Half-lap Day 42: Batchelor -> Darwin

We were fairly slow getting started in the morning, and did a relaxed pack up. The kids played with their Tasmanian friends, telling jokes (we learnt some good ones), playing cards, playing with Millie’s toys and riding their bikes. A couple of other girls came and joined them as well for a while. The girls hid all of Millie’s toys in the trees and bushes, and there were a few stressful moments a bit later when we took a while to find some of them – they all turned up though.

Caitlin and I wandered over to the Sunday markets once we were nearly packed. We saw some beautiful jewellery made from sandalwood seeds, and bought a delicious home grown watermelon, as well as finding (and buying) a copy of The Princess Bride on DVD. We chatted for a while to a lady who was selling chicks, then headed back to camp. We finished hooking the trailer up, said goodbye to Jim, our fantastic host, then got underway.

This was our shortest days driving, a bit less than an hour, to stay with friends of friends just near Humpty Doo. They gave us a spot over to the side of their house where we could put up our tent, under huge mango trees so we have heaps of shade. We have access to the toilet and shower in their granny flat, and they made us feel incredibly welcome. While we were setting up they made up some huge plates of sandwiches so we all sat together and chatted and ate. The kids then went for a swim in their new pool, the guys sat and chatted and surpervised while I went to the supermarket with the women. They cooked a magnificent BBQ in the evening and asked us to join them, the food was great and the company was relaxed and friendly. They have a dog, chickens, ducks, chicks, rabbits and guinea pigs, and a trampoline, so the kids were very happily occupied for the entire afternoon.

After dinner we came back to our tent and finished setting up the beds and so on. I was a bit worried as there were so many green ants around that if we stood still our feet would soon be covered – but I think it was just the time of day, they settled down as the evening progressed. We quickly got to bed and read for a while. It was very hot and humid – it’s getting a bit easier to fall asleep with the heat, and the fans certainly help, but it’s still quite uncomfortable. Funny to think that early in the trip we had every zip on the tent shut tight and used every blanket and our hot water bottles, now we have everything open wide (fly screens closed of course), we’re not even using sheets at the start of the night and are struggling to find clothes cool enough to sleep in.