queensland: karumba to undarra via belmore lake

It was a relief to leave the confined site at Karumba though we all began to miss our new friends, Mitch, Veronica and their kids! 

We waved goodbye to Mitch and Veronica and jumped in the car, ready for a few hours on the road before another resident of the caravan park pointed out our flat tyre on the caravan. It must have been a slow leak from that magic dirt road from Leichardt Falls. J was quick to act - replacing it with a spare one from the truck - while the kids practised their diving one last time in the pool. 

We were on the road by eleven and grabbed a good coffee at Normanton Art Gallery. 

Our small stop was just out of Croydon on the dam. This town has been ravaged by fires, drought and floods in the past decade. On the drive to the dam there's a small historical site- the remnants of a Chinese village - from the glory days of gold mining. 

Once again we picked a beautiful free camp. Belmore Lake is a bird watchers paradise with hundreds of water birds inhabiting the lake which appears as an oasis in the dry country. Once again the large open campsite was welcome and the kids collected a range of rusted tools before we ate dinner by the lake watching the birds and the sunset. 

It's particularly beautiful and was a restful night before we head off to Undarra the following morning. 

This section of the Savannah Way is interspersed with kilometres of single lane bitumen road. In reality there's plenty of space to pass oncoming traffic but it can be dicey with showering stones as both parties leave the tar. 

queensland: boodjamulla to karumba on the savannah way

It was hard to leave Adele's Grove. It was a relaxing week that we could have extended. 

We broke our rule again, briefly, and back tracked along the road back to Gregory Downs. If we had the time we would have stayed a night by the river like so many were. It looked beautiful. 

Heading north we hit the tiny town of Burketown where we bought a few supplies from the grocery store that had been recommended - in the post office. Some of these remote towns have deliveries of fresh food once a week. We made the most of a delivery. 

We almost stayed in Burketown but opted for the freecamp at Leichardt Falls instead. This must be an incredible sight in the wet or even after a wet wet. So much of the top end has struggled after a dry wet season. 

We do love just pulling up at a free camp for the night. 

The dirt road from Leichhardt Falls to Normanton was the best dirt we've encountered in our lives. There's always talk about the condition of dirt roads and there's a lot to be said about the impact of lots of traffic, weight and speed. 

One of Normanton's claim to fame is the shooting of the suspected largest croc in Australia by a local croc hunter. Obviously this practise isn't condoned or encouraged anymore thankfully. Normanton also housed a teeny tiny public library where the kids went crazy over the books!

Karumba is a town on the coast on the Gulf of Carpentaria. We wanted to see that sea since we had no intention of doing 'The Cape' on this trip. The population is predominantly made up of grey nomad fisherman holiday maker who fill their freezers over a few months each year. 

northern territory: tjuwaliyn hot springs

We'd planned to farewell my parents from Kakadu but it made sense to change (ever changing) plans when they mentioned a possible return to Tjuwaliyn (also known as Douglas Daly). There are exceptions to the rule of never going backwards and this was one of them. The campground is by the banks of The springs and its a short walk down to the water which is a woman's sacred site. Visitors are asked to bathe only in the sections of the springs close to the campground which were mind blowing. Although the water temperate varied in pools some of the water was too hot to touch let alone swim in. 

A bunch of kids lined up to do bombies. The pool came with its own springboard.  

Little A had a ball sometimes crawling, sometimes swimming, sometimes walking through the water. The temperature was bearable for the little lad. 

And the rest of us! 

It was a sad farewell with my parents who we had such a memorable holiday with. We're all going to miss other!

Ochre paints at the springs. Thanks Mum for this photo. 

northern territory : kakadu, arnhem land

We wanted to see Kakadu and Arnhem Land. It's a part of Australia we've seen on doco's and featured in films but we came with fresh eyes, not really knowing what to expect. Once again a part of this country has been forged in our hearts as a treasured place. 

We pulled in to Merl campground at Ubirr late in the day which is never a good sign of things to come. It was too hot to cook in the van (high thirties) and mozzies were already starting to take their place against the fly screens so we bunkered in for a mezze platter. 

The kids are still adjusting to the 1.5hr time difference with Western Australia and getting them to bed early is proving difficult. The heat coupled with hundreds of mozzies getting in somewhere wasn't a good combination for getting to bed early or having a good night. And we didn't. I think we had four hours sleep that first night between smashing the little blood-filled blighters and tending to hot thirsty kids. 

We were easily distracted from our mozzie bites and the elements once we looked out of the van at Merl. It is a stunning place to wake up set amongst the pandanus palms. We pre-booked our permit in to Arnhem Land and tour to Injalak Hill and it was an early, hazy start to cross the East Alligator River by 8:30 in the morning. 

Roland was our guide up Injalak Hill. It was a privilege to see artworks on the walls of the rocks dating back 20,000 years. Here lies evidence of the longest continuous culture on the planet. Our short time on Earth and contribution to the world pales in to insignificance. 

The artworks here depict foods and other plants and animals endemic to the area including long-necked turtle, barramundi, mullet. Legends told and retold over thousands of years are also painted here. 

Here you can see the palette and the canvas. These grind holes, used to grind rock in to ocre paints (from about 50km from this site) are literally thousands of years old. 

There are three brothers - making up Injalak (Long Tom Fish) Hill, Leech Hill and Magpie Goose Hill. These places are sacred sites for the locals. 

Our tour finished at the Arts Centre which houses a large number of artworks by local artists and sales are used to fund the running of the centre and community workshops for tourists. We bought a beautiful painting of a barramundi by

?? Glen 

who uses only ocres in his paintings. It has its place in our caravan now. 

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.   

western australia : purnululu

Purnululu (commonly known as the Bungle Bungles) has a number of great walks some of which are suitable for walking with children. 

Access to the walks is a 1.5-2 hour drive from the highway on a rough dirt road. I decided to take the older kids (4yo and 6yo) while Mummy and Little A stayed behind at the Bungle Bungle Caravan Park.

The big kids were really keen to go bush walking and were very excited to be camping in a tent. Our daughter was up and ready to go first thing!

The kids and I drove in early in the day to allow enough time to walk to the impressive Cathedral Gorge and The Domes. 

The walk was quite achievable for the kids although the heat of the day got to them as we walked in the creek bed towards Cathedral Gorge. A lovely couple from The Channon (Northern NSW) encouraged and distracted the kids for the final stretch! The cavernous gorge was impressive and the coolness offered by its shade and still pool most welcome. I marvelled at its grandeur while the kids settled into building a dam in the sand by the pool.

On the return walk along the rocky creek bed the kids played in a deep rock hole full of stones (& two dried cane toad carcasses). 

The rock hole became the main scene of the evening bedtime story where the kids met a new character, 'Knotty' the Numbat, who led them to a secret door in Cathedral Gorge and a mysterious world underground!

We had erected our tent at the Kurrajong Campground adjacent to some other families. Alas being school holidays they were on a short trip and we wouldn't cross paths again unfortunately!

A few minutes star gazing through the tent ceiling was all the kids could manage before dozing off into a slumber that only a bush walk and a tent can provide.

The morning light streamed through the tent walls and soon I had two very energetic kids jumping on me! After a breakfast of muesli with warm milk and banana, school journal writing for B, and a play with several kids who gathered at our camp, we set course for Echidna Chasm.

The walk through the stony creek bed up towards Echidna Chasm was a little challenging for little feet although they've conquered far worse of course. A couple of hundred metres into this first walk of the day P was convinced that she was teetering on the edge of exhaustion but they soon thought up some games and before we entered the cool, dark labyrinth P had collected four long sticks to carry on her merry way! We weaved our way through the mighty fracture, two sheer rock walls towering either side above us and although P's sticks frequently jammed between the narrow sides of the gorge and despite my gentle persuasions that we could always pick them up on our way back out she insisted that she really must continue to persevere to the very end, around boulders, past other walkers, up the ladders. Upon reaching the final cavern and while B attempted to scale the sheer rock walls, P dropped her bundle of sticks as though it were common house dirt and began inventing another game. 

We shared a couple of oranges before evacuating ourselves from the tortuous intestines of the Echidna. It was a magnificent finale to our Purnululu adventures and although I had no idea what to expect and didn't plan it that way I feel it was a wise decision to do the southern end of the park first and leaving the impressive Echidna as our last stop.

We didn't muck around getting on our way back to 'our roaming home'. We know very well where the best cook, cooking and catering is in this vast brown land and we were famished!!

Although it didn't stop us taking a break from the rough 50km road about half way for a cup of tea and a spot of cow shit cricket! Oh and two separate trips off piste to dig a hole for number twos that didn't exist five minutes before when I had asked!!!!

western australia: windjana gorge to fitzroy crossing via tunnel creek

It's a short drive from Windjana Gorge to Lillimooloora Station, the site where Jandamarra shot his friend, the policeman Richardson in order to free his people and from where he fled in to the Gorge at the onset of the three year battle which claimed many of the Banuba people and finally Jandamarra himself. 

The police outpost is now in ruins. Just standing at the station gives you a sense of the distances Jandamarra travelled. 

We love the boab trees right across the Kimberley and the red red dirt. 

Tunnel Creek is a thirty minute drive on the dirt and is where Jandamarra hid from police during the resistance. Sadly this is the place where the black tracker, Mickey, tracked and finally shot Jandamarra. 

In places you wade through knee deep water in the tunnel in the dark. To add to the adventure a few freshies inhabit the waters, which I was not aware of until J pointed out the bronze eyes staring at us! 

They stared. I might have squealed. And then they disappeared under the very water I had to wade back through! Did I mention it was pitch black?

Ironically we happened upon the huge muster of Brahman on the Leopold Down Station which is situated between Tunnel Creek and the highway. It was an impressive sight to see the cattle thundering around the rocks and boabs followed by a man on a motorbike while a helicopter hovered about jerking in one direction and then the next. 

Can you spot J, all of six foot three in this huge boab? We lept from the car (leaving the kids to ponder our excitement) when we saw this great specimen. We could only wonder how long it's been there!

happy first birthday!

Our eldest celebrated his first birthday with friends and family at the park opposite where we lived in the city in Sydney. Our daughter had a combined pirate party with her brother in our backyard for her first birthday. Our youngest turned one at Middle Lagoon at Cape Levecke and he also had a party to celebrate the momentous occasion. 

Arlo was surrounded by new friends we've met on our travels, the Nelson- Hauers, Kate, Roo and their family of four kids and surrogate grandparents Gail and Terry. The camp site was decorated with homemade bunting and balloons. Arlo had a little help opening a few pressies that his grandparents and great grandmother had sent too. Thank you so much Jo for the beautiful photographs!

Thanks Gail and Terry for the bubbles! 

What's a party without games? The kids played pass the parcel and had a treasure hunt. The kids had to read and follow the clues throughout the campground. The final treasure was an....

ice-cream cake! A yummy treat for a stinking hot day! I made a carrot cake with cream cheese icing for the adults (but a few of them tucked in to a slice of both!) 

Happy Birthday Little Manny. You mean the world to us and you've brought us endless love in the first year of your life. Thank you for all that you bring to our family. 

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western australia: karijini, kermits gorge

The Kermit's Gorge walk was an unforgettable trek along narrow, slippery ledges and through cold pools, and waterfalls with towering cliff faces of that orange red rock. 

We, six parents, attempted and finished the gorge walk with seven kids under seven years. I hope the kids look back on the walk with a sense of pride of their achievement. It wasn't always easy. We had to work closely to ensure the kids took each step carefully, aware of their plan ahead on the narrow paths. In the narrowest sections we could reach both sides of the gorge. 

Some of us braved a swim at the end of the gorge walk but it was chilly! 

Thanks to our friend, and photographer, Jo for these shots which capture the light, the challenges and the achievement of making it through the gorge and back with our mob of kids!

Photos courtesy of Vivid Imaging. 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vivid-Imaging/151857428215142

western australia: cape range national park

Osprey Bay at Cape Range National Park was a welcome relief after three nights in town. We love free camping - free of power and the pressures of a small plot in a caravan park. Osprey Bay free camp was only opened earlier in the year. There's a bush loo, the cost is $15/night and you can book online. Bore water is available near the visitors centre at entrance to the park. The kids would have played all day on the beach making huge castles.

The sunsets were beautiful. 

Yardie Creek Gorge was an interesting walk with the kids although it was the hottest part of the day so it was very warm. The gorge was amazing - with ospreys, goats and cockatoos. 

There are half a dozen great snorkelling sites a short drive from Osprey Bay. We spent our first day snorkelling at Turquoise Bay after two friends recommended it. We had the perfect day - little wind, clear sky, no swell and incredible visibility. Over the course of the day the older two kids mastered snorkelling - using a noodle to keep bouyant. We swam with sea turtles, black and white-tipped reef sharks, blue spotted fantail sting-Rays, anenome fish, trumpet fish, a huge groper, octopi, a huge rock cod and hundreds of beautiful tropical fish. There was so much to see which made learning to snorkel easy for the kids. 

The following day we attempted Oyster Stacks at high tide but it was a struggle with the strong current and big swell. I can imagine that with the right conditions the site would be interesting. After Oyster Stacks in the morning we drove back to Turqoise Bay with our travelling friends, the Belson-Hauers, and spent the rest of the day jumping in and out of the water. 

The boys headed out early one morning and ran (when the gravel wasn't too slippery) Mandu Mandu Gorge. 

J decided it was time to separate with his decade-long facial hair. Our poor girl cried for a day and asked him when the old Daddy was coming back. This was actually half way through his shave. J is not particularly fond of having a mo'. 

These beautiful flowers are native to Cape Range National Park. Each petal looks like a little bird and our bird loving boy was fascinated. 

western australia : 14 mile beach, ningaloo, Warroora Station

Initially we thought we'd stay three nights at Warroora Station which is situated on the Coral Coast at Ningaloo. 

We'd been forewarned that one end of Fourteen Mile is like a carpark with vans parked closer together than in caravan parks. Many people stay months on Warroora and I can see why. The cost for a night is $15 with a free nights stay if you stay 5. You need to be self-contained and there is no water. 

We were lucky to have a spot at the other end of Fourteen Mile, only metres from the water and for four days the whole family unwound. The kids played in the water, the sand and the dunes creating elaborate games and meeting new friends. Our little one spent the days crawling and commandoing through the sand. 

The wind came up in the night and our superb annexe did its thing by providing shade during the day, a confined space for the baby to play and a mozzie-free spot to eat dinner. 

The view from Telstra Hill.