Brisbane Trip Day 24: Armidale

This was definitely the coldest night we've had on the trip so far, and a bit of a shock after such warm nights in Brisbane. We used all the blankets and it wasn't too uncomfortable. I was up early and there was a fog covering the show grounds, with the sun shining through and silhouetting all the show buildings, it was very pretty.

I had a cup of tea and breakfast and the kids joined me as they woke up. Once I'd eaten I started work on my car window - being a Sunday I figured there'd be no one around to fix it, and also I didn't want to pay someone again, I was sure I could figure it out. It took me a while to get the door panel off, there were a couple of screws I didn't find until I looked up a diagram online. With the panel off I could see what the problem was - the window had jumped the rails and was jammed between the window column and the door frame. I tried to shift it out but it wasn't budging at all. I thought I just needed more strength, so asked the guy in the camper trailer next to us if he could help. He was a young guy, and a mechanic, and happy to help out. He'd also had a similar problem with his own window. My window though was well and truly jammed and he couldn't shift it with strength. He tried a few things and eventually found a screw that loosened the window enough to move it back and out of the jam, then put it into it's rail. He put everything back together for me and the window worked perfectly. I was very grateful.

By now it was nearly 11am so we quickly got ready and headed off to explore. We drove around Armidale and I showed the kids places that I remembered. Amelie was impressed with all the churches. I wanted to show them the 3 houses I'd lived in, on the first pass I couldn't find any of them - everything looked so different. We got petrol and drove up Elm Avenue to the uni, I was pleased to show them this beautiful road that I walked up so many times. There were a few yellow leaves here and there, but it was mainly showing it's summer glory. Driving back through town I found 2 of my houses and I think the driveway of the third.

We set off along the Waterfall Way to the east. I love this countryside - with the elevation so high the sky seems to go forever and the clouds sit differently to what we are used to. The land is pretty dry, with beautiful dead trees in all the paddocks, and lots of large rocks strewn everywhere. It's pretty tough land, very beautiful. We saw 3 eagles on our drive out to Wollomombi Falls.

At the falls we wandered around the picnic area a bit, got a glimpse of Chandler Falls, looked at the gorge, used the toilets then checked the maps and decided to do the walk that goes towards the tops of the falls. The walk was quite pretty, through wooded hills with a mix of living and dead trees and interesting undergrowth. The first lookout gave us a good view of the gorge - it was deep and immense looking - lots of places where we could see that rockfalls had happened, huge slabs of rock lining the walls where there hadn't been falls, and the river way way down below. The day was hot and at one point the kids were thinking about heading back. We could see a cool looking metal bridge up ahead though so kept walking towards that. The bridge crossed the river, above (and a few hundred metres back from) the top of the falls. It was gorgeous, the river trickling between lots of big rocks, and the river banks sloping up to grass and then trees and the blue sky above. We had a play around on the rocks and saw some rock skinks (one swam across the river to get away from us). We found a spot in the shade and sat and ate some lunch (tuna, avocado, ritz and saladas). After eating we explored a bit more above and below the bridge, then kept walking to the lookout at the top of the falls. It was pretty as well, we could see several arms of the falls coming from a rock pool at the top, and had a great view right along the gorge. We couldn't see the bottom of the falls though, they were way below us. After resting a little and admiring the view, we continued on to the lookout for Chandler Falls (two rivers meet at the bottom of the gorge, and they both have massive waterfalls dropping into the gorge just before the meeting place. Wollomombi Falls are the tallest in Australia, over 200m). These falls were also impressive. Not a lot of water in them at the moment, but we could see it falling in steps all the way to the bottom. The gorge here was similar although had different things to look at - a slightly less recent rockfall, different trees, more farmland at the top. We could also see the top of the ridge between the 2 rivers.

The walk back was pretty again although we were all quite tired. The views of the gorge from the lookouts, and even the river at the bridge, looked different because the sun had moved and the shadows were very different. Back at the car we had a big drink of water and a snack and felt a bit refreshed. We drove down to look at the camping ground (which I hadn't realised was there) - it looked pretty and was quite cheap, although the sites looked pretty hard and possibly were all gravel, so it might be tricky for us to set up there.

I'd planned to keep heading east and see Ebor Falls, Dorrigo and maybe even Bellingen, but we'd spent quite a bit of time here and got started later than I'd thought we would, and we were all feeling tired. So instead we went back towards Armidale, then went out to Gara Gorge. The last several kilometres of the road were gravel, and parts of it were the most heavily corrugated I think I've driven on. I had to drive at about 10km/hr in one bit so that the car didn't feel like it was going to fall apart. It seemed to take a long time to get to the gorge, through some very pretty countryside - then suddenly we were on paved roads again as we entered the National Park. We stopped at the Blue Hole and got out to have a look. I remembered people swimming here, and while it was attractive to look at, it didn't look inviting to swim in. No one else was there and there were no obvious paths down to the water either. We found a path through the grass that led to a big rock so we stood there and watched the birds and the skinks and enjoyed the peaceful surrounds.

I'd seen people coming out along the road who had been swimming, and several cars came past from further into the park, so we went down there. There were a lot more cars at the next carpark. We walked down to the river and saw kids in the water, and people walking back up the path in wet clothes, so I popped back to the car and got the kids swimmers. The other kids had said there was a better spot to swim further down the river. Liam and Caitlin clambered over the rocks to explore, which was fun (although Liam scratched his shoulder quite badly on a tree). They came back up and the 4 of us walked down the path a way until we found another place to reach the river. The rocks rose up quite steeply either side of the water, and the valley was narrower and more full of trees than the valley we'd had lunch in. This was beautiful as well, in a darker way. The water was reflecting in shimmery patterns on the overhanging rocks, it was very cool. The kids sat on the edge of a rock with their feet in the water and the fish nibbled on their skin, and I found a beachy area where I could wade into the water. It was cold, though bearable. The kids joined me (we had to duck under a tree branch to get to the beach) and Caitlin made her way over a rock to sit on a submerged (slippery) rock. I'd walked in to about my waist and Liam came with me, then swam out to a rock in the middle of the river. Caitlin made her way out there as well, then when she came back in I went out. There were lots of big rocks under the water and while the water was clear it was in the shade and hard to see, so we didn't swim around a lot. It was lovely though, being in the water and looking up at the rocks and the trees (and the extra reflections that the ripples we were making created on the rocks). Amelie played in the water near where we came in, it sloped down quite quickly there so it was easy to get right in to the water.

We got out and talked to a couple who were making their way up the river going from rock to rock - just where we were there wasn't an easy way to get across or around so they walked through the water. I sat with my feet in the river for a while and enjoyed the fish nibbling on my dry skin. We got dressed and walked back to the car. Amelie read the history of the water flume that used to be here - there was hydro power here once. It was interesting too to look at the debris stuck in the trees and see how high the flood level is here when there's been a lot of rain.

The drive out was a lot easier - the sun was low in the sky and was highlighting the corrugations in the road so I could avoid them as much as possible. We called in at Coles when we were back in town to grab milk and eggs and a 6-pack of beer for the guy who fixed my window. We drove around a little more so the kids could see the attractive main street and the fountain in the mall.

Back to camp and we all went and had hot showers, then had egg and cabana sandwiches for dinner. We tidied up (and I did the dishes so they weren't slowing us down in the morning) and once again were all in bed between 9 and 9.30.

Half-lap Day 36: Katherine

Millie and I were up before sunrise. She could see the sky becoming orange in the east, and stood for a while to see if she could see the sun come up – it was still a good while until that would happen so she snuggled back in to bed with Tony and the iPad, and I got ready to go for a walk. I’d wanted to walk across the old railway bridge near town, which is now a pedestrian bridge, and see the low level nature reserve further down the river. Tony had ridden his bike around that loop the night before, and we’d talked about me riding his bike to see it but even with the seat down it was just too big for me. I thought about riding Caitlin’s bike but figured I was way more comfortable walking. LiAM woke and wanted to come with me and I said I was going to walk fast and far – he decided to stay at the tent.

It was a beautiful morning and it was cool seeing the trees light up as the sun rose. I went to the pedestrian/railway bridge end first. The middle of the bridge was solid metal, the edges were metal mesh so I could see through it down to the river, a little scary actually. The edges of the bridge were quite high so it was hard to see the river from the bridge, there was a raised area on each side where you could stand to see the view. I was looking upstream towards the car bridge and saw something floating in the water – it looked like a crocodile head but I figured it could easily be a log. It went under an overhanging tree and then I saw lots of ripples coming out from under the tree – then the whole crocodile emerged and I saw it floating along and under the bridge. I didn’t see it come out the other side, so it either submerged or went to the shore under the bridge. It was long – a couple of metres I’d guess – and a yellowy green with black stripes. It had quite a pointy noise so I think it was a freshwater – still very exciting to see my first wild crocodile.

I continued over the bridge then checked out the steam engine in the park near town, then walked down the bike track along the other side of the river. It was a long walk, just along the side of a street, with trees on my right so I couldn’t see the water. Eventually I reached a school – lots of kids were being dropped off at 8am, I wonder if school starts earlier here? – and found some steps leading down to the hot springs. Tony had said swimming was closed there the day before, but I couldn’t see any signs that said that. There were a few people swimming and it looked divine. I dipped my hands in and the water was a beautiful temperature – not hot, but it would have been easy to get straight in.

From the springs it was a short walk to the bridge which crosses the low level. There was a weir there and lots of rocks, a really beautiful spot. There were picnic tables on one side and easy access to the water, although there were also signs here saying don’t enter the water because of recent croc sightings. This bridge was very close to the water level and also metal mesh on the pedestrian part – a little shaky when cars crossed the bridge but not scary like the high bridge was. The walk back from the low level was along the path I’d walked some of a few days ago, but I couldn’t remember how far I’d come last time. It was hot by now, I wished I’d bought a hat. I felt like I’d been walking a long time since the low level bridge, and I still didn’t recognize the path, so felt like I had ages still to go – and suddenly I saw the caravan park so I was back! It had been a 2 hour walk (LiAM was very please he hadn’t come with me, although a little disappointed that he’d missed the crocodile). I was pleased with my new shoes too – that’s 2 walks I’ve done in the 1^st 2 days and they are comfortable and my feet don’t sweat in them!

The weir at the low-level crossing

We had breakfast and hung around the tent and played with Bundy and Pumbaa. I got the owner’s son’s phone number and Tony gave him a call about the car, he said to bring it in in an hour. Tony, Caitlin and LiAM went in to town to do a few messages – buy a fan, exchange one of the shirts I’d bought for Tony, get Millie’s birthday present, get new batteries for Tony’s cap with lights in it. Millie and I hung out with the dogs and played some games, then Tony dropped the other kids off and took the car to the mechanic. He was back quite quickly, the guy hadn’t been there and the other mechanic had said to come back in a couple of hours.

We had a quiet morning, catching up on a few things, I tidied up all the paper and stuff that had accumulated in our car, then went and plugged the computer in and did some email and blogging. Tony took the car back and the guy said that it’s probably a radiator problem, when he looked at the radiator he said it is made of plastic and quite brittle and if he tried to do anything with it it would probably crack, and getting a new radiator is probably the way to go. He ordered the parts and will put it in tomorrow morning.

By this stage the girls who the kids had been playing with were back from their trip to the caves, and they spent the afternoon all playing together. They explored the little fish ponds around the owner’s house, catching fish in bowls and putting them back in and comparing all the different types. Tony and I had wanted to go to Edith Falls and maybe have a swim – the kids were freaked out by stories of freshwater crocs in the water and said they wouldn’t swim. LiAM wanted to go and see the falls anyway, Caitlin was undecided and Millie was a definite no. They were having so much fun with their friends that we decided to give it a miss and just have a true rest day, hanging out at the caravan park and doing very little. I read my book and did some puzzles and some more blogging, talked to the girls’ mother, did a little more tidying of the car and had a very relaxing afternoon. The puppy was back and forth to our tent, and one of the kittens came over at one stage too (but was soon chased back by Bundy). Tony and Caitlin did the bike ride that Tony had done the day before. The Hot Springs were closed with a sign saying a croc had been seen there today - they were full of people swimming though, and the water was so clear that it would be easy to see a crocodile if it was there, I guess. Caitlin had a quick dip - just in, across to the other side and back and then out.

The kids played together until it was dark then went to have their respective dinners (we had sausages, tomato and pasta) then got back together and went exploring the park for frogs and geckos and spiders. One of the girls had been desperate to see and hold a green tree frog and they were all thrilled to find one. Everyone had a hold and the frog was released back into the garden. LiAM found a little brown frog and caught it for a brief pat as well.

Millie was really tired and went to bed as soon as she could after tea (she was delayed a little by the frog then headed for bed). I had an early night too, Tony and the other two had showers and came to bed a bit later on.

Half-lap Day 33: Mataranka -> Katherine

When I woke up it was dark and the bush was silent so I thought it was still a while until dawn – suddenly all the birds burst into song at once. Some of the birds made a hissing sound and one sounded like it was throwing up, but most of the birdsong was quite pretty. I thought I saw an animal move into the shadows and then heard donkeys running around, saw some hooves running on a path a little bit away from us, so I went for a walk to see if I could see any donkeys properly. I didn’t see any donkeys but enjoyed exploring the campsite a bit, then walked down to the river to see it just before sunrise. Tony went for a bike ride when I got back so he could see the river as well.

Those rocks really look like crocodiles

Packing up was easier than usual because I’d put most of the stuff into the car the night before, and we were pleased it wasn’t a big job because as soon as the sun came over the top of the trees it was burning. The girls had a quick shower before we left and we were on the road by about 9.15.

We listened to Harry Potter and had the windows down again and the trip went quickly, it was only just over 100km to Katherine. Tony had been given the name of an auto electrician by the mechanic in Elliott, so we called in there to see if he could look at our air con problem. The guy said to ring him at 2pm and see if he could fit us in.

We had heard about a cheap caravan park on the north bank of the river, but had heard mixed reviews – some said it was a great community, others said it was somewhere to avoid. It was only $20 a night and when we rang around the cheapest alternative we could find was $54. We had a look at it and chatted to the owner and decided to give it a try. He gave us a grassy spot with a clothesline, and we set up in the middle of the day heat, all feeling a bit hot and cranky. Some lunch helped, as did discovering a cage of puppies at the house across from us. The park has several permanent residents, in cabins and houses of various types. Some are only half built, some are campervans or caravans set up with awnings and fridges and little yards, some are permanent cabins that are like small houses. The kids went over to look at the puppies and were overwhelmed by cuteness. On the way back to our site the mummy dog came around from the other side of the house and ran over to the kids – we all froze as we didn’t know if she’d like people being near her puppies. Tony walked over to her and she came up for a pat and all was fine. There are also 4 male goats wandering around. Caitlin patted one and it tolerated it for a while then butted her in the leg. It scared us then by pawing the ground, we thought it was going to charge at us – but then it sat down and settled into the depression it had made and went to sleep.

As soon as we’d eaten we headed to the local council swimming pool. It was only $12 for family entry, so even if we come every day it’s cheaper staying at North Bank Park and swimming here, than staying at a caravan park with a pool. The pool was 50m long, and shallow at both ends, deep in the middle. It was 1.2m at the shallow ends though so Millie couldn’t stand up, she played on the steps and swam out and back to me or Caitlin and had a great time anyway. Tony had dropped us off and taken the car to the auto electrician, and planned to come back to swim once the guy had looked at the car. We got to the pool at 2.30 and loved being in the water, especially with one end of the pool under shade cloth. Caitlin practiced all her swimming strokes, even butterfly, and probably swam 10 or more full laps of the pool. We played with noodles and balls and had races and spent some time in the toddler pool. Tony was gone for about 3 hours, by which time the kids were ready to get out – even Caitlin said she was ready to go – but we stayed so that Tony could have a swim as well, and the kids got back in the pool with him and had fun while I read my book for a while. It was a great way to cool off and get past the heat of the day.

The auto electrician couldn’t find anything wrong with the electrical system in the car, so recommended a mechanic to Tony, we’ll ring him in the morning. We stopped at Woolworths on the way back to camp to get something for dinner – we were hoping for a hot chicken but there weren’t any left, and there was no bread, so we had rissoles and bread rolls again. While we were cooking dinner the mummy dog came over to our tent, and she stayed for the rest of the evening, watching us eat, asking for pats, sleeping on our carpet. We finished setting up the beds and I collapsed into bed as soon as I could, and everyone else came soon after.

Half-lap Day 7: Hahndorf

Sunday was mothers day. We were up earlyish and hung around the tent, reading, catching up on email and so on. The kids gave me their presents - dark chocolate honeycomb from Millie, and a block of 88% dark chocolate from LiAM - it's the darkest I've eaten and it is delightfully bitter, really satisfying and I love it. Caitlin had already given me her present before we left - scented shower bombs, so I'm looking forward to using those when we get back.

Tony cooked bacon and eggs for breakfast - the bacon was amazing, thick and tasty, a perfect mothers day breakfast. The rest of the morning we spent pottering around the caravan park - playing air hockey and fusball, chess, and playing games at the tent. I was downloading some audio books to our computer when suddenly it turned itself off and I couldn't get it back on - this has happened before and I did get it fixed, but wasn't happy at the idea of trying to fit that in to our time in the Adelaide Hills.

Tony started to work on installing the dual battery in to the car, so the kids and I decided to go exploring. I discovered we could catch a bus from Hahndorf to Mt Lofty - we needed to leave almost immediately though unless we wanted to go much later in the day and I felt like the weather would be worse by then. It was already drizzling quite a bit. Tony drove us in to Hahndorf so that we could buy bus tickets - the mothers day traffic heading in to the town was slow and heavy. He dropped us off about half way as walking was going to be about as quick as driving from that point, and it was easier for him to get back from there. We went to the newsagent to buy tickets and she said she didn't sell them, I'd have to go to Mt Barker. After a bit of discussion I found out that I could buy them on the bus (I didn't find that info on the website) so it was fine - although it did mean that we could have just caught the bus from out the front of the caravan park, without all the rushing around.

Anyway, we finally got on the bus and I really enjoyed the trip through parts of the Adelaide Hills I hadn't seen before (Bridgewater, Aldgate, Stirling). Really really pretty. We changed buses and went up to the summit of Mt Lofty. The rain was falling hard here, and the mountain was covered in cloud. It was icy cold as well - and still fun to go and stand at the lookout and see nothing but cloud below us. We could look at the pictures of what the view normally was, and enjoyed the experience of really being in the elements. We went for a quick 10 minute walk around the base of the lookout - I love walking through the bush in the cloud, it really means I focus my attention on the foliage around me, and it was beautiful. It's obviously recovering from bushfire which always fascinates me too. The kids popped in to the gift shop for Millie to buy my birthday present.

We had the choice of catching the bus back after 30 minutes or waiting 3 1/2 hours, so we chose the quick trip option. We sat at the bus stop eating ritz and tuna in the rain and then jumped back on the bus. Changing buses at the base of the mountain we found the driest place to stand was outside the bus shelter, up against the wall - the rain was swirling around inside the shelter. Back on the next bus (with the same driver as the first time) and through the pretty suburbs again and to our caravan park.

We hung out at the tent reading and playing games through the afternoon. I was a little frustrated that my computer wasn't working, as I'd planned to do more work while I had wifi and power handy. I researched how to fix the problem and found a possible solution, but I needed a tiny screwdriver which I didn't have - I figured I'd sort it out on Monday.

Tony cooked a chicken curry for mothers day tea, it was delicious, and lovely to sit cosy under our annex eating a warm meal while it rained outside. We headed to bed pretty early, everyone was tired and happy to go in and read Brisingr.

Upper Yarra Reservoir: Day 2

LiAM had trouble sleeping and Millie woke up and joined us at one point so Caitlin was the only one who spent the whole night on the floor. It was crowded with 4 of us on the mattress but there was enough room. I extricated myself once it was light and sat outside and had a cup of tea and read my book for ages by myself, it was lovely - an overcast morning with the mountain looming above me, very quiet and very peaceful. It did start to get cold so eventually I needed to find more clothes from the spare bag in the car (I didn't want to wake anyone else up so didn't go back in the tent). Caitlin joined me after a while, we went and cooked some porridge and sat undercover to eat it - it was raining a bit by this stage. After breakfast we played cards until the others emerged one by one from the tent.

Once the kids were all up they wandered over to see their friends from the glowstick party the night before. LiAM's friend from yesterday had left, but there was an 8 year old boy in the other group, so he quickly made a new friend. All the kids (ours and theirs) spent the morning running back and forth between the 2 campsites, exploring the area, playing the camper trailer, climbing trees and so on. Tony and took our time to pack up and chat and have a cup of tea and then some lunch. The trailer was much easier to pack up than I'd thought it might be, which was a relief.

Once everything was packed and the other families had left, we went for a walk on the Fern Gully Track. I'd forgotten how beautiful the river was until we were crossing the bridge over it. We walked on the loop track and the kids found a very long fallen tree which they played on for a while, then we completed the loop and had a paddle in the extremely cold river. Even Millie came a little way in. The kids then wanted to show us a place they'd found with their friends that morning, so we headed up the path to come back to the river further up - there was a little weir, and a picnic table was sitting in the corner of the river and the weir wall, which was a very exciting place to sit... We played on the weir for a while, surrounded by tall trees and ferns and the beautiful clear, freezing water. Eventually we extricated ourselves and got back in the car. I had a bit of reversing practice with the trailer on and then we headed home.

LiAM and Caitlin at the end of a fallen tree (they are there in amongst the ferns)

Paddling in the river

'Picnic' in the river

The Yarra River looks very different here compared to near our place near Yarra Glen, or once it gets all the way into the city

About 15 minutes down the road the car started overheating. We refilled the water but the engine heated up again straight away so we stopped and called the RACV. Turns out the water pump had seized (I'd been told last week I needed a new one and was booked in to get one in about 10 days....). Tony took the kids into Warburton for fish and chips while I waited for the tow truck. They brought a replacement car for us - but it had mechanical problems too and after I had all our stuff in it the guy decided we couldn't take it after all... So he towed the car and trailer to the depot in Yarra Junction, we drove the dodgy loan car to the depot and transferred all our stuff (again) to a tiny little hatchback and we finally drove home. The guy took the trailer (and our car) to the depot in Healesville and Tony went down and got the trailer with his car, and hopefully my car will be fixed sometime very soon!

Despite the frustrating ending of our trip though everyone was still in good spirits (although very tired) and had an enjoyable time camping - all looking forward to doing it again!