Half-lap Day 64: Fitzroy Crossing -> Broome

I am still waking up around 5am most days, which is about 6.30 Northern Territory time, and about an hour and a half before sunrise. I felt like I was the first person awake in the whole caravan park when I went over to the camp kitchen to charge the computer and have a cup of tea. There was no kettle in the kitchen, so I found the cleanest frypan (3 frypans were the only items in the kitchen) and boiled some water – it wasn’t too bad but the 2^nd half of my cuppa did have a bit of a meaty taste…

Our soup sharing neighbour offered me hot water when I got back to camp – he’d boiled more than he needed, so there was enough for a fresh cup of tea, and some for my porridge, and for washing up water. We had a good chat about different ways of travelling and each of our plans for the next part of our trips.

I started packing up and the others emerged from the tent as they woke. We did a pretty quick packup, and the kids played with our neighbours again. They made a banana smoothie and shared it with our kids. Caitlin spent most of the morning talking to a lady they’d met the day before, with a King Charles Spaniel puppy (very cute). In between packing, and then while I was finishing off, I chatted to the mum of the family next door, she gave us lots of tips for things down the west coast, and we discussed the logistics of travelling with kids. Once we were all packed up we kept talking while the kids were happily playing, and probably left almost an hour after we were ready. The kids didn’t want to leave, they really liked these boys.

We stopped in town to get petrol and essential groceries (finally getting some eggs for LiAM) and marveled again at how little water was in the Fitzroy river in town, compared to in the gorge. Then we headed out for the long drive west to Broome – about 400km. The scenery today was the most monotonous we’ve seen for a long time. Mainly flat land, with short dark trees and not a lot of undergrowth. Sometimes the trees were different, there were some black, feathery looking trees with no leaves, not sure what they were. There were lots of boabs, some were really huge, just amazing to look at. Some had green leaves and/or yellow leaves, others were bare. One thing that quite surprised us was that the landscape and vegetation didn’t change much, even as we approached the coast. Within a couple of kilometres of the shoreline, there was no indication that we were in a coastal area.

We crossed several rivers, most of them dry, some with waterholes, occasionally one with a lot of water. Crossing a one-lane bridge over a large waterhole, we saw several freshwater crocodiles sunning themselves in the water. LiAM didn’t see them so we did a U-turn and went back over the bridge, where there was a spot we could pull off the road and get out of the car. We stood up on the top of the bank and watched the crocodiles in the water for a while. We didn’t see any on the banks (and we didn’t go down closer to the low banks, we just stayed up high) but saw 7 or 8 floating in the water. It was our first completely wild sighting of freshies and it was rather exciting. The sun was searing hot and not everyone had grabbed a hat as we got out of the car so it was quite uncomfortable.

3 freshwater crocodiles in a large waterhole

Back in the car we continued westwards. I’d been ringing caravan parks whenever we had signal and we’d decided to stay close to town (it would be cheaper to stay about 35km out of Broome, but we thought we’d enjoy it more if we were nearer all the activities this time, even if it costs us a bit more). We’d been warned that we might not get accommodation because it was school holidays and many grey nomads come to Broome for 1-3 months at this time of year – but we found a few parks who had room for us. We picked one on the outskirts of the town – the slightly cheaper, closer to town one that had a site available also had lots of reviews saying that there was a lot of theft, so we decided to go for more security.

We arrived and set up our tent, and saw cows wandering past on the other side of the fence, and a wallaby a few sites down. We had something to eat then Tony took the kids to the pool, which is pretty spectacular. I had a rest by myself, I was feeling quite overstimulated and just needed some down time. Can happen sometimes when we’ve been in the car for a long time, all my senses get a bit on edge.

It was exciting to be in Broome though, it feels like a halfway point – like it’s the top north-west point we’ll reach before heading back to the South East. It’s not exactly half-way, in terms of either time or distance, but it feels like a midpoint. It was also such a relief to easily find accommodation after all the warnings we’d had. We were all too tired to head into town to check it out tonight, looking forward to actually seeing the town and the beach tomorrow. Weird too to think we are back on the coast, and with beaches we can swim at!

We had a combination of leftovers, instant pasta, soup and eggs for tea. Afterwards Caitlin and LiAM played Euchre, and continued playing as we read Inheritance, then Caitlin got into her tent and we read a bit more before going to sleep.

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 24: Finke River -> Alice Springs

We were camped quite near the highway and we throughout the night we could hear road trains coming for a minute or two before they actually came past. The noise would gradually get louder and then it would be like an aeroplane going past, and then it would recede over the next couple of minutes. It wasn’t too disturbing though, there weren’t a lot of them and in between it would be completely quiet.

I was up in time to see the sunrise, I went down to the river and watched it slowly come to light and enjoyed the reflections in the water and the incredible peacefulness. I saw a few tour buses pass over the bridge on their way to Uluru – would have been an early start from Alice Springs! As the morning went on we saw many army trucks going south, big trucks carrying lots of supplies – and 2 of them were carrying tanks! That was pretty exciting to see.

Early morning on the Finke River

As we were packing up the tent we found a tiny scorpion inside it, running along the floor near the wall. We all watched him for a while, then I scooped him up in a cup (I did squish one of his pincers as I tried to catch him) and threw him outside (away from the tent). We chatted to our friends about the Ernest Giles track (I was thinking we might leave the trailer and just drive back in the 16km to see the meteorite crater) and they said it was the worst road they’d ever driven on, corrugated all the way with no respite. We decided to give it a miss, if they struggled in their huge 4WD. The other couple had broken several things on their van and both of them said everything they had was covered in red dust.

An extra camper in our tent

The kids wandered off to explore while we finished packing, then I went to take them down to the river while Tony put the last things on the top of the trailer. I found them talking to another family, a mum with 2 boys. We chatted for ages, and Tony joined us after a while with everything packed up and trailer attached and ready to go. Eventually I took all 5 kids down to the river, the water was beautiful and they were soon all completely wet (in their clothes, but since it was a hot sunny day, and fresh, flowing water, I wasn’t worried). They played in the water and in the sand, which was a bit like quicksand in parts, it was easy to sink in up to the knee. I waded around a bit then found a shady place to sit and watch them and enjoy the location. Tony joined me after a while and then the other mum and we chatted and the kids played for a couple of hours. It was a pretty magical way to spend the morning.

Swimming and exploring the sand in the Finke River

We got everyone out of the river and headed off around 1pm. We’d planned to stop at Stuarts Well for fuel and lunch, but the kids had had a sandwich before we left and Tony and I were happy eating in the car, and we had enough fuel to get to Alice Springs, so decided not to stop. There was a camel farm though that the kids wanted to see, so we pulled in to check out the camels, and an emu who was being amorous with the fence, a dingo on a chain and some birds. Not the greatest animal place we’ve seen so far.

There were several ranges of hills that we drove past before reaching the McDonnell Ranges and then Alice Springs – a bit different seeing many hills after so much flat land. We drove in to Alice Springs through a gap in the ranges and it was exciting to be here. We checked out a campground which was only $11 a night, but none of us felt comfortable there and the reviews we read were very mixed so we decided against it. We were stopped by the police on the way in, who asked if we were going to the bottle shop or the campground – later when I saw police checking ID outside liquorland at Coles we realised that the police check ID before anyone goes into a bottle shop. I hadn’t seen that anywhere before.

We drove up Anzac Hill – a lookout over the city – to rest for a bit and figure out where we would stay. It was a cool place to get a bit of an idea of the layout of the town, and the kids thought we were going to physically look for caravan parks from up there – we did it the digital way however. There was a place out of town where we wanted to stay, we rang them but they were full, so we found a place in town that seemed all right and not too expensive. It seemed nice when we arrived, nothing special – it’s a fairly basic caravan park with everyone laid out in a neat grid, not much atmosphere but clean and quiet and a good place to rest for a few days.

I crashed when we arrived. Last time I arrived in Alice Springs I was overwhelmed and a bit teary and wasn’t sure what I wanted to do – I thought that was because I’d just been on a 20 hour bus ride from Darwin. But this time I felt exactly the same. It’s an odd place – part city, part country town, part regional centre, part cultural and arts centre, part violent and unsafe, part touristy, part multicultural, it’s hot and dry and sometimes stifling, it’s a remote town but so full of tourists that it doesn’t feel remote – I am reading Tracks by Robyn Davidson (a lady who came to Alice Springs, learned about camels and rode a camel train from here to the Indian Ocean) and she says that having the ranges so close to town drives everyone a bit crazy and I see what she means.

Tony recognized that I was not coping well so he sat me down and made me a cup of tea before we set the tent up. The kids explored the park a bit and eventually I was up to helping set up. We used the free wifi for a bit, I sorted out my washing, and then we went for a swim in the pool. The water was freezing and I just had a quick dip before I got out, Tony stayed to supervise the kids and I went to Coles to stock up on much needed supplies, and got a hot chicken for dinner. I enjoyed driving around the town and discovering where things were, I even went over the river to get some hot chips to have with our chicken (there are Indian food places everywhere here, but only 1 fish and chip shop. Shopping in Coles felt like shopping in Griffith, very multicultural and the food options available reflect that.)

We were in bed pretty early, read for a while then off to sleep, keen for a quiet relaxing day tomorrow.

Half-lap Day 17: SA/NT Border -> Uluru

A road train woke me when it pulled over into the truck stop up the road a bit from our camp – it sounded like it was right outside our tent! It was 5.30 so I figured I wouldn’t get back to sleep – it was cool to be outside before dawn and see the stars and smell the morning air – it smelt really familiar, I remember it from when I was in Central Australia nearly 20 years ago.

The others gradually emerged from the tent and we packed up as quickly as we could while still being relaxed. We played a bit of ‘I went to the shops’ and Caitlin rode her bike, we chatted to a couple across at the main rest stop (he was a shearer from Cowra), and we were ready to go by 9.30.

We headed north to Erldunda and then turned to the west for the long drive out to Uluru. Listening to Harry Potter helped pass the time, as well as watching the constantly changing terrain. It was rocky and red for a while after we left our campsite, then it became flat and dusty again. For a while there were taller trees (not very tall, but taller than bushes) with black trunks and branches. Occasionally there was water. We drove for a few hours then stopped at the lookout overlooking Mt Connor – a huge mountain in the middle of flat plains (people often mistake it for Uluru when they first see it). The lookout was hot and the drop toilets stank, the smell was wafting right over the picnic area. We had a quick snack and I encouraged the kids to stretch their legs as we still had over 100km to go. A tour bus stopped and most of the passengers crossed the road and walked up the sandy hill on that side, so we decided to have a look – there was a huge salt lake on the other side, completely hidden from the road by sand dunes – a big surprise.

The road to Uluru (only 140km to go)

Back in the car and the trees got a little taller for a while, and there were more hills and rocky areas. I spotted Uluru first, then it disappeared behind hills for a while which was frustrating – it kept coming into sight briefly and it took a while before everyone had seen it. It was rather exciting to lay eyes on it – for Tony and the kids it was the first time, and the 2^nd visit for me.

We arrived at Yulara at around 2pm. The unpowered sites were all booked out, so they put us in overflow and said to come back the next day after 10 to get our permanent site. We’d planned to stay 3 nights, but the 4^th night is free if you pay for 3, so we figured 4 nights would give us more time to relax and take things more slowly while we were here (and it makes the more expensive caravan park seem a little more worthwhile). The overflow area was a large red sandy cleared area, where people can camp anywhere they like. There were no toilets or water out there – but the walk back to the park toilets (it was right on the edge of the caravan park) was less than we’ve had to walk in some other places, so really no hassle. We set up next to a tree which gave us some shade – it was sunny and in the high 20s so a bit of relief from the sun was welcome. The kids explored the park while we set up, found the playground and the pool – which unfortunately was closed for maintenance. We put the awning up and felt quite comfortable in our little temporary spot. For once we weren’t the last people arriving – vans and trailers and motorhomes and buses kept arriving until fairly late at night, it became quite a little village out there. There was a massive 4WD opposite us – the tyres were the biggest and most rugged I’ve seen. It was a German car (German plates, left hand drive) and so impressive to look at. It was funny to watch every guy that walked past slow down and stare at it as he went.

Millie acting as a temporary tent peg. That desert ground was hard as a rock, so it took Tony longer than usual to get all the pegs in

Our first Uluru sunset

I took the kids to the pool at the Outback Pioneer Hotel while Tony went and got food for dinner. The sun was nearly off the pool by the time we arrived and the water was freezing! Millie and I had a quick swim and the other 2 swam for longer and didn’t seem to mind the cold. Back to camp and the sun was setting, we walked up a nearby sand dune and could see the sun set over Uluru – quite impressive. The kids had jumping competitions in the dirt on he dune, seeing who could jump furthest into the sand. Millie kept playing in the red dirt when we got back to our tent – she was starting to turn pink! Tony cooked rissoles for dinner, then kids played on the iPad and I did some puzzles, then we headed to bed early for Brisingr and to try to get enough sleep before getting up for sunrise the next morning.