Half-lap Day 106: Kimba

LiAM woke early, feeling cold and unwell. He and I got up as neither of us were likely to go back to sleep, and discovered a thick layer of ice over everything outside. We’d left one waterbottle on the table and the water in that was not frozen solid, but was mainly ice. We sat in the car as it was the warmest spot and played on the iPad until the others got up a couple of hours later. By now the sun was up and the ice was starting to melt, it wasn’t too bad to stand in the sunshine.

We took our time over breakfast and decided not to try to see or do anything today. Kimba is the mid-point between Sydney and Perth, and has a few interesting things around town to check out, and it’s not far from here to the National Park with lots of interesting rock formations – we decided a rest day was way more important than seeing more things for the sake of it (there was nothing here we had been looking forward to or even knew anything about before we arrived).

Caitlin checked out the coin-operated showers and came back happy and clean. We read some Harry Potter and played on the iPad, then Tony and Caitlin rode their bikes into town to get food for dinner and a pump attachment to blow up the balls we’d bought with us. Millie, LiAM and I played cards until they got back.

With the balls pumped up (including a new football that they’d also bought) we went over to the tennis/netball/basketball courts. We were trying to figure out how to play netball with 5 people (Caitlin really wanted to play netball) when Millie fell and hurt her knee and elbow and didn’t want to play anymore. She was happy to lie in the sun and watch us, so we played a very tricky and exhausting version of 2-a-side netball. Lots of fun though. Once everyone was too knackered to play anymore we had a bit of a play in the playground, then Tony and the kids went out on to the football oval to kick the football around, and I found a powerpoint in the tennis pavilion to charge my computer and catch up on days worth of blogging, email, banking etc. It was warm in the sun and still a bit cool in the shade, a lovely day though to just enjoy and take our time over things.

We had a late lunch and hung around the tent and playground and tennis courts, a very relaxing afternoon. LiAM and I had showers (the water here is full of chlorine, it felt like I was showering in a hot swimming pool) and we played more iPad and read more Harry Potter then had hotdogs for dinner. I talked to a friend on the phone for a while and the kids played in the playground, then we got ready for bed. It was a cold evening but not as cold as the previous few nights. We still did hot water bottles and rugged up, and as LiAM had been feeling unwell all day he slept in my bed with Millie and I, Caitlin slept on Millie’s bed and Tony slept in LiAM’s. It took us a while to rearrange all the blankets again but eventually we were all ready and in bed for a bit more of Inheritance. Tony did the dishes then came in and read more of the Harry Potter book – we’re all trying to read it as fast as possible so we can talk about it, and I’m trying to read it aloud so that everyone can keep up – so we’re all up to different stages and some bits have been read by everyone and we’re getting to know the story really well.

Half-lap Day 83: Exmouth

It rained for a lot of the night, not heavy but quite persistent. Our temporary job of fixing the leak seemed to do all right, we didn’t end up with a puddle inside the tent, although there was still water coming through and running down the outside where we’d directed it (a trickle, not a flow).

I was up early and went down to the camp kitchen to catch up on the blog and organise my photos. Having been away from internet access for most of the past week, and being out of power for half of that time, there was quite a lot to catch up on and I had a lovely relaxing morning playing on the computer. The kids came and saw me and then brought me some breakfast, and they wandered around the park a bit more and I met them at the tent mid-morning.

Tony was cooking pancakes which were very yummy, and the kids had found a maths code/puzzle book in my activities tub – they’d always found this book a bit hard, today they were working at it together and between the 3 of them they were figuring out the puzzles. They played with it for hours.

It rained for a good part of the morning then, while it stayed cloudy, the rain stopped. For the rest of the day it sprinkled occasionally but was mainly overcast, dull, cold and a little windy. I did some washing and put it on the line – some of it got dry fairly quickly.

I went out to see if I could find out what to do about the leak in the tent, and do a few other messages. I was able to buy a heavy duty patch, although we’re not sure if it will work because it will need to be over a seam. I organised for us to get new tyres (desparately needed) when we come back through Exmouth on Thursday. I got some information on some tours we might want to do, and discovered that there is nowhere in Exmouth to buy a child booster seat. Millie’s has been damaged so we really need a new one – it will do the job until we can get to Carnarvon.

Back at the tent we had a relaxing afternoon. I tidied a few things up and the kids played on their iPads and did more of the puzzle book and played with the magnetic shapes. Tony went for a bike ride to buy some more reef shoes, another replacement for our toast mesh on the stove (this one only lasted a few weeks) and to get groceries. I spent a bit more time on the computer, and went up to reception to book us on a Glasss-Bottomed boat tour for later in the week. We had a closer look at the leak in the tent and Tony sewed parts of it back together, hoping that we’ve sealed the gap well enough.

The kids wandered around the park some more and discovered that the pool wasn’t too cold, so they went for a swim. It was colder than they had expected so they didn’t stay in long, only about 10 minutes, but they did enjoy it. I read my book and watched them, while Tony cooked Butter Chicken, then they all went and had hot showers. We ate our dinner and it was soon dark.

Today was the coldest day we’ve experienced for months – I think it was around 19 degrees, and rather damp. We had hot chocolates and marshmallows after tea. The kids wanted hot water bottles to make going to bed a bit more cosy, so we all went down to the camp kitchen and did the dishes and filled the hot water bottles. Back to bed and read Inheritance for a little while then went to sleep.

Half-lap Day 80: Karajini

It was great to wake up today with no set plans – we had the whole day in Karajini and had already done most of what we wanted to do, so we could take our time and just see how the day unfolded.

The kids’ friends walked over to our tent at about 9am, and the five of them played until their mum came to get them so they could do the Dales Gorge walk. Tony had made her a coffee so she stayed and chatted to us while she drank that, then they headed off. The little girls had been playing with Millie’s toys again and didn’t want to stop – the plan was for the others to come back after their walk so the girls could have a long play together in the afternoon, and that made them willing to stop playing for now.

Tony had bought a roast in Port Hedland and we weren’t able to have campfires here, so he decided to try cooking it in the camp oven over occasional heat, kind of like slowing cooking it. He seared the meat and put lots of potatoes and liquid in the big pot, got it boiling, then we set it up in the sun, with the grill plate reflecting sunlight onto it, and black tarp on the ground around it. Throughout the day we’d put it back on the stove and get it bubbling again, then give it some more time sitting in the sun. The heavy, black, metal pot stayed pretty warm and we could see that things were cooking in there.

Tony and Caitlin went for a bike ride to the Visitors Centre (a bit over 10km each way). They had a head wind on the way there and Caitlin found it really difficult at times (the road was quite undulating as well). They had an ice cream when they got there, looked at all the information displays and Caitlin bought a little sand filled turtle. The trip home was easier as the wind was behind them.

LiAM and Millie and I hung out at the tent while they were gone. Millie played with her animals, LiAM played with her for a while and then played on the iPad, and I mainly read my book, in between occasionally organizing a few things or keeping an eye on the meat. It was great to really relax and do not much at all for a few hours.

Tony and Caitlin returned and had a bit of lunch, then rode their bikes to the Three Ways Lookout, and walked back down to the Circular Pool to have another swim. They said it didn’t seem as cold today (it was a sunnier day as well) and they had forgotten how beautiful it was down there. I had a little nap while they were gone (possibly my first nap of the trip) and then read my book some more.

Our friends called in after their walk to say hello and drop off a water bottle they’d filled for us at the water tank. They took our techni-ice back to their freezer so we could use it in our fridge tomorrow (they had taken our freezer packs the night before) and they went back to their tent to have lunch.

We’d been surprised at how few birds we’d seen at Karajini. There was an occasional crow, a very occasional raptor flying over the gorge, and we sometimes heard the littler birds but hadn’t seen many. Today though we had a few spinifex pigeons wandering around our campsite, which the kids and I were quite happy to see.

Once Tony and Caitlin were back I went for a walk myself. I wanted to do the rim walk along the top of Dales Gorge. With it being such a warm sunny day I was also keen to swim at Fortescue Falls, the one place we didn’t swim on our walk the other day. It was great to be out walking after sitting all day so far, and I love walking on my own and setting my own pace. I had my telephoto lens with me and was able to take lots of photos that I hadn’t been able to get the other day with only my shorter lens – the ghost gums along the top of the other side of the gorge in particular, looking fantastic today with blue sky behind them and the vivid red cliffs below.

Fortescue Falls

I walked down to Fortescue Falls where there were several people swimming. After taking photos of the reflections of the cliffs in the water on the rocks, I got ready to go in the water. It was hard to get in because the rock shelf along the edge of the pool, where the water was shallow, was extremely slippery. The water was cold but not like the other pools that we had swum in, this was cold at first and then quite comfortable. The water here was flowing more than some of the other pools we’d been in and it felt different – also the first time I’d swum here with blue sky so the cliffs looked starker and it felt so spectacular. The sun had obviously been on the water earlier in the day, by now it was lower in the sky so the water was in shade, with the southern cliff face still in sunshine.

I talked briefly to a guy who was bringing his baby down to the edge to have a swim (warning him of the slipperiness) and then swam around to the falls. I sat on a rock at the base of the falls with the water running over me. It was very cool to twist around and look at the water bouncing down over these terraced rocks – each terrace is only about 10cm high and the water hit each one then bounced down to the next. The waterfall water was a bit cold, and so refreshing. I sat and soaked up all the sensations of being there for a while, then swam back, meeting the guy with the baby on the way, both of us so thrilled that we’d chosen to get in and swim to the waterfall. His wife was sitting on the edge holding the baby. When he got back we started chatting and he asked if I’d mind holding the baby so he and his wife could swim to the falls together – she wasn’t as confident in the water. I’d been wondering whether I should offer to do just that, so I was happy to help. The baby was an 8-month old boy and he sat happily in my lap, looking at the trees and the cliffs and the water. His parents went for their swim and then came back for him, and we had a good talk about travelling with kids.

I felt so happy and content by the time I left to walk up the long staircase to the top of the gorge. It seemed longer than when we did it a couple of days ago, but it wasn’t difficult. I set off on my rim walk, with the light getting redder as the sun approached the western horizon. I’d been thinking of going over to the Circular Pool lookout to watch the sunset, so the timing of my walk ended up being perfect. Along the rim I could see a lot further down the continuation of the gorge, where the walk doesn’t go (to the east of the Threes Ways Junction). It really struck me how different these gorges are to the others we’ve seen on this trip. Everywhere else we approach the gorge from the level of the bottom, then walk along the gorge or climb to the rim. Here, the land is mainly hilly, with large flat areas in between, and the gorges drop down below the flat area, deep into the earth. We approach them from the top and walk the rim, or else climb down into them. I would love to see this area from the air – I imagine it would look like there are lots of long scars cracking the earth.

The rim walk was pretty easy and quite pretty. I got to Three Ways lookout and found myself less concerned with height of the drop off, without the kids there with me. I walked along to the Circular Pool lookout and enjoyed seeing the pool again, and had a bit of vertigo which didn’t worry me overly. It wasn’t quite sunset yet but the light was beautiful, and I was happy to watch it for a little while and then move on.

I got back to camp and the 5 kids were happily playing. Tony was finishing off the lamb on the stove, and the other kids’ mum was just arriving back from her campsite, after having had a few hours over there by herself, something she hasn’t had often on this trip, without another adult around. She bought a bottle of Baileys, and some steamed vegies and cheese sauce, and they joined us for a roast dinner.

It was a lovely evening – a big glass of Baileys each for the adults, and a delicious roast lamb with lots of vegies, and great conversation. The kids really enjoyed their very long play. Having now spent more time together, it was enjoyable too for the conversation to start to move beyond just trip related stories, we’re sharing stories about our lives before the trip and really getting to know each other.

Eventually the others headed back to their van and we got ready for bed and read a chapter or two.

Half-lap Day 74: De Grey

It was quite windy overnight (although mainly in the tree tops, so it was noisy but the tent didn’t get battered too much) and still quite cold in the morning. The site was so beautiful and peaceful as the sun rose. We had a very leisurely breakfast and Caitlin had a bit of a sleep in, she had had a very restless night. With Port Hedland only 80km away we didn’t need to rush to pack up, so we took our time and enjoyed our location. After a while (and before we’d started the pack up) Tony suggested we stay another day here and rest, then we decided to stay 2 more nights, and just do a day trip to Port Hedland tomorrow. Everyone was keen on this plan, so we settled in for some more relaxing.

The girls wanted me to trim to their hair, so I did that then braided Caitlin’s in a fairly elaborate style that she’d wanted me to try. We pottered around the campsite, playing games and looking at the bugs and birds and things around us. The kids chatted to anyone they saw who had dogs. The cow came and visited us at one point, she was friendly and liked being patted. The kids named her Milky White. I went up to the picnic tables to use the wifi, I got a bit of signal and found out a couple of things I’d wanted to know about Port Hedland, and tried to make a phone call but didn’t have enough signal.

Around lunchtime Tony went for a bike ride to see if he could find any wood, Caitlin went with him and when she came back to get sunscreen and a top that covered her shoulders (the day was quite warm by now), she said that she’d seen the bull sharks from the bridge. LiAM walked back over with Caitlin so that he could see the sharks too, and then helped Tony with the wood. Tony came back to get the car to carry the wood in, and offered to drive Millie and I up to see the sharks as well. LiAM was walking back on his own, and when we saw him he was very upset. He’d been patting the cow and she rammed his head with hers. His nose was red and swollen and grazed and he was in a lot of pain. I stayed with him to get some cold onto it and gave him some panadol, he was quite shaken and upset. His nose was bruised and swollen but didn’t seem to be broken, which had been our initial worry. He and I played cards and that helped to calm him down.

When the others got back the girls played cards with us as well, and then LiAM helped Tony dig a fire pit. After a while I said I’d walk up to see the sharks, and LiAM and Caitlin came with me. Caitlin went straight to the bridge, LiAM and I walked underneath it first, and saw some big dogs camped nearby. We climbed up the hill to the bridge, then LiAM headed straight out to where Caitlin was and I was a bit slower. A truck came past so the kids yelled to me to hold on to my hat – it was safe but a bit scary as it rocketed over the bridge. LiAM came running towards me, very upset again – the slipstream had blown one of his thongs over the edge and it was floating down in the river with the sharks.

We could see it on the water so went back down to the shore to see if we could catch it as it got to a bit of a headland not far downstream. When we got down there we couldn’t see it at first– then realised it had got stuck on some of the water grass that was growing in the river. It was too far out to reach, and we could see a bull shark circling between us and the thong so we definitely couldn’t swim out to get it. LiAM loves these shoes, he finds it hard to find comfortable shoes so the thought of losing this one, on top of his sore nose and the shock of being knocked over by the cow, was too much for him (I know how he feels, I was so upset when I lost my favourite shoe earlier in the trip). Tony and Millie arrived soon after, and we discussed whether we could get a really long stick to reach that far. I liked the idea of asking a fisherman to help, and Caitlin happily wandered off to find one. She stopped to pat the big dogs we’d seen, and then noticed fishing rods – the guy was happy to come and help us out. He sat on the bank and cast off again and again, his hook skimming over the thong every time. He was incredibly accurate. After a while he realised that something on his line was making it hard to hook the thong, he took that off and very quickly caught it and brought it a bit closer. His next attempt got the thong all the way to the logs in front of us, then he was able to just dangled his hook down until he caught it through the strap, and pulled it up for LiAM who was so incredibly relieved. We stayed and chatted with the couple for a while, and played with their dog, a very pretty Staffordshire terrier. The fisherman tried to catch the bull shark next, he was keen to have it for a very tasty dinner. He didn’t have any luck while we were there, we left him trying to catch a catfish to use as bait.

Under the DeGrey Bridge

Bull Shark

We had a bit of a rest back at camp, then LiAM and I went for a walk to explore further up the river – there was another bridge there and I wanted to see what it was. The river bed was very wide and mainly sandy, and where we came on to it, the water had dried up completely. It’s weird because the water where the sharks are is flowing, but the river has big patches with no water at all – we wondered if some of it was underground or flowing through the sand beneath the surface. We trudged across the sand, and could see a large sand bank in the middle where the water level must have been at some point. Up the other side to the bridge, where we discovered it was a railway bridge which appears to be in use, the track was completely free of weeds and looked in good condition. There were walkways on either side of the bridge so we went out a little way on each side to get a good view of the river.

Railway bridge

We wandered back, LiAM wanted to go back to the water to see if the swans and cygnets he and Caitlin had seen earlier were back there. We found lots of really interesting rocks, and had a good view of the road bridge. Down on the bank earlier we had had great views of the road trains crossing the bridge – from this angle they were in silhouette and still very cool. We didn’t see any swans, just more of the jacana we’d seen earlier. I stepped in mud on our way back around the end of the water, and nearly lost my own shoe! We walked back through the trees on the bank along the edge of the river – obviously the water comes up this high sometimes, as the trees are all on a lean and there are banks of earth downstream of each tree.

Back at camp Tony was about to light the fire. The kids went up the hill and talked to an English brother and sister who had a dog, I read my book. Tony cooked damper and some potatoes on the fire. The kids played in the tent and we had a relaxing evening. LiAM was feeling a bit better although his nose was sore. He felt like it had been a good day overall though.

I was about to go to bed when we realised the fridge was turned off – we couldn’t get it back on at all. Tony thinks it is the cord so hopefully we will be able to replace that in Port Hedland tomorrow. In bed we read a couple of chapters of Inheritance. Tonight wasn’t as cold as last night, but we still had the windows closed and people were pleased to have their blankets.