Half-lap Day 68: Broome

I was up early again and went down to the camp kitchen to have a cuppa and work on the blog. The computer worked well for a while then the keys stopped working again, so I did a few other things that require less typing, then headed back to the tent to start packing up. We figured we’d just head out of Broome a little way, or maybe to the overflow caravan parks, for a couple of days, then still be around when our friends arrived. They were able to book in at Broome Caravan Park where we currently were, so I went to see if we’d be able to come back here on Sunday as well. They had a look and were able to move us on to a powered site straight away, so we could stay here for the next couple of days then 3 days with our friends. This meant we packed quite differently, just dumped a lot of stuff in the car or on top of the trailer, and then drove up to our new site.

It took a good part of the morning to get organised, and it was quite warm working in the sun. Once we had the trailer in position and a few things off the top of it, we took a break and went for a swim to cool off. It was really lovely in the pool and after a while we felt refreshed enough to come back and finish setting up.

We relaxed around the tent and had some lunch, then I was trying to get something out of the trailer and LiAM’s scooter got knocked out. It landed sideways across my toes and was incredibly painful, the worst injury I’ve had so far on this trip. Caitlin and Tony did some first aid for me and helped me sit with my foot up, I had some more food and a drink and rested for a while and eventually felt slightly better.

I had planned to go back to the beach this afternoon and maybe do a bit of shopping. No one else wanted to come and I was going to go by myself. The others were getting ready to go to the pool, then LiAM and Caitlin decided they would prefer to swim at the beach again, so they came with me while Tony and Millie stayed and went to the pool.

We got to the beach an hour or 2 after high tide, so the waves were still decent, and there was a stretch of wet sand to cross before we got into the water. We swam for a while, playing the same game as yesterday, taking it in turns to say what we’d do as each wave came in. LiAM was even more confident today. The water temperature was beautiful as always. We got out and played in the sand for a while, and then explored the rock pools again, before going in for another swim. We probably only stayed an hour then got changed and went to the shops.

We bought a Christmas present for someone from a pop up stall at the shopping centre, then some cheap Skylanders from EB Games and from Target, as well as a few snacks from Target. We got some groceries from Woolworths then headed back to the caravan park where Tony was waiting for the fridge to get back so that he could cook dinner. Millie was very pleased to see us too, we’d been away longer than she’d expected.

Tony cooked spaghetti Bolognese and we sat around the tent playing games before and after eating. LiAM and Millie played with all their Skylanders and Caitlin played on her iPad mini. My toes were aching a lot after walking around all afternoon, so I went to bed before everyone else. I read my own book for a while and fell asleep before the others came in, so Tony read them a story from the internet before they went to bed as well.

Half-lap Day 24: Finke River -> Alice Springs

We were camped quite near the highway and we throughout the night we could hear road trains coming for a minute or two before they actually came past. The noise would gradually get louder and then it would be like an aeroplane going past, and then it would recede over the next couple of minutes. It wasn’t too disturbing though, there weren’t a lot of them and in between it would be completely quiet.

I was up in time to see the sunrise, I went down to the river and watched it slowly come to light and enjoyed the reflections in the water and the incredible peacefulness. I saw a few tour buses pass over the bridge on their way to Uluru – would have been an early start from Alice Springs! As the morning went on we saw many army trucks going south, big trucks carrying lots of supplies – and 2 of them were carrying tanks! That was pretty exciting to see.

Early morning on the Finke River

As we were packing up the tent we found a tiny scorpion inside it, running along the floor near the wall. We all watched him for a while, then I scooped him up in a cup (I did squish one of his pincers as I tried to catch him) and threw him outside (away from the tent). We chatted to our friends about the Ernest Giles track (I was thinking we might leave the trailer and just drive back in the 16km to see the meteorite crater) and they said it was the worst road they’d ever driven on, corrugated all the way with no respite. We decided to give it a miss, if they struggled in their huge 4WD. The other couple had broken several things on their van and both of them said everything they had was covered in red dust.

An extra camper in our tent

The kids wandered off to explore while we finished packing, then I went to take them down to the river while Tony put the last things on the top of the trailer. I found them talking to another family, a mum with 2 boys. We chatted for ages, and Tony joined us after a while with everything packed up and trailer attached and ready to go. Eventually I took all 5 kids down to the river, the water was beautiful and they were soon all completely wet (in their clothes, but since it was a hot sunny day, and fresh, flowing water, I wasn’t worried). They played in the water and in the sand, which was a bit like quicksand in parts, it was easy to sink in up to the knee. I waded around a bit then found a shady place to sit and watch them and enjoy the location. Tony joined me after a while and then the other mum and we chatted and the kids played for a couple of hours. It was a pretty magical way to spend the morning.

Swimming and exploring the sand in the Finke River

We got everyone out of the river and headed off around 1pm. We’d planned to stop at Stuarts Well for fuel and lunch, but the kids had had a sandwich before we left and Tony and I were happy eating in the car, and we had enough fuel to get to Alice Springs, so decided not to stop. There was a camel farm though that the kids wanted to see, so we pulled in to check out the camels, and an emu who was being amorous with the fence, a dingo on a chain and some birds. Not the greatest animal place we’ve seen so far.

There were several ranges of hills that we drove past before reaching the McDonnell Ranges and then Alice Springs – a bit different seeing many hills after so much flat land. We drove in to Alice Springs through a gap in the ranges and it was exciting to be here. We checked out a campground which was only $11 a night, but none of us felt comfortable there and the reviews we read were very mixed so we decided against it. We were stopped by the police on the way in, who asked if we were going to the bottle shop or the campground – later when I saw police checking ID outside liquorland at Coles we realised that the police check ID before anyone goes into a bottle shop. I hadn’t seen that anywhere before.

We drove up Anzac Hill – a lookout over the city – to rest for a bit and figure out where we would stay. It was a cool place to get a bit of an idea of the layout of the town, and the kids thought we were going to physically look for caravan parks from up there – we did it the digital way however. There was a place out of town where we wanted to stay, we rang them but they were full, so we found a place in town that seemed all right and not too expensive. It seemed nice when we arrived, nothing special – it’s a fairly basic caravan park with everyone laid out in a neat grid, not much atmosphere but clean and quiet and a good place to rest for a few days.

I crashed when we arrived. Last time I arrived in Alice Springs I was overwhelmed and a bit teary and wasn’t sure what I wanted to do – I thought that was because I’d just been on a 20 hour bus ride from Darwin. But this time I felt exactly the same. It’s an odd place – part city, part country town, part regional centre, part cultural and arts centre, part violent and unsafe, part touristy, part multicultural, it’s hot and dry and sometimes stifling, it’s a remote town but so full of tourists that it doesn’t feel remote – I am reading Tracks by Robyn Davidson (a lady who came to Alice Springs, learned about camels and rode a camel train from here to the Indian Ocean) and she says that having the ranges so close to town drives everyone a bit crazy and I see what she means.

Tony recognized that I was not coping well so he sat me down and made me a cup of tea before we set the tent up. The kids explored the park a bit and eventually I was up to helping set up. We used the free wifi for a bit, I sorted out my washing, and then we went for a swim in the pool. The water was freezing and I just had a quick dip before I got out, Tony stayed to supervise the kids and I went to Coles to stock up on much needed supplies, and got a hot chicken for dinner. I enjoyed driving around the town and discovering where things were, I even went over the river to get some hot chips to have with our chicken (there are Indian food places everywhere here, but only 1 fish and chip shop. Shopping in Coles felt like shopping in Griffith, very multicultural and the food options available reflect that.)

We were in bed pretty early, read for a while then off to sleep, keen for a quiet relaxing day tomorrow.

Queenscliff 2015 - Day 4

I was able to get up early on my own again and head down to the beach. Having swum there a few times now I felt more confident and was able to go in a bit further and relax a lot more in the water. Another beautiful, refreshing, exhilarating swim. I also took some photos and really enjoyed my morning alone on the beach. I felt that my knee was up to the walk around the headland - the tide was too high however and I didn't fancy walking through water so I chose not to try this time.

Early morning at the beach

Rocks near the rock pools

Back at the house we were due to drop the keys back to the real estate agent by 10am, so the morning was spent packing, having breakfast and cleaning up. We got everything done pretty much on time and then spent a bit more time out the front of the house saying good bye and not really wanting to leave. I had a flat battery so that slowed us down a little while we pushed my car out of the driveway and jump started it. Mum and Dad headed off to catch the 11am ferry across to Sorrento, and the rest of us drove down to the beach for one last swim. It was warm and sunny again, a beautiful morning to be on the beach. Millie spent a lot of time digging in the sand and running around near the water's edge, the other 2 and I swam a fair bit, and chatted and with F and played with T in and out of the water. The others headed off once T had had enough, and we stayed a bit longer, really getting the most out of our time at the coast.

Eventually we went back to the car and changed out of our swimming gear, then went into town to the lolly shop which we'd been waiting for all trip. The kids each filled a large paper bag with their own selection of lollies, and I got a few for Tony and I to share - it was a very joyous time and the lady in the shop loved watching how excited they were as they chose their lollies and chocolates and filled up their bags.

On the way out of Queenscliff we stopped at the Marine Discovery Centre - and found it wasn't open to the public at this time of year. There was a little walk we could do around the back of it so we walked along there for a while - it was hot in the sun, but there were interesting signs to look at and a bit of a view across the bay. Back around the front of the centre the kids wanted to look in the foyer of the business side of the centre, so we went in and they found some fishing charts - for determining what size of each species it was ok to catch and which fish should be returned to the water. They took a copy of those and spent a lot of time in the car examining the pictures of the fish.

We continued out of town and stopped to have a look at a few caravan parks (we might be staying down this way again in February) and at the Adventure Park near Geelong (which we will definitely be visiting in February) then stopped for lunch at Subway on the way out of Geelong. We had a relaxing lunch, everyone got exactly what they wanted, then back in the car for an uneventful trip back home from there, arriving around 4.30 and able to settle in for a quiet afternoon at home.