Day 56- Katherine to Adelaide River

I'm a couple of days late with this entry so let's see if i can remember what we did!

While we were in Katherine we had a look at the map to see where we might want to stop next. It's not far from Katherine to Darwin but there was no reason to make it in one day when we could stop and have a look around. Plus we thought it would be good to call into Litchfield on the way past. There were a couple of options halfway between Katherine and Darwin, like the Douglas Hot Springs (although we were probably all hot-springed out), or Edith Falls (seen a few waterfalls) or the Douglas Daly region, or Adelaide River. So we had a look at what was in the area and where might have some kind of village so it might be possible to attend a dawn service and you would not believe it but we discovered that not only was Adelaide River the largest town in the area (population 350) it also has one of Australia's largest war cemetaries. Decision made.

On the way out of Katherine Tim had to fuel up and there was a geocache just down the road that we could not find when we both tried a few days earlier so Tim dropped me off and the time it took him to fuel up was the time i had to find it! LOL! I looked and looked and looked and sweated and looked some more but still could not find the darn thing. It's a micro so only the size of a 5c piece and buggered if i could figure out where it was hiding. Gave up and climbed in the truck for the shortish drive to Adelaide River.

The highway was road-kill central! You'd just get past the stink of one rotting carcase and there would be another. Lovely.

But Adelaide River looked nice. We had decided to stay at the showground and opted for an unpowered site cos it was just $10 a night and there was a breeze blowing and a bit of shade so the air con was not a big deal. There were quite a few other vans and tents there and we were told it would get busy cos the scouts were coming through later in the day. Set up camp nice and quick, had a snack and a drink and then jumped on our bikes to go for a ride around town (Mum and Dad drove!)

We headed over to the historic railway precinct (train museum) for a look around. Lots of old carriages and photos and stuff... and co-incidently another cache for us to find. They really area everywhere! We searched like crazy for this one and when we gave up and went back to the bikes we realised we had read the clues wrong so all four of us went back full of enthusiasm thinking it would be easy now with the clue and spent another half hour and still could not find it. But the kids got to see a huge train go past RIGHT in front of us and it blew its whistle so Jordy thought that was special.
On the bikes and down the highway with a brief stop to look for another cache. Once again we could not find a damn thing! Mugs game, this thing! Gave up and headed to the War Cemetary. Bit of a ride but worth it. Lovely park areas along the river and a really beautiful cemetary area. I was really glad that we went cos it would be impossible for me to attend the service in the morning cos of the kids and i wanted to pay my respects.

So much of the area up here has a lot of wartime history that i was just not aware of. There are several sites that were bombed by the Japanese in WWII (i had no idea just how much bombing they did in Australia!) and there are just heaps and heaps of monuments and buildings and airfields and bunkers and hospitals and EVERYTHING up here that have a huge wartime history. Actually, a lot of the small towns owe their existance solely to the war. But the post office at Adelaide River was bombed and nine civilians were killed and there are well over 400 military graves. We had a good wander through the cemetary and read the plaques for most of the graves. Then we went across to the park for the kids to have a wander. There were a heap of peacocks that were very accustomed to people and Darcy chased them all over. There was a tour bus that arrived while we were there full of backpackers doing a stop at the cemetary and one of the girls filmed Darcy chasing them (he did look funny pointing and 'dook'ing as he tried to run). We finally found a cache for the day- one for four is not great odds! Called into the pub on the way back. Busy little town. I think everyone is here for ANZAC day. Either that or the stuffed buffalo from Crocodile Dundee that's hanging in the bar. Quick beer cos the kids were getting hungry and we were all hot. Actually, the pub is a pretty decent van park too and really cheap.

Back to the showground and into the pool for a cool off. Jordy is swimming really well but i wish we were still doing lessons. He has started to swim nice and flat with his eyes down so we'll get him some goggles soon.

The day cooled off nicely and we cooked a simple dinner of sliced potato, sweet potato, and sausages and mushrooms on the weber. And they were right! It did get busy with the scouts. It was a nice atmosphere with lots of laughing kids and tents going up as the sun went down.

Day 47- Devil's Marbles to Banka Banka

From my bed I could see stars still in the sky through one window but the marbles turning a deep crimson in the other window so I knew sunrise was not far away. I snuck out, grabbed the camera, put my shoes on and stepped outside… to a mouthful of flies that buzzed and swarmed and got in my eyes and up my nose and in my hair. Aaaaarrrrggghhhh.

Snapped a few photos before going to get dressed and spray myself with Bushman. Dad had already disappeared into the Marbles for sunrise so I wandered off to find a vantage point of my own. I did a full lap right around the two main areas and had a lovely wander in the peace and quiet of early morning (although as soon as the sky coloured it started to heat up).

When I headed back to the main big pile near our camp area Jordy and Mum were up the top watching the sun rise. Jordy was having a ball exploring the rocks and “seeing EVERYthing up high.” He has no fear at all and thinks he can climb like spiderman.
These guys cracked me up- they had a great spot right under one of the best areas and had obviously made the effort to be here for sunrise.... but i think they had a few too many last night cos the sun was rising and the marbles were glowing and they were still snoring. I was tempted to wake them just in case they were going to be totally bummed they missed it all..... but instead i just let them sleep.
As soon as the sun had risen we headed straight back to the vans for a quick pack up and we were on our way back north before 9am. We called into the Threeways Roadhouse for a late breakfast and we fueled up. We should have filled up in Tennant Creek cos it was 135ish in town and nearly 160 at the Threeways! Ouch. A big Stuey’s Breaskfast Burger each and the kids played in the café before we did the last 80km to Banka Banka, out stop for the night. And we are not that far from home after all! Wauchope is just down the road :)
We had heard from John (another camper at Mount Isa that has been through here a bit) that Banka Banka Station was nice and had great facilities and yummy spring water (the rest of the bore water around here has a high lime or calcium content which is not all that great to store in your tanks even though it tastes alright). He was right and the camp area here is lovely and only $8 an adult. Lots and lots of prickle-free grass (which also means we can avoid the ants), decent shade, water sprinklers for the kids (and us) to run though, and a kiosk with beer and a place to chat etc. I did not expect there to be washing machines but there are, and they are only $2 a load. There was also a sign for a swimming waterhole and a lookout but we decided to wait out the heat before going for a look. I am glad we did cos while the view over the station from the lookout was nice there was a sign up the hill (once you’d already climbed up) to say that the waterhole was another 1.6km. LOL! Not today. So back down the hill, Jordy gave the donkey a pat, and then got dinner prepped. Around 5:30 the station managers wandered over and opened up the kiosk so Tim wandered over for a beer. We chatted to a few other campers. One couple, Barb and Arthur, are heading to Daly Waters to work at the pub and they also know John and his family (from Mount Isa) so it was really nice to be meeting up with people that know other people we have met and spoken to.
Bathed the kids in a bucket before a quick dinner of roast chicken legs and vegies on the weber. We had to rush cos they have a slide presentation on at 7 over near the kiosk with photos and stories about how the station works. I found it really interesting and would have liked to stay for all it but the kids had enough and wanted to go home for bed. Tim could actually lay in bed while he was putting Jordy to sleep and see them cracking the whip and divining for water.

We all sat outside again and watched for shooting stars and listened to the rumble of road trains passing by.

Day 46- Tennant Creek to The Devil's Marbles

Another leisurely packup. We are getting the hang of it all now and can be up and on the way by 10 with no stress or rush at all. Headed straight out to the Devil’s Marbles which is only 100km south of Tennant Creek. We had debated about whether we would see it this time around (seeing as we really should be heading north) or see it when we leave the Territory. But we are just as likely to do a loop out to Kununarra and the Tanami Desert and link up back at the Alice when we leave as go straight back down and if we do that then the only thing between Tennant Creek and Alice Springs that we really wanted to see was the Devil’s Marbles so we decided to go the quick drive down now.

We were not sure what the camping area would be like and we knew it would be hot so we were really hoping there might be some shade. We lucked out and there were a few shady trees. And even better we were the first campers there so we got to pick two nice sites with a gazebo shelter in the middle. And there was a good breeze blowing that went right through the van so it was quite pleasant. Or it would have been quite pleasant if it were not for the flies that swarmed all around you and got in your mouth and nose and eyes and stuck on your skin and you could swat and blow and wave your arms at them and cover yourself in Bushman and swear and blink and spit and they still keep on coming!!! Aaaaaarrrrrggggghhhhhhh!!!!!!!
Anyway, we did a quick set up and then sat around in the shade for a bit. Jordy, when we managed to convince him to get out of the sun, did some drawing. Darcy climbed around on the picnic table under the gazebo or sat and ate in his portacot.
We were going to wait until later when it was cooler before we went for a walk but the boulders surrounding us were too hard to ignore so we decided to just go for a quick wander. Jordy was straight up the rocks and peering into the caves. When he climbed to the top of the first big rock he said “Phew, I‘m puffed! We‘ve climbed hundreds of metres! We‘re high up here!“ hehehe. Tim helped him to climb right to the top of the next pile so he could see out over everything and he thought that was pretty exciting. From up high you could actually see a rim of boulders almost circling the Marbles but way way out on the horizon near the surrounding ridges. The variety of boulders was amazing from the round ones to some really angular pointy bits and some that are almost rounded slabs piled on top of each other. You can see where some boulders have split and slid into a new position and then weathered away. We ended up wandering from nearly an hour before heading back to camp. We chatted to a few other campers (pretty much everyone out here is traveling long term) did some wildlife spotting (including an inquisitive dingo) and Darcy napped while we waited for the sun to drop. Around 4:30 we drove the few hundred metres from the camping side over to the day parking side of the marbles where there are information signs and stuff around a little walkway. Still too hot for Darcy so Tim stayed near the truck with him while the rest of us wandered and climbed. Apart from the main walking trail around the boulders there are also a million little trails worn by previous visitors that meander in and around the rocks and you could spend days just seeing it all. As it was Tim took the kids back to camp and Mum, Dad, and I meandered our way up, down, and around all the way back to camp. The rocks turned a wonderful deep red as the sun set. I was up amongst a big pile of rocks taking photos of the changing colours and could only see in one direction. When I finally climbed down and looked over at the sun it was just peeking over the horizon!!! And I wanted a sunset photo!! I was not near anything half decent for a photo so I ran ran ran back to the mass of boulders near the camping area and climbed super fast just in time to catch the sun disappearing over the horizon. Bugger! LOL!
Tim had the kids bathed when I got back and we were having last nights leftovers for dinner so we had a quick dinner and then sat around outside in the cooling air. The flies thankfully disappeared with the sun and the breeze picked up. We lit a fire and lazed about under a million stars in the crystal clear sky. A lone dingo made an appearance and Dad left out a bucket of water for it. It was not shy at all and came really close to us (actually, it was hanging around too close while I was having a shower outside and Tim had to stand guard for me).

I went in to the van when the kids went to bed but the others sat up for a while and enjoyed the sky show. The dingo started howling at 10:30 and woke Darcy (bastard) so that was the end of it for me. An early night so I can be up for sunrise tomorrow.

Even though the massive boulders are visible right from the highway and, if you did not want to stay overnight, you could drive past and do a quick walk around them and still get an idea of what they are like, I think staying overnight and having the chance to stroll all around the different sections and climb up on top of the massive piles of rocks makes it just magical. I am both amazed and grateful that the traditional owners still let us have unlimited access to such a sacred site. The Marbles are certainly one of the more amazing natural wonders I have ever seen.

Day 38- Richmond to Cloncurry

We called into the Kronosaurus Discovery Centre on the way out of town to have our fossil finds identified. No paleantologists in there (we were pretty early!) but the girls at the tourist desk apparently know a bit and they said the bone that i thought looked like a fin or flipper is actually a jaw bone. While i was in chatting, Tim took the boys to the park across the road. It had a big slide of rollers that the boys thought was great. They went bump:bump:bump:shudder:shudder:shudder as they rolled down it and Darcy cackled himself the whole time.

Was a fight to get them back in the car for the looooong trip to Cloncurry. About 300km of booooooooring road. We were not looking forward to it all that much cos we expected it to be a slow trip. Another couple we got chatting to at the van park had come that way and said it was a horrible road. Well, they have obviously not travelled from Undara to Charters Towers or they would have seen a horrible road. While there were certainly some doozies of bumps that launched the truck two foot off the ground (i even hit my head on the roof at one point!) and there were a few pot holes etc it was generally not too bad.

But the scenery. Oh. My. God. Grass and more grass and more grass and more grass and more grass and more grass, oh! a tree! and more grass and more grass and more grass. The kids travelled really well though.

We were greeted in Cloncurry by a sign that proudly boasted about Cloncurry having the hottest recorded temperature in Australia of 53.1'C. Lovely. It was not quite that hot but it was pushing it :) We were going to have a look through the John Flynn Memorial which shows the history of the Royal Flying Doctors which was started in Cloncurry but it was really expensive ($12 each) and we were not that keen so we headed out to our camp instead.
We had decided to stay at Wal's camp seeing as we were just wanting an overnight stop and they had a cheap camp. Not sure if it was the best decision in hindsight cos it was just soooooo hot and the camp is mostly all gravel and there was no power so we could not use our air con. And did i mention that it was hot? But we were there and the kids we wanting out of the truck so we made camp and then got out of there to go find a breeze.
Headed out to Chinaman's Creek Dam which was a nice big dam. Had a refreshing swim to cool off and then drove up to have a look over Cloncurry from the lookout. Not much to see but the rocky little mountains around town are quite pretty.

Then we did a quick lap back through town looking for the house that Mum and Dad and i lived in for 6months when we lived out here 32 years ago! They knew it was near the swimming pool and a church and the street turned off the main road.... well, it took a couple of laps but we found it. I obviously remember nothing of it so was no help.

Called out to a really great playground that is out at the Mary Kathleen Museum. Had heaps of great play equipment. Even had little spinning disc things that i am sure are banned everywhere else just in case you have too much fun spinning yourself stupid. We obviously all had to have a go and i spun so much i actually fell off the darn thing and had to sit on the floor for a minute to stop my head spinning. They have BBQs and stuff there too and it would make a fantastic day stop (would also make a great overnight stop if you were allowed to camp there). Back to camp. Bit hot! So we sat around outside trying to find a breeze. The kids did not seem to mind though and happily played with the rocks. We were running seriously low of fresh vegies and meat so we made an egg and potato salad for dinner with sausages. I stuck some left over spinach and some sliced prunes in mine and it was actually really nice! Who'd have thought!

I fell asleep putting Darcy to bed (again). I dragged myself out of bed at 9:30 for a cold milo and then went back to bed to try to sleep in the heat. Tim sat outside in his chair and dozed while watching the stars.

Day 25- Lake Tinaroo

Finally a lazy day of hanging around the camp just relaxing. Tim, Dad, Jordy and I went out sort of early in the tinnie to check the crab traps. Nothing! Oh, nothing except a little fat fish; live bait! But no red-claws which was disappointing but not surprising seeing as we know nothing about catching them. Nice out on the lake though. There are heaps of old dead tree skeletons that dot some inlets and sections of the lake and we managed to drive up over one. Some screeching and leaning and jiggling in the boat to get off it. You can water ski all over the lake and I know I sure as heck would not want to come across one of the submerged trees.

We had tried half-cooked potato in the traps but had also heard that cat or dog food was good so we came back to camp to try a couple with little pierced tins of cat food. Who knows!

Later on Tim and Dad headed back over to the main village of Tinaroo on the other side of the lake so Dad could get his fishing license (they forgot on the way through). It’s a much much quicker trip by boat than it is to drive around the lake. Really choppy over that side apparently even though it is lovely and calm over in our bay.


While they were gone we fed a kookaburra and watched the birds. Saw a trail of furry (stinging) caterpillars that I moved out of the way so the kids would not get stung. Jordy and I did a heap of colouring in and some activities in his colour/activity book.

The blokes had a chat to the people over at the shop and apparently the red-claw like much deeper water than where we had been putting the traps and potato is the way to go, so they moved the traps again on their way back to camp.

And the barramundi are biting on worms. So they got out some spades and dug up a feast of worms from the waters edge before Dad, Tim and Jordy headed out in the tinnie for some serious barra fishing. Jordy had a ball out there but noone caught anything. Jordy was convinced the worms were his friends and he carried them around for hours. Ergh.

We got the little washing machine off the truck and did a load of washing (the only thing that we ever need a town for really, but out here there is no one else anywhere around so we can run the generator.)

Mum, Jordy, and I drove out to the walks around Lake Euramoo and The Chimneys. It was a nice stroll and interesting to see but nothing earth-shattering. Managed to find a spot of mobile/internet reception on the hill at the entrance to our camp at Fong On Bay so we could extend our National Parks booking. Then quickly back to camp to bath the boys and get dinner on; a simple meat loaf on the weber and a damper in the campfire. The damper was rather black on the bottom and gooey on the inside- better luck next time.

Day 19- Bowen to Crystal Creek

Beem out of reception so i'll back-date a couple of entries...

Big drive today. I had seen a nice looking National Park camp at Paluma called Big Crystal Creek with a good river and swimming hole that I wanted to try. We’d done plenty of beach-side stops for a while and felt like a change of scene. But it was about 280km away and that’s a big day in the truck for the boys. But they were great! I just kept the food coming and a had a Wiggles DVD on and we powered through. We were definitely at the end of their limits for the last 10km or so. But it was worth it.

The camp is great and only 5km off the highway. Nice bush camps with a picnic tables and even water on some sites. There is a toilet block with cold showers and, at the other end for day picnicers, there is a gas BBQ. Just 100M along a track there is a fantastic big deep swimming hole. Bloody big fish in there too but fishing is not allowed so Tim is massively put out!

We made camp in record time, got our swimmers on, and headed off. Water was refreshingly cool and super fresh. Jordy chased (and caught) tadpoles and we all splashed around until it got too cold in the water. It’s lucky it was a slightly overcast day as it’s quite warm here!

We saw a huge goanna climbing a tree. It must have been two metres long from nose to tail! And there are lots of butterflies and scrub turkeys and frogs. There are also a lot of annoying little bugs that are bigger than mozzies but smaller than flies. They try to get all in your face. But once we put out a bug coil they all disappeared from around our camp luckily.

Sausages and potato wedges on the Weber and a salad for dinner. The boys were in bed at 7:30. Tim only just had time to go up for a shower and now there is a nice light rain falling to cool things down a bit.

I am finding it really interesting watching the landscape and vegetation change. There are little things that are similar to home or to areas that I have travelled to out west but so many other things that make it so different. The super flat plains that extend for miles with a ring of mountains all around us are totally different to the land I grew up in. There was an hour or so today where we left the sugar cane country behind and the land turned to wetlands with the small scrubby salt-hardy trees which reminded us of the land out towards Moree. For the last week it has felt so strange to look out at what would be perfect kangaroo country but instead of seeing a mob of kangaroos in the shade of the trees there are big white beef cattle.

The water in a lot of the creeks and rivers we drove over today had an odd green milky colour which I have never seen before. Not sure if it’s a higher limestone content or clay or what but it looks quite beautiful.

Day 14- Calliope to Marlborough

Packed up the camp again. Getting a bit better at it but it's still a lot of work that takes about four hours!! Sad to see Calliope go, it was a lovely camp by the river. Would be great if you could swim in it! We had planned to call into Rockhampton for lunch, put the laundry from yesterday in a dryer (bloody rain!) and then head to the Capricorn Caves... but in the end Mum and I decided to wash all our sheets and towels so the laundry took longer than expected. No caves for us! We've been to Emu Park and Yeppoon before so just headed straight up the coast to stop at Marlborough.

The highways here are great! Hardly any traffic so we just cruise along. The land all through the last couple of days has been really flat flood plains for miles with a ring of small mountains that seem to surround us. And not the least bit tropical! Just typical aussie bush like around home.

We are at the Marlborough Hotel. A semi-free camp. LOL! It's $4 per person for shower and toilets. It's a fairly busy little stop. We were the only people here when we first stopped around 3:30 but i think there are four or five other groups camping here now. The Camps book said there was power but apparently they used to offer power but not anymore. This was going to be a top up before a few more nights on a beachfront camp at Mackay but we'll have to see what happens. Could not move on to a different camp though cos footy season starts tonight and there was no way Tim was missing kick off. Plus we have been told the blog is severely lacking in pub reviews so while i sit in the van with the kids Tim is hard at work at the bar reviewing beers. I think he may have needed to try another one (or two) just to be sure.

We ran into another family here that are travelling. They are 7months into their 12month lap. Lovely to chat to. They said it took them a month to really get into a smooth routine but that it's always full on and quite a bit of work (but absolutely wonderful!). We are finding that we are flat out organising / setting up / packing / cooking etc that there has been none of the leisurely strolls to practice photography or read a book or chill out that i had imagined. They are doing it in a van similar to ours and just a regular 4WD so lord knows what all the extra crap is that we are lugging around in the back of the truck! I guess they have a house where they have left toys and stuff where i have tried to drag half of ours with us. And also we have had to rush this section a bit seeing as we have already been through most of the coast here and we have to get to Litchfield in May so we are constantly on the move. Once we slow down i really hope i get one of those leisurely strolls!

Really intermittent dodgy reception here so lets see if i can get online to post this...