Brisbane Trip Day 29: Newcastle -> Sydney

I wanted to make sure that I saw the girls and their Dad before they left for school and work so that I could say goodbye, so when I woke quite early I didn’t try to go back to sleep. I had enough time to go for a walk and this time went straight to the granny pool for a swim. The sky was grey and there was a light breeze blowing in from the ocean – the feel and smell of the air reminded me so much of swimming at Merewether Baths on a cloudy morning. The water was cool and refreshing and got to about chest deep near the gap in the wall, where the water flows in from the channel. I swam around for about 10 minutes then went back to the house to say goodbye and thanks for letting us stay.

After I’d had some breakfast I chatted to Tony for a while, then Caitlin said that the oldest cousin had missed her bus. I drove her to school (which also gave the girls a bit more time together) and then stopped at Woolworths on the way back to get some more bread and milk. The bridge was up again as we left Swansea. At home I was just about to start packing when Tony rang again, it was great to have a chat of more than a few minutes with him.

I didn’t start packing until 9.40, then had everything done, ready to go by 11.40 which I was very happy with.  I was hot and sweaty so had a cold shower and got changed, we checked that we had all our stuff and were on our way by just after 12.

We stopped for petrol at Doyalson – last year I’d bought a Pokemon DVD at this petrol station so Amelie wanted to see if they had more. There weren’t any DVDs that interested her, she and Liam bought some chocolate. The drive down to Sydney was fairly easy, there was a lot of traffic but it mainly kept moving. Getting through to Leichhardt had a few moments of tricky traffic with the trailer on, but we made it fine. As I approached our friends’ house I saw a parking spot about 2 ½ cars long, in front of a boat. It was long enough for me to drive into it, then reverse back at bit and wiggle back and forth to get the trailer fairly straight (and mainly off the cycle lane). It was only a few houses away from where we were staying so I was very pleased with the spot.

Our friends weren’t home until after work, so we had some lunch at the car, then walked down to the Light Rail station at Lilyfield. We stopped on the way to buy Opal cards, and I bought a scratchie as well which we did at the station – we didn’t win anything but the kids enjoyed scratching it. The train was very crowded and took a long time to get to Central. Once there we caught a regular train to Circular Quay – we sat upstairs which was exciting for kids used to Melbourne, single level, trains (and I always love catching Sydney trains). Getting off the train at Circular Quay we had a great view over the Quay, the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. We stood at the edge of the platform and looked at the view, and noticed a street artist down on the path below – he was completely dressed and painted in gold, and appeared to be hovering in mid air – he had one hand resting on top of a pole, and was sitting cross legged about a metre off the ground. We headed downstairs to see if we could see how he was doing it, but he was packing up by the time we got there. From what we could see, the pole was firmly anchored in a base plate, but there was no other support – so we think he was balancing just on the strength of his arm on the pole.

We wandered around to the Opera House, looking at the markers showing the 1788 waterline. We admired a street artist’s painting of the harbour and gave him some money. At the Opera House we sat on the ledge around the edge of the point and looked at the Bridge, the boats and ferries going past, and the sails of the Opera House. We walked across the base of the steps and went down to the pontoon at Man-of-war steps, Amelie didn’t like being on the moving pontoon, so she played with some soft, sparkly sand on the path back on dry land. Caitlin and Liam had a look around, then we walked back up the Opera Houses steps and sat on one of the sloping parts in front of a window. It was tempting to run up to the top of the slope but there was a sign saying not to, so we sat at the bottom and looked at all the different aspects of the sails that we could see from there. We went over and touched some of the tiles and looked at the different patterns and how different they looked from a distance compared to up close.

Amelie wanted to see the Botanic Gardens so we wandered over there and the kids played around a sculpture of mother earth, Caitlin climbed a fig tree, and we went to look at gazebo that was installed recently, which had lots of symbolism about the colonial impact of Governor Macquarie and his wife. It was a gorgeous sunny afternoon so the backdrop was incredible, with the harbour and boats and bridge always in sight.

We wandered back towards the station, stopping briefly to share a cup of delicious lemon sorbet. We got to the platform just in time to jump on a train – one of the newer ones that I don’t think I’ve been on before. We admired the old fashioned style of Museum station as we went through, then got off the train at Central. The light rail train was just pulling in as we arrived at the platform, we were able to get on and get seats this time. The trip back seemed much quicker, and we wandered up the hill in much cooler temperatures, just before sunset.

Our friends were sitting on the front steps waiting for us when we arrived. We had a drink of water then sat out the back for a while and the kids played tennis with small plastic rackets, until the mozzies got too bad. We had delicious pizza for dinner and all the kids got on well. (Our friends’ 2 kids and another friend of theirs who was sleeping over). The younger kids played with loom bands for a while and did some puzzles, Caitlin sat with the adults and we played a game called Love Letters. The boys played Uno then started to watch our game, and we switched out players so that everyone had a turn. My host and I had a cocktail and it was a fun night, full of laughter and catching up.

Half-lap Day 89: Coral Bay -> Edagee

I was woken once by people being loud in the carpark near the overflow area, then again by someone’s alarm going off in a nearby tent. I thought perhaps someone had set their alarm to get up early to pack up, so was going to get up myself – I looked at the time and it was only 3.45. I spent a while trying to get back to sleep and eventually drifted off and woke up again around 6.30. Tony and I got up, I got a cup of tea and we agreed to wake the kids around 7. Tony took the dishes over to the camp kitchen to wash them, and I woke the kids. All we had to pack up were the chairs and all the bedding, and we did it easily in about 45 minutes once the kids were out of bed. We folded the tent up and put the solar panels, table, annex roofs and walls, rubber mat and the bikes on top of the trailer, then had it hitched up by 8am. A very quick and impressive pack up, and great to know that we really can do it when we need to.

We drove across to the information centre which had parking out the front, and had some breakfast out of the back of the car. Caitlin and I wandered over and chatted to the guy at the info centre, finding out about the best places to snorkel, and looking at the fish charts they had there – he said they were hard to find and he didn’t have any to sell. I might try and get one online when we get home, to put up on our wall.

Millie wanted Nutri Grain for breakfast, and all our Nutri Grain was packed in the back of the trailer. After she had something else to take the edge off her hunger, she and I walked up to the supermarket to see if we could buy some more. It was $8 for a small box, so I suggested we look and see if there was anything else she’d like. She decided on a packet of mentos in pink lemonade flavour, which were not exorbitantly priced, so we were both happy. We also bought some cheap (but good quality) milk and some salami on special. Caitlin walked over to our friend’s van to pick up our computer and camera battery, which they’d charged for us overnight, and they said they’d meet us on the beach once they were packed up. 

We moved down to the carpark at the end of the road, right next to the beach. The girls ran up the hill to a little whale watching lookout, and we all walked down to the beach and put our stuff under a little shelter that was on the edge of the sand (there were a few corrugated iron shelters dotted along the beach, a very good idea). The beach looked incredible. The tide was going out, and the first 20m or so of water was very shallow, only ankle deep, and absolutely clear, we could see the sand in detail through the water. It was glistening and shining and looked so inviting. As the water got deeper (there was a sudden point where the sand sloped off) it was bluer, and then a very dark blue quite quickly because of all the coral underneath. We walked around for a while in the shallow water and had a look around the red rocks at the end of the point. It was beautiful around the other side of the rocks as well.

The guy had suggested we walk around the rocks and enter the water further down, then drift back to the main bay – but there was a bit of a wind blowing from the north and it really looked as if the current was going the opposite way to what he’d suggested. Tony went in for a snorkel in the bay, and said he saw some cool coral and fish. By the time he came out our friends had joined us. Neither of the kids wanted to snorkel, and Millie didn’t either, so we left the 2 girls in the charge of the big brother, and the rest of us went into the water.

The coral started only a few metres from where the sand sloped down into deeper water. At first there were patches of sand between the coral, then they thinned out and soon the entire bay floor was covered in coral, and we were snorkeling a metre or 2 above it. There was more of the fairy light coral here, as well as lots of types that we hadn’t seen before, lots that looked like big heads of lettuce, some fuzzy coral, lot of different colours. It was even more of a different world that what we’d seen up at Cape Range. There were fish too, parrot fish and angel fish and blue damsels, coral trout, lots of little fish in the anemones, and LiAM and I saw a Painted Flutemouth, a very long thin yellow fish.

We decided to try to swim out to Ayers Rock, a very large bommie coral out in the middle of the bay, that apparently has lots of fish around it. The information guy had told me it was bout 30m to the left of a black and white mooring, and in  line with the last 2 wind turbines on the point. Caitlin was a bit nervous about how deep the water might get out there, but swam with our friend and was willing to give it a go. LiAM swam next to me and was able to do most of it without help. We enjoyed the coral and the fish all the way out there, then started looking around in the area we thought it might be. I was looking further out than the others, and noticed a slight disturbance in the gentle waves – looking under water I could see a large mound coming almost to the surface (at low tide it is visible above the water). I called out ‘It’s over here’ – we all swam to it and around it, and it was pretty amazing. Lots of fish swimming around and the size of it means that it was really, really old. Over a thousand years probably. Coral all around too, so pretty and somewhere we could have stayed for ages. While we were looking at it lots of other snorkelers arrived as well – my friend thinks they probably heard me yell out and everyone came swimming.

We headed back to shore, looking up every now and then to make sure we were swimming in the right direction. Caitlin managed fine in the deep water, it didn’t scare her at all. LiAM held my hand for some of the swim back, we’d gone out a long way, although it wasn’t a difficult swim, it was further than he’d swum in one go before. More beautiful coral and fish on the way back in, we were all so so glad we’d made the effort to go in for a snorkel, it made the trip in off the highway, the expensive overflow camping, the saltwater showers, the early start all worthwhile.

The kids played in the sand together, Caitlin was buried by her friend and the little girls built sandcastles and played games about lost sisters and so on. I asked Millie if she wanted to go in to see the amazing coral, and she was happy to have a go. Her friend was going to come too but decided not to once she got to the water. Millie came in with me and we swam around not far from the sloping sand, there was still so much to see within a few metres. Some black and white striped fish (possibly sergeant fish) swam up to Millie’s face mask and nearly touched it, that was pretty exciting. We had surfaced and were readjusting our masks when Millie saw a pelican swim between us and the shallow water – it was so close to us and quite exciting to essentially be swimming with it. It swam right along the shoreline and lots of people came running down from the beach to see it up close, including all the rest of the kids with us, but we had the best view.

We got out and the kids played a bit more, we said goodbye to our friends – they are going inland for a few days while we are heading along the coast, so we probably won’t see them again until after we’re both back home. It’s been really great getting to know them and spending so much time with them. They left and we had a bit of a snack then got ourselves organised and changed and headed off ourselves.

We drove down towards Carnarvon, through more desert type terrain. We saw wild goats, something we haven’t seen from the road so far on this trip. Approaching Carnarvon we saw lots of banana plantations – none of them were open though so we couldn’t pop in and get some bananas. We drove into town and filled up with petrol, then drove through the town to have a look. I’d hoped to find a department store here to replace Millie’s carseat and get a few other things – apparently the Target closed permanently in July and now there is no department store. The town looked interesting, lots of very old buildings and interestingly laid out.

We drove out to see the mile long jetty. There was a little railway museum there, which was free. Trains used to bring people from town out to the jetty – to work and for pleasure I guess. It was a very busy port in the 1800s and early 1900s. We walked up to the top of the old water tower which gave great views of the jetty and surrounding area. The land here is very low and there would be lots more water around at very high tides and after a lot of rain. Apparently they’ve had a lot of trouble keeping the river out of the town when it floods. We looked around at the trains in the museum and at some of the boating history of the area, all very interesting.

We drove back to the township and the kids and I played at a cool playground along the harbour shore, while Tony went to the supermarket. The foreshore has been done up quite nicely, and the old train line out to the jetty is a footbridge across the harbour and then a walking track out to the jetty.

We left Carnarvon around 4.30, heading for a free camp further south. There were a couple near the coast that had been recommended to us – one required a chemical toilet, and they both said to check tide charts because they were low lying, they were also at the end of dirt roads. Given that we weren’t going to get in until around 5.30, close to sunset, we decided to play it safe and stop at a 24 hour stop a bit further along, just next to the highway. We arrived with plenty of light to find a spot and set up. We’d been vaguely worried that it would be full, but there were several sites still available (and 4 or 5 people arrived after us and found a spot.) There was large, flat dirt area with enough room for car and trailer. We decided to try leaving the trailer hitched seeing as it was just a quick stop. This meant we had to sleep the other way around on our bed, as the trailer was sloping down a bit, which felt weird but was not a problem.

We set up the tent (only takes us about 20 minutes now to get everything off and the tent up) and explored the area. We saw the couple that we’d talked to in Exmouth the day before, and had a bit of a chat to them. The sunset was quite pretty over the low scrub. Tony cooked rissoles and eggs for dinner and we had hamburgers. Everyone was pretty tired so we headed to bed as quickly as we could and read Inheritance for a while. We were camped quite close to the road and the trucks were pretty loud as they passed by – everyone was tired enough that they fell asleep despite the noise.

Half-lap Day 75: Port Hedland

It wasn’t as cold this morning, and it was beautiful again sitting under the gum trees and having breakfast, exploring the site and taking it easy. We got ready and headed off to Port Hedland around 10am. There were some interesting rock features from time to time on the drive there, otherwise the land was mainly flat. We crossed the railway line that LiAM and I had seen the day before, and saw a few mining areas. We also saw some wedge-tailed eagles – a couple in the air and one on the ground. We hadn’t seen one since before Mataranka and we were all thrilled. As always we were astounded at how big they are.

Coming in to Port Hedland things were suddenly busy and there were trucks and mining cars everywhere. We passed the airport and saw several areas with demountable accommodation, assumedly for the mining workers. We decided to go in to the Port first and were heading in on that road when I remembered that we’d been going to go to a camping store first so that we could get a new fuse for the fridge cord, and the store we wanted was in South Hedland. We decided to check out the Port first then come back later.

As we drove in we saw a very large hill of salt with a large digger driving around on it, I’d heard about these salt piles but it was even more incredible to see in reality. The salt was near the railway bridge, and as we approached one of the kilometre+ long trains was driving underneath. It had a 44 and 43 class engine on the front, and we drove alongside it for a long time, seeing the 2 similar engines in the middle and then another long line of empty cars. I’ve wanted to see these trains since I worked at BHP in my early 20s, so I was incredibly excited. We drove past BHP Billiton Iron Ore, the entry way and the works reminded me a lot of the steel works in Newcastle, I was feeling quite nostalgic and excited at the same time.

We followed the signs to the town centre and did a quick cruise around the block, seeing the impressive Esplanade Hotel – 3 stories of sandstone bricks, with a dark railing around the balconies on the top 2 floors. It took up all of one side of a block – a massive and beautiful building. We parked near the port and wandered out on to the little viewing jetty. As we’d approached there was a large ship coming in, and we saw one being put into position along one of the wharves. It was amazing to watch the tugs maneuver this massive ship into place so easily. We could see ships out on the horizon and 3 berthed across on the other side of the (fairly narrow) port. I was a bit nervous on the jetty as it was just iron lattice, and the railings were just 2 horizontal bars. We  went to the lower level of the jetty – even less railing and much closer to the water (which was at low tide) and we didn’t stay down there long.

We walked down to the Information Centre and got info on all the things to do in Port Hedland, as well as about Karajini National Park where we will be headed next. We bought a 4 week National Parks Pass which should cover us for the rest of our time in WA. Millie had wanted to come to this Visitor’s Centre because her friend from home who we’d seen in Broome had bought a toy turtle here, and she wanted to buy one too. We found the turtle and I suggested getting a smaller (cheaper) one, and she decided to buy both of them. They are pretty cute and she later offered to share the small one with LiAM if he gives her half the money, he was happy to do that.

Back to the car and we drove out to South Hedland to the camping store. We saw some more trains on our way out over the bridge. The guy there said that he didn’t sell the fuses we needed – it would be best to go to Pilbara Motor Group, way back in Port Hedland, not far from the Visitor’s Centre. So we drove back in and found the place he talked about, Tony popped in and bought the fridge, put it in the cord – and the fridge started working again, hooray!!! Because it is so well insulated and we didn’t open it much once we realised it was off, all the food stayed pretty cold and we didn’t lose anything.

We drove back out to the railway bridge and sat at the viewing area at the base of it to have our lunch. Caitlin dropped her phone on the concrete as we arrived and smashed her screen. We said we’d get a screen protector for it as soon as we went shopping that afternoon, and she wasn’t too upset. A train came past as we were getting our food out, so we rang my Dad and chatted to him while it went past, he was excited about it as well. We also talked to my Mum and nephew, he was thrilled to talk to LiAM and the girls. A few trains went past as we ate, all of them loaded with iron ore, and with only one set of engines (shorter than the train we’d seen on our first pass over the bridge). We had a great view of the salt hill too, with the huge road trains coming in to collect the salt and take it to the port – the big digger scooped up salt and dropped into the trailers – 2 scoops into each of the 3 trailers, then that truck would leave and another would arrive. There was rarely a break for the digger.

After we’d eaten another train came through so we ran up to the lookout at the top of the bridge to watch the train pass underneath it, which was pretty cool. We had an even better view of the salt pile here too. It was so white, and a great contrast against the blue sky. There were lots of road trains of all types thundering over the bridge. We’d only occasionally seen 4-trailer road trains so far (most of them had had 3) but here, 4 was as common as 3. Everything just seems bigger in Port Hedland.

We packed up and headed towards Woolworths, and as we drove along next to the line there was an empty train headed out, with the engines in the middle again. I counted 132 wagons between the 2 sets of engines, and it looked about the same number beyond the 2^nd wagons.

There was a phone repair place next to Woolworths, so we decided to get Caitlin’s screen fixed as it was a pretty serious smash. We went in to get groceries for our trip to Karajini, this will be our last chance to shop before then. Millie wasn’t really enjoying shopping to Tony took her back out to the car and the rest of us finished it off. The girl at the checkout put only 2-4 things in each bag when she packed them, so I think we now have enough plastic bags to use for our rubbish bin for the rest of the trip!

Next stop was the foreshore where it’s possible to see turtles at high tide. We weren’t going to get a high tide before the sun set, but as the tide was coming in it was worth checking out anyway (I figured they didn’t just turn up exactly at the moment the tide was highest). There was a walkway along the foreshore, then an area of honeycomb rock which then formed a small cliff down to the water. There was still a bit of sand between cliff and water when we arrived, Caitlin and LiAM climbed down and found some shells, then came back up and we wandered along the top. There were bits of seaweed in the water which at first looked like turtles, but no other signs of life at this stage. It was so beautiful to be there though – the sun was low in the sky which made the honeycomb rocks glow red and cast interesting shadows. The waves were rolling in and splashing and to the east it was a gorgeous coastline. To the west we could see all the port equipment silhouetted against the setting sun. To the north we could see all the ships on the horizon. (The coastline here faces north). We sat near the edge of the cliff for a while and watched the water, then Tony took the kids to the playground. I stayed and simply enjoyed watching the waves and the shadows and the increasing tide and the port. Caitlin came back over after a while and I was thinking I’d be saying ‘I haven’t seen any turtles yet’ – and then a turtle popped it’s head out of the water! From that point on I saw them fairly regularly – just a large, dark, round head popping up for a couple of seconds – very hard to take a photo off as they were so quick and could come up anywhere, but very exciting. Caitlin soon saw them as well, and we called the others over.

It took a while for each successive person to see them, and we showed a few other people where the turtles were too. Eventually everyone except Millie had seen one – I had managed to get a photo finally, and when I showed it to her she said ‘oh – I’ve seen those, I didn’t know that was what we were looking for!’ Very occasionally we also saw a flipper, and once one swam by close enough and on the right angle that we could see its shell and flippers as well. Beautiful Flatback Turtles and a very exciting way to spend the evening.

Flat-backed turtle

Once the sun was down we got our hot chook out of the car and had a picnic tea, although soon moved back into the car because the mosquitoes were so bad. We drove back into town because I wanted to see the port at night. We went back out on the jetty – it looked so different at high tide – and watched some tugs moving around, then walked along the Esplanade where we could peer through the security fences and see different parts of the port. I love that night time industrial noise and look – just a dull hum and bright lights which suggest lots of busyness. Walking past the Esplanade Hotel we heard a loud engine of some sort start up – after a while Caitlin said ‘Helicopter!’ and she was right, a few minutes later we saw it appear from behind the building near us and head out towards the ocean – I’d say taking a pilot out to bring a ship in. I always find it very exciting to see a helicopter suddenly appear at low altitude like that.

The walk was very well signposted and decorated and was enjoyable even at night. From the end of the road we could see the salt trucks dumping their load – once we got back to the car we drove around there to see it more closely. They opened a flap at the bottom of their triangle shaped trailers and the salt poured into a big hopper, then along a conveyor belt and up high where it was poured onto another massive hill of salt, ready to be loaded on to the ships. It was incredible to watch.

We drove back out to our campsite (having to stop once to avoid 2 large cows in the middle of the highway) and got back around 8.30. Everyone was exhausted so we went straight to bed and read a quick chapter of Inheritance.

Half-Lap Day 16: Coober Pedy -> SA/NT Border

Most mornings when I wake up it’s still dark, and it’s only the birdsong that I can hear that indicates it’s nearly dawn. In Coober Pedy however there was no early morning birdsong – I guess with hardly any trees there are very few birds. Throughout the morning we saw one small flock of galahs (about 4) and a couple of other lone birds, it wasn’t until we headed further north that we started to see more, and even then it was only 1 or 2 at a time, and usually raptors of some sort.

After a quick cup of tea and blog writing we started packing up just after 7am. Getting the annex down was easier than last time – it’s going to become easier and easier I guess as we figure out the best way to do things. As the kids woke up they had breakfast and headed over to the underground room. We were packed up by 10 – a record for a full pack up. We nearly got it down before the flies arrived – probably about 9.30 they started coming in large numbers and the car doors were all open so we left with a car full of flies – we gradually opened the windows and shooed them out throughout the day.

We stopped in town to grab a few more groceries (the IGA didn’t have any bread the day before) and to fill up our water containers – out here the caravan parks and camping areas ask you not to fill containers from their water supply, as there is only limited water around. In Coober Pedy there were water filling stations – 30L for 20c, which was about what we needed!

On our way out of town we got more of an idea of how far the opal minefields were spread around town, and saw signs to more and more fields as we drove. I had wanted to see The Breakaways and the Moon Plain but couldn’t find consistent information on whether the road would be suitable for 2WD cars, and so we thought that with the trailer on as well it was unlikely the road would be ok. We decided to check out the road when we got there – and as it turned it, the road was closed, so the decision was made for us. We did see the dingo fence as it crossed the highway a bit further north – a very sturdy fence that covers thousands of kilometres and was built to keep dingoes out of the pasture land of the southern states.

The landscape outside Coober Pedy

We arrived in Marla a few hours later and stopped at the roadhouse for lunch and to stretch our legs. The Oodnadatta Track finishes here, so we got to drive on a few metres of the end of it (this bit was sealed – looking up the road it isn’t long until the bitumen stops. Would love to drive it one day, but not in this car!) We made a cup of tea and sandwiches and chatted to a guy who had just cycled the Oodnadatta track, Caitlin was inspired and is thinking about the cycle trips she would like to do in the future.

Heading further north, and listening to more Harry Potter, the landscape kept changing. At times there was grass and the foliage was quite green. There was even water in some of the depressed areas of land. All the creeks were dry though. As we drove the creeks became wider, and the dirt became redder. Occasionally there were hills or escarpments, for the most part the land was flat. We followed the railway line for a while and saw a couple of long long trains. The Road Trains we saw seemed more imposing than those further south – these mainly had 3 full container trailers, so they were more solid than the early ones we saw, they tended to be tanks or flat beds.

We arrived at the border to the Northern Territory around 4.30. The kids have now been in every Australian state or territory. There’s a rest stop with free camping right on the border. On the northbound side of the highway it’s all bitumen, which doesn’t make for an easy camper trailer set up. I’d read about bush camping on the southbound side of the highway – we missed the turnoff at first but came back and found a 2 wheel track leading through the trees. It was a bit damp but solid enough to drive on. Beyond the trees there were cleared areas where we could set up camp. At first we were the only people here, another couple in a campervan arrived after a while and set up at the opposite end to us, and that was it. The other side was full. We set up on red dirt, thinking we were in the northern territory, then realised we were probably still on the South Australian side of the rest area – happy to spend one last night in SA. The kids had fun running and riding from one state/territory to another. This is probably the closest we’ll get to the actual centre of Australia too – it’s a bit over to the east and slightly north of us (about 130km).

Caitlin riding from the Northern Territory back into South Australia

We explored the area around us – lots of ants nests of different types, scrubby trees, a fenced pasture next to us. The toilet was over on the paved side, but it wasn’t far to walk over if we needed it. Tony and Caitlin rode their bikes over when they wanted to use it. The noise of the road trains hurtling past was much louder on the paved side – I’m glad we chose the more sheltered side.

Tony cooked fried rice with eggs and bacon and the kids and I played Cheat. Millie hadn’t played before and picked up the rules quickly. The sunset was spectacular again – I kept thinking it was as good as it could be, and then it would get better! After dinner the kids played a game where they had to create ads for products and the others had to judge the ad, they played for ages. Millie had a great ‘ad voice’ – I think she could sell anything!

We did a minimal set up in the tent again, LiAM in his bed and the girls on their camping mattresses, and read Brisingr until Millie fell asleep, then the others played on their iPads until they were tired enough to sleep.