulf of Carpentaria. It was 77km of dirt road just to get in here but SO worth it as you can see. We arrived a bit after 5pm and set up camp very quickly and then escorted some very impatient children down to the river which is so beautiful words can’t describe it. After the disappointment of not swimming tonight we headed back to camp and had a thrilling game of Toy Story Bingo which was played by the rules Sam was making up as he went along.

After dinner and a few wines, the boys were sent off to have cold showers (Claire and I opted for a Baby Wipe bath tonight – who says they are just for babies!). During the showers the automatic lights went off so the boys were plunged into darkness – let’s just say any fresh water crocs that were lurking around have gone into hiding to get away from the screams. It doesn’t end there – there only one of the boys who knew where the light switch was located on the pole outside was Paul, who at the time of the blackout was stark naked. Claire and I were very helpful by pretending we didn’t know them.

Sunday 3d July

Days really don’t come any better than today. We left for an early bushwalk to Indarri Falls, it was a fairly easy 1km wallk that took us through what smelt like bush lavender, across what was once a riverbed but was now just rocks and through a mass of wattle in bloom. After a short climb up a rocky path we walked around a couple more rocks nad were greeted with this sight. It was a bit unreal at first like when you see those amazing pictures of beautiful places and they are so lovely that you think no normal person would ever see it – it was like that. We walked down the rocks to the bottom anmd it just seemed to get more beautiful the closer we got.

Claire and Luke decided to not let the ‘Freshwater Crocodiles inhabit this area – swim at your own risk’ sign worry them and took a quick dip (or maybe they just didn’t see it), while Sam decided to have a rest on the rocks (although I don’t know why he was tired because this is his idea of bushwalking). After half an hour or so of soaking in the beauty we decided to head back and hire some canoes to explore the river.

While we waited for some canoes to become available the kids took a dip in the river and enjoyed floating around on some inner tubes. Finally it was our turn on the canoes and it ended up being a girls canoe and a boys canoe (I definitely got the better end of that deal). We paddled down the river and by the time Claire and I got to the gorge we were the only ones in it so she decided to test out the acoustics and belted out a song from Wicked which sounded fabulous (despite her head cold) and we agreed the acoustics were incredible.

We got all the way to the falls and while they still looked wonderful I did think they looked more impressive when we walked to them. As we were paddling back we caught up with the boys who had found a croc sunning himself on the bank of the river so we paddled inn to get a good look at him (just close enough to be far enough away!)

After luch we decided to take another walk to the Cascades this time. Again it was about a 1km walk with the promise of a dip in the rock pool once we got there. Someone should really amend the signs because when we arrived there was a pool alright, except it was of mossy green stagnate water! You could see from the rock formations that when the water used to flow through there it would Have been wonderful but clearly the water has been diverted at some point and it now very unappealing. To ease the disappointment of the kids and to cool off we headed back and all grabbed an inner tube and spent the next hour just relaxing and floating in the river. We all agreed at dinner tonight that we easily could have spent way more time here. I think Sam summed it up the best when he said “this is real camping”.

Monday 4th July

What an eventful day we have had. We were all a bit sad to be leaving Lawn Hill but we must move on because we are meeting the Wooldridges and Burgess’ no later than Wednesday in Mataranka. We had a creek crossing to get out of Lawn Hill and took a bit of damage – as we came out we heard an awful noise so pulled over to see what was wrong – as we stopped a kangaroo jumped across the road right where we would have been driving. The noise turned out to be a plastic guard that had come loose. One of the driving lights had come off too – a bolt had shaken itself off and it was hanging by the electricals so I managed to use the gaffa tape to tape it to the bull bar. As we were happily bumping along the dirt road we came across these two couples heading into Lawn Hill and we pulled over to see if we could help. Neither of their phones had reception but for some reason mine did (the only place I had signal all day I might add), so they were able to call for a tow truck (which was going to take three and a half hours to arrive) and the most important thing was that they were from Newcastle!

Further along our fuel light came on. I of course told Paul very confidently that it would be fine and we would make it to the next roadhouse about 50km away – yeah, turns out i was off by 650 metres. It also turns out that a 20 litre jerry can of fuel is not enough to start our car. We ended up being towed into the roadhouse across the highway – I will just add here that this is the first time I been allowed behind the wheel other than to reverse in to hitch the trailer – of course when you can’t start a car you have no power steering or brakes. As we are being towed I have all sorts of costly repair scenarios running through my head – turns out filling it did the trick!

After a long boring but relieved drive we arrived in Mount Isa only to find every powered site and most of the unpowered ones already booked. We eventually found an unpowered site at the Big 4 and were able to camp next to our wonderful friends the Woolridges. The kids were all very excited to see each other and promptly entered into a ‘settin up’ competetion – we claim we won because we were done first Matt claimed he one because he was the first to have a beer in his hand – in the end we called it a tie and celebrated with a couple of glasses of wine.

Tuesday 5th July

Left early this morning and treated the kids with maccas for breakfast and Thomas and I headed off to do a grocery shop while Paul and the other kids went to get petrol and some minor repairs. Once we were on the road again we were headed to Three Ways – with a stop of course as we crossed the border into the Northern Territory. We had a lovely picnic lunch at Barkly Homestead where all the kids enjoyed stretching their legs and letting off some of their energy. Next stop was Three Ways Roadhouse where we camped the night. The kids were all pretty happy to see the roadhouse stop had a pool and were more than happy to make use of it – Maree and I were good mothers and supervised (with a glass of wine in hand).

Wednesday 6^th July

Another long day of driving – but with the excitement of knowing we were meeting up with the Burgesses at the end of it. There weren’t a lot of things to stop and see along the way but one thing we decided we had to stop for was “Churchill’s Head” – a rock in the shape of Winston Churchills head that someone had stuck a stick into so it looked like a cigar – Wikipedia described it as one of Australia’s crassested sightseeing spots – in our book that is a must see. Turns out it was more of a blink and you miss it. One of the dumbest things ever – looked nothing like Churchill and the only way we knew it was the right rock was because of the big stick sticking out of it!

We eventually arrived in Mataranka where we headed into Elsey National Park – our camping spot for the night and there waiting for us were the Burgesses. Once we were set up we headed into the thermal pools – a lovely way to end a long day of driving. Once we got back to our campsite we discovered the mozzies had shown up for the night – everyone else was fine because they were all eating me! In the end I had to take refuge in the camper trailer which meant I missed the ranger talk which was a bit disappointing but better than being eaten alive.

Thursday 7^th July

A shorter driving day today but it seemed to take just as long? We had a fairly long stop in Katherine to get a few more groceries (some tropical strnght aeroguard!) and then we were on our way again. We had lunch at a beautiful park in Pine Creek where my nature spotting husband found trees full of flying foxes, personally I thought they looked like fruit bats but either way I was pretty glad they were asleep!

Further down the highway we stopped in at the Railway Museum other than the old railway carriage that reminded me of catching the ‘flyer’ up to Newcastle with my nan when I was really young it was pretty boring.

Finally we entered Litchfield NP – after a stop in Batchelor for beer we went in search of some campsites – a pretty fruitless search – I think we had left it a bit late in the day to arrive so we ended up in one of the caravan parks which is just lovely – we have three nice shady spots along the back fence and across from us is a huge grassed area for the kids to run around on.