week 14

i think it is week 14?? i'll check later.

Jordy and Darcy had a great afternoon at the cafe the other day. We had about 30 Chinese people in for a late lunch. I think it was a big extended family with kids, teenagers, young couples, older couples.... a whole big bunch of people. And they went crazy with the boys :)

Tim and Lisa were flat out in the kitchen (everyone else had the day off and was in Darwin) so i was trying to clear tables for them and the boys were just walking around following me and playing with some lego and all of a sudden Darcy is being carried around and goo'ed over and all the kids have swarmed Jordy and are running and playing. In the end the boys were passed around, photographed, hugged by everyone, fed ice-creams!! and just generally made a fuss of. Jordy actually cried when they left (god love him). It was so funny to watch. But it was handy cos i got heaps of work done.

The snakes are still out and about. Tim and Jordy encountered one in the toilet the other day. Neither had shoes on cos they were just going over there first thing in the morning. I think it gave him a bit of a fright to be confronted with a hissing rearing snake while he had his hands full keeping Jordy up off the ground. He couldn't even chase it anywhere without kicking-boots and had nothing to kill it with. So now even early morning pee stops need shoes.

The boys both love helping me do the gardening. Darcy is now totally obsessed with sprinklers and heads for them at every opportunity and trys to drag them around. He ends up soaking wet every time. Luckily we dry off super fast in the heat.

Here is Julian (and Dad) burning off. This is the local fire tanker.


Here is Darcy chewing on his 1st Birthday card from Nanny and Poppy that came in our mail bundle.


This is an older one that i forgot to include in a blog post - doing some drawings

seeing the sights in Litchfield

Had a quick walk through the termite mounds the other day. Bloody huge tall things they are.



And i foolishly decided to head to Wangi with the boys to find a geocache that is there. I just thought it would be a quick early morning walk as i expected it to be in the main touristy area and so nice and easy. So i just stuck Darcy in the pram and Jordy was just wearing his crocs instead of his sneakers.

We got down to the main water hole and the GPS said the cache was about 300m away. So we wandered down to the next viewing platform... GPS still said about 300m away.... so i figured we'd just wander up the track a bit and have a look... anyway, long story short here is Jordy having a rest in the tree house half way up the mountain.

And the view from the top of the waterfall. Yep, we actually walked the whole way around the side of the swimming hole and up, up, up, up to the top of the range where the falls start. And of course you could not take a pram up the steep track so i carried Darcy the whole way and Jordy, the champion, climbed like a billy goat loving every minute.

For the record we did not get to the cache. But now that i know where it is i will go better prepared (and alone) next time! Although Jordy has asked to go back to the treehouse... so maybe i will just leave Darcy at home.

a photo update

more to come tomorrow if i can get online...

I drove into Batchelor this morning to get the mail and was planning to catch up with things online but it was not as easy as I had hoped!
When I checked the mail box I thought, YAY! Just a small envelope of letters from Ray and Joy, they must really be sorting through the crap… then I saw the parcel notification card and went inside and was handed a massive bag of mail… urgh! Lucky the kids fell asleep on the way in and I could sit in the truck for an hour and sort though the massive bundle into smaller piles of urgent, sort-out-at-home, and no-clue-what-this-is-about!

Then we went to the library where I hoped I could pay some bills online and catch up on emails. No luck. The kids were great but there is only so much you can get done with two boys running and laughing around a previously quiet library and only so long you can ignore an ever growing pile of books on the floor in front of you before you really have to give up on getting anything done and start paying attention to your kids!

So while I took photos in to upload I did not get a chance and I had no hope of updating the blog. But there is a lot of other stuff that Tim and I need to sort out online and getting into town is not proving easy so we are going to ask the boss here if we can use his office and his computer to sort some stuff out tonight… if you are ready this then he said yes. LOL.

What’s been happening this last week….

Had a few funny wildlife encounters.

There are a lot of wallabies around the whole area and our camp is no exception. Before we parked our vans here the clearing up and track down to the creek must have been a popular spot because they hang around right outside the van (which the kids love). Actually, there is a mummy wallaby with a big joey in her pouch that hangs around out the back all the time and I have been trying to get a good photo of her but with not much luck. Darcy keeps trying to make friends and runs at her shouting “dog” and as you would expect mummy-wallaby never seems to hang around for a pat.

But most nights we hear them jumping through the walkway between the two vans and often hear the twang as they trip over our awning ropes (sorry, fellas) so we have gotten used to that noise. A couple of nights ago I was awake with Darcy and heard some movement in behind the vans. I listened for a while and it was not a wallaby. It sounded more like a person walking but you’d have to be crazy to be walking along there at night in the dark with no torch and even if you were crazy there is no reason to be walking there (keep in mind we are in the middle of not much and our camp is at the back of the middle of not much!) so you’d have to be crazy and lost…. But I watched for a bit trying to work out what the noise was. I saw something disappear up behind the donga (and I am still not convinced that it wasn’t a person!) but ten minutes later there was a knocking/hammering/banging type sound from the other end of our camp closer to the café. So I woke Tim up just in case there were people dicking around up at the café. He assured me that Julian often gets up at odd times when he can’t sleep and he might be up there working?!? WTF??!? I was not convinced and I stood looking out the window for a bit wondering if I should go and have a look but Darcy was unsettled and I did not want him to wake while I was gone (cos he’d fall out of bed). Then out the window in the light from our shower block I could see dirt flying in the air. ?? So I woke Tim again. He was convinced that it was Julian cos if it were a thief what would they be doing digging around our vans. He had a point but what the hell would Julian be doing digging a hole in the middle of the dark. Anyway, I went back to bed and figured I’d have a look in the morning.

Next morning I did notice a big dug-up patch of sandy dirt just near where I put the spinklers to water the plants that we are growing so maybe it was Julian after all. I forgot all about it until later that evening Tim said it wasn’t Julian and he reckons maybe it was a buffulo or wild pig. Hhmmmm…. ?? Does a pig sound like a person when they walk through the bush?? It will remain a mystery I suppose.

Less of a mystery… Tim putting his boots on this morning and his foot getting stuck and not going in the whole way. He tried again and still stuck… something in his boot perhaps? He tipped it up and out fell a dazed cane toad. I think it was already half dead from the pounding from Tim’s foot but he finished it off with a pounding from his boot. He then explained to Jordy that you should ALWAYS check in your shoes before putting them on.

A couple of days ago I ended up with my first snake kill. We’ve seen at least one or two a week since we have been here but this was the first that I spotted. I was working the buffet and the area around there is well traveled so not where I would have expected a snake especially seeing as Mum and I were walking back and forth in the outdoor kitchen area all morning. But mum walked past and I was following her and right there under the plate cupboard (that is up off the ground on stainless steel legs) was a snake tail disappearing into the garden. I told Mum to stop walking and called out to Zac, who was working nearby, to see if he had a shovel. No shovel but he grabbed a mop while I watched it head towards the mesh fence. I thought we had lost it but Zac managed to reach over the fence and trap it under the mop. Nothing in the area to properly kill it with so I grabbed a golf club (one of the many can toad killing devices around the place) and had to club it to death. Zac had a good hold on it so I could properly look to see what it was; black diamonds on it’s neck and a brown stripe across it’s eyes- a western brown, the one we really don’t want to see. But there is now one less.

Apart from our animal adventures I am not sure much else is going on, but I am really enjoying the experiences that living here (and traveling in general) is giving the kids. I love that Jordy can now identify the calls of several different birds, and can recognise the difference between a whistling kite and a wedge tail eagle in flight. Even by spotlight he knows the difference between a cane toad, a green tree frog, and a brown frog and he knows which is good and which is bad. He loves spotting animal tracks and when we ride the bike past a wallaby track we have to stop so he can get out and look more closely at it. I love (in a bizarre way) that when we go into a town and use a toilet in a building (like at the library) he looks for frogs, spiders, lizards and moths and he gets disappointed when there are no ‘friends’ in the toilet cubicle. I love that Darcy is free to play in the dirt all the time, that he is learning to swim in the creek chasing fish rather than in a chlorine swimming pool, that he is addicted to sprinklers, and is able to water the garden surprisingly well!





Ran out of time! But it works (though it is really slow!!!!) so hopefully I will be able to update again soon.

working, working...

Well, I had a whole blog entry and I just deleted it. So now I have the shits and I am trying to remember what I wrote about…

It’s been a busy week with Tim working between 10 and 12 hours a day. He’s been in the kitchen mostly and they do some great desserts here and, amongst other stuff, Tim has been learning to cook those this week All the food is really yummy but the desserts they make are REALLY good! Especially the mango cheesecake. Yum yum yum yum yum! :) There is not a chance of us loosing any weight while we are working at the café. :)

In between working and eating we’ve still had time to do a few bits and pieces. Last night Tim went with Dad and Zack out to a billabong just a few km away from here. Dad and Zack had caught quite a few red claw there the other day so they went back to put some more traps in. Zack threw a line in while Dad and Tim were putting the traps in and he caught a black bream so I imagine Tim will spend an afternoon or two back there in the future. While they were heading through the bush to the billabong they also spotted a wild black pig. Tim is not here to remind me how the story goes but apparently Tim was out front and he had a knife… and there was much creeping and hiding behind trees involved but for now the pig is still very much alive and we had steak and vegies for dinner. I am sure the blokes are convinced the pig’s days are numbered.

This morning Jordy, Darcy, Jasmine and I followed Zack down to the little creek that runs behind the café to put some more yabbie traps in there for red claw. It’s only a small creek and although it flows strongly it’s all bushy and overgrown and there is no way in hell I would swim in it… even though the chances of a croc right here are slim a bloke was attacked a few weeks ago in a nearby river so…. Anyway, there is a little waterhole here and we got a few small red claw about 12-15cm long so they are going to put them in a fish tank and let them get a bit bigger. No idea if it even works that way but they are happy fisherpeople playing with it anyway.

Jordy is excited at the moment about his plants that are growing up big real fast. J Dad planted some vegie seeds a few days ago and overnight the wombok seedlings were already up. So each morning we have to go see how big they are getting. I think it’s great cos Jordy really loved our garden at home.

We have not had a chance to get to any of the other Litchfield NP attractions. Although I’ve driven past them I still have not called into the Magnetic Termite Mounds, and we have not seen the other main waterfalls, or Blythe Homestead or anything else. In between the couple of hours work I do each day and general kid-raising stuff I just have not had the time. It will only get busier here at the café though so I’ll have to make time soon.

One highlight of this week was meeting a family that we camped near way back at Calliope; Michael, Michelle, and their five girls. They have been traveling and working around Australia for three years. They are staying north of Litchfield and called into the café for breakfast to start their tour of the NP. Because it was early in the day I had the kids with me while I was working in the garden and as soon as Jordy saw all the kids he was off wanting to play. It took a while of chatting before we made the connection that we had met them before (the kids had played together at Calliope but the adults never properly met) but after that we spoke for about another hour.

Funnily enough we also ran into them again that afternoon when we went out to the creek for a swim. We had mentioned to them that it was a great safe place for children to swim and they had headed there on their way home. So the kids all got to swim and play together again and they had a ball and Tim had a chance to have a proper conversation with them too.

We were joined later by a group of people from overseas (Germanic accents but no idea more than that) and after they had a swim one of the women grabbed her guitar and sat on the little bridge and played and sang a few songs. It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon.

I’m not sure when Tim and I will get a few days off…. I had to bring a fridge in to Darwin and am taking another one back for work so Mum came with me and we bought the kids in for a change of scene so it’s just a quick trip in. Although I will HAVE to find time to get my legs waxed…. Should I post a before pic? There a lots of ants here and they get stuck in my leg hair. Maybe guys just deal with that but I am not enjoying it.

It’s been really hot and muggy here the last couple of days, not sure exactly but past 35‘ for sure. Almost back to wet-season weather. No idea if it is building to rain or not but I think it has bought the bugs out with it. They are everywhere once it gets dark. Luckily by then the kids and I are rarely out of the van. Apart from the ants and bugs! we have also caught (killed) a few snakes around camp. We keep an eye out for them all the time with the kids cos a bite from a Western Brown could possibly kill a child so we are very aware of them and the kids wear gumboots if they are walking anywhere that is not right beside us.

The first 9 weeks…

Here is a bit of a summary of our first 9weeks on the road… I figure this might help others that are planning to do the same thing get an idea of how much it really costs to travel. We are doing this with a budget! But we have a balance of not sacrificing important things but also not wasting money. So we are doing the activities that are important to us but not splurging. We don’t eat out of a night and we have generally packed sandwiches for lunches except on those days when eating somewhere nice was part of the local experience for us. Because of the ages of our kids we have generally not had to pay for accommodation or entry fees for them so families with older children will need to all a bit extra.

We have traveled x kms over 63days at an approximately total cost of $6250.

Fuel- $2,100
Accommodation- $1,225 (An easy mix of van parks, cheap camps, and free camps)
Shopping- $1,415 (groceries, regular daily purchases)
Snacks- $400 (things like coke, eating out for lunch, cake & coffee etc)
Laundry- $120 (I also used our own little washing machine as a supplement, but keep in mind we are using cloth nappies so a regular family without nappies would wash a heck of a lot less)
Alcohol- $295 (mostly cartons of beer rather than pub prices)
Activities- $440 (entry fees, helicopter flight etc)
Other- $180 (clothes, rechargeable torch etc)
Gas- $75 (for the weber and running the fridge, I think the bottle is mostly still full)

There are probably some things that I am missing… I don’t think I have the $75 for the waeco fridge cover in there for example but that’s not a typical traveling cost so I think it’s all near enough for the purpose.

So essentially we have had to allow about $700 a week to do this. I think for most families that have allowed themselves, say, a year to travel Australia then we would be moving at about the right kind of pace, but for our future travels (when we don’t have an existing work commitment to make) we intend to do it much, much slower. Which would reduce our overall fuel costs and drop our weekly expenditure to about $500. But for a family with two kids between 5 and 15 I think you need to allow an extra overall cost for accommodation of between $500-$700 plus activities etc so on average another $100 a week.

Essential travel bits, and things we wasted our money on!

Big winners-
The waeco- so handy having the fridge in the truck with us. An absolute lifesaver with keeping sandwiches and snacks on hand for the kids when we need to push through that extra half hour and also in the heat to keep our drinks cold. Worth every cent!
Tinting on the truck windows.
Our Camps 4 book.
My 4 thin plastic Tupperware chopping boards.
The in-car DVD player (again for the kids)
300w inverter which converts the trucks 24v system into 240v power which has been bloody handy.
Weber BBQ
My menstrual cup (sorry blokes if it‘s too much information! but the women might appreciate the tip)
The inner-spring mattresses.
The internet gateway thing so we can both have wireless internet connection on our own laptops,
Not sure if it was worth it-
The washing machine. I think if you got into the habit of setting it up, or stayed somewhere for more than just a few nights then it would be different. We used it anywhere we camped for more than a few days but it was more effort than it was worth to get it out and set it up. If it was plumbed in inside the van then that would make a huge difference to using it.
The annexe walls. I love them and I love the extra room it gives us when we are stopped for a period of time but for the vast majority of short-stop traveling I think the shade cloth surrounds are much handier simply because they are soooo much quicker to set up.
The TV. We really never turned it on. Maybe if we had a better easier antenna it would get used more.

Total waste of space or money.
The boat.
The tools we bought along we really don’t need. Regular tools are ok but we also bought working tools like the which I think are just taking up a heap of space and dragging down our fuel economy and are not going to make any difference to us finding work at all.
My red wine. I am not drinking anywhere near as much as I had hoped! LOL! It’s been so hot I have not felt like a red wine. I think I have drank three bottles! So another 53 bottles to go.

half hearted super quick update

no time to do it right but here is a quick thingy i typed up earlier

The last few days in Darwin were spent getting things organized for work. Getting gum boots for the kids (for snakes and other bitey things), a good hot-weather work shirt for Tim, and bits and pieces like that.

Mum and Dad looked after Jordy one night so that Tim and I could head in to town and see the city by night. We took Darcy and walked up and down the streets full of cafes and bars, and along past the old town hall that was destroyed by Cyclone Tracy. We stopped for a mezze plate at one restaurant and then wandered some more and then stopped at another café for coffee and dessert.

The next day we headed into Lake Alexander for a picnic lunch and the boys played in the massive playground.

We also hit the Mindil Markets. The very first market of the year for the start of the Dry. I imagine it is always incredibly busy but I was amazed at the number of people there. And the food!! Yum! There was an amazing variety of food and a heap of stalls. We had a few big fruit smoothies and then some Indian and then a banana and nutella crepeJ and browsed the arts, crafts, clothes, and souvenirs on offer.

We watched the sun set over the sea (along with about a thousand other people) and enjoyed some live music, fire dancing, and a reptile show. Later in the night we moved down to the beach to watch a fireworks show. The kids were covered in sand and we knew they would fall asleep in the truck on the way home so we walked all the way back to the truck and grabbed a towel and change of clothes and then fought the crowd to get back to the toilet block to shower the kids. It was a cold shower! So lucky it was a warm night.

The prices all rise to stupid tourist season rates on the 1st May so we decided to leave even though we did not technically start work until the Monday. We had intended to camp out at the rockpools in the NP but we were told we could set up our camp out at work and have a look around the place so we did that instead.
The café is about 90min from Darwin and we got out there at lunchtime. It took us the rest of the day to set up our camp seeing as we are going to be here for a while (fingers crossed). We put the full awning up and unloaded all our gear and set ourselves up to stay put for a while. Looking forward to a change of pace.

Heading to Litchfield...
We spent the next few days easing into work. Just getting a feel for what we need to do and where everything is and how it all works. In between that we went for a few drives through the park (covers a decent area) to see the local attractions.

Wangi Falls is impressive. There is a huge clear swimming hole (all safe from crocs) but it is still closed for swimming at the moment. It should open up within the month the ranger thinks. When the water level gets too high there is a whirlpool effect under the falls that can suck you in and there have been a few deaths over the years so the coroner has put a limit on the height at which it can open.

We also went to Buley Rockholes. Amazing! A series of probably a dozen or more cascading waterfalls with rock pools and spas and little rapids. The season is really just starting and I’d say that the water would have been considered far from crowded but there were still a lot of people there. I’d guess another hundred or so. The tour buses come through and spend an hour and leave again so we’ll have to check out their timetables for future visits. But everyone spreads themselves out amongst the pools so you get plenty of space to splash around.

I also took the kids for a drive to see Tolmer Falls- you can’t swim there even though there is another incredible waterhole. There are a couple of endangered bat species there that they are trying to protect. But it’s a great view from the lookout and there are a few walks around the area for those not carrying a toddler and pushing a pram!

We checked out Greenant Creek… just a little creek and nothing all that exciting but I am looking forward to doing the walk from there to another good waterfall and swimming hole that you can only access by foot so it would have fewer people.
And we called past Tabletop Swamp but it’s just a swamp! And unless you are into bird watching then there is not a whole lot there.

Settling in...
Work has been really good. Just learning the ropes and getting the feel of the place. It’s really laid back and everyone is amazingly friendly and great to work with. There is a bit of variety in the stuff that we are doing which makes things even more enjoyable and we can already see that once the peak tourist season hits it will get really flat out here over lunch! I only do a couple of hours each day which I can fit in around the kids but Tim generally has full days. They have some big projects planned here which will keep the blokes really busy.

Our camp is pretty basic in some ways but also really good in others. The area around our camp is mostly sand with a viney sort of semi-grass cover which is not a lot of fun. I sweep out the van three or four times a day! But we are under a big tree so have a good amount of shade and a place to hang the kids’ swing and put their cubby house. We have the full annexe up so there is room for their toys and for them to play.

We’ve found a great creek not too far from here that is perfect for us to go for a swim in. It’s not on the main tourist trail so has generally been quiet when we’ve been there. It’s a small, croc-free, sandy bottomed creek with lovely clear water and is nice and shallow for the kids so I imagine we will spend a bit of time there.

Not having any phone or internet or tv is both good and bad. Good cos it means we do other stuff but bad cos, seriously, sometimes it’s just nice to sit down and watch some telly or surf the net! LOL! We have hardly watched tv at all since we have been traveling but we all miss the footy. And it’s surprising how much you rely on the internet to check things or look things up or find something out. And of course we all miss the connection with friends and family. But on the plus side this is the first chance we have all had to catch our breath and slow down and relax. Which is surprising to say cos we are back working! LOL! Once we finish out the season we will certainly travel more slowly. We look forward to spending a week in each place, even when there is not all that much to do in a little town we just want to hang out and meet the locals and get a feel for a place, even spend a month in a town if we can start doing WOOFER type work or get involved in a community in some way.

But for now things are looking good here.

off line for a bit

i know i am behind in my updates! Sorry! i will get to them soon but i just wanted to warn everyone that we might be offline for a few weeks cos we don't think we will have internet access at Litchfield. We will bring the computer in to town with us when we come so will get emails eventually but we might be slow in replying.

hugs to all!!!

Day 59- Darwin

Stinky hot night. I think the low overnight was 25'. Crazy. And it's heading into winter. ?!?!? Another slow morning... did some washing and mopped the floors and had a bit of a tidy up. The kids played outside with Jordy dragging his tonka truck around the park and being a robot (in his beer carton box) and Darcy finding sticks and throwing big seed pod balls up and down the streets. I think we were still in the truck on the way into the city again before 10.

We are going to save most of the touristy things in here until our weekends off from work. But we'd head around and check out the cheap or free things to do. First stop was the WWII oil storage tunnels. They were dug by hand by over 400 retired men using only chisels and picks and shovels and just two pneumatic drills. It took them 16months and they were finished just as the war came to an end. I would imagine that even though they would have been glad the war was over i think that after putting so much of their time and heart into the tunnels they would have been sad to not have them used. After that we were going to stop at Survivors Lookout and Parliament House but we drove past the parking area and figured we'd just keep going someplace else instead. Plus Jordy wanted food. LOL! So we went to the Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory.... actually, we went to the cafe out the back first. :) We got a table and sat down before we looked at the menu and, once again, ouch. A burger was $16 and a main was $25... Not to worry, and Jordy would have rioted if we tried to leave, so we had a nice lunch. And, for the first time since chistmas i had a yummy yummy iced coffee. I have to say that the hunt for decent coffee had been futile throughout the Territory but there are nice coffee joints all over the place in Darwin. And i have come to the conclusion that hot coffee is just not the way to go up here.

While we waited for lunch i went for a wander towards the beach to find a quick geocache. Task completed before the meals arrived. :)

Then off into the museum. And it was a fantastic setup. There was a room just for young kids with heaps of displays and bones they could feel and real stuffed animals and a couple of microscopes and fishtank displays and books and colouring in and jars of snakes and big turtles and building blocks and dress ups and if was pretty much adventure-central! Jordy was enthralled by the microscope and looked at the bugs and lizards for ages. It was a real fight to get him away from it. Darcy loved the animal puppets and crocodile tub.
After we finally convinced Jordy that we would come back again to the Discovery Room we got to head into the main museum. Lots and lots to see. The whole set up is great. Everything was really accessible and well set out and just really easy to get involved with. Even Darcy ran around and loved it squealing "dook" at everything and pushing buttons and getting really excited. We did not squeal so much but all the adults were impressed too. The section about Cyclone Tracy was especially good. We spent quite a bit of time in there (and called into the Discovery Room again as promised) and it was about 4pm before we got home. The kids fell asleep in the truck on the way back (i hate that!) so we waited for them to wake up before a swim to cool off again, although with some cloud cover it was not as hot today. Had a good chat with a few other couples travelling around or working in town for a few months.

Tim cooked meatloaf for dinner in the weber. After dinner the kids drew pictures for ages and we made a birthday card for Grandpa for tomorrow. Neither of them were tired and were happy to play until after 9pm when Tim and i had had enough and we put them to bed. I think i am now all caught up on the blog! and now i am off to bed as well.

Day 58- Darwin

Took us a while to get moving this morning but we headed into town to have a look around. Headed straight towards the esplanade and the coast. Our first glimpse of the Arafura Sea (well, my first glimpse! Tim has been here before) was a beautiful blue-green bay. No surf up here, the ocean is all calm. Another hot and muggy day. Even though it is only about 34' it is all clammy and we were shiny and sweaty within minutes. There is a big park that runs the length of the foreshore area and we walked along that and into town. The town centre has a nice feel to it. It's kinda cool to be in a capital city where most everything is closed on a Sunday! LOL! The cafes and stuff were open but all the general businesses and shops were shut. We wandered around for a bit and then decided to grab some lunch. We had walked past a pretty authentic looking chinese restaurant a few times that smelt great and they had a Sunday Yum Cha special so we decided to head in for that. I have to admit i had no clue what i was grabbing from the chef... little spiky balls of meaty rice and some kind of white speckled folded up pancake thing. It was all ok but with no menu and no prices it ended up a scary $39 for a not so big lunch. Ouch!

The kids played in the playground in the mall for a bit and then we went for a drive out to Fannie Bay past a great recreational lake and the wharf area and all around the place. Called back in through town for a take home bucket of icecream and then back to the caravan. We all went for a swim in the pool to cool off and then Tim stayed at the pool bar and watched the footy and the kids and i came back to the van and played puzzles and did some photo and blog updates.

Lazy dinner of soy and pineapple chicken in the microwave with the left over risotto. Darcy went to bed at a reasonable time but Jordy was out walking around the park with Grandpa till all hours. He wanted to sleep in their caravan so we sent him off to bed over there and carried him home after he'd fallen asleep.

Adelaide River Showground cheap camp review

Really good set up! And good value at $20 a night ($10 for no power). It's pretty much got everything you would want from a caravan park. All nice grassy areas with good shade etc. They have even put up shadecloth covers in a heap of spots to give extra shade over the sites.

There is a pool. The bathrooms are a bit old but they obviously put work into keeping them nice with shower caddies and curtains etc.

There is a couple of washing machines and a laundry tub. And a book exchange in the laundry area.

And from Thursday to Sunday they even have meals out there! There is an open sided pub sort of set up that is really nice (which is where they had the ANZAC day breakfast). Beers are a good price.

Day 57- Adelaide River to Darwin

Darcy was awake all night. I am sure it was nothing to do with food intolerances, just him wanting to feed all night. Little bugger. And it was a lovely cool night so it was not the heat keeping him awake.??? I think it was around 4:30 when i fed him (again) and he fell asleep but with the beginnings of movement and chatter outside i could not get back to sleep. Tim was up at 5 to get ready for dawn service. I debated about waking Jordy and was really torn about trying to go but there was no way he would be quiet for the service so we let him sleep. Still, i got dressed properly just in case he did wake and i had that extra bit of a reason to go, but no, he slept! Both kids even slept through the noisy departure of a dozen bikies!

Tim, Mum, and Dad said it was a nice service with a really big turnout but there were too many politicians speaking. I had thought there might be a flyover with the airforce base being just 5min jetflight away but there wasn't. But there were a heap of airforce personnel there.

At the end of the service there was a free breakfast back at the showground! We had a stroke of luck there! $10 for a site AND breakfast! And it was a really big deal too. More people than we have seen in a long time and it was a huge full cooked breakfast. And for those that did not have a big drive ahead of them the alcohol was also flowing for free. One bloke was wandering around with this huge bottle of bundy rum and filling up glasses around the place. I was talking to another family at breaky and it;s not just local station families and the outlying communities but apparently a lot of people come from Darwin (all the scouts were from Darwin) but i would have to guess that there were over 1,000 people there which is pretty good for a town with a population of well under half that!

Two-up was on later in at the pub but we wanted to call out to Litchfield and that would make our drive over 300km today so back to the van to pack up. We were still out of there around 9am even after such a busy morning.

The nearest town to Litchfield is Batchelor and we wanted to drive through and see what it was like and what was there. It's only small (pop of about 350) but we all thought it was a really nice, tidy looking little community. There is a pool and school, and lots of tree'd park areas and a little grocery store and petrol station and a new looking pub etc. We parked the vans near the pool and left them there while we drove the 70km into the national park to the cafe.

The park is the same odd mix of tropical and dry plants that we had around Mataranka. It's interesting to see and not what i expected. I'm used to national parks being full of tall trees and dense undergrowth but all the bush out here is low trees and dry grasslands. Lots of little creeks though. We saw all the massive magnetic termite mounds but we drove straight past this time.

Got out to Litchfield Cafe and i had my fingers crossed that it would be ok but was prepared for it if it was really rough. But yay!!!! one of the first things i noticed when we parked was the grassy areas and big shade trees around the cafe so that was a plus. We went in and met our future boss and his family and they were great to chat with. But hot! bleaugh. Apparently it was a good 5' cooler today than it has been so i am glad we were not here yesterday. And i really hope it cools down even more over the next week.

The area where our van will go is a bit sandier and the shower/toilets are really rough! LOL! But we knew that. We are not sure what kind of internet reception we'll get out there and the guys are talking about getting a little satellite dish so we can pick up some tv. Looks like they get super busy for lunches, especially with the bus tours. But we are all looking forward to getting in and working for a bit. It's mostly all family working out there and there are three other kids, 5weeks, nearly 2 and nearly 4. So add in our 1yr old and our nearly 3yr old and we'll have a great little mob.

We spent a good hour or more out there talking and having a look around the place. I did not get any photos (sorry!) but as soon as we head out there next week i'll get lots. Drove back and and picked up the vans again and then continued in to Darwin.

Most of the van parks are all 10-15min out of the centre of Darwin so we did not get a chance to see the city. It was after 4pm when we got to the park so just set up and then a sit around. Jordy rode his trike around the park. Just had risotto for dinner in the rice cooker. Bloody hot and muggy! We thought it might have been cooling down cos we've had some nicer nights recently but i guess those extra hundred km north to the coast has not helped. Went to bed with the air con on all night.

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.

Katherine Low Level van park review

Katherine Low Level Caravan Park. Katherine. Stayed four nights, $27 a night (less 10% for Big4). Really sprawling big caravan park! Had good new-feeling amenities.
Overall- 4 stars.

Location- 7/10. On the outskirts of town but right on the edge of Low Level Nature Park with the river and park etc.

Sites- 7/10. Good prickle-free grass and good shady areas. Sites average sized.

Bathrooms- 7/10. We used the toilets/showers at the pool cos they were closer. They were pretty good, but the main ones were even better. Had a little baby bath tub as well.

Laundry- 7/10. Big laundry area with plenty of machines, good tubs and an iron etc. $3 a load.

Shop- 5/10. Had a bit of touristy stuff.... i can't remember if they had basic convenience items or not!

Pool- 7/10. Good big pool, had a spa too.

BBQ area- 7/10. Full camp kitchen with fridge, microwave, toaster etc. And a couple of separate little BBQ areas around the place.

Playground- Surprisingly enough they did not have one.

Other- During tourist season (i guess June to Novemeber ish) they have a full kiosk with meals at the pool.

Day 55- Katherine

Another day in Katherine! Lots to see around the area and we are enjoying a few slow days. A couple of loads of washing to start the day! and then...

Mum and Dad headed into the Katherine Museum for a look around (and said it was worth a visit and great to see the movie and photos relating to the massive floods they have had here).

Tim headed into town to get some light bulbs and bits and pieces for the van. I stuck the kids in front of the DVD player, made myself a coffee and wrote yesterdays blog entry and went through the photos i took of the gorge.

When Tim got back he and Jordy put our stickers on the truck. Finally! We have been trying to by a sticker from each town we visit (sometimes we forget!) but so far we have not gotten around to putting them anywhere. Handy! Well they are not on the truck. I'll get a photo in the morning cos i actually forgot that they even did it so have not even seen it myself.

After that he updated our map of Australia and coloured in the roads we have travelled since Mount Isa. I'll get a photo of that tomorrow too.

After lunch Mum, Dad, me and the kids went out to Springvale Homestead. Actually not much to see out there really. It's a nice looking old homestead and there are good information boards around the place but the building has been turned into a dodgy cafe, and the cafe was not even open?? Not sure what the go is with it but it really ruins the feel of the place.

Called out to the hot springs on the way back. The ones here are really lovely. There is a paved area alongside a section of the spring with a few different entry points and for a section about 100m long they have paved the sides up to a small waterfall. You can get in the top end and float down to the waterfall and then climb out and go again.
Dad went for a walk around when we got there and mum and i got the boys into their swimmers. Then Jordy was straight in the river and wanting to go floating off downstream. Mum had Darcy and i was still getting ready to get in and Jordy is off! Little bugger. I was a bit worried about him going over the edge of the waterfall but i met him down the end and he kicked over to me. Not that it was a big waterfall! He would not have been hurt if he went over but he might have scared himself.

We floated downstream together a couple of times. I preferred these ones to either of the ones at Mataranka (even though they were nice too). The water even smelt refreshing and citrusy for some reason!?!?! And it was just a couple of degrees cooler so more refreshing. We all played around in the bottom pool near the waterfall for a while. Took some photos of the german geocoin we found (cos the owner wants photos of his geocoin travelling the world) and then the fight to get the kids out of the water began :) A quick stop to get fruit and vege on the way home. Actually, that was kinda funny cos Tim was out near there this morning at the hardware store and one of the staff came in with a coffee for the bloke serving Tim. And he said something like "Oh, thank god, coffee!" The woman handed him one of those big decorative thick paper take-away coffee mugs. Tim asked if he was a coffee fiend and the bloke said yeah, he liked his coffee and that this was the best coffee in town. Tim knows that i have been seriously missing a good coffee so asked where it was from and the bloke said the fruit and vege shop across the road had great coffee. So when we called in this afternoon i kept it in mind to check out.... But, no. Once again it is one of those milk bar machines where you stick your cup in and push a button and the milk and coffee just flow out the spout [shudder].

I am not surprised that no one out here has a decent coffee machine. It's too bloody hot anyway. I have to either have one first, first thing in the morning or sit inside and bump the air con up for half an hour to get cold enough to make it bearable to have something hot.

While we were out and about Tim drove into the Country Club in town. A bloke he met up here some 15years ago used to work at the club and Tim was hoping to track him down. No luck though. Apparently he left town a few years ago and someone heard he might since have moved to Darwin.

Home in time for a web chat with family at home. Darcy thought it was pretty good and kept trying to eat the microphone. Bath and dinner time (roast chook and vegies) and then an early night for the kids.