Half-lap Day 58: Kununurra

Our plan was to leave for our Lake Argyle Cruise at 6.30am – with the sun coming up around 6, that wasn’t a problem. We all had a quick breakfast, and packed swimmers and sunscreen and snacks, and drove out to the lake, about 70km from Kununurra. The road in from the highway wound between tall rocky hills with scrubby brush. As we got closer we caught a glimpse of the Ord River down in a valley, then spots of blue as we saw the lake.

We pulled up at the Resort/Caravan Park and they said to wait outside for the bus. We had a bit of a wander and looked out over the lake – so big and blue! – and at the infinity pool at the resort – the water flows over the edge so it feels like you are actually swimming right up to the mountains and the lake. The kids browsed the gift shop and Millie bought a curly straw with a crocodile on it.

The bus came (with people already on it from Kununurra – that would have cost extra) and took us down to the boat ramp. We had a view of the dam wall as we drove, then the bus went down a steep (13% grade) road to the boat, we all got out of the bus and onto the boat while the driver reversed back up part of the road, turned around, and reversed down again so the bus was ready to go when we got back.

After a quick safety talk and letting us know that there was a toilet, as well as tea, coffee, biscuits and water available at all times on the cruise, we set off and went around the first point to see some wallabies. They were quite small and extremely agile, leaping around on the rocks in huge bounds. The driver threw some food onto the rocks and a couple of them came down close to the boat – the kids were so excited and the wallabies were very cute.

From there we went around closer to the dam wall – a very impressive structure, made of a clay core and then rocks (no concrete). The dam was built in the late 1960s to give a permanent water supply to the farmers in the Ord Irrigation Area – the Ord River before that would dry up a lot in the dry season. Now it is at a constant level year round and provides enough water for everyone in the region. The lake is 21 times the volume of Sydney Harbour – really massive. The islands throught the lake are the tops of more of the hills like the ones we drove through coming in. Some are just little rocks sticking out of the water, some are still massive hills in their own right.

We went to the deepest part of the lake (42m at this point), seeing a freshwater crocodile on the shore along the way, and heard a bit about how they’d decided where to put the dam wall. Then we moved on to some of the islands, where we saw several crocodiles and the boat was able to get quite close to the shore where they were sunning themselves. A couple of times one of the crocodiles slid into the water – so silently and gracefully we wouldn’t have noticed it move if we hadn’t been looking at it. The boat moved around into a little bay where we are able to feed the fish – holding out bread above the water so that the archer fish could shoot it with their little jets of water (lots of fun and something I’d been so keen to do ever since I heard about it) and dropping bread into the water for the archer fish, catfish and black bream. At one point I was standing and taking a photo of a freshwater crocodile and the driver sneaked up behind me and grabbed my leg. I shrieked and fell onto the seat – everyone thought it was pretty funny.

We continued further into the lake, and soon came to places where we couldn’t see any land in a couple of directions. During the tour we covered a quarter of the lake’s distance and we didn’t ever see the ends even on the horizon – it is massive. We cruised past a male jabiru standing on his nest up on top of a little rocky island, and saw lots of pelicans, cormorants, kites and other birds. We saw a wallaroo on one of the islands, much bigger than any wallaby we’ve seen anywhere up in this northern part of Australia. Before the dam was flooded, people came up and removed as many of the animals from the hills as possible, with some of the bigger hills that would become big islands, they left the animals as their island would be big enough to sustain a population.

The lake was so massive we couldn't see the end of it

Cruising to a few more parts of dam we learnt more about the history of the area and the farms that were here before the dam. People made cups of tea as they felt like it, and the kids had several biscuits from the tin. LiAM also had a cup of tea. Millie got her fingers jammed in the toilet door – she had indents in both sides of her fingers and they swelled up quite quickly – luckily I had my first aid kit with me and a bit of arnica and strapping helped them to feel a bit better.

Caitlin had been worried about the idea of a swim as part of the cruise – on the shore of one of the islands would feel risky because of the crocodiles, but swimming out in the deep part of the lake would feel scary because of the unknown nature of all that water below us. This cruise stopped in a deep part – around 22m deep – for us to swim in an area safe from crocodiles –they don’t come out that deep. Tony was the first person in off the back of the boat. Caitlin was still unsure and I suggested she just jump in and climb straight back out. Once she’d done that she felt more comfortable and was able to go back in. They provided pool noodles so we could hang on to them and feel even safer, not having to worry about the depth of the water. About half the boatload went in for a swim (there were only 10-12 other people on the cruise). LiAM went in and loved it and I joined them – the water was beautiful temperature and it was amazing to be swimming in this large lake with all the rocky mountains around. Millie was unsure about whether she wanted to swim or not. She ended up sitting on the top step of the ladder and putting her feet in, and she was happy with that. LiAM was the last one out of the water when it was time to get back in the boat, he really loved the experience.

We heard a bit more history of the area then headed back to the boat ramp and back onto the bus, which took us to the resort again. We all loved the cruise and were happy that we’d chosen this one instead of paying more for the sunset one. The driver was funny and friendly and so knowledgeable about the area (and the owner of the cruise company).

Back at the resort we wandered around and looked at the views a bit more. We enquired about the day use fees – they were $25 for the family, which felt like a bit much to pay just to use the pool, as cool as it would have been. Millie was extremely disappointed when we decided not to swim there – I forgot that she hadn’t swum in the lake and so was really wanting a swim, and it was such an incredible location. I do wish that we’d just spent the money and let at least Millie use the pool.

Looking at the Infinity Pool and Lake Argyle

After we looked at the view and explored the grounds for a while – and saw a helicopter take off on a scenic flight, and dip excitingly down into the valley immediately after takeoff – we drove down and over the dam wall, which was pretty incredible. There was a picnic area alongside the Ord River on the far side of the wall, so we sat in the shade at a table there and had some lunch, then the kids and I went for a wander down to the river where some people were fishing. They soon left and we had the area to ourselves. There was a great view of the base of the dam wall and the outlet pipes, and along the river between the very tall cliffs. We watched the river and the fish in it for ages, then LiAM discovered lots of tiny little frogs jumping around on the edge of the water, which kept us fascinated for a while. Eventually the sun got too much for us and we headed back up to the car. On the way out we drove back down to the river’s edge so Tony could see the view and the frogs – LiAM caught one and as he was showing me it jumped into the car, it took us a little while to get it out.

We drove back into town and went to the op shop, catching it just before it closed. LiAM bought a water bomb set – with a bottle and spray nozzle to fill up the water bombs, and the girls and I found a t-shirt each. Tony checked at the post office but his wine still isn’t there. We went around to Target because LiAM wanted to get more of the cheap Skylanders – he and Millie bought some each, Tony found a t-shirt, I bought more swimmers for myself and LiAM as ours are starting to disintegrate, and we bought more of the cheap bags of lollies, great for in car snacks. We also went to the discount store next door and got some paints (Caitlin wants to do more dot painting), snorkels and masks to replace the 2 of ours that have been broken, and a box of cup-a-noodles at a third of the price we can get them, on special, at Coles.

After our very satisfying shopping trip we went back to the caravan park, and I asked if anyone wanted to head in to the National Park to see if we could get up to the top of the rocks and see the views. Millie wasn’t keen, and I’d been a little way in the day before, so Tony went with Caitlin and LiAM. Millie and I went for a swim, then went back to the tent to play some games. The others were gone until after dark, then went straight to the pool to cool off. They had made it up to the lookout and seen a cool view across Kununurra – the path to the lookout was a long walk through the National Park from our tent, so it had taken them quite a while and they were pretty tired.

 Back at the tent the kids played on the computer for a while. We had pasta, bacon and pesto for dinner, and Caitlin was very keen to get to bed quickly as she was getting up early for a horse ride in the morning. We went to bed and started to read Inheritance, until Caitlin fell asleep in her tent.

Half-lap Day 47: Darwin

An animal disturbed me in the night – we’d left the bread tub out again so it was probably a possum. I got up to put the tub away and make sure everything else was safe, then couldn’t get back to sleep aain until it was nearly light. Tony got up with Millie and let me have a bit of a sleep in – I didn’t get up til nearly 8.30, very unusual for me.

I did some stuff on the computer, the kids did colouring in and played with LiAM’s presents, then we skyped with my sister and her son – finally had enough internet strength and a time when we were both available, we’d wanted to talk all week since Millie’s birthday. Very cool to talk to them, and her little one was so thrilled to see LiAM, he kept asking for him whenever LiAM went out of the screen.

Today was definitely billed as a rest day after such a busy week. We hung around the tent, LiAM talked to a friend on the phone and then I did as well, the kids played games and we all recharged a bit. In the afternoon Tony took the kids in the pool, and I joined them after a while. It was so nice in the cool water and it’s such a pretty pool to swim in, with a waterfall at one end and beautiful coloured stones. Our hosts turned the waterfall on and the kids loved it. They played with balls and played dolphins and sharks and spent most of the afternoon hanging out in the pool. My eye started to irritate me when I was in the pool and for the rest of the day it was watering and quite sore and looked rather red. I read my book for a while then had a cuppa with our host, had a bit more of a swim and then came back to the tent to start cleaning out the car.

I pulled everything out of the middle row and found lots of things that had gone missing. I worked for a while then Tony needed the car to go and get supplies for dinner, so I went back over and watched the kids in the pool. Tony came back and started cooking pizzas for us and our hosts, in their kitchen, and I finished off the section of the car I was cleaning (the rest will wait for another day). I found (not in the car) LiAM’s missing birthday present so we gave that to him – a cube-bot, a wooden robot shaped toy with articulated parts, he folds into many different shapes including a cube.

The 10 of us ate Tony’s awesome pizzas in their dining room and it was a really fun evening. All the kids were telling jokes and seemed to have a similar sense of humour. LiAM had his cubebot, Millie brought over her birthday crocodile (Shimmer) and the other kids (who are all teenagers) brought out some of their stuffed toys and there were some wild games happening. Great conversation and laughs and a lot of fun. After dinner the dad and our kids went hunting for geckos and green tree frogs and found several of each. The kids were walking around with frogs on their shirts for a while. We cleaned up and came back to the tent and once the frogs had all been returned we went to bed and read Brisingr.

Half-lap Day 40: Batchelor

It started raining, heavily, during the night so Caitlin, Tony and I were up getting the towels and swimmers in under cover, and getting things off the table that we didn’t want to be wet. It was tropical rain – hot in between the drops and even though the water was cold it wasn’t unpleasant getting wet.

I managed to doze off a little before waking up again in the morning. LiAM and I were up first and got up to play cards. Millie joined us after a while and the 3 of us played. For the second morning in a row I went to put water in my kettle for a cup of tea and a little frog came out of the tap with the water.

The kids had seen some other kids nearby – it turned out to be one of the families we’d played with at Mataranka, so the kids chatted and played throughout the morning. I spoke to a friend on the phone and sorted out our washing. We had planned to go back to the national park , then Millie said she wanted to swim in the pool at the caravan park, so we decided to do that first.

Tony took the kids to pool and I stayed at the tent doing some more blogging and catching up on a few more things. It was hot and humid but very peaceful. The kids loved the pool and swam for a few hours, and were reluctant to go anywhere else, so we decided to stay another day in Batchelor and just spend today hanging around taking it easy. I went and paid for our 4^th night and chatted to a guy who had been out to the national park today and got more information about the various walks and swimming holes we could go to.

We played some more card games and the kids watched some videos on the iPad, I read my book for a while and after a relaxing afternoon I took the kids back to the pool for another swim. We talked to a few couples who were swimming and then the kids’ friends from the morning came to the pool, they all swam together and I chatted to the dad about 90s music bands. The kids swam until the mossies got really bad, then we headed back to the tent to have hotdogs for tea. Millie and I went to have a shower and had a green tree frog up on the shower wall watching us. Caitlin joined us and the girls had a play with the frog – it jumped out of Caitlin’s hands and on to her face which surprised and delighted everybody. Back to the tent where we got ready for bed and read for a while.

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 29: Devils Marbles -> Elliott

It got a bit windy overnight, and with the windows open it felt different, and none of us slept very well. It meant that we were easily all up before sunrise which was great because we really wanted to see the sun come up over the rocks. There was a rainbow to the west, and some nasty looking storm clouds (heading south) – the rainbow was there for hours and added to the magnificence of the changing colours on the rocks as the sun rose.

We packed up but didn’t rush – it’s quicker after a 1 night stop because we don’t get so much stuff out. I had trouble with the zip on the main door of the tent – Tony managed to get it to a point where it can be closed all the way, but we can only use one of the zips, not two. As we were packing Caitlin’s iPad mini slid out of the car and the screen cracked. When Tony went to put his bike on the trailer he discovered he had a flat tyre. When Millie sat down to have her breakfast I noticed a spider on her seat – a redback! I was feeling a bit jangly after all of that but the rest of the pack up went ok, the kids played with their stuffed animals in the tent and had a great morning. It was pretty cool packing up with these huge boulders looming right above us. Oh and it only cost $7.70 for the night – a great place to camp. We had a long chat to our neighbours as we finished getting ready, a very friendly couple with a gorgeous little maltese terrier who the kids adored.

We drove to Tennant Creek and got petrol, decided not to do anything else there. We had hoped to go out to see The Pebbles, but it was 6km of dirt road each way and we chose not to risk taking the trailer out there. The drive north was quite similar to the day before, and we were hoping to do another 450km and make it to Daly Waters. Tony noticed the engine temperature rising alarmingly – we stopped, checked the engine and the coolant and everything else seemed ok. We kept going – the temp went up again. We turned the air conditioner off and the temperature went back to normal. We tried it a few time – air con on, the engine temperature rose, when we turned it off, it dropped back down. So we continued driving, with windows down and Harry Potter as loud as we could make it. It wasn’t too bad for a while but as the outside temperature reached 35 degrees it became more uncomfortable in the car.

The next town we reached was Elliott. We thought perhaps we should stay here for the night and continue on in the cooler part of the day the next day. I jumped out of the car to go and check out the caravan park, and could only find one of my Teva sandals. I looked everywhere and the other one didn’t turn up – I must have left it on the ground when I went to get out of the car to help Tony check the engine. I was inconsolable – those shoes were my birthday present for this trip and they were starting to get really comfortable. Caitlin lent me her sandals and she wore her thongs.

Tony went to see about the caravan park but they weren’t there. We had seen that there was a mechanic in town so we drove to see him and the kids and I walked back up to the BP to get ice blocks. The kids got a slushie each and I got a zooper dooper – they did help us cool down a little. The mechanic said he thought that maybe the compressor on the air con wasn’t working, and gave Tony the number of an auto electrician in Katherine. I asked at the BP about camping (wiki camps had listed it as an option) and he said only at the caravan park. We headed back down there as we figured we couldn’t drive any further in this heat without air con. A local indigenous man offered us a painting for $30 – I wasn’t prepared to pay that much at this stage.

The caravan park cost $30 for the night and it was very very basic. There was one other lady camped there in a campervan and no one else. The grass was long and unkempt in places, the fittings were all old and broken in places. We’d been given a key for the ladies toilets but the men’s weren’t locked – that makes it seem like it was a safety issue which made me a little nervous. It didn’t feel like a nice place to stay but we were all too tired and hot and a little stressed to keep going in the car. The girls were feeling so hot they went and had a cold shower in their clothes, which cooled them off a little.

There were a lot of peacocks and peahens around the park which was pretty cool. We got set up and sat around for a while, the kids played their ipads, I hung the washing out, Tony fixed his bike tyre, then another family arrived in their caravan and set up next to us – things felt a bit safer then. They had a 5 year old girl and a 3 year old boy and had driven all the way from Mt Isa that day – 880km!! The kids all played together – Millie and the other girl got all their stuffed toys out and played a Frozen game, LiAM and the boy wandered around and looked at peacocks and sticks. One peacock kept attacking its reflection in our neighbour’s car, it was pretty funny. More people arrived as the afternoon progressed and we relaxed a bit.

Tony and Caitlin went for a bike ride around the park, and found the swimming pool – wiki camps had said there was a pool and we hadn’t seen it so thought it was old information. The pool looked very inviting and not old and run down like the rest of the place. We went for a twilight swim which was beautiful. There were bats flying overhead and birds in the trees and a swim made all of us feel much better. Tony left first to go and heat up left overs for dinner – when I went to leave I couldn’t reach around to open the latch to get out of pool enclosure. The manager came out to feed his dogs and I asked him to help us – the dogs came with him and started fighting with each other right in front of the gate where we were standing  - it was quite scary. The guy called them off and we made it out of the pool yard and back to the tent with no further problems.

The town’s little supermarket was the store at the front of the caravan park, so I was able to buy myself some thongs so that I had shoes to wear. I haven’t worn thongs in probably 20 years or more so it’s going to take me a while to get used to them – they are pretty comfortable though.

In our visits to the toilets and showers through the afternoon and evening we saw several frogs (on the soap dish, on the window, on the floor) and geckos on the ceiling. After we ate leftovers and potatoes for tea we headed for bed as we were all exhausted, but it was still in the mid 20s so it took us a while to settle down enough to fall asleep.