Brisbane Trip Day 34: Melbourne -> Bimbi Park

We all slept pretty well and were up in the morning to play with the kids and chat to my sister before getting ready to move on. I thought about unhitching and going to Aldi, then decided we'd just shop on the way. We left around 10.30 and headed through Melbourne, aiming for Colac. I noticed petrol was quite cheap but the service stations I saw were small and were going to be tricky to navigate with the trailer, so I decided to get top up after getting out of Melbourne.

We listened to Percy Jackson again and had a good run through Melbourne and out past Geelong. On the road to Colac we encountered roadworks and it became a very long trip along what is usually an easy, straight road. Eventually we arrived in Colac and stocked up on the groceries we would need for homeschool camp. While I was in the carpark I received a few phone calls and messages about Luna - she had been wandering overnight and had ended up with our neighbour, and another friend was looking for her to take her back to her place for a couple of days. I sorted that out as best I could, then went to get petrol, which was not cheap at all.

Heading out of Colac I was feeling a bit flustered as it was much later than I had hoped at this stage, and I followed a sign to The Great Ocean Road rather than following my GPS. I had planned to drive through Lavers Hill as this was the least windy road. We had been driving for a while, along a road that was pretty good, when I realised I had cut back across to the Skeynes Creek Road, which is the one I most wanted to avoid because of several hairpin bends and a steep descent to the ocean. By this stage it was too late to go back the other way so I decided to keep going and just take it easy. The wind was also quite strong and there were lots of small branches on the roads, which made driving a little more taxing.

The descent took a while (I took it slow) but it was manageable, and the tight turns were ok. I felt pretty good once I'd got to the bottom. There were great ocean views from time to time as we came down, and then we drove alongside the ocean for a while as we approached and left Apollo Bay. I was pretty tired by now and found the last little bit of the drive up to Cape Otway quite difficult. I drove fairly slow which was occasionally stressful when there were people behind me. As we drove down the Cape Otway road we came to more roadworks. While we were stopped, the lady with the Stop sign came along and pointed out some koalas to everybody, so most people got out of their cars to have a look. Back in the car we finally made it to Bimbi Park around 4pm.

I went to check in, and helped a friend negotiate the correct rate for her site (it defaulted to the base rate being for 2 adults, then added both children on to that price, rather than including the first child in the base rate). Caitlin wandered straight down to find her friends, and as I drove past the camp kitchen, Liam and Amelie jumped out to see friends as well. I drove down the back and found where I was camping with another friend, and he helped me get set up. Other friends were around as well and it was great to finally be there and get ready to relax for several days.

Once set up we wandered back to the kitchen for a quick meeting about the camp (mainly just asking us to be respectful of a visiting school group when they were praying), and saw a few more friends, then back to camp to finish getting organised - cook some dinner, have a cup of tea, chat with people as they wandered by. The kids were back and forth, playing with their friends and coming back to check in or eat every now and then. It was still very very windy which made things slightly less peaceful. I decided not to put my annex up until the wind died down, I did not want to spend all night worrying about it flying away. I chatted to my campsite friend until Amelie was ready for bed and then we went inside the tent, I read for a little while and then we tried to sleep and not get blown away.

Brisbane Trip Day 9: Coffs Harbour -> Byron Bay

It rained for most of the night so everything was pretty soggy in the morning. The leak near Liam's bed didn't get too bad which was a relief. There were a few hours where it looked like it was going to clear up, the sky was a bit lighter and there was some time without any rain falling. I booked our accommodation at Sea World and then started packing, trying to get as much done as possible before the rain started again. The last hour at least we were packing up in steady rain, and all ended up soaked through to the skin. We packed in a different order to try to keep things as dry as possible and it worked much better than usual. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to tow the trailer out because the ground was very wet and sandy, but it was fine. We drove down to the carpark and headed to the shower block to change into dry clothes and retrieve our washing from the dryer.

Once we were dry we headed down for one more look at the beach - the sun was trying to come through and the water was shiny and beautiful, a nice ending to our time in Coffs.

I found it a bit difficult driving with the rain coming and going, so it was a slow drive north. I hadn't driven beyond Coffs Harbour before so it was all new. A lot of the Pacific Highway is dual carriageway now and they are working on lots more of it. We saw a pretty spectacular bridge in the process of being built - it is going to be high enough to replace the current bridge which lifts up to let boats through. There were cranes and diggers on pontoons in the middle of the river, it was pretty cool. As we drove we listened to 'The Colour of Magic' by Terry Pratchett - it took the kids a while to get into it, now everyone is enjoying it and I'm pleased to be sharing this series and world with them. I stopped once for a cup of tea and once to retie some straps on the trailer and the short breaks helped me stay alert.

We arrived in Bryon Bay around 4pm and I was astounded at the number of people around - lots and lots of pedestrians and the traffic was heavy. I dropped the kids off at the information centre and drove back out of the main street to the free parking for long vehicles which was a block from the main street. Lots of people parked here and walked back through across the old railway track. The kids played in the park and we used the toilets and I rang around the caravan parks in town to see how much it would cost us to stay - the costs varied between $50/n and $95/n. I'd been trying to get in contact with the local football club who let people camp at the football ground - I couldn't find out how much they charged for kids. We decided to drive out there and check it out and if too expensive we'd come back to the cheapest caravan park. The grounds looked green and inviting and they said it would be $30/night, and there were toilets and hot showers and only a 5 minute drive back into town - so we decided to stay here.

It had started raining again while we were in town (we sat under a big tree while I made my phone calls and it kept off some of the rain) and it had settled in by the time we arrived at the football ground. Liam and Amelie decided to stay in the car and play on their iPods, and Caitlin braved the weather with me to set up. It was windy by now as well which added a whole extra challenge. We got the tent up - we'd left the annex roof attached and the tarp over the tent, which made putting the tent up much harder, but setting the annex and covering the roof much easier. It still took us a while to get everything tied down and in an optimal position for avoiding leaks - and we were soaked right through again. The inside of the tent was pretty damp, there was water in several corners. We set the beds up closer to the centre than usual, and put blankets and mats on the floor so that we didn't spread the water around, and it felt pretty cozy. Luckily the weather was warm despite the rain, so it wasn't completely uncomfortable.

We boiled the kettle and had cup-a-soup and noodles for dinner. There were lots of backpackers staying there as well and we chatted to a few of them (and lent one group a saucepan) and headed to bed as soon as we could.

Half-lap Day 101: Esperance

There was a fair amount of rain overnight, although the wind wasn’t too bad. It was cold and a bit hard to get out of bed, then everything was wet once we got outside. I spent a bit of time over in the kitchen, having a cup of tea and blogging and sorting out photos. Millie and Tony came over after a while so I could take Millie to the toilet. The three of us had our breakfast, and the other two had a bit of a sleep in. I had a lovely hot shower. Once everyone was up and had eaten we got ready to go out for the day. It was sunny by now and not quite as cold as it had been earlier in the morning. I handed our Census form in and then we set off to look around the area.

We drove through the town centre and along the foreshore, it has been done up nicely and we all wanted to come back later and have a better look at it. It looks like there are lots of islands offshore (it reminded us a bit of Albany) and there were large ships anchored in the harbour. We got petrol and then drove out of town towards Cape Le Grand National Park. The girl at the caravan park suggested we go and stay out there for a few days – we’d love to, if we had a bit more time (and the weather wasn’t quite so cold and windy).

We went straight to Lucky Bay, which she’d told me has the whitest sand in Australia. On the way we passed a very cool looking mountain, and a cove that looked wild and fascinating. The bay contained a big curved beach, with rocky headlands at both ends – on the far end the rocks extended a long way out across the mouth of the bay, so the water can only come into to the bay through the right hand side and on a bit of an angle. The surf looked pretty high, and the water was a deep blue out in the bay and a turquoise blue close to the shore. The sand was indeed very very white. It was a beautiful scene, even from the carpark. 

We walked down onto the beach and were surprised at the feel of the sand under our feet – like nothing we’d walked on so far. It felt most like we were walking on a hard crust of snow, and that underneath would be a deep pile of softness if we broke through the crust. At times it felt rubbery, or like we were walking on springy floorboards. The kids discovered that if they ran along it without lifting their feet it made a cool (and soon rather annoying) squeaking sand. I think there were a lot of air pockets in the sand, and the grains were extremely fine and rather wet, and that all contributed to the weird feel. When we picked it up in our hands it felt rubbery and quite a lot like kinetic sand that we play with at home. It was also like oobleck (which we make using cornflour and water).

We bounced around on the sand for a while and watched the waves, then started walking along the beach. As we walked further from the carpark the waves got bigger and rougher. Watching them crash in towards the beach, with the red rocks behind them, was pretty cool. The sound was exhilarating too. There were also waves crashing against the rocks in all directions around the edges of the bay. The kids wanted to get to the sand dunes further along the beach so they could slide down them. There were warning signs that the sand could collapse, so they were careful to pick only clear, sloped areas of sand once they started exploring in there. Tony walked part of the way along the beach with us and then sat to watch the waves.

The kids played in the dunes and on the sand (LiAM found a toy Hawks car buried in the sand in his digging ) and we saw various seagulls and other sea birds (some with a long red beak, who were poking their beaks into the sand to catch their dinner), and seaweed and lots of interesting plants and flowers on the dunes. We walked to the area that the kids had wanted to see, and they had a bit of a play there, before heading back, trying to beat the rain that was threatening from big black clouds that had rolled over. The wind had picked up a bit too and was blowing spray off the top of the breaking waves which looked very impressive. The clouds passed over us and out to sea and it was sunny by the time we got back to Tony and all walked the rest of the beach together. A sea eagle was soaring around above the bay. We dug in the sand a bit more and after much talk of swimming and temperature and so on, Caitlin decided to have a quick dip in the ocean. Everyone except me had waded in the waves, Tony thought it was the coldest water we’d come across yet, Caitlin said it was warmer than the pools in Karajini. She was pretty refreshed by her dip, and it was exciting for her to go in the ocean, even just the shallow water.

We headed back up to the car and she got dry, Millie and I walked over to the toilets and checked out the campground – there was a camp kitchen, and hot showers so we partially wished we had stayed here instead. It could have been very blowy if the wind was high, but it would have been much cheaper than staying in town… It doesn’t matter though, we made our decision based on what we knew and needed at the time, and we are happy with that.

We drove around to the wild looking cove we’d seen on the way in (Thistle Cove). There was large rock behind the picnic table, which overlooked the entrance to the cove, called Whistling Rock. We could hear the wind rushing through it, sometimes making a whooshing sound and sometimes more like a whistling. We sat in the shelter of this and another rock, and had our lunch overlooking the ocean. Down below us were smooth, large rocks with rounded sides (kind of like the side of large, flattish eggs). The water was breaking over these and then running off in streams, then mixing with the water that was coming in for the next wave, I could have watched it all day, it created the most amazing patterns and variations in the water. There were big waves breaking over the headland as well, and there was a large rectangular rock sticking out of the water below us which created huge splashes when the waves hit it.

It was wind and occasionally some of our stuff tried to blow away so we had everything held down by heavier stuff. We watched some little birds and some crows hopping around on the rocks, interacting with each other and the wind and with us. The crow was very interested in our food. We went for a bit of a walk further down the rocks, and admired the hill on the far side of the cove – the rocks here are fairly smooth, with lots of vertical lines on them, possibly creases worn away by water running down. The bases of the rocks tend to be black where the ocean is beating up against them. The hill opposite us was mainly rock, with a little bit of plant coverage, and had a big cave about 2/3 of the way up. While we were looking around, LiAM said he’d found a fireplace – in under one of the rocks near us he’d noticed a gap, and looking under he’d seen a circle of rocks laid out, with sticks set up ready for a fire. We climbed over a small rock and past a bush to the other side of the large rock, and there was a larger opening that side – the kids went through the opening and there was a cave large enough for them to all sit in. There were even rocks placed around the fire pit to use as seats. It felt pretty exciting to be in there.

We packed up our lunch and then explored a little bit the other way form the carpark– I wanted to see the beach (the rocky bit we were sitting on cut off our view to the beach). From the top of the beach trail we could see back over to the mountain we’d driven past on our way in. The sun was shining on it and reflecting off the water running down its side – it looked like it was covered in snow, as the reflections were so white. We walked down the beach access path, through lots of bushes and wildflowers (including some we hadn’t seen before, yellow banksias I think). There was a rock overlooking the beach so I ran down to stand on that and then was ready to head back – the others kept walking down to the bottom of the rock to the edge of the beach itself.

There was a channel of water running out of the brush and down to the ocean. The water in it was clear but quite yellow, I’m assuming that was stains from the plants that surrounded it. The kids were playing along the edge of the channel, then Tony jumped across the channel and onto the main beach. The kids all soon followed, with various success at not landing in the water (none of them had shoes on so they weren’t worried about getting their feet wet anyway). The only way on to the beach was through or over the channel – I wasn’t sure if I could make the distance in a single jump and I really didn’t want to take my shoes off. I waited until the others were walking onto the beach and then I jumped – I made the distance easily although I did twist my ankle a little.

The sand here was white again and had a similar rubbery feeling to Lucky Bay. The waves were quite rough here as well, and once again it was cool watching them run along the side of the rocks and crash onto the shore. We walked along h beach a little way and compared footprints in the sand and investigated the plant life. Heading back I made the jump over the channel quite easily, then we climbed back up the rock (I’m doing a lot of walking on sloping rocks on this trip, not normally my thing, and I’m getting more confident), and headed back to the car.

On the way back to town we called in to see Le Grand Beach – it was much longer than the little bays we’d looked at and possibly more protected. The hills and rocks leading in to it were beautiful and impressive to look at – more of the smooth rock hillside, with vertical (squiggly) lines running down them. There was a good view of the mountain from here too, it had kind of a hooked rock at the top, it looked a bit like an eagle’s beak.

Back in town we drove past the foreshore again and the kids wanted to play on the playground. We decided to go and see Pink Lake first then come back. The lake was huge and quite pretty – unfortunately it wasn’t looking pink today. The pink and orange colours are caused by salt and bacteria, and I guess they need the right light and heat conditions to be seen. Back to the foreshore – Caitlin and LiAM went straight to the playground, Tony went to find some hot chips, and Millie and I checked out the fountain in the middle of the roundabout – it was made like a rock, with metal seals and birds sitting on it.

Millie went back to the playground and I watched the kids and the fading light over the harbour (the sun was getting close to setting). There was a port over to the right, and a few ships anchored out in front of us. We’d looked at the map and there were lots of islands outside of the harbour, they all looked very cool in the late afternoon light. There was a water slide on a pontoon not far from the foreshore – would be very cool to swim out to and play on when the weather is warmer. A passing family pointed out some dolphins to us – 2 dolphins swimming up and down the shore line, only a few metres from the edge. It was quite unexpected and very exciting to watch.

Tony returned with a hot chicken and chips from Red Rooster, and we sat at a picnic table and ate as the sun set. Caitlin and I went for a walk to find an exercise equipment park she’d seen further down the foreshore, we had a bit of a play there which was highly amusing. We joined the others back in the playground and all had a play – 5 of us on a large seasaw thing which was fun until I started to feel sick. We walked out towards the breakwall, having a bit of a play on a large and beautiful sculpture of a whale’s tail. We all wandered out to the end of the breakwall and sat and watched the lights on the harbour and listened to the water lapping against the rocks. The kids put on a bit of a stunt/ gymnastics show for us, then we walked back down to the exercise park and everyone had a go on the equipment.

Eventually we headed back to the car and then to the caravan park. I’d dressed quite warmly for the day, with multiple layers, and at times had been too hot. I was comfortable at the foreshore – when we got back to the tent though the temperature was much much colder and I didn’t seem to have enough clothes on. It also didn’t seem to make much sense that it was colder here than at the beach. The girls and Tony all went to have showers, and LiAM and I got the hot water bottles ready, did the dishes and watched some TV. We all watched the Olympics for a short while and then headed off to bed, possibly the coldest it has been inside the tent yet so we all wore beanies and socks and lots of clothes to bed, and listened to a chapter of Inheritance.

Half Lap Day 100: Karlgarin -> Esperance

The sun was out when we got up in the morning and the whole area was quite pretty, lots of wattle trees with their blossoms shining in the early morning sun. It was also very very cold, with a layer of ice over the car and the tent, and frozen pools of water on top of our trailer cover. Tony got another fire going, and the kids gradually emerged out into the cold and sat around the fire before having breakfast. The kids rescued a little skink from the fire and played around the campground. Millie was keen to leave, she didn’t like the place at all. I’d hoped to get up and going early, we were all moving pretty slowly though and it was 10.30 by the time we had everything ready to go.

On our way to Wave Rock (only another 30km) we saw a pig farm, with lots of big pigs and a group of very cute little piglets. There had been a war memorial at our campground and as we drove I noticed that many of the road names were the same as the names on the war memorial – I guess they would have been farmers around this area, and I don’t know if the roads were named after the family who lived there, or in memory of the men who fought in the war. We got petrol in Hyden, which had cool decorations around the town. The old railway platform was covered in iron sculptures of people and seats and equipment – as if they were all waiting for the train to come.

Wave Rock is somewhere that I’ve wanted to go since I was a kid, and I didn’t think we’d be able to fit it in to this trip. When we looked at the best way to get home though, it worked quite nicely as a stopover on our way to Esperance (if we are willing to skip Kalgoorlie. I would have liked to see it too, but Wave Rock and Esperance seemed more exciting). We paid our entry fee and when the lady gave me all the information about the area I briefly wished we’d stayed at the rock instead of where we did, so we could spend more time there – then figured it wasn’t worth worrying about what we could have done if we’d had more information, and just to enjoy what we did do.

We rugged up, there was a wind blowing and it was pretty cold. We walked around to the Wave and it was very very cool. So weird to see a rock curving out like that, and it was high and long and quite impressive, well worth the drive out to see it. The kids climbed up the slope as far as they could, and slid down again, We wandered along it’s length, reading about how it was formed and the geography of this area – it’s a very rocky part of the world, and Wave Rock is the most famous of a great number of cool rock formations around here. I wasn’t expecting the colours on the rock, lots of vertical stripes of black and orange and yellowy colours, caused by water and lichen and cyanobacteria, which made it look even cooler.

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Past the end of the wave we were able to walk along the side of Hyden Rock (the larger rock that Wave Rock is a part of, and start to climb up behind the wave. There was a dam here, they had built a dam wall to catch the runoff from Hyden Rock, and that supplies the town of Hyden with its water. So cool to see sensible usage of rain water. Walking along the rock up above the wave was pretty cool, Hyden Rock rose up a lot higher behind it, and there were rock pools, wildflowers, trees and boulders scattered across the rock. There was a concrete wall built along the length of the wave, 20m or so from the edge, to stop people going to the top of it. We decided to do the short walk across Hyden Rock, which took us the length of the wave – then we had to climb over the concrete wall and walk down the sloping rock to the ground. It seemed a bit ludicrous, but that’s the way the trail went, and the climb down was fine. Cool to see yet another view of the wave (from the side as we sloped down next to it).

Back at the car we got some lunch ready, then finally headed off around 12.30. The countryside was beautiful as we drove south east. Lots of crops, green and yellow, lots of sheep and occasionally cattle. Wildflowers here and there, hills in the distance. The land was undulating, with areas of flat ground as well. There were lots of low lying areas that obviously filled with water when it rained – many of them were full now – with dead trees throughout them. As we’ve been driving around Australia we’ve seen lots of cleared paths running from the road into the trees or bush to the side, then suddenly stopping, and we couldn’t figure out what they were for. Here, those cleared areas were full of water, so it looks like they are drainage channels to help keep the water off the road when it rains.

The little towns we past through all looked interesting. Lots of them had done interesting things with their now out-of-use railway stations. One town (Lake King I think) had a tractor museum (a large open shed full of tractors).  We stopped in Ravensthorpe to go to the toilet, then drove mainly east from there – eyeing off the black clouds to the south and hoping we’d get to Esperance in time to set up before that rain rolled in from the ocean.

With a forecast for gales and lots of rain, we decided to stay at a caravan park that wasn’t right on the beach. I’d found the one that claimed to be the cheapest, and when I went to book in the girl said it would be $60 for unpowered – the kids were $10 each! That’s the 2^nd highest amount we’ve paid ANYWHERE, and by far the most for unpowered. I went back out to the car to discuss with Tony – the wind was picking up and it was feeling more urgent to get a spot and get the tent up, but we’re also still needing to be careful of our spending. I rang another caravan park and while they were giving me a price (which was even higher!) the girl came out and said that seeing as we had 3 kids, she’d only charge $5 each. So that made it affordable and we were happy to stay. She also said that there wasn’t much demand for the unpowered sites at the moment, no one else was game enough. She said we could pick either of the corner sites, whichever we thought would give us more protection from the wind.

When we got to the unpowered area, we were the only people using it. There was a fence surrounding most of the area, on 3 sides, so we were able to set up in a corner with a fence on 2 sides of us, and were mainly protected from the wind. We got the tent up as quickly as we could, and managed it before the rain started. I set up the beds while Tony and the kids went to the camp kitchen to start getting dinner ready.

The rain was quite steady throughout the evening, easing off occasionally, when we could make quick dashes over to the car or tent if we needed anything. We watched the Olympics and some ABC3 shows, ate a fantastic butter chicken dinner, filled in our Census form and hung out in the (slightly warmer – there was still a breeze coming through above the windows, its really just an enclosed shed) kitchen area for the rest of the evening. Tony, Caitlin and LiAM went and had a shower before bed, Millie was asleep before they came back and we snuggled into our beds – it was warmer than last night but the rain made it feel less comfortable.

Half-lap Day 99: Perth -> Karlgarin

The kids woke earlier than usual because they wanted to see their cousin before he went to school. School starts around 8am over here, so he leaves at 7.45. They had a bit of time to chat before he left, then they had breakfast and we watched a bit of the Olympics. We were hoping to leave around 9. There was a bit of rain as we were putting things back in the car and trailer, once again we were happy that we hadn’t had the tent out and weren’t doing a full pack up in wind and rain – plus it was pretty cold. Tony’s cousin’s wife brought out some clothes that she was sending to the op shop, Caitlin and I had a browse and were able to grab a few things – including a couple more warm tops which will be great for the trip home. While I was reorganising things in the car I found Caitlin’s handbag buried under a large pile of Millie’s animals – we thought she’d lost the bag at the Pinnacles, as we’d searched through the car several times for it and not found it. It was such a relief to know that it wasn’t lost.

We were ready by 9.30 and on the road well before 10 once we’d said our goodbyes. The car was still quite crowded as we still had all the extra blankets in the car instead of the tent, in case we’d needed them at our cousin’s. We drove through wind and rain to South Perth, where Tony dropped in to the De Bortoli office to get a bit more wine for our last couple of weeks. We had really enjoyed having a weekend off, not doing touristy things for a couple of days, and we were happy not to explore Perth as we’ve been here before and we’re not feeling attracted to cities on this trip – however it was nice to drive past the city and see the buildings and the Swan River and Kings Park. On the way out we saw the new sports stadium being built.

We headed out into the suburbs to call in on family friends of Tony’s – they are in Perth for a couple of weeks visiting their daughter, and wanted to catch up if it was possible. We popped in for morning tea and it was lovely to see them again (its probably been about 5 years) and to meet their daughter, who I got on really well with. A couple of her kids were home from school as they were unwell, so our kids stood in their bedroom doorway and talked to them, and all the kids got on well as well.

We left there around 12.30 (we’d hoped to be gone by 12) and got petrol then started the drive east. It really felt like we were going home now – still a long way to go, but we’re on the last leg. Perth felt like a nice break between our big long trip, and our trek home. The land was quite hilly here, reminded us a bit of the Adelaide Hills. The roads were windier than we’ve been used to, and the trees much much taller than those we’ve driven past lately. Once we were out of the hills we drove through farmland – very green and lush, some with crops and some with sheep. We saw dams on the farms and realised we hadn’t seen any dams for a long time, probably since before Port Augusta. The countryside here reminded me more of rural NSW. We’d been discussing where the wheatbelt was in WA and realise we were driving through the southern end of it, not somewhere either of us have been before, and great to see another part of Australia that I’ve heard so much about.

We stopped in Brookton for lunch around 2pm. It was really really cold outside the car, a wind was blowing and it was raining on and off, in between bits of sunshine. The kids played in a playground (and exercise area) near the sportsground while Tony made sandwiches, then we decided to eat in the car as we drove. We wandered around the town a bit to find public toilets, and ran through the rain to use them, before finally heading out. We had rain on and off throughout the afternoon, and the temperature indicator in the car said it was 10 degrees outside – our coldest day by far.

Our plan was to stop at a free camp just before Hyden. I was driving when we got there and Tony directed me along a few dirt roads to reach the camp area. The ground was wet but solid, so it shouldn’t be a problem to get out even if it rains more overnight. We reached the end of the road, where McCanns Rock was, but there were no signs about camping (and no one else there). We had a look around, there was a shed with chairs in it, a well built BBQ area with BBQs and tables, and another flat area that looked like a camping spot, but accessed by a rutted road that our car and trailer wouldn’t be able to traverse. We couldn’t see any toilets even though our app had said there were toilets here. We explored a bit further – Tony went along one track and LiAM and another – we found a large puddle that we decided not to cross. The 5 of us walked up the rock and found the dam, a dam like we’ve never seen before – a low wall built halfway up the rock, which must catch rain water as it runs down. There was one area that must be deeper because it was full right up to the top of the wall. The water is used as emergency farm water. The view from the top of the rock was incredible, looking across farmland as far as we could see in every direction – and it was freezing. It was well under 10 degrees up there and there was a howling, icy wind. The ground here was so cold that LiAM had insisted on wearing shoes.

Millie wasn’t sure about staying here, especially with no toilet. Just as we were discussing whether to go in to Hyden to find a caravan park, Caitlin found the toilets – and they were flush toilets, not drop! That helped everyone feel a bit better, and we decided to stay (in part because the sun was already down and we didn’t want to stuff around any longer). The sun had come out from behind clouds briefly before setting, and it made the place look much more inviting, which also helped.

The rain seemed to have stopped and we quickly set the tent up in the carpark area while the kids collected wood for a fire. Another car drove up the track where LiAM and I had found the puddle – a local couple and their puppy who had come out here to have dinner at the BBQ. Caitlin told them we’d considered sleeping in the shed and they said they’d done that a couple of times. Tony started cooking dinner and I helped the kids with the fire. We had egg and kabana sandwiches, and by the time they were ready I had a pretty good fire going – it had taken a while because it was hard to find dry wood. We sat around the fire and chatted and ate, then I went to set to the beds up, and noticed that all the clouds had gone, it was a clear, starry night. It was getting colder too, everyone was in gloves and beanies – it was lovely by the fire. Once the beds were up I got the hot water bottles out and we heate water on the fire for them, I figured tonight of all nights we’d need the extra warmth. We were all tired and cold and possibly a bit on edge – the other couple had left and it was weird being here alone – and everyone got a bit cranky as we tried to sort out the hot water. Eventually it was all organised and we jumped into bed – I found the easiest way to read and not be cold was to go completely under the covers with the book and booklamp – it actually became quite warm in there and the kids could still hear me – they all went to sleep with one of their smaller blankets over their head as well.