Half-lap Day 102: Esperance ->The Nullarbor

LiAM woke up feeling extremely cold around 4.30am and came up to our bed. Millie was already there too so it was a little crowded. I waited until everyone else had settled back down to sleep then extricated myself and got up into the cold morning at around 5.30. I put on as many clothes as I could find and went and sat in the car to use the computer. Once the camp kitchen was open at 6.30 I moved over there to have a cup of tea and charge the computer and my camera battery.

Everyone was a bit reluctant to get up because it was so cold. As the sun got higher though the day started to warm a little and I gradually shed my layers as I started to pack everything up. We had breakfast while we packed and kept an eye on what was happening in the Olympics, particularly the swimming. We all stopped to watch the semi-final of the womens 100m freestyle on Tony’s phone, which an Australian won (Cate Campbell).

We were ready to go before 10, and headed slightly out of town to the Esperance Bird and Animal Park (we pulled over to the side of the road to watch the mens 100m Freestyle Final, also won by an Australian, very exciting to see another gold medal). Tony dropped us off at the Bird and Animal Park, unhitched the trailer, and went back into town to get groceries, petrol etc.

As we had driven up the driveway to the park we’d seen Scottish Highland Cows on one side, and horses and ponies on the other, so everyone was excited even before we got through the door. In the café area there were tanks with turtles, lizards, fish and frogs, and once I’d paid and the kids had finished looking at those we moved outside. The first several cages were of birds – lots of Australian birds and also more exotic species, the coolest of which was probably a golden pheasant – I’ve never seen a bird with such varied colouring, and he had a gloriously long tail. We moved past more cages of birds and up a hill, then through a shipping container that is a bridge across the path below (very clever) and then down past more birds and almost back to the start. The path from there went around under the shipping container past more cages of birds – this time the highlight was a Major Mitchell Cockatoo who appeared to be digging himself an escape tunnel – he had made quite a hole in under the wall and was working hard at it. We were amused though that if he got through he’d end up in a tiny little ‘air lock’ cage in the entrance of the cage next door.

Around the corner we came to the mammals, which we were allowed to feed (the kids had each been given a bag of food). The lady at the café had said we’d know who we could feed because they’d ask for it, and she was certainly right! We walked around the corner and suddenly 2 goat’s head were thrust through the fence, trying to get to our food. We fed and patted the goats, then some kangaroos, several pens of sheep, some more goats, 3 emus (who got incredible range with their long necks as they poked them through the fence – I was standing back so they didn’t peck me, and a sheep from the pen across the path stuck its head through the fence and started nibbling on my shoes).  At the end of that path were 2 miniature horses who we stopped and patted for a while, then back past the other side of the sheep to a pen with 3 alpacas in it. We tried to fee the smallest of the 3, but he was very shy, and the other 2 kept getting the food first no matter how we tried to distract them and give some to the little guy.

We moved on to some ducks and chickens, then there was a pen where we could go in with lambs and kids, the kids enjoyed that until the kid nibbled Millie’s ear when she was leaning over to pat a lamb (who was lying on the ground with a coat on and didn’t look very well – he got up and tottered around for a while and looked very unsteady). From there we went into the rabbit pen and the kids could have stayed all day. There were big rabbits and baby rabbits, plenty for everyone to cuddle. Eventually we also discovered some guinea pigs. There was a 5^th birthday party happening at the park and a lot of the kids were in the rabbit pen when we arrived, they moved on to have their party food and our kids got to pat and hold rabbits as much as they liked. Eventually they came out of the pen and we saw a wedge-tailed eagle called Willow – she had a broken shoulder and can’t be released into the wild. She was magnificent looking, so impressive to see – we felt quite sad though because she was up on the highest perch in the cage and kept trying to fly out of the top corner, she didn’t look very happy at all.

We did a quick circuit back around past all the mammals and the emus so that LiAM could use up the rest of his food and we could pat everyone again. We ended up back in with the rabbits and stayed there until Tony said he was back and hitched up and ready to go. We washed our hands and went to the toilet and chatted to the lady in the café then headed back to the car and on our way around midday.

Tony had bought cheese and bacon rolls, and doughnuts, so we were able to eat lunch in the car as we drove north towards Norseman. The countryside here was largely treed, good sized gum trees that reminded us a bit of home. There were more of the low lying areas that fill with water at times, as well as some sizable lake type areas with lots of water in them. We did see one billabong that was pink, exciting to actually see a pink lake after missing all the others  (there were some up along the west coast that we didn’t go to see).  We stopped at a rest stop once to get LiAM a drink of milk, then kept going to Norseman where we filled up with petrol. Norseman looked like an old town, all the houses were made of fibro and it seemed pretty sleepy. We listened to Harry Potter on and off, playing alphabet or word association games in between.

From Norseman we headed out on the Eyre Highway to the east – really heading towards home now and excited to be about to cross the Nullarbor. The highway was initially between trees again, not quite as tall here but still fairly thick. The gum trees were thinner than we had been seeing, and their trunks were a shiny coppery colour. Their leaves were a very glossy green, it was like the whole trees were a bit sparkly. We stopped at a rest stop to fill up our water bottles from our bigger containers in the back – it was hot in the car (22 degrees outside which is the warmest day in the last week or so, and the sun was shining and making us all quite warm) and we’d drunk all our water in our little water bottles. We wandered areound the rest area a bit, it felt pretty remote and dry. There were still trees but they were getting shorter. We drove a bit further and stopped athte Belladonia Roadhouse for more petrol (we didn’t need much but wanted to hit the Nullarbor with a full tank, especially as the price is likely to get more expensive as we go across). The sun was low in the sky but we were keen to get to a rest stop with toilets – there are 24 hour rest areas quite frequently on this highway, but few of them have toilets.

As we drove further east the landscape changed a bit and there was mainly low, silvery bush, very few trees at all. We passed the 90 mile sign – the start of the longest straight stretch of road in Australia – 90 miles, or 146 km. We’d seen plenty of long straight stretches of road on our drive so far today, and when we measured them on the odometer they were only 5-10km long, so this stretch is going to be beyond our imagination. We drove a short way then pulled into Woorla Homestead Rest Area and found a place to put the tent – at first it looked like every cleared area was a road, then we found a spot between several clumps of bushes and trees, and we settled ourselves in there.

The sun had nearly set but we had plenty of time to get the tent up in the light. Tony started cooking tea and I organised the beds and the chargers for our devices. Caitlin rode her bike around and explored the site. LiAM really wanted a fire so he and I went exploring for firewood, it was easy to find small sticks but bigger ones were more difficult. It was quite enjoyable walking together in the dark, with a half-moon and lots of stars. We found a little bit of wood, and discovered that the rest area went WAY back, it was huge, so many spots for people to camp.

We came back and got the fire going and had our dinner (lamb and mashed potato). Caitlin was exhausted and went straight to bed to keep reading the new Harry Potter book. LiAM and Millie roasted the last few marshmallows, then we heated the water for the hot water bottles on the fire. Tony found some more wood across the road and got the fire nice and hot. He also cooked up the rest of our potatoes so that we won’t have to throw them out if we get to the border today.

It was cold but not as much as the last few nights, it wasn’t too uncomfortable in the tent. I read Inheritance while Tony did the dishes (so he could hear the story as well) then we all snuggled in to go to sleep.

Half-lap Day 51: Darwin -> Edith Falls

It was another cooler morning. Funny how we have adapted quite well to the hotter weather and our interpretation of cool/cold has moved up the scale quite a bit. No one had felt ready to leave yesterday, today we were all prepared and it felt like the right day to move on.

We got up and continued packing and organizing our stuff. When the kids woke Caitlin read them some stories from her iPad mini. After they’d had breakfast they went to say goodbye to the chickens, chicks, rabbit and guinea pig. We finished packing in the late morning, then went and chatted to our hosts before eventually saying goodbye to them and the dog and leaving Darwin after 8 nights.

We’d had no trouble at all with the car while we were in Darwin. On our way south the temperature briefly started to climb – when Tony increased his speed the temp dropped again. It seems that it really is just a matter of managing the load on the engine and not pushing it too hard at low revs.

We drove to Edith Falls, just north of Katherine, which we’d been keen to see when we were in Katherine and hadn’t made it. We hoped we’d be able to camp at the campground there, but it was full when we arrived. We changed into our swimmers and headed down to the falls. These falls were not spectacular in themselves like some of the others we’ve seen – instead there was a large pool of water surrounded on two sides by tall tall cliffs, with a small waterfall sneaking out between some rocks in the cliffs on the far side. The point where we entered the water had a shallow channel and then a rocky island, with the larger pool beyond the island. I could just stand up all the way across the channel – but I preferred to swim as the bottom was a mix of sand and rocks and was hard to walk on. The water was clear and fresh and the channel was edged on the shore side with very green trees which reflected in the water. Swimming there, with the cliffs rising up on our other side, felt so relaxing and refreshing and I was so glad we’d come.

Caitlin was nervous about crocodiles – there are freshwater crocs here, the signs say not to swim between 7pm and 7am, but when the pool is open it is safe the rest of the time. She was reluctant to spend much time in the water, so she and LiAM explored the rocky island. Tony spent some time skimming stones along the water of the channel. He and Millie stayed near the edge then while I joined the others on the island. I walked across to the other side and it was very hard to balance and walk on the rocks. There was a lovely view across the pool to the falls and cliffs. I decided to swim back rather than walk back. It wasn’t hard to swim to the end of the island and then back along the channel, and I enjoyed swimming out in the larger pool too. LiAM stayed on the island, sitting on sun-warmed rocks and looking at the cliffs and the insects around him. He's not so keen on swimming in waterfall plunge pools - he's done it a few times now and figures that's enough. He's not not that fussed on even seeing the waterfalls anymore - but he usually finds something to amuse him when we are there.

Caitlin had swum back to shore and was sitting on the steps, I stood in the water and chatted to her and little fish nibbled at the dry skin on our feet and legs. The first couple of times it happened I yelped and jumped a bit, but I soon got used to it and it was cool watching them swim around our legs and come up for a little nibble.

Once we were all out of the water we walked along the path a little further to get different views of the falls, cliffs and pool. There was a bridge across a creek that left the pool, with some archer fish swimming underneath, and we watched them for a while. We went and got changed and looked at some photos of what the place looks like in the wet season – very different!, then headed back to the car.

I’d found a free campsite back on the highway a little south of the turn off. It looked good although there were no toilets – we decided to try our first toilet-free camping and see how it went – if it’s ok it opens up a lot more of the free camps to us.

The site was basically lots of cleared areas in amongst the (sparse) bush. We found a flat-enough spot a bit back from the road – not in the area closest to the road, but at the front of a larger area further back. The ground was too hard for pegs, so we used the car and Tony’s bike to attach the guy ropes to, and the beds hold down the end of the tent so we can manage without pegging the floor in. The kids explored the campsite and Tony and I sat and relaxed for a while. We’d set up just before sunset and it was a lovely clear night – with hardly any mosquitoes. It was really relaxing sitting and looking at the trees and stars and feeling excited about camping and exploring more places. The moon rose a bit later – one night past full, so it was really bright and we could almost manage without lanterns. The temperature was really pleasant - it was probably around 28 degrees, much cooler than the evenings had been in Darwin and we all enjoyed it and laughed that we thought 28 was cool. We had noodles for tea, Caitlin kept reading stories to the others and we made a few phone calls to friends. We braved the bush to go to the toilet (everyone was fine) and made sure we put away all our food (not sure what animals might be around here) and headed in to bed to read a couple of chapters of Brisingr.

Day 39: Batchelor and Millie's Birthday

Millie’s 7^th birthday!!!!!

Millie woke quite early and came up to our bed, we chatted and giggled about it being her birthday until the others woke up, then we got up to do presents. She had already received her back pack and the crocodile from us, we gave them to her again, and also a ‘camel crossing’ sign to hang on her window, and a jeweled gecko. Caitlin gave her a bubble wand and a Barbie fairy, LiAM gave her a pack of Frozen snap cards, and there was a card with money in it from Grandma and Grandad. She was thrilled with all her presents and had a lot of fun opening them, then playing with them. The kids played Go Fish with the cards for a while, then we went to the reception area for the 7.30am bird feeding.

The owner put out bird food in several places, and over time birds started to appear to feed (they were easily spooked though and kept flying away then slowly coming back). We saw cockatiels, galahs, lorikeets and blue-faced honey eaters. I enjoyed watching them for ages, the kids wandered off after a while and went to play mini-golf. Tony headed back to the tent to make pancakes as a birthday breakfast.

We hung around the tent eating and playing with Millie’s presents for most of the morning, and Caitlin rode into town to buy a birthday cake and some candles for Millie. She wanted to eat the cake after dinner, but really wanted to used the candles now – so I put a candle in a chocolate bar for her and we sang ‘There’s a cat licking your birthday cake’ and she blew the candle out and ate the chocolate.

When we were ready we went down the road to a butterfly farm. Our friends from Katherine were there when we arrived but we only got to wave hello, they’d left before we had a chance to talk to them. We saw butterflies in all their various stages of development, then spent ages in a large enclosure with the fully grown butterflies – including a huge green one that Millie named Emerald, who flapped and hovered more like a bird than any butterfly I’ve ever seen.  From there we went into a little farm area where we could feed carrots to rabbits, and pat ducklings and chicks. There were several rabbit enclosures and the kids got lots of cuddles. The last section of the farm had pigs and goats, 3 or 4 pigs and maybe 8 goats – these ones were much friendlier than the ones in Katherine, and they were mainly nannies or kids. The pigs and goats enthusiastically ate the rest of our carrots, and kept looking for more. It was fun to be right in there with them.  After we’d finished with the animals we were allowed to have a swim in their pool – the water was cool and so amazing to swim in on such a hot day. More than half of the pool was only knee deep, with a deeper channel around 2 sides of it, so it was easy for all of us to swim in and feel comfortable. There was a man-made waterfall running into the shelf next to the pool, so Millie stood under that and was excited at having a shower under a waterfall – one of her birthday wishes! She’d also wanted to swim in a pool, play with puppies (she was happy enough with ducklings, rabbits and kids), see a real waterful and be able to talk to relatives on the phone.

I made some sandwiches in the car then everyone got out of the pool and we ate on the way out to Litchfield National Park. We saw plenty of huge termite mounds, and drove through a few areas where they are burning off, so we turned the fan off – LiAM finds it so hard to breathe when there is smoke around. We went to Florence Falls – there’s a short walk from the carpark to a lookout where we could see 2 waterfalls falling down into a pool below. Then the walk continued down about 150 steps to the valley floor, where it was lovely and cool. It was only 400m and then we were at the pool at the base of the falls. It was so peaceful and green and an amazing place to be.

Caitlin arrived before me and came back to tell me there was a python in the rocks – a crevice not far from the pool had a large (about 7 feet long) olive python – he was lying there when Caitlin saw him, and moved from one side of the rocks to the other while I watched, coiling himself up and possibly going to sleep. He didn’t seem bothered by all the people standing around taking photos of him – it was so cool to watch.

We made our way into the plunge pool – the water was a great temperature and we’d taken our snorkels so could look under and see an incredible number of fish. There were rocks of various sizes on the bottom which meant there were lots of places that Millie could stand up and still be in the main pool. I hung out with her for ages, swimming around a bit and watching the waterfalls. Tony and LiAM and Caitlin went a bit deeper and came back and forth. A guy climbed up the rocks and jumped in from progressively higher points – he was a good climber and at one point everyone in the pool was watching him. Caitlin and Tony swam towards the falls but Caitlin found it hard going so they came back, then Tony went over by himself. He was able to go in behind one waterfall and be right at the base of the other. When he came back I went over – I had a couple of moments of feeling scared as the water got choppy close to the falls, but it was easy enough to keep going. Swimming in behind the water was pretty cool, it looked amazing and felt exciting. The other falls were more of a cascade, and looking straight up at them from the bottom was an incredible view.

After I swam back, Caitlin went over with Tony and was even able to sit up on one of the rocks right next to the falls. LiAM went over next, on Tony’s back, and everyone was glad they’d made the effort. Millie didn’t want to get that close, but was thrilled swimming in this pool with the waterfalls there, and said she was having the ‘most awesomest birthday ever’. I moved with her into a shallower part of the creek where she could sit in a tiny little waterfall, (just water flowing between two rocks, about a quarter of her height) which was pretty cool too.

Tony said it was the most amazing place he’d ever swum, and we all had a fantastic afternoon there. The kids tried to catch some fish, and we all spent ages watching the fish swim around under the water. There were a couple of rocks that were easy to climb on and jump into a deep part of the pool, and lots of rocks to just sit or lie on and watch the water. Eventually we headed out of the pool and back up the stairs – it was weird to feel the temperature get hotter as we climbed, down in the valley it felt impossible to believe it was a 36 degree day!

We drove back to the caravan park (with more Harry Potter) – the car was fine, no overheating, even with the air conditioner on. We think the trick is to wait until we get up to highway speed before we turn AC on and then it seems to be fine… We got changed into dry clothes, then went to the tavern for Millie’s birthday dinner. I had wild caught local Barramundi, which I’d been wanting ever since we got into Barra territory, Tony had a rack of lamb, Caitlin a schnitzel, LiAM had nuggets and chips and Millie steak and chips – the food was all delicious. We ordered a jug of lemonade, and played a few games of Keno (we didn’t win anything) and had a really lovely evening.

We got back to camp and I realised I’d left my handbag at the tavern – luckily it was still hanging on my chair when I got back there, everything still in it. And the driving back and forth didn’t cause the car to heat up either, so it was a car-trouble free day – just adding to the mystery really! Once I got back again we set up Millie’s cake – all they had was fruit cake, so we put red frogs and smarties on that to make it pretty, lit 7 candles and sang happy birthday, then ate fruit cake and lollies for dessert. She’d spoken to Grandma and Grandad while at the tavern, and had a few texts from friends and family, and felt like she’d gotten everything she wanted from her birthday.

Everyone was so tired that we didn’t read when we went to bed, Caitlin fell asleep immediately and everyone else was not far behind.