Half-lap Day 86: Cape Range National Park

The wind picked up a bit overnight and kept us awake at various stages. The tent held it’s own though, it flapped around a lot but nothing budged. Once again I woke up after sunrise, and headed down to the beach with my cup of tea. I walked along the rocky beach and got to the point where the Mandu Creek comes out to the ocean – it’s dry now, and has left a wide bed of sand and rocks and driftwood. From there I had a good view of the osprey nest further along the rocky shore – one osprey was sitting on top of the nest, and a couple of seagulls started dive bombing the next. Another adult osprey suddenly stood up from within the nest, and the 2 of them screeched at the seagulls until the gulls gave up.

Back at the tent I started to get everyone’s breakfast ready, and to get things organised to pack up. We didn’t get started particularly early (because of our restless night, no one woke up early or easily) but the pack up went pretty smoothly. We chatted a bit to our neighbours and the kids watched the corellas who had descended on the campground. These ones were whiter and cleaner looking than the ones we’d seen in Tom Price. It was tempting to feed them to have them come closer, but we resisted. The kids also found it hard not to collect the amazing shells and rocks around us, but with this being a Sanctuary Zone we weren’t allowed to take anything from the area.

We’d been a bit worried that the jockey wheel might be stuck in the dirt now that the wind had dried out the ground a little, but when we went to turn the trailer around it moved quite easily. We were ready to go by just after 11, and drove the short distance down through the National Park to the North Kurrajong campground. Technically we aren’t supposed to set up until 12, and it was only 11.15 – but our campsite was empty so we backed in there and Caitlin and I went for a wander to check out the beach and see if we could find the campground hosts (the bigger campgrounds have hosts – volunteers who camp here for a week or a month or more, and liaise with the campers, help keep the campground neat and tidy and running well, and are full of information about the local area. North Mandu only had 5 campsites and had no host, this is a bigger area (about 10 sites) and does have a host, right next to our site). We found a couple painting the tables overlooking the beach, and asked if they were the hosts. They were national parks volunteers, but not our hosts. They said it would be fine to set up as long as our site was empty. We chatted to them for a while about places to see from here down to Perth, and things to do within the Park here.

The beach here was very different from North Mandu. We had walked up to the top of the sand dunes, which were much higher here, and gave us a great view across the beach, the lagoon, the reef and the ocean. It was even easier to spot whales from here because of the height. The water was a deep blue, and we could see patches of rock and coral in the clear shallower water within the reef. The sand was white and inviting, it looked like a great place to swim.

This site was much bigger than our last one (12m by 7m) so it was easy to simply back the trailer in to the right spot and set it up from there. The wind was still coming mainly from the east so we set up with the tent on the eastern side, and finally got it right, our annex and living area was protected from the wind! Once the tent was up and the kids had had a bit of an explore we had some lunch, and in the meantime our camp hosts had arrived back at their site and came over to introduce themselves (and make sure we were in the right campground and site).

Today’s plan was to snorkel the Oyster Stacks – a few large piles of rocks in the water, which are covered in oyster shells – which can only be done at high tides, because the coral is so close to the surface that it would be damaged if people snorkeled in shallow water (and people would be more likely to get hurt on the coral too). The window for snorkeling today was 12.30 until 4. By the time we got organised and drove up there, it was 2pm, which gave us a good couple of hours.

There were a lot of people along the shore and lots snorkeling in the water. It was a trickier spot to get into the water than Turquoise Bay – you could climb down rocks into clear, shallow water with a sandy bottom, but getting down the rocks was a little tricky. Further to the south the rocks were low enough that we could just walk in, but the swell made this not quite as easy as it looked, and the current was stronger in this area. We chose to go in at the low rocks. Walking across the rocks to get to the water, there were lots of little rockpools, and many of them had crabs in them. At first we were quite excited, then realised that they all seemed to be dead – they must have been stranded in the rock pools when the tide went out and perhaps the water became too hot?

Tony went in first, then once we were ready I took LiAM, Caitlin and Millie in. We’d heard that here you could see fish as soon as you entered the water and that was true, the coral and pretty fish were right near the shoreline. We swam around in the area between the last 2 oyster stacks and saw so many fish, and lots of coral, it was really beautiful. There were lots of parrot fish, and rainbow fish, angel fish, blue damsels, ocean trout, and so many others. Millie swam really well again and was quite confident directing me to where she wanted to go. Having looked at the fish book last night we all recognised more fish too, and also saw some we didn’t remember seeing yesterday. I found it a bit of work to get back to shore again, the current was strongish and I had to kick pretty hard to swim across it while holding Millie’s hand. I had put waterproof band aids on the blisters on my toes – when I came out and took my flippers off, the bandaids came off as well! I didn’t realise until I was out of the water, so they are in the ocean somewhere – I hope that they don’t hurt any of the fish or other creatures.

Tony, Caitlin and LiAM snorkeled over to the other oyster stacks. They said that the current was much weaker over that way (we’d heard that too) and that the fish around the stacks were incredible. They also saw an octopus. Once they got out I went for a snorkel by myself and went to explore the stacks. The number of fish here was so much more than those just swimming around in the coral. There were caves and gaps in the rocks, which were all full of fish swimming in and out. Under the northernmost stack there was an overhang, and under that ledge were 30 or 40 large fish, just hanging out. It was very cool. On the way back I saw a large group of crocodile longtoms.

When I got back to shore LiAM wanted to come in with me and swim on his own. He and I went back to the stacks, saw the large fish again, and he showed me the octopus. While we watched it came up off the bottom and swam towards some coral, so cool to see all it’s legs pushed out behind us. It nestled up against the coral and we looked around at some fish, when we looked back we couldn’t see the octopus. When we looked really closely we found it’s eye, and then could see it’s outline against the coral – if we hadn’t known it was there, the camoflauge would have hidden it entirely. It was amazing how quickly it changed colour and blended in to its environment.

Caitlin joined us as we headed back to shore (much easier swimming across the current when I had two hands available) and we went back out to the stacks. We didn’t see the octopus this time but saw lots more amazing fish. It’s cool having the 3 of us swimming together as we all see different things and point them out to each other, so we each see more than when we go alone. Swimming back to shore I saw what looked like a sucker in a hole on the bottom, and swam back around to look, Caitlin following me – there was an octopus curled up in this little hole in the rocks, we couldn’t see much of him but it was pretty cool. Right near the edge I saw an eye in a hole and was able so show LiAM this time as well – another octopus in a hole, amazing how we could swim right over so many things and not know they were there, unless you happen to look the right way.

Millie and Tony came in for one last snorkel before the water got too shallow. Swimming around with LiAM and Millie, we saw the octopus closest to the shore had come out of his hole, and was sitting on the ocean floor. LiAM and I got a good look, Millie was having a bit of trouble with the swell so close to shore and wasn’t sure what we were looking at, so didn’t see the octopus. We had another quick look around and then reluctantly got out. Every time I am in the water snorkeling there is no other place I want to be, I could stay in there for hours and never get sick of looking at the fish going about their business, and the incredible looking coral.

We dried off and drove back to our campsite. The sun was low in the sky now and made the ranges an amazing colour. Back at camp I wanted to try snorkeling off our beach, Caitlin was going to come with me then started chatting to a guy with a guitar, also from Victoria, so I went in by myself. There were a couple of fishermen on the floor (this part of the park is not a sanctuary, so fishing is allowed) and I didn’t go far out, so I felt safe enough snorkeling by myself. The water was cloudy near the shore, and fairly shallow as the tide was on it’s way out. I could see some submerged rocks just out from the point at the southern end of our beach, so I went to check them out. There were fish around, not lots but several angel fish and blue damsels and other little fish. It was hard to swim close enough to the rocks without getting in to very shallow water, so I just had a quick look around and then headed back to shore, feeling quite exhileratied and happy that I’d checked it out. Tony came down to the beach to have a look, and we had a bit of a chat then he went back to camp and I explored the rocks on foot, out of the water. There was another little beach just past the rocks to the south, and at the point where the rocks met the sand there were lots of completely moss covered rocks, low in the water and now being exposed by the low tide. I wandered around for a while and took lots of photos, very enjoyable.

Back at our tent we discussed our day with the camp hosts, and they invited us up to the tables overlooking the beach for happy hour – most of the campers head up there each evening to watch the sunset. We grabbed some drinks and went up to join the others. Our hosts were there, as well as the guy that Caitlin had been talking to, and his partner. There was another family there, with 4 kids – friends of the people we’d been next to at North Mandu, and that family had told each of us about each other, and we’d seen them briefly at the oyster stacks that afternoon. We started chatting, they are from Newcastle so it was cool to discuss a place we both knew well. It turns out that they are also homeschoolers – only the 2^nd full time homeschooling family we’ve met on our trip! We talked for ages, and all our kids played on the beach together (theirs are aged between 6 and 10. LiAM and the 10yo boy got on well, and Millie and the 6yo girl did as well. Caitlin and the other boys joined in whatever games were going on). All the other campers enjoyed watching so many kids play together on the beach, obviously having a lot of fun.

The sunset was magnificent, one of the best we’ve seen. As the sun approached the horizon we saw dolphins swimming through the lagoon. Caitlin raced down to the beach to show Millie, who looked up just in time to see one leap out of the water – we could tell she’d seen it because of the very excited dance she did on the edge of the water. We watched them swim past for ages, leaping out of the water and obviously playing together. Once they had moved on and the sun was down, the clouds kept getting more and more orange and spectacular, it was a wonderful sight and quite nice to share it with everyone else who was there.

Once it was dark we headed back down to the tent and Tony cooked some dinner – a tuna and rice dish, wrapped in rice paper rolls. We looked at the fish book some more and I finished setting up the beds. We were all feeling pretty relaxed and tired and happy. LiAM dropped some food on the ground and then saw a little shape run past his chair. A little while later another shape ran across our carpet. We turned more lights on and after a while saw a little furry mouse-like animal scamper out from under a chair, then ran back in when it saw us looking at it. Over the next half an hour or so we had about 4 of these guys scampering and hopping around our camp – they were so cute, with big round ears, plump little bodies and incredibly long tails. Sometimes they ran on all fours and sometimes they hopped. One of them found a big crust of bread behind a chair and hopped out with it – Caitlin could only see the bread and said it was hilarious to see this crust hopping across the ground. I scared the little guy by chasing him and he dropped the crust (I didn’t want him eating it) and soon after that they all disappeared. I wasn’t sure what they were called, but we were positive they were little native marsupials.

It was a clear night and as more people turned off their lights in their vans we could see more and more stars – probably the most we’ve seen anywhere. We could clearly see the milky way all the way down to the horizon, that rarely happens. We’d noticed here that the ocean seems so much bigger, with low headlands the view to north and south of the ocean is massive, and it was the same with the sky – with the dunes and the ranges being so low, there is nothing to block the horizon and it felt like we were in a huge dome, with the ceiling covered in stars. We saw lots of shooting stars too – I only saw a couple, but Tony and Caitlin saw 8 or 9. It was a beautiful night. Tony sat in a chair behind our tent, away from all the lights, and watched the sky for ages.

Eventually we headed in to bed and read for a while then dropped off to sleep.

Half-lap Day 61: Kununurra -> Ord River

Even though I’d sorted a lot of our stuff the day before, pack up seemed to take ages this morning. We didn’t rush it, and there was still a lot to organise, but we were close to done by about 10.30. The kids spent the morning playing with all their friends, most of whom were also packing up and leaving today. They played hide-and-seek for ages,  and did a bit of painting, until the others were ready to go. Then the 5 year old boy came over to our tent and they boys played on the iPad and the girls watched or played their own games.

Caitlin’s thumb was still swollen and bruised and had given her a lot of pain overnight, so she hadn’t slept well. I figured out a way to make a splint from some of the bamboo skewers we’d bought to do painting with, and I was able to strap it more securely. I’d just finished doing her thumb and went to put a tub in the car. I caught my finger between the edge of the tub lid and the wall of car as I dropped it into place. I thought ‘ooh, that hurt!’ and then noticed blood splashed across the back of the seat, and I was suddenly very worried about how bad it might be. A quick glance at my finger showed a long line that looked like a cut and a lot of blood. I called Tony over to help and he got some wound care stuff ready. When I was finally brave enough to look at my finger it wasn’t as bad as I’d thought – I’d just taken the skin off from near the tip of the finger to the first knuckle, so it was long but not deep at all. We bandaged it up and I was able to get on with packing.

The kids had wanted to have one more swim in the great pool before we left, so once we were nearly packed I took them over to the pool. It was hot by now and the pool felt fantastic. Tony joined us just as we were getting out, and Millie went back in with him, while I finished off getting everything in the car in the right spot (eg we have our chargers in the back, attached to the battery pack, when we are camping, and in the front, using the front cigarette lighter, when we are travelling.) When Millie got out of the pool she wanted a shower, and took a while to find one that had the right kind of water pressure – seeing as we’ll probably be free camping the next couple of nights we figured it was a good idea to let her have a decent shower while she could. Tony made some sandwiches for everyone and then we left the caravan park.

In town we stopped for milk and to get some oil and radiator fluid for the car, then on the way out of town we stopped at a banana farm and bought some lovely tree-ripened bananas, and a bag of cucumbers. Then we were finally on our way further west, around 1pm. We ate some of the cucumbers on the way – the juiciest and freshest we’ve ever had!

The scenery was different yet again as we headed along the highway. This time there were huge escarpments and mountains on either side of the road (not always close, but always there. The trees were even more sparse than previously, although there were still a lot of boab trees. We saw lots of very rocky hills and some with smoother, larger rocks on them. The highway was well maintained but only just 2 lanes wide, and there were several one lane bridges that we crossed – had to give way a few times to traffic coming the other way. We crossed lots of dry river beds – some with trees bent almost horizontal, the water flow must be phenomenal in the wet!

One lane bridge

Looks like the water flow is strong in this river during the wet season

We were planning on driving to Halls Creek, but when we started looking at the available free camps in the area, the only ones with toilets, and accessible via sealed road, were 100km before or after Halls Creek. We didn’t want to pay over $30 to stay in a caravan park just for a quick stop, and we’d left later than we’d planned, so we decided to stop at the Leycester Rest Area, 100km from Halls Creek, which we reached around 3.30pm.

We found a spot in the shade, right next to another caravan – they said it was fine for us to set up there. We put the tent up pretty quickly, then sat and had a chat to our neighbours. I took the girls up the hill to the toilets – these ones were hybrids, so composting toilets but with a flap over the hole, and a button to stand on to flush some water through and drop the contents into the hole (a bit like an aeroplane or train toilet). The kids were pleased, these were less disgusting and smelly than a regular drop toilet. On our way back down to the tent we saw a large cow wandering past our car (which explained why the rock I’d kicked out of the way of the tent earlier was so light – it was dried cow dung). There were 4 or 5 cows and bulls hanging around the campsite, just eating grass and ignoring everybody. The ground here was dry (although easy enough to put tent pegs in) and covered in sparse yellow grass, and full of prickles. Even LiAM decided to wear thongs because the thorns were painful.

I took LiAM up to the toilet then he and I walked down to the Ord River. There was a blocked-off causeway across the river bed, and we wandered over it. The river was almost completely dry, just a handful of deep pools of water right up against the causeway wall. We watched the fish in them for a while, and marveled at how wide and varied the river bed was. There were areas with rocks, some with boulders, some just sand. Some of the trees were on raised ground which I imagine would be islands, some were growing straight out of the river bed. It’s amazing to think that this is what the Ord used to look like all along it’s length in the dry season, before Lake Argyle was created.

Caitlin’s thumb had been getting steadily more painful through the day, and by the time dinner was ready she was curled up on her chair, shivering and miserable. She seemed like she was in shock from the pain. I gave her some pain killers and we tried to get her to eat something but nothing appealed – eventually she had a banana. She curled up with me while I ate dinner (pasta, bacon and tomatoes), then I got the beds set up so she could get to sleep. I also had a glass of wine - the first wine we've had for several weeks, it was so lovely! We all walked up to toilets together, and while Caitlin was waiting for us she saw 7 shooting stars! The stars tonight were the clearest and brightest we’ve seen yet, just phenomenal to look out. No moon, and 100km from the nearest town, and a clear, cool night – perfect conditions I guess.

We packed up our stuff in case the cows came wandering through, then negotiated who was going to sleep where – Caitlin was really not well and we figured she’d be better off in the big bed. I ended up sleeping on the little green bed, which was much more comfortable than I’d expected. With my head down the end of the tent, where the wall slopes, I could look straight up through the window and see the stars, which was very cool.

Half-lap Day 28: Alice Springs -> Devils Marbles

Packing up after 4 nights can always seem like a big job, but we are getting better all the time at knowing what order to do things in and how to fit everything in to the car and trailer. The couple parked next to us were in a big motor home, and as he washed the outside of it very carefully, the guy seemed amazed and a bit dubious about our efforts to pack it all up and be on our way this morning. We had everything done by 10.30.

We stopped for petrol and then headed north for a long day of driving.  Listening to Harry Potter really helps the time pass quickly. We stopped once to check something and I got out and looked at the ruins of an old well – there are many of these stone wells from the 19^th Century which were built as the country was explored, allowing more people to come out and travel the area, and be able to find water more easily. We saw some telegraph stations as we drove past, and were impressed with some of the hills and escarpments we saw – the land was much hillier here than the Stuart Highway to the south of Alice Springs. We ate lunch in the car (tuna on saladas) as we drove. There still weren’t many animals to be seen, although we did see several dead cows by the side of the road.

We pulled in to Wycliffe Well for very cheap petrol – about 30c per litre cheaper than in Alice Springs! This is apparently the UFO Centre of Australia, there have been UFO sightings here and the service station and caravan park are done up like alien spaceships and there are alien references and souvenirs everywhere. I used a very dodgy toilet near the servo then discovered there were better ones inside. The kids explored a little then we got back in the car for a bit longer until we reached Devil’s Marbles (a drive of 413km from Alice, our longest driving day so far).

We had made good time and were at the Devils Marbles by around 3. The campground behind the rocks was filling up but we found a great spot in the corner, which would soon be in the shade of some of the rocks. It was very hot and it was hard work setting up the tent/waiting for it to be set up, but once it was up there was great shade along the back of it so we put the chairs there and everyone had a cold drink. We made good use of our new neck coolers too and they did help cool down the whole body.

We had a quick wander through the marbles – amazing rock formations, then Tony drove back 10km to Wauchope to see if he could watch the Collingwood game at the pub. The game was on and he enjoyed watching it and seeing some of the local station owners come in for a drink – Collingwood lost though which was disappointing.

The kids and I wandered a bit more through the rocks and found a good sunset watching position, then hung out at the tent for a while. Tony arrived as we were going back to watch the sunset, so he was able to come with us. Millie rode her scooter. The light on the rocks was beautiful, so red and bright, and the view was incredible whichever way we looked.

We saw a truck pull into the day use rest area – it had a tractor and other vehicles stacked on it, Tony was very impressed with the stacking job. I wandered closer to see if I could get a photo of it for my nephew, and had a good chat to one of the drivers. They were moving the equipment for someone moving from Horsham to Darwin. We talked about driving the Stuart Highway, living in different places, and horses. Caitlin rode her bike over to find me and she and the driver had a good chat about horses and The Man From Snowy River. We walked/rode back to our camp in the dark, and had to pause to let a herd of cows cross our path and then run through the Devils Marbles.

We had burgers for tea and sat outside for a while marveling at the stars – the moon has been too bright most nights for us to see all the stars, but this night was dark and clear and incredible. I took a few photos using the tripod but had trouble getting it quite right. It was warm enough to sleep with the windows open, cool to be able to lie in bed and see the stars up above us.