western australia, northern territory: lake argyle to litchfield national park

There are a few rest stops between Lake Argyle and Litchfield that aren't too rough. We did venture in to Mary River rest stop one afternoon only to be mightily disappointed with the countless vans (over 100 camped in total) who were clearly set up for a stay longer than the 24 hour maximum. Sadly individuals had left their rubbish by the bins only to have it blown about the place by the wind. It's stories like these that will have people like them complaining when free camps are closed for good. A council somewhere has to pick up after these grubs. 

Late one afternoon we pulled in to the Mathison Rest Area just as a few grey nomad couples were stirring their camp oven stew. It looked and smelled amazing and they were really accomodating of our loud and tired family. I loved that these guys, who'd been on the road together for a couple of months, use their camp ovens each night and combine meals. 

I can't even remember what we ate for tea that night but we watched on in fascination (& envy) as they topped their stew with a damper mix (in scone sized drops) 22 minutes before it was due to come off the heat. When the lid came off each diner was treated to a hearty stew and a perfectly cooked scone to soak up the juices! Brilliant!!

I coined the meal "Quarantine Stew" as it can easily be made the night before you're due to pass through a quarantine checkpoint with whatever fresh veggies are remaining and would otherwise be confiscated. The name was quickly aquired by our new friends.

We got away from Katherine later than we had intended. We needed to restock but the springs in town were such a welcome relief from being confined to the car. 

As usual we planned our stop as we were pulling in and, again, it was late in the afternoon. We weren't the last to arrive at Bridge Creek Rest Area though and the kids soon made friends with some backpackers whom they shared a game of Connect 4 with after dinner. And the rumours are true - Lawrence the rooster is a friendly host. I'm sure he's still crowing for a mate.