Half-lap Day 94: Kalbarri

I woke before sunrise and sat outside with the computer, gradually watching it get lighter. I’ve been having trouble with the keyboard again, since the first day at Shark Bay, so typing anything can take a while sometimes – I know how to temporarily fix it now, but it can start playing up again at irregular intervals and it is a little frustrating. Having the beautiful bush and river around me though helped me feel quite calm and peaceful even when the computer wasn’t working easily.

Millie came out and went to pat the goats. I mentioned that we were allowed to go in the goat pen, as long as an adult was with any kids – she was keen to go straight away, I suggested she have breakfast first, and wait for the other kids. She decided she wanted French Toast, cooked up in the camp kitchen – the idea of sitting on a couch, or around a large table, with real (non-folding up) chairs, really appealed to her. Tony took the food he’d need up to the kitchen – it is really well equipped (like staying at a backpacker hostel) so he didn’t need to take any cooking utensils. He made French Toast with bacon, and the other kids wandered up there too as they woke up. I sorted out our washing and had a good chat to the guy in the tent across the road from us – again getting a few tips about places to see, and sharing our love of these remoter, less populated campsites.

Breakfast was delicious, and the kids enjoyed playing in the communal area. They got out a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle from the cupboard and started working on that. We considered just hanging around at the station all day – we haven’t had a rest day for nearly 2 weeks and it is more tiring when we are really active every day. There was one thing at least that I wanted to see in the National Park so we decided to still do that, but not stay long in the Park, so we could come back and have a quiet afternoon. The kids had agreed to meet up with the kids from the station this afternoon as well, so they were keen to be back before 4pm.

I took the kids in to see the goats – there was a small goat kid lying in the sleeping area, and when we looked closer we realised that it had died. The kids were very sad, and we went to look at the rest of the goats a bit more somberly than when we’d first entered. The other goat kids were sleeping, some of the mother goats came over to us for a pat. After a while some of the kids woke up as well and everyone had a great time playing together.

We got ready to go out and headed for the National Park. We stopped at the entry station to get a new tag for our National Parks pass – ours appears to have blown out the door at Cape Range. (We had the receipt with the details on it from when we paid for the pass, so we didn’t have to pay again, just get a new tag.) This is our fourth National Park since buying the pass, so now we’ve saved money by buying it rather than paying day entry each time). Driving in was quiet pretty, there were wildflowers everywhere, purple, red, yellow and white. The road was sealed for about half the way, then dirt – it was a little corrugated in parts, and sandy occasionally, but the car handled it fine. We did unplug our fridge cord in case it was the bouncing around of the corrugations that blew the fuse last time (at Karajini).

Our first stop was Nature’s Window, which was the one thing I really really wanted to see in this area. As we approached the carpark we were amazed at the view – wide, deep gorges with sloping cliffsides leading down to the bottom. The rock layers were horizontal and obvious and the gorge sides looked like large cakes. The scale of the gorges was quite overwhelming. The walk down to the window was quite easy – and very pretty. We were up close to the wildflowers now, with the gorges and river in the background. At this point the Murchison River does a massive loop, as well as doing a hairpin turn on either end of the loop – so walking out to the lookout, we had a U-bend in the river on either side of us, and we were walking on a narrow isthmus (high up on top of the cliff, which dropped down to the river on either side. Except around the area of Nature’s Window the cliff top wasn’t so narrow that it was scary. Beyond the window the high land widened out again and filled the whole circle of land within the loop.

View of the gorge as we approached it

We reached Nature’s Window and clambered around to get a good view – it is a natural hole in the rocks, large enough to stand in, and it frames the view of the river quite nicely. I was excited to see it and to take photos through it – I always love framing my shots with something like a tree branch or a rock, so having a ready-made frame on all 4 sides of the shot was quite cool. The kids loved it there too, looking at the river and the cliff faces and the birds and the flowers. We saw 6 emus down on the grass next to the river, and several bushes that also looked like emus – again, the natural features of an area often imitate the shape of the local animals (or perhaps the other way around). There was a walk that went right around the loop, 9km and at least 5 hours – we’d decided not to do it but once I was there I really wished we had the time and the energy to attempt it, it would have been amazing.

At Nature's Window

The layers in the rocks were quite obvious up close as well as from a distance – like some of the other places we’ve walked (Karajini, Kings Canyon) the vertical layers wear away so the layers themselves make natural steps. The layers here were very thin, only a couple of centimetres high, so the steps were quite shallow. We hung around at the lookout for ages, then wandered back along the path. The kids and Tony raced back, and I took my time, enjoying the wildflowers and the view from different perspectives.

We had lunch at the picnic area back at the carpark, then everyone was happy to go back to camp. Driving into the station we could see the river winding through the land towards the coast (we were only 13km from the ocean here), large sloping cliffs that were whiter as they got closer to the sea. There was also a large green grassy area that looked like a natural ampitheatre in among the high river banks – it was a long way away and we weren’t sure if it was grass or crops or what, but we loved looking at it.

Back at camp Tony took the kids in to see the goats again, while I got a few things organised. One of  the kids kept ‘hugging’ Caitlin, and then tried to eat her hair. The little ones are so cute, its great watching them play. Tony went in to town to get some food for dinner and to organise our accommodation in Perth. The kids and I had a bit of a play with the totem tennis and Caitlin practiced walking on the rolling barrel, as well as showing Millie how to do it – she was pretty good!  Caitlin told one of the station managers about the little dead goat, and the lady took Caitlin and LiAM in with her so they could show here where it was, then she organised for someone to remove it. The station children arrived home and I left the 5 kids all playing together with the totem tennis and the barrel, everyone looked very happy. I had a bit of time at the tent by myself which was nice and relaxing.

Tony decided to take advantage of having an oven in the camp kitchen, and made sausage rolls. LiAM and I went to the kitchen with him,  I played cards and he worked some more on the 1000 piece puzzle. A couple of horses walked past the window – they walked all the way down past our tent and LiAM and I ran around trying to find Caitlin so she could see them. She was playing with the girl from the station, who started to call the horses so they’d come back up – Caitlin did get to see them when they wandered back past. She and Millie played with the girl for a while longer on the ipad and with the tennis pole. Once she went inside they joined us in the kitchen and helped LiAM with the puzzle and Tony with cooking tea.

The sausage rolls were delicious – Tony hasn’t made them for ages and he’s so good at it. While we were eating, the lady from the family who had just set up next to us came into the kitchen. We’d seen them out at Nature’s Window today, they looked like a relaxed and fun family, with 2 little boys. We chatted to her for a while and discovered they lived not far from us (Park Orchards) and she knew some people in Healesville – she listed them and we know some of them as well.  Tony offered to bring down any leftover sausage rolls to them, and she said we were welcome to join them at their campfire. Tony had cooked apple pie for dessert – we ate it with ice cream and it was magnificent. We did a bit more of the jigsaw puzzle, then cleaned up in the kitchen and Millie and I went to have a shower. Caitlin joined us after a while and we also ran into our neighbour again. We walked back down to the campsite with her and she invited us to their campfire again, we offered to bring marshmallows.

We had a very pleasant evening chatting to our new friends. We have a fair bit in common (similar interests and lifestyles and beliefs) so had lots to talk about apart from comparing trip details. As we talked we discovered even more people who we know in common – the guy used to play cricket with some of the guys from Tony’s baseball club. Their littlest boy was asleep, and their 5 year old stayed up chatted and played with our kids. The kids all roasted marshmallows, then LiAM talked to him a lot about Star Wars and they played with his toy light saber. Caitlin played with them and talked to the adults, Millie played with them then snuggled up on Tony’s lap once she got tired. Our friends shared a bottle of scotch with us, it was really lovely sitting and drinking and chatting and laughing around the fire, even when it sprinkled rain occasionally. It was a much warmer evening than the night before and sitting outside felt really comfortable. We could see the goats in their pen and they were often awake and walking around, even the kids – we weren’t sure if that was usual nighttime behaviour for goats or if they were up because we were up. Eventually everyone was very tired and we decided to call it a night – back at our tent we discovered it was 12.30! Definitely our latest night on the trip so far! No reading tonight, Millie was already asleep and everyone else bundled into bed pretty quickly and went straight to sleep.

Half-lap Day 12: Flinders Ranges

I was keen to see sunrise in Wilpena Pound and no one else wanted to get up that early, so I got up at 6 and quickly drove in to the National Park. It was getting light as I began the walk in to Hills Homestead, and I could see the sunlight hitting the tops of the cliffs occasionally as I walked. It was an easy walk at first along a cleared road, with amazing gumtrees – huge, with lots of massive branches – and lots of undergrowth. The creek was mainly dry until I reached a point where there was a lot of standing water, and some of it was flowing further down the creek. There was a large pond further along, with great reflections of the cliff and the trees. After a while the track became more undulating and narrower, and wound past Sliding Rock and then over a bridge over the creek. There were massive gumtrees which had fallen across the creek, crashing in to the other side and throwing branches everywhere.

As I walked in to the pound I could see the sun was on the far ridges and starting to peek over the edge on the side I was on. It was only a short walk up to the lower Wangara lookout, and from there I could really see that the mountains formed a contained circle around a flat area in the middle. The mountains were like cliffs on the outside (what we’d been seeing so far) and smoother hills sloping to the middle on the inside. I climbed up to the Upper Wangara Lookout – it took 20 minutes from the Pound floor up to the top, and it wasn’t steep but it was a good climb. The view from there was amazing – I could see right around the pound to all the mountains, and the sun was shining on the tips of all of them. It was so quiet – I could hear birds singing and that was it. There was dew all over every surface and it was quite cold. I checked the log book of walks when I came out and no one else started a walk until 8.30, so I think I was the only person in the pound at that time – a pretty cool feeling. The whole experience was exhilarating.

I stayed up the top taking photos and drinking in the view for half an hour, had a bit of a snack then headed back down. As I arrived at the Hills Homestead at the bottom of the lookout a tour group arrived. I chatted to a couple of the women who had chosen not to walk up to the lookout. While we were talking a rosella was in the gum tree above us and whenever it shook the leaves we had dew rain down on us.

I walked back along the track – it was a lot warmer walking back now that the sun was out! – and drove back up to camp. We spent the rest of the sunny morning hanging around again, doing logic puzzles (Sudoku and similar) and soaking up the sun. The only real drawback to this campsite is the tiny little burrs that stick to anything that falls on the ground – I feel like we spent half our time picking them off things. It was a small price to pay though for a fantastic location. Millie even felt brave enough to try out the pit toilet for the first time, and it wasn’t quite as scary as she’d thought (as long as I was with her to hold on to her, she’s a bit worried that she might fall in).

We had eggs and kabana for lunch, then Tony and Caitlin rode their bikes to the Visitors Centre. I was a bit nervous about Caitlin riding on the main road, but she was nervously confident and Tony said he’d ride behind her so she’d be safe. They enjoyed the ride and found it challenging though doable. Caitlin increased her confidence enough to be able to ride over the cattle grids instead of walk her bike across them.

LiAM, Millie and I hung around for a bit longer, watched the eagles some more and then tidied up a bit and drove in to meet the others. We’d decided to do the same walk that I had done in the morning, now that I knew that it wasn’t too hard (LiAM and Millie were still reluctant to do walks – even today, it was easier to say we’ll just explore the creek a bit, and they were happy to do that, rather than ‘we’re going for a walk). It was interesting seeing it in afternoon light instead of early morning light, different aspects were noticeable, different trees and rocks and features. I noticed in particular that though the creek was mainly dry, it had obviously been full of water and overflowing at some stage, judging by the debris that was caught up in the trees.

The kids really enjoyed looking the pond, and trying to spy creatures in there – we could see lots of bubbles but didn’t find out what was making them. We saw several wallabies and lots of burnt tree trunks that looked like different creatures, including one that was like a puma. When we reached the Homestead we sat and had a snack, then walked up to the lower lookout. The sun was heading down so the light was fantastic again, and I loved seeing the pound for a second time. Tony, LiAM and Caitlin headed up to the Upper Lookout to see the full view, while Millie and I stayed in the sun in the lower lookout and played animal games. Millie also took some photos of me in front of the mountains – almost the first shots taken of me this trip.

Once everyone came back down (and they were all glad that they’d gone up there) we read about the dreamtime story of how the Pound was formed (2 big serpents) and the history of the homestead – a tough place to live and try to make a living. It was getting cold and the light was fading so we tried to walk back quickly. The kids had a bit of a play on Sliding Rock (the side of it did look like a big slide) and Millie agreed to go in the sling – not because she wanted to be carried, but because she was really cold and it was the warmest place to be. On the way back we saw one of the feral goats we’d been reading about.

We got back to the Visitors Centre just in time to buy some milk and use the flush toilets before heading back to camp. We lit the fire and had noodles and soup for dinner, and more marshmallows on the fire afterwards. Millie curled up on our double chair, under a blanket in front of the fire and quickly went to sleep. I got my tripod out and took some cool photos of the stars. We were all exhausted and the tent seemed very cosy and comfortable when we climbed in to bed. I put some extra blankets on LiAM’s bed, under his sleeping bag (I realised that his bed was made of mesh while the girls’ are solid fabric, so he was getting cold air from underneath as well as above) and he was much warmer all night.

Stars over the Flinders Ranges

Half-lap Day 11: Flinders Ranges

I woke early and settled into a spot on the rocks overlooking the Flinders Ranges to drink my cup of tea and write my blog. I was up in time to watch the sun rise over the mountains which was quite spectacular. LiAM joined me after a while and we went for a walk down through the hills surrounding our camp. We saw lots of interesting rocks and plants, and 2 wallabies camouflaged into the hillside – their fur is almost exactly the same colour as the grass!

Sunrise over the Flinders Ranges (taken from our campsite)

It was a lovely sunny morning and soon warmed up, the warmest we’ve probably been on the trip so far. Once everyone was out of bed we opened up all the windows in the tent, as there were still some damp patches from Monday. Millie enjoyed sitting up on our bed colouring in, while the sun came in the windows. We spent the morning hanging around the campsite – the kids dug a hole looking for gold, they explored more of the paths leading off from the camp, I sorted out the washing and enjoyed being in the sun, Tony strung up some ropes to dry all our annex canvases on. Caitlin and Tony tried riding their bikes around the campsites but the tracks were a bit rough for Caitlin’s bike. It was so lovely to just take our time and enjoy the beautiful spot.

We saw pairs of wedge tailed eagles a few times – we could see them maneuvering through the air – stopping and dropping backwards then catching another draught of air, and starting dives then pulling out – we see eagles often at home and had never seen this behavior – then realised that we were up so much higher than usual on our hill, and were seeing the eagles much closer to their full flight height so could see more detail. Normally when they are that high they just look like specks to us and we can’t see what they are doing.

In the afternoon we headed out to explore the national park a bit. We drove out to Sacred Canyon – 13km along a very corrugated dirt road, so that wasn’t overly comfortable, but it wasn’t too bad. We saw lots of emus on the way, including a dad (probably) with 2 juveniles. It was amazing how dry the land was, creek beds still dry, hardly even any puddles, given they’d had 40mm here only 3 days ago.

We reached the canyon and headed off on our walk – an easy walk along a dry creek bed between two rock walls. The rock formations were fascinating, including areas of completely vertical layers of rock. My geography is a bit hazy on how they were formed, but it’s something I want to look up when I can. There were a few rock pools in amongst the rocks, and ants everywhere at times. We saw ancient engravings in the rocks – circles and emu tracks and little people. No one knows how old these engravings are – incredible to see something that has been there for so long we can’t even imagine. We reached what looked like the end of the canyon, and there was a little cave to the side – the kids thought it was like a little chapel so they performed some mock wedding ceremonies in there. Then they clambered up the rocks at the end of the canyon, and discovered we could keep walking along the creek. Tony and I followed (it took me a little longer than all of the others…I’m amazed at how agile Millie is on rocks, and she’s not concerned about heights at all. She seems to have Tony’s knack of seeing the easiest path and taking it confidently)

Sacred Canyon

We kept going up the creek until we reached open pasture. There was a giant gum tree in the middle of the creek bed that had long ago split in two, and the 2 halves were growing as separate trees. We could stand in between the halves of the trunk and see where they used to be joined, it was incredible. After playing in the field and creek for a little while we clambered back down to the end of the canyon and had some lunch, while the kids climbed the walls of the canyon (the slopey bits, anyway.)

A gum tree split in 2

We walked back to the car and drove back to the Visitor Centre. We listened to Wild Born and a very exciting battle scene made the drive seem very short. We filled up our water bottles (there’s no water at all at our campsite) and got a National Parks map. We considered doing a walk to the Hills Homestead but everyone was a bit tired. On the way out we stopped at the Solar Power lookout walk and walked out to see the Solar Power setup that powers the visitor’s centre and other parts of the park. The late afternoon sunshine was on the cliffs of Wilpena Pound, the rocks were almost glowing red and it was spectacular.

Back to our tent where we closed up all the windows and then got the fire going. Tony roasted potatoes in the coals, Caitlin cooked donuts (jam and bread fried in pancake batter – delicious!) and the kids roasted marshmallows. It was a cold evening but beautiful sitting up on the hill around the fire. At one point we heard a car (ute?) down below us and then heard a few gunshots – they echoed around the valleys and hills for ages and it was a bit scary the first time, then figured that someone was out hunting and it was quite normal for a country night.

Sunset from our camp

Once we’d all eaten we snuggled in to bed – LiAM tried to wear a beanie and neck warmer to bed to see if he felt warmer, he’s been quite cold – and we read Brisingr until we fell asleep.

King Valley Trip -> Day 3

We slept a little better the 2nd night even though it was still very cold. No one slept in for very long in the morning and we had crumpets and porridge and hot chocolate around the fire. Caitlin and LiAM and I went for a walk back along the river, as the light was better today - it had been cloudy all day Monday and this morning the sun was out - so Caitlin got to explore the river as well, and I took some better photos.

Morning on the river

Autumn colours

Once the air started to warm up a bit Caitlin was back in the water. I had been thinking about it the day before, and seeing as it was sunny and the fire was raging I decided to give it a try - I knew I'd be disappointed if I didn't get in the water at least once. Caitlin was very excited when she saw me coming in and happily gave me her kayak. The water was painfully cold, but sitting on the kayak wasn't too bad - until I got the shakes from cold and from fear of falling in, and I was wobbling a lot which increased my chances of falling in... I managed to calm down and stop wobbling and kayaked up and down our little area - I love kayaking and it's been a long time since I had a go, so it was very exciting and a lot of fun.

I didn't stay in long, and happily dried out in front of the fire. Millie wanted to go in again although in the end decided not to. LiAM and Caitlin were in and out all morning. Caitlin also did a bit of bike riding. The kids played on the river bank and around the fire and Tony and I played with them or relaxed or pottered around.

We put our bike rack on the car, then tried to put Tony's bike on but it was a bit tricky, and he didn't have a helmet with him, so we decided to leave the bikes home for today. We wanted to visit Bright (we'd driven through before, but not spent any time there). We set off in the early afternoon, and listened to a combination of Frozen and Saddle Club on the way. It was a clear afternoon so I suggested going up Mount Buffalo on the way - something I had wanted to do when we were in the area 6 years ago but the mountain was covered in smoke from burning off fires. Everyone agreed to the mountain detour, so I happily headed up the mountain once we got to Porepunkah. It was a 35km drive to the top of the mountain, and it was windy and a little scary at times - driving up we had the mountain rising steeply to our left, and dropping away sharply on the right. Even though it was across the other side of the road, knowing that drop was there had my heart rate elevated and my breathing quite shallow. LiAM didn't like it either. Thinking about driving back down made it worse! It was a long drive and Caitlin started to feel a little unwell, so we had windows down and everyone snuggled under their jackets for warmth, so that Caitlin could get a little fresh air. The views on the way up were impressive - some out across the valley, and others of rock formations on the mountain itself, or waterfalls, as well as a lake and some plains - it is a beautiful mountain. The last little bit of road (3km) was gravel with very tight hair pin bends - and we finally made it to the carpark at The Horn - the top of the mountain.

I had one strong moment of vertigo when I walked to the (well fenced) edge - I stepped back a bit and let my head adjust and then I was fine. Looking across the top of the mountain range was pretty cool. LiAM was happy to look at the view then wanted to go back - he wasn't a big fan of the height either. We wandered around at the end of the carpark for a while, then headed up the 1.5km track to the The Horn. It was steep in places and all up hill, Caitlin and LiAM and Tony charged ahead and Millie and I took our time. Great views on the way up as well as cool trees and rocks to check out in close up. The view from the top was a 360 degree view across the top of mountains. Definitely worth the drive and the climb. We could even see Mt Kosciuszko across in NSW. There was a distance marker there showing where all the mountains were and how far away they were - made everything seem much closer compared to the distance it would take to drive to them!

View from the carpark

View from the top of The Horn (showing the windy road we'd come up)

At the top of Mount Buffalo

As we were ready to go back down we noticed some cloud coming in over the next ridge to the north west. By the time we were halfway down we were completely in the cloud - I love bushwalking in cloud and really concentrating on the details of the trees and rocks close to the path, it's just as spectacular as being able to see the view. The carpark was a bit spooky - looking over the edge into complete whiteness - very cool. We sat and had a picnic at the picnic table - and by the time we'd finished, the cloud had moved on, although was still in the valleys so we could see the tops of the mountains, and were looking down on the top of the cloud. Also very cool.

Cloud rolling in

View from the carpark in the cloud

View from the carpark once cloud moved on

I decided to drive back down - I knew in theory that I would be able to do it, even though it scared me, and I wanted to tackle that fear. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, even the bits next to the drop off. I took it very slowly and felt much better once we were back on flat land, I'm pleased that I did it though.

We got to Bright around 4pm and went for a walk along the main street. We popped into the lolly shop at the end of the street and the kids each picked something to buy, we also got some mini marshmallows to use with bananas and chocolate in the fire. We walked down the other side of the street and stopped in the other lolly shop, the kids had ice creams and Tony and I had a coffee. Nice to sit in the warmth and have a treat all together. From there we walked down to the river where we found a great playground. It was dusk by this time, however the playground was well lit and there was enough light for us to see the river for a while. I left the others to finish playing and walked up to the supermarket to get some more supplies, Tony and the kids picked me up on the way through after getting some hot chips to eat on the way home (in case anyone fell asleep in the car before we had dinner).

We had run out of gas in the morning and hadn't been able to refill it in Bright (we were there too late in the day) so cooked our dinner on the fire - potatoes in foil in the coals, and some bacon and vegetables in the frypan. Delicious. Millie had fallen asleep in the car so we put her to bed in the tent. Caitlin and LiAM filled bananas will mini marshmallows and chocolate pieces and roasted them in foil in the coals - also delicious.

A very pleasant evening around the fire, then into the tent to read some more Eldest. It was cloudy by this stage and although it was still cold it wasn't quite so freezing. I'd also rearranged the bedding a little - Millie was no longer interested in sleeping in her sleeping bag on the floor, so I added her mattress to LiAM's bed, and I put a large piece of carpet (that we use to cover the trailer) under LiAM and Caitlin's beds which created quite a bit more warmth.

King Valley Trip -> Day 2

It was COLD in the tent overnight. Everyone was awake a few times, Millie moved up onto the bed with Tony and I, we redistributed blankets, had a few chilly toilet trips, lots of whispered conversations about how to get back to sleep. LiAM slept worst of all of us, and as soon as there was a tiny bit of light in the morning he and I got out of bed. We rugged up and went for a walk exploring the river - it was so beautiful with the autumn leaves and the early morning light.

LiAM and our favourite yellow tree on our early morning walk

Campsite in early morning

After our walk we got the fire going again and played cards for a while, then the others eventually emerged from the tent. We cooked crumpets and toast on our camp stove, and made a hot chocolate for everyone. The kids started to play on the slide - it was possible to slide down and stop at the bottom before going in to the river. Once the initial cold of the morning started to wear off, Caitlin wanted to go in the river. She and LiAM bravely got into their swimmers and tried the water - it was very very cold, which didn't deter them at all. They turned the water on on the slide, and slid into the river, and then tried the kayaks. It didn't take them long to get the hang of them, and they kayaked up and down the little area in front of our camp. Tony was going to have a go but the water temperature was even colder than he'd expected so he changed his mind. Millie wanted to try - she was in her swimmers and playing at the end of the slide - and she fell in, head first. I raced in to pull her out, but she was already upright and on her way out by herself - I was impressed. Having the fire going meant she could get warm and dry fairly quickly - she wasn't keen to go back in the water after that. Tony and LiAM searched for skimming stones and found quite a few that worked well.

Caitlin and LiAM kayaking in the river

Tony and I put up one of the annexes on the tent - with the chance of rain over the next few days we didn't want the inside of the tent getting wet. We hadn't used the annex before, so it took us a while to figure out how it all went together, although it wasn't difficult to put up once we worked it out. It was great to have a bit of extra covered space.

There was a house (where we stayed last time) not too far from our campsite, with a toilet we were welcome to use if we didn't want to use the portable. Tony and Caitlin had bought their bikes so they rode up there a couple of times, and I walked up once. It was also a handy place to recharge our phones when needed.

We pottered around the fire, in and out of the river, exploring the campsite, reading, doing puzzles and so on. In the afternoon the kids wanted to go out somewhere, and I really wanted a nap, so Tony and the kids went for a drive to Wangaratta (only about 25km away) and had some McDonalds, and I had a bit of a sleep. When they came back Tony saw and had a good chat with one of his old workmates from De Bortoli (he moved up to Tatong and now works at this vineyard sometimes). I woke up a bit groggy, sitting in the fresh air around the fire helped me pick up fairly quickly.

We cooked pasta and a tomato sauce for dinner and ate around the fire. LiAM fell asleep early when he went into the tent to get warm. The girls roasted marshmallows and after a while we all moved into the tent to try to get warm and get to sleep.

King Valley Trip -> Day 1

Sunday morning was spent finishing packing the car and trailer, then trying to tidy up the house a little. We got away by 1.20pm, a bit later than we'd hoped, although still with enough time to get to our campsite and get set up. We stopped briefly in Yea to grab pies and sausage rolls for lunch (we ate them in the car) and had a very pleasant drive up to the King Valley.

We arrived at the vineyard (one of De Bortoli's, in Moyhu) just before 4.30. We'd stayed here once before - when I was pregnant with Millie and we did a trip up through the Alpine country, we stayed our last night in one of the houses on the vineyard - so it felt familiar. We'd done a tour of the property while we were there, and our combined memories of that meant that we found the campsite fairly easily even though we'd never been there before. We weren't expecting to have any facilities, so were pleasantly surprised to find a portable toilet, a big shelter with tables underneath, and several taps with running water. There was also a large rubber slide heading down into the river, and a couple of kayaks on the shore - all very exciting and a bit of a bonus.

We set up the tent while it was still light, and the kids helped in between exploring the area. Tony went into town to get some ice for the esky, and discovered that the pub was doing pizza. We got a fire going, then decided to head to the pub for tea. They were only doing takeaway, which was fine, although it took a very long time to be ready. While we were waiting LiAM put many dollar coins into a skill machine, trying to win a spider robot thing - with no luck in the end although he got very close several times. We also won the raffle - some bottles of red wine from a local winemaker - there were 4 bottles, and Tony gave 2 of them back to use as a 2nd prize, as we have plenty of wine ourselves!

Back to our campsite where we roasted marshmallows by the fire and had some s'mores - didn't quite have the right biscuits and only had dark chocolate so LiAM didn't really like them, it was fun to try though. Millie fell asleep in Tony's lap. Then into the tent where we made sure everyone had lots of blankets and beanies and warm clothes - it was COLD! I read a chapter of Eldest to everyone and we chatted in the dark until everyone went to sleep.