Half-lap Day 52: Edith Falls -> Timber Creek

It was a little different sleeping with the windows closed again, and it did cool down quite a lot over night. We actually felt cold when we woke up in the morning (just as I’d packed our warm clothes away) but we were fine still in our summer clothes.

We had breakfast and enjoyed being in nature on a sunny morning, there wasn’t any shade where we were but we weren’t hanging around so it didn’t get too hot before we left. We’d hung washing up the night before and the air was dry enough for it to be dry not long after the sun rose. Everyone managed OK without a toilet – using the bushes and trees and shadows that were available for privacy was fine.

Sunrise at our free camp

We headed off before 10 and drove the short distance (about 30km) to Katherine. The kids really wanted to see if any of the puppies were still at North Bank caravan park so we called in there – we parked out the front and walked in, and didn’t see anyone we knew. It was weird to be back, it felt quite familiar although did remind me a little of how frustrated we felt at the time. We saw Bundy and Pumbaa and the kittens, and the kids had a pat and a play with each of them. None of the other puppies were still there. Satisfied to have seen them again, the kids said goodbye and we drove into town. The kids and I went to Target to look for snorkels (no luck, though we did get a Skylanders figure for only $2), to the Visitors Centre to use the toilets and buy some Top End postcards and a tea-towel, and to Woolworths to get milk and other supplies for the next few days. Tony went to Home Hardware to get our empty gas bottle refilled (it had run out during breakfast this morning),to get petrol and to buy meat for the next few days.

Driving around Katherine also felt familiar and like we were almost locals. It was very exciting to head out on the Victoria Highway, on a road that none of us have ever been on, and to start the next stage (far more unknown) of our holiday. 

This road felt very long and isolated (surprisingly so, having come up the Stuart Highway. I guess this one is not quite as well used, not as many people come this way, and it’s heading to even more remote areas than the Stuart does). We saw lots more cows (Brahmins) and lots of kites. The ground was mainly sparse woodland – not much undergrowth, and the trees spread fairly thinly. After a while we saw our first boab tree of the trip – quite an impressive tree.

We pulled into the Victoria River Roadhouse to get petrol. I got a brief glimpse of the river as we crossed the bridge before the roadhouse, and the kids and I walked through the campground to see if we could get closer to get a better view of the river. There was a path leading down between tall cane grass, which rustled a lot as little animals moved around in there. It was quite spooky, not knowing how far away the river was and knowing that crocodiles lived in the river. Every rustle made us (well, some of us, LiAM seemed quite calm) jump a bit. We reached a sandy area high up on the river bank and could see the water and the bridge through the trees. That was good enough for us and we looked for a while then headed back. The kids also met a couple with a fluffy dog and talked to them for a while before we went on our little walk. It was hot in the sun, not so bad in the shade. We had a cool drink then kept driving west.

The drive from here was along huge craggy escarpments for a while, as we drove through part of Gregory National Park. The rocks were red and high above the road and so amazing to look at. We passed out of that section of the park and the road passed through sparse woodland again. There were many long straight stretches in this bit – it was a lot windier through the national park area. As we approached Timber Creek the escarpments returned. For a while we drove alongside the Victoria River – it was incredibly wide, the largest river we’ve seen so far. Looking at the map we could see we really weren’t that far from the mouth and the Timor Sea (about 100km).

Gregory National Park

Just before we reached our campsite (Big Horse Creek Campground in Gregory National Park) there was a bridge across the river which was signposted as a lookout, so we drove in to have a look. The bridge crossed the (still very wide) river and led to a Defense Force restricted zone. There was on vehicle access allowed on the bridge but pedestrians were able to walk out and look at the river – which we did. It was pretty cool looking along this long, wide river, with very green foliage all the way down to the edge. We looked for crocodiles but didn’t see any.

Victoria River

It was only 500m down the highway then to the campground. We drove around a couple of times and the only spots left were narrow bays in the middle, we looked at each of them for shade potential and flatness and eventually selected one. Tony backed the trailer in perfectly, right against one edge, and we were almost able to pull the tent out without it hitting the bollards on the other side. We were able to work around it though – with the kids’ beds down that end, we don’t use the bottom end of the tent so the little dent in the wall didn’t really matter.

The kids explored the campground while we set up, then LiAM, Caitlin and I went for a walk (bike ride in Caitlin’s case) down to the river. There was a boat ramp at the campground and we stood on it watching the water and the birds and noting how high the water level was so we could see if it was tidal. Caitlin rode back and met some people with a dog and chatted to them. We spent the rest of the afternoon sitting and doing puzzles and playing games, and had another walk down to the river to see a ground bird’s nest surrounded by shells and sparkly things. The kids talked to more of the other campers and met lots of people and dogs.

In the late afternoon we drove back to the east a little way to where we’d seen a sign saying Escarpment Lookout. We turned off onto the road indicated and it quickly climbed the escarpment and came to an area marked ‘Sunset Views’. We parked and got out – the sun was setting over the river and the escarpment and it looked amazing. We watched for a while then had a look at a memorial that was up there, commemorating and telling the story of the horse brigades that patrolled this area of Northern Australia in the 2^nd World War. It was fascinating, a piece of Australian history I knew nothing about. Another couple arrived and were looking at the monument too – and the lady said that her dad was one of those soldiers. She was so excited and moved to find all this information about it and to know that more people would learn about these men. From there we drove further along the escarpment and ended up at a lookout over the town of Timber Creek, with a different view of the river. It was quite peaceful up there. We had to drive past some parts of the bush that were being burned off, amazing how much less fierce these fires are than the ones at home.

Back to camp where had hotdogs for dinner (I had soup) and the kids played on the iPad for a while. It was another pleasant evening, temperature-wise, and the forecast was for a coolish night so we did close the windows again. We were slightly concerned about where we’d put our tent – there was dampness around one of the pegs, which was pegged in outside the bollards, so wondered if we’d hit a pipe or something.

Half-lap Day 38: Katherine -> Batchelor

Tony and I were up early again, setting things up for another potential day without the car. I drove into town to test it out, and get milk and a couple of other supplies. At first it didn’t overheat, but when I cranked the AC up the temperature started going up. I dropped off the milk and fridge and other necessities and took it around to the mechanic, this time with the temp still hot so that he could see it. He jumped in to the drivers seat and we took it for a drive, he could get it to cool down but then it did heat up again when driving around town.

He decided to change the thermostat – the one he’d ordered hadn’t come so he’d put in an after-market one, he thought maybe putting in the genuine part might fix it. He dropped me back at the caravan park and said he’d call me when it was done.

We spent the morning hanging around again, playing with the puppies and kittens, doing puzzles, I read Brisingr for a while. Tony went for a bike ride on Caitlin’s bike, to get a new puncture kit for his tyre which was flat again. He had discovered a big thorn through his tyre which may have been repuncturing the tube. Being near the RAAF base, we’d heard fighter planes several times during our stay but hadn’t seen them, today they came right overhead which was a bit exciting.

I talked to the mechanic after lunch and changing the thermostat hadn’t helped. They’d tried a few other little things with no luck, and the next step was to take out the water pump and check it. I asked if it would be fine to drive to Darwin, and he talked about how to manage things if the temperature started to rise, so we decided to pack up and head north and try to get the car fixed when we got to Darwin.

Tony rode over to get the car around 2pm, and we had everything packed up and ready to go by just after 4, one of our quickest pack ups (from scratch) yet. We rang a caravan park in Batchelor and booked in for the night so we weren’t worried about having to try to find somewhere when we arrived. The old billy goat came over while were packing and it took Tony quite a while to get rid of him – he just wanted to stick around and wouldn’t be pushed or dragged or scared away – he even went up on his hind legs a couple of times like he wanted to fight - which was scary to watch but didn’t bother Tony. We said goodbye to the owners and to the puppies (kids were a bit sad at that) and finally left.

Heading out of town and for the first half an hour or so we were a bit worried about how the car would manage, especially with the load of the trailer on. Whenever it heated up Tony popped it into neutral and revved the engine and it cooled back down, and after a while the temperature stopped going up. Tony found that driving a bit faster than usual helped keep it cooler too.(we normally sit around 80 or 90km/hr with the trailer on, 100km/hr seemed to work better today). After an hour or so we tried putting the air conditioner on and the temperature stayed stable – so it was a much more comfortable drive than we had anticipated, and we made it to Batchelor by 6.50pm. Reception at the caravan park closed at 7, and the guy was happy to see us as he thought perhaps our car hadn’t made it. He said it would have stayed open a little longer for us seeing as we’d rung – he was so friendly and helpful and it was a great welcome after a hot and frustrating day.

It was practically dark by the time we started setting up, in a great bush site at the back of the caravan park. There were a lot of mosquitoes but we sprayed ourselves and things settled down a bit. We are fairly well practiced at setting up now so the dark didn’t slow us down too much – and it was so great to see the stars again! Our campsite in Katherine had a light on a big pole right next to our tent, so we were under artificial light the whole evening and night, and it was so refreshing to just be outside and feel part of the night and the surrounds again. We hadn’t realised how much our campground was getting us down, as well as the worry about the car it was hot and dry and dusty and there was no view, it was too far to walk to anything in the heat so we had felt quite stuck – it’s different having a rest day because we choose to as opposed to having a rest day because we can’t get anywhere. The kids explored the park while Tony and I settled back into a happy holiday routine and both felt like we were enjoying our trip again and could look forward to the rest of it.

We had a conglomeration of left overs for dinner and then tried to set up our new tent fans to cool the tent down a bit. This is definitely the most humid place we’ve been, we were still sweating profusely as we went to bed and there was little relief from the heat.

Half-lap Day 37: Katherine

Tony and I were up early, getting things out of the car and figuring out what we’d need for the day without the car there. He put his bike on the back of the car and drove it to the mechanic’s. The kids and I played with the puppies and played on iPads and did some puzzles, had some breakfast and hung around the tent. Tony rode his bike back to camp after dropping the car off.

Later in the morning the girls came over to play so all the kids wandered around chatting and looking for animals and looking at the fish.  The girls left in the late morning and everyone was sad to see them go. Tony and I started packing up so that we could leave as soon as the car was fixed, he’d said it would only take a couple of hours. Tony rode his bike back over to the mechanics but it wasn’t ready yet so we hung around the tent some more, played games and chatted, talked to a few friends on the phone. We were reluctant to pack everything up in case the car wasn’t ready in time, so it was a long, slow, hot, uncertain afternoon.

At 3pm we decided it was too late to pack up and go now even if we did get the car back, and it did feel better to know what we were doing. I paid for another night and throughout the afternoon we got the beds back out and set things up again. Tony rang and they said the car was ready, he rode into town to something and got another puncture so walked out to the mechanic, who said the car was all fixed. Tony drove back in to town to get his bike and buy food for dinner, then back to camp, and the engine was overheating again. I rang the mechanic and he said to bring it straight back – by the time Tony got there it had cooled down and they couldn’t reproduce the problem – he drove back to the tent and it was heating up again.

We were both feeling extremely frustrated and everyone was hot. Caitlin had been really keen to go to the hot springs, so I said I’d take her and see how the car went. We drove for a while with no problem, then I turned the air con up and the heat started to rise. I turned it off and it didn’t go back down! We drove to the hot springs and had a really quick dip – basically just in and out. There were other people swimming, not very many, and the signs were still saying do not enter the water because of crocodile sightings. The water was very clear and we checked it carefully before we went in, and we’d been told that the sulphur in the springs usually keeps them away, but any more than a minute in the water felt too risky and scary. A quick dip was enough to feel refreshed anyway. We walked along the springs, they are quite pretty, then back to the car. I drove home via the low-level bridge, and the temperature kept going up. I stopped a few times, let it cool down a bit, then kept going. I drove past the mechanic and the shed was still open with lights on so went in and called out but no one answered so we went back home.

Puppy cuddles

We had dinner, everyone a bit subdued, and played with puppies and kittens and read our books and did puzzles and hunted for geckos. The kids and I went over for a shower – took ages to get all of us organised – then in to bed as quickly as we could, Millie was really tired. Tony had a chat to his dad about what the car problem might be, still no ideas, and he took the car for another drive after we’d gone to bed – still getting hot. Town driving seems to make it worse, but it’s all a bit mystery.

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.