Journal

On Thursday we ventured from Mt Elizabeth Station to Manning Gorge campground. On the way we stopped in at the Mt Barnett Roadhouse which caused a lot of excitement as it was the first shop that we’d hit since leaving Kununurra — and so we treated ourselves to some luxuries such as bread and milk, and we even splurged on some fresh corn and apples. From Mt Barnett it was only a short drive into Manning Gorge campground where we set up under a beautiful big boab tree, hung out some washing that I’d soaked in a bucket and agitated along the bumpy road, and settled in for the afternoon. Good Lord it was so HOT and dusty! After lunch we ventured down to the swimming hole which was absolutely beautiful — a sandy beach leading onto a magnificent gum-tree lined pool. We have honestly seen so many beautiful swimming spots now that I worry that we’re becoming complacent. However, there was one feature of this one which helped it to sit up above a lot of the others — a rope swing! The girls spent the better part of the afternoon launching themselves off the bank (with a lot of help from Dylan) and into the water. At one point we saw a freshwater snake slither straight past Hazel in the water (which we’d read were harmless), but the appeal of the rope swing appeared to outweigh any fears she had about the snake, so she continued on unperturbed. That evening the girls had a movie night under the boab tree whilst Dylan, Gordon, Tricia and I feasted on fresh steak that we had purchased from the Mt Elizabeth Station.

On Friday we took on the walk to Manning Falls. The walk started with a river crossing, which involved us swimming across the bottom gorge whilst pushing the girls and our bags in blue barrels. After that, it was about 3 kilometres of hot, exposed walking up and over the savannah ridge, following a trail of rock cairns, with a decent amount of rock-hopping and finally a steep climb down into the gorge at the end. We left for the walk at about 7.30am as we knew that it was going to be hot, and this was definitely the right decision because by the time we arrived at the falls we were all dissolving and well and truly ready for a swim. As we’re becoming accustomed to, the water was freezing and the falls were stunning. A lot of people had taken on the walk, so there was a great atmosphere with people jumping off the tiered rocks into the water, and of course us swimming out to touch the waterfalls. At one point Leah dropped her goggles and they sank to the bottom, so Dylan went down to pick them up (about 6m!) and unfortunately on the way he perforated his eardrum — an injury that he had previously done about 15 years ago, and must have left him sensitive to a recurrence. With us being stuck 3km away from camp with no pain killers, he had no choice but to undertake the walk back with a sore ear and some sickening vertigo. Honestly, the walk back was tough. It was so hot, the track was so exposed, Dylan was feeling off, and Leah was at the absolute end of her tether with walking (she really does put up with a lot from us). We managed to hobble our way through it with some snacks, piggy backs, and the promise of the refreshing swim back across the pool at the bottom. Back at camp we declared the afternoon a write-off, so we just chilled out and attempted to recover from some likely heat-stroke, although unfortunately our ear drama for the day was not over yet... Leah let us know that she had some water stuck in her ear from the swim earlier and because Leah has a long history of severe ear infections and with us being so remote, I was determined to get it out. After trying all the usual tricks without success I remembered that I’d packed ear drops for swimmers ear in the first aid box. After a quick read of the directions we put them into Leah’s ears, which caused her to start screaming uncontrollably due to pain. Panicking we read all the fine print in the leaflet and realised that it said ‘not to be used with grommets’. Gah! Gaaaaaaaah!! So stupid. So. Much. Guilt. Poor, poor Leah. Thankfully we had the internet, and so we treated it with Panadol and lying on her side to drain them out (at which point she fell asleep), but it was not a great way to end the day.

On Tuesday we decided that it was probably time to move on from our idyllic riverside retreat at the Gibb River and continue on our adventure. After packing up and setting off we travelled along to the Hann River to have a look at the sites there, but we decided that we didn’t like anything as much as where we’d just come from, so we continued along bound for Mt Elizabeth Station. The drive between the Hann and Mt Elizabeth was ROUGH... There was no right way to approach it — attempting to get up over the corrugations was impossible without rattling the whole van and car apart (and we lost our antenna in the process!), so instead we crawled along trying to find the best line when that didn’t really exist! All along the way there were car and caravan parts littering the side of the road, and when we stopped to check the van after one particularly rough section a cupboard door had come off entirely — thankfully we found the relevant screws on the floor and fixed it up with no problem. We arrived at Mt Elizabeth around lunchtime — dusty and rattled — and so we rewarded ourselves with a homemade pie made with the station’s own beef. After unhitching and setting up the solar we headed out again down one of the station’s private 4WD tracks to Warla Gorge. The road in was the most challenging 4WDing that we’d done so far — riddled with large rocks and narrow tracks, so it was very slow going. The gorge, locally known as ‘the beach’, was beautiful, with a shallow stream running between a sandy beach and a steep rock face. We all took a quick dip and explored the area before heading back along the 4WD track for a beer at the station, where the girls also purchased some more ooshies for their collection from a stall set up by some other enterprising travelling kids, and then the absolute best hot shower of the trip so far.

On Wednesday morning we took a walk around the station and got to know the animals — Hazel was particularly taken with the baby goat and kept returning to see it throughout our stay here. After that we decided to brave the ‘gnarly’ 4WD track (as described by the station staff) down to Wunnumurra Gorge. Initially we had concluded that Reg was likely not high clearance enough to tackle this track, as we’d been thoroughly warned by the staff... However, Dylan had talked to some other campers at the pub the previous night who had taken it on in their own 200 series and let him know that it had been ok. So we decided that we’d also give it a crack! We all agreed to just take the one car for the entire group, so we took the girls’ car seats out, and Tricia, Hazel, Leah and I rode in the back whilst Dylan and Gordon rode up front. Let me just say, I am so glad that Gordon was there because if I had been the primary 4WD consultant up front I would have had us turning around about 25 times... but with Dylan and Gordon working together, they managed to very successfully navigate about 10km of what can only be described as outrageous driving, including several staircases of small, sandy boulders to get us to the very end of the track (and back!). From the end of the track it was about a 2km walk (thankfully relatively flat, although hot!) to get to the gorge, and then we had to climb down a ladder to get into the swimming hole. About halfway through the drive I had been questioning if the journey would be worth the destination, but I can honestly say that the gorge was absolutely sensational — my favourite so far! When we arrived we had the place to ourselves, and we showered in waterfalls, swam the perimeter, and perched up on a rock island to rest and warm up. By the time we left there was only one other family who had arrived — it was so incredibly secluded and I wonder if this will be the most isolated that we will ever be — in the north west of Australia, about halfway along the Gibb River Road and miles along a track that is only accessible to a lucky few. The drive back was just as challenging (if not more) than heading in, and I think by the end we were all well and truly over it... Leah even got to the point where she said ‘I want to get out and walk!!’ which is a stark contrast to all of her previous sentiments this trip which have focussed almost exclusively on her distaste of walking anywhere. That evening we headed to the station for burger night, and finished the night with a disappointingly cold shower as the gas had run out in the shower block!

Saturday started strong with us finally catching three cherabin! They landed in Gordon’s pot, so the dog biscuit bait turned out to be the winner. After a quick call to Pa for some advice on how to use them to catch a barra, Dylan hooked it onto his line like a pro and cast it out in the hope of bringing in some dinner. Unfortunately the first one somehow managed to escape off the line, but with the second one on and much more securely it wasn’t long before he got a bite. He managed to reel it in right up close so that we could see it, at which point it managed to escape and so it will now forever be the one that got away. By that point it was time to pack up and move on to the next site, so we gifted the guy at the campsite next to us the final cherabin, and he was absolutely thrilled.

After watching people drive across the Pentecost for two days it was finally our turn! And by that I mean it was MY turn to drive the Gibb’s longest river crossing with TITANIUM HARDCORE behind us whilst Dylan got our new drone out so that we could actually prove that we (I) did it. After reading a lot about the crossing prior to arriving the actual event was somewhat of an anticlimax as the water level was quite low compared to some of the others that we had taken to get into El Questro. Even so, it was still super cool. After crossing the Pentecost we stopped in briefly at Home Valley where the girls had a play on a very impressive playground and we let the tyres down (correctly, this time) and made some final reinforcements to the van ready for hitting the dirt road proper. The next stretch of the drive included some spectacular scenery of the Cockburn Range and was a steady introduction to the increasingly shaley, corrugated road. Next up we stopped in at Ellenbrae Station for some of their famous home-made scones with jam and cream and a mango smoothie. The homestead itself was a beautiful green oasis with tropical gardens and some history about the cattle station, and an old bull catcher called Daisy parked in the grounds. It was such a welcome relief from the incredibly dry and dusty surrounding land! From Ellenbrae we headed onward to the Gibb River - the last 20km of which was the worst road of the trip so far - soooooo bumpy and despite our best efforts to prep the van we still ended up with a few rattled casualties; a kitchen drawer that ended up all over the floor, a lost foot off a stabiliser leg and a missing latch off one of the outdoor cupboards. After a quick reset we headed into the free camps located along the Gibb river and somehow managed to nab an incredible spot where we could fit both vans side by side and we had our own private beach leading down to the gum-tree lined river. We got set up before sunset, had a quick splash in the creek and enjoyed dinner and a drink by the campfire.

Over the next two days we settled into a lazy life by the river. We had only intended to stay for two nights but we enjoyed the peace and slower pace so much that we opted for three. We built a pool in the creek, I baked some bread rolls in the camp oven (very successfully!), the girls played in the sand and did some school work, we tightened up the van, we trip planned (whilst sitting with our feet in the river), and we enjoyed watching many beautiful azure kingfishers darting about. The days were also peppered with pockets of drama - Dylan towed out a bogged 4WD and caravan, Gordon’s phone ended up on the bottom of the Gibb River and Hazel somehow managed to get three gigantic splinters into her foot at once whilst playing in the creek, but thankfully each was resolved relatively swiftly and even Gordon’s phone made a full recovery (eventually). At one point Dylan and the girls found a bigger swimming hole further downstream, but ultimately we kept to our little private riverside retreat where each night we put our tables side-by-side on the sand and enjoyed a long-table dinner by the campfire where many marshmallows were toasted. The Gibb River free camp really was a special place and it was a real highlight of the trip so far.

On Thursday morning we left El Questro, drove back through the many creek crossings it took to get in, and moved down to the Pentecost River. We stopped at the station to fill up with water, and pick up a few souvenirs — a new Akubra for Hazel, a ranger shirt for Leah and an El Q magnet for our fridge. We managed to get a beautiful riverfront spot where we could fit both vans alongside each other with a view of the famous Pentecost river crossing, so we could spend our day watching cars and even petrol tankers cross. The outlook was absolutely beautiful, but oh boy was it HOT during the middle of the day. At lunchtime we were commenting on what a pleasant relief the breeze was, and almost immediately after that it picked up suddenly and intensely and we found ourselves in the middle of a whirlwind! All we could do was duck our heads, crouch low and hold onto the things around us (Tricia had to hold onto Leah!) until it passed! Thankfully it moved through quickly, and we were left to pick up all of our loose possessions that had been flung around and dispose of the remainder of my sandwich which now had a thick layer of dirt over it. In the afternoon we headed out exploring and ended up on a 4WD track around the site, where we found a very impressive boab tree. Once back at camp, the crab pots went in (still catch-free so far) and we tried our hand at some fishing in the river — also with no luck. That evening we enjoyed a riverside dinner and we christened our newly acquired Arc Pit (another purchase from Rod and Rifle in Katherine) with a campfire and toasted marshmallows. As we enjoyed the serenity of the outback, we heard a voice shout out from the next campsite along ‘COW COMING UP!!!’. We got our torches out and shone them down the river, only to spot two cows emerging onto the banks after completing their own river crossing straight up into our camp. They made their way around our vans and headed onwards on their journey as we just watched. We spent the rest of the evening stargazing and watching the river closely with our torch to see if we could spot any more cows or crocodile eyes (the Pentecost is famously riddled with salties — so definitely no swimming or paddling).

On Friday morning there was much excitement as we caught several hilarious fat little fish in the crab pots. Unfortunately no cherabin though, so the fish were thrown back and the pots went back in. We then all headed out for the day to take on the Emma Gorge walk. This one was a proper scramble — only 1.6 kilometres each way, but almost all of it rock-hopping over loose, sandy boulders and slippery creek crossings. There was a lot of slipping and scrambling from us all, and it was very hot — I was so incredibly impressed by Gordon and Tricia’s strength and flexibility, and by Leah’s perseverance (it turns out this is Hazel’s total element). We had almost made it to the very top when unfortunately Tricia had a big slip (thankfully she was ok!), and so she and Gordon opted to stay at the nearby pool to cool off while the rest of us went the last little bit for a look at the top. The waterfall was absolutely stunning — it free-falls 65 metres off the top of the escarpment, and in parts it’s so high that the water breaks up into droplets before it reaches the pool, so it’s like you’re swimming in the rain. It’s also dotted with green ferns growing out of the crevices, which gives it an almost mythical oasis feel. The water was FREEZING, which we’re getting used to now, but there was a small, warm thermal spring tucked at the front of the pool — and so that is where the girls gravitated pretty quickly. As is becoming tradition, I swam out to touch the waterfall and I even got a chance to go behind this one. Hazel was initially resistant to go all the way out because it was so cold, but after I’d swum back in she said to me ‘I want to prove to my class that I can swim out to touch all the waterfalls we see’, and so she bravely swam out together with me to get it done. The walk back was just as hot and scrambly, so once we finished we stopped in at the Emma Gorge resort bar for a cool drink, after which we headed back to camp for some more fruitless fishing, another dinner by the river, more stargazing and a well earned sleep!

The start of our Gibb River Road adventure!! The Gibb is notorious for being a very rough dirt road (car/van-rattling-and-breaking-type-rough), peppered with spectacular Kimberley gorges and beautiful bush walks along the way. It’s an isolated stretch with no supermarkets, no powered sites and no dump points… so we had stocked up to be completely off-grid for as long as possible (somewhere between 2–3 weeks is what we’d planned). On Monday morning we enjoyed one final breakfast by the Lily Creek Lagoon at the Kimberleyland Caravan Park in Kununurra, and then we set off FULLY LOADED. We made one final dash to the hardware store, service station, post office, bottle shop, and supermarket for last minute supplies. We even hit the bike shop as Leah’s bike bell had broken the day before and she had made it very clear that this was an absolutely essential component of the bike, and it seemed as though the bike shop owner completely agreed as he gave it to her for free! After all that we met up with Gordon and Tricia (who had done a similar last-minute circuit) and we were off.

The first stop we were aiming for was El Questro station, which is only about 50 kilometres in from the eastern end of the Gibb, a beautiful drive flanked by the Cockburn Range, and all bitumen right up until the turn-off. Once we hit the turn-off we pulled over to air down the tyres, at which point Dylan tried to accelerate the process by using his proudly acquired auto-deflators. He went off to check something and I became increasingly concerned as the tyres appeared to get very flat… it turned out that the auto-deflators had somehow rattled onto the wrong setting, making them way too low and so we then had to air back up again. Yay adventure! Once we finally had the air pressure right we headed down the dirt track into El Questro which excitingly involved towing TITANIUM HARDCORE across its first water crossing, and then its second, third and fourth! Dylan did a great job staying calm under pressure, the girls were super excited, and many photos and videos were taken. We rolled into El Questro in the early afternoon, set up at a nice site that backed onto the river, and went for an explore — unfortunately the swimming spot had been closed due to a recent crocodile sighting. Once we’d settled in we threw in some crab pots — Gordon had heard that using dog biscuits was a secret weapon for catching cherabin, so that’s what he went with, whilst we had heard that cat food was the way to go, so that’s what went in ours. We capped off the day with a drink at the station bar, and back to the van for dinner and bed, at which point all of us were totally exhausted, overwrought and emotional (adults included).

On Tuesday we headed out to Zebedee Springs, which are warm thermal pools tucked into a small gorge enclosed by Livistona palms. The walk was only about 750 metres from where you park, so a very cruisy stroll to lull us into the gorge walking experience, and the warm springs were just magical. Hazel and Leah loved hopping between the little pools carved out between rocks to find the absolute best spot, and Tricia and I enjoyed sitting and soaking in the warmth together. Dylan found his own pool to build a little dam in, because that’s what he does when he’s in creeks… and Gordon went off exploring, which we are learning is what Gordon does. We stayed for far too long, as we were all exceedingly pruney by the end and it was getting very crowded! We spent the afternoon around camp, putting the hammocks out, playing, bike riding, folding laundry (with help from Tricia), and journal writing. The crab pots were checked many times, but with no catches by either team.

Wednesday morning we set out early to tackle the El Questro Gorge walk. This walk was SPECTACULAR. I took so many photos. Like, waaaaaaay too many, and sorting through them has been a serious undertaking. Anyway, the walk was a slow wander up a narrow gorge that closes in as you go with sheer red cliffs rising up on either side, palms all over the place, and a crystal-clear creek that the trail follows the whole way. In a moment of total parental negligence Dylan and I had forgotten to pack Hazel and Leah’s hats, but thankfully Gordon and Tricia saved the day with some spares, so Hazel wore Tricia’s Akubra, Leah wore my hat, and I got to sport a cap that read ‘Old Lives Matter’. Something about the Akubra on Hazel seemed to unlock an extra adventuring spirit, and she was front of the pack, rock-hopping and exploring the tracks ahead. We walked together through the creek crossings and boulder-hopping, up to the halfway pool, where we enjoyed a swim. We’d read that the rest of the walk involved scrambling up rock faces and some very difficult patches which we assessed as too challenging for little legs, so after a brief reset we headed back out again. By the time we got back to the car we’d been gone for about three hours and it was getting very hot, so we indulged in an icy pole from the freezer that lives in the back of the car. We spent a relaxing afternoon back at camp playing in the hammocks again and chatting to other travelling families before preparing to set off for the next stop tomorrow.

On Saturday we packed up our beautiful site at Lake Argyle and drove the very brief stint (only about an hour!) to Kununurra. Kununurra was our final stop before starting our trek across the Gibb River Road — 660 kilometres of corrugated dirt cutting through the heart of the Kimberley from Kununurra to Derby, which was originally built in the 1960s to truck cattle out of the remote stations — so our primary agenda here was to restock, repack and prepare ourselves before taking that on. We also caught up with Gordon and Tricia again, who we were travelling the Gibb with. We made it to Kununurra nice and early which meant we could hit the supermarket, hardware store, pharmacy and the local charity shop to stock up on some new books. We set up for a couple of nights in the Kimberleyland caravan park, which overlooked the beautiful Lily Creek Lagoon and was also home to an enormous boab tree thought to be at least 2,000 years old. Right next door to the caravan park was one of the most incredible playgrounds that we have ever seen, so the girls enjoyed playing on that in the afternoon.

Sunday was all about Gibb preparation. We repacked the van, found the new boat a better home, and I strategically tetrised every spare spot with three weeks’ worth of groceries. The girls hung about in the periphery of the chaos (and occasionally contributed to it), spending their time bike riding, playing games, and revelling in their recently acquired Ooshie army, thanks to the bulk grocery shop. Embarrassingly, I also managed to flood the back of the caravan… as when I’d set up the grey water hose I’d forgotten to open its tap, so when I did a load of washing the water all backed up through the van! So our repacking day also involved hauling the washing machine out, drying out the back and Dylan resealing the pipes with silicone. In the afternoon we met up with Gordon and Tricia and headed out to see Ivanhoe Crossing, a concrete causeway that was once the main road to Wyndham, until the Ord River irrigation scheme raised the water and left it permanently flowing — so now it’s a road that runs straight through a river. We all had a wonderful time driving over the crossing, watching the water out of the window on either side, and the people fishing right next to us — Dylan drove over and although I was initially hesitant I didn’t want to miss out, so I drove the way back which was fun and also terrifying. To be honest, the most alarming part was probably the sensors on the car beeping aggressively at me the whole way to warn me of the nearby object I was about to hit… I mean, I KNOW, car — it’s a river and I’m driving right through it!! We ended the day by heading up Kelly’s Knob to watch the sunset, and then we treated ourselves to Chinese takeaway as a last taste of civilisation for the coming weeks.

Thursday morning was Dylan working, me packing up our overnight camp at Victoria River, the girls playing games, and then us all hitting the road for Lake Argyle. We stopped for fuel and a snack at Timber Creek, and then we headed straight for the WA border! Thankfully Gordon and Tricia had given us a heads up about the ruthless quarantine checks at the border, so we were prepared and had made sure we’d snacked on the last of our fruit, veg and honey… unfortunately they had been caught off-guard a few days earlier and been forced to purge all their fresh produce! The quarantine officer searched the van and after that we were officially on Western Australian soil and time — an hour and a half behind the NT! We headed from the border up toward Lake Argyle which was an absolutely spectacular drive, winding through the rust-red ridges of the Carr Boyd Ranges with boab trees dotted along the road. When we arrived at the campsite we were initially a little apprehensive as the campground looked packed, with tiny sites all jammed in tightly together — however, all of that was put at ease once we checked-in and made it to our site — as I think we somehow managed to get one of the best sites in the ground, overlooking the cliffs. As we were setting up the girls did some craft in front of that view, and then we headed up to the famous infinity pool overlooking the lake where we watched the sunset, followed by a drink at the bar and dinner back at the van.

On Friday we were all up very early, due to our recent change in time zones, so we had the luxury of watching sunrise over the cliffs. Gordon and Tricia drove up from Kununurra for the day, and together we all headed out onto the lake on a private little BBQ pontoon hire boat. We spent the day exploring the lake, swimming (right in the middle), crocodile spotting (freshies only, and right by the water’s edge), bird-watching and BBQing. Everyone had a turn driving, which was as thrilling for the grown-ups as it was for the girls. We also had a chance to throw the fishing rods in, and excitingly Leah, Hazel and I all caught fish — some ‘silver cobbler’, which we now understand is a fancy WA way of saying catfish. Given that we’re all fish snobs from Cairns, we threw those bad boys back in the hope that we’ll later catch some better eating fish. After a huge day we headed back to the van for a movie night and home-made pizza on the Weber.

Monday’s drive between Edith Falls and Katherine was only 45 minutes, which was a total breeze. We arrived in Katherine quite early, so we headed straight over to the Katherine Hot Springs for a swim before setting up at the Discovery caravan park, where we had POWER and WATER and an amazing shower block — it was so good to feel properly clean again and wash everyone’s hair! Once we’d established ourselves the girls were off on their bikes, Dylan did some work, Pa and Hazel went for a run to the shops, and Leah and I played some cards for a while… after that the washing began! We went to the Katherine Golf Club for dinner to celebrate our final dinner together with Pa before he had to head home.

On Tuesday the girls made some friends at the caravan park, and together they did arts and crafts, bike riding and swimming in the pool. Several weeks ago (coming out of Uluru) Dylan had noticed a problem with our Bluetti portable power station (essential for keeping us in enough power when off-grid!) and had contacted the company to arrange a replacement be shipped for us. We’d organised for it to be shipped to Katherine, feeling as though that would allow a lot more buffer time than going to Darwin. Unfortunately by the time we got to Katherine it had still not arrived… and we could see that it was stuck in the depot in Darwin. After a few calls we were told that it wouldn’t get to us before we had planned to leave Katherine, so we were stuck on what to do. Pa came in and saved the day — insisting that he drive into Darwin and back (about 7 hours all up!) to pick it up for us. Whilst Pa trekked across the country, Dylan worked and I hit the Woolies in Katherine for our groceries and continued to do the endless washing — ten days’ worth of genuinely filthy clothes, sheets and towels.

That evening we headed out to visit friends of ours from university — Megan, Cam and their two daughters Annie and Lou. They have a beautiful property just outside of Katherine and the girls got on so well and played together all evening — Hazel and Leah were absolutely mesmerised by Annie and Lou’s book collection. We enjoyed dinner around the fire, and the girls all played with the pets including the dogs, pony and chickens. As they were locking up the chickens for the evening Annie called out ‘SNAKE!!’ which sent all the adults into action, and upon investigation Megan and Cam found an olive python curled up in the corner of the chicken coop with an enormous bulge in its stomach — which was later assessed to be one of the younger chickens. The ranger was called, and we all watched as he moved it safely into a bag with a plan to release it back into the wild. We had a really wonderful evening catching up with old friends and reflecting how special it is that our children can now all play together! Regrettably I did not take any photos at all of us all together (or the snake) — we were just too busy having a good time! When we got back to the campsite Pa was waiting there with the special delivery, so we got him a stiff drink and all sat around chatting enjoying our final evening together.

And then Wednesday: quite unexpectedly, we bought a boat! Throughout our stay at the caravan park Hazel and Leah became close with two other girls whose family were also travelling Australia… But in the opposite direction. We got talking to them about their experiences on the coast of WA, and they mentioned that they had used an inflatable electric boat — a True Kit with a Mercury electric outboard — which turned out to be a model that Dylan had previously been keen for us to look at, but we ran out of time and motivation before we left! Anyway, the short of it is that they were considering selling and we were considering buying and so they got it out to give us a demo, we paid them money and now we own a boat that we somehow have to fit into Reg and TITANIUM HARDCORE (today we just loaded it onto the floor of the caravan!). After becoming mariners, we went for one final visit/swim at the Katherine Hot Springs and a picnic lunch. Then we hit Rod and Rifle to kit ourselves out with life jackets and a proper tackle box with guidance from Pa. From there we said a very sad goodbye to Pa as he headed off on his next adventure to visit friends before going back to Darwin to fly home to Cairns. Feeling very low, we drove on to the Victoria River roadhouse for the night, where I did a batch-cooking session amongst some really enormous bugs whilst the girls played Uno and Dylan started stage 1 of the great van reshuffle to fit a boat into our lives.

Today we packed up at Florence Falls and headed south for Edith Falls, our final stop for our Litchfield tour! On the way out we stopped in at Buley for one final swim, where we had the entire place to ourselves for a while and got to do many, many jumps off the rocks into the icy pool. After that we headed through to Batchelor for a few supplies, and then back to the Adelaide River Inn — because when you find an epic barra burger you cannot simply drive past it. We arrived at Edith Falls by mid-afternoon only to discover that someone else was set up in our campsite! Thankfully no drama eventuated, as when we asked the guy there about it he said he was just trying to figure out how to book it for himself and hadn’t realised that it was already reserved, so he packed up and moved on without any issues. After setting up we wandered down to the falls to dip our feet in, where the girls met some new friends — 3 girls of a similar age who were there from Darwin for the long weekend, and in the evening we all sat around a campfire together.

On Sunday we stayed put at Edith Falls. We did the walk up to the top pool with our new friends, where we had a freezing cold swim (touched another waterfall) and a picnic. In the afternoon we relaxed at the campsite playing games and doing crafts, and our new friends taught us how to play Ruckus which was a hit. I also did some very exciting online grocery shopping to collect in Katherine.

Today we headed from Kakadu and back to Litchfield National Park, this time with Pa in tow! It was a big driving day, and once again the girls swapped between Reg and Lizzie depending on their whims at each stop. Our first stop was Pine Creek which we learnt was a town founded after an accidental gold discovery when workers were building the overland telegraph line. From there we moved onto the Adelaide River Inn, where we enjoyed a pub lunch together in their beautiful, tropical beer garden and Dylan got the greatest barra burger of his life (unfortunately we have no photographic evidence of this). After lunch we headed back to Batchelor where we stocked up on water and a few supplies, and then we stopped in at the magnetic termite mounds — hundreds of enormous thin tombstone-looking mounds all facing exactly the same way! We made it to our campsite at Florence Falls by late afternoon, which was just beautiful — the sites are elevated so that there is a vista over the national park and our site was massive, so we had no trouble squeezing Pa’s van in beside us. We set up quickly (we’re becoming pros now!), I threw a butterflied lamb shoulder onto the BabyQ to roast, and we headed straight down the 135 steps to the waterfall for a swim. As we’re getting accustomed to — it was absolutely freezing, but also stunning! We all swam out to touch both falls, and then headed back up the stairs to enjoy the lamb which was perfectly cooked (I feel like we’re finding our feet with the camping life now!).

On Thursday, Dylan, Pa and the girls went exploring to Buley Rockhole and back over to Wangi Falls while I stayed at camp and attempted to bake bread in the BabyQ. All was going so well until I went to turn on the BBQ and it did not start… I tried to fix it for way too long before deciding that we must be out of gas. I had a beautiful dough ready to go though, so I pivoted to making a DIY camp oven out of alfoil and sticks, and putting some logs on the fire. I’d just put it on when Dylan and the gang arrived back and he educated me about the additional switch under the caravan required to open the valve to the bbq gas… Anyway, the bread sort-of baked, I learnt something new and we all ate some doughy honey together. In the afternoon we all walked down for another swim at Florence — Leah once again resisting, but being very reluctantly convinced by peer pressure. When we got back we discovered that ants had infiltrated the van and were searching out all of our supplies! Thankfully most things were sealed and the only casualty we had was half a bag of muesli — but we were constantly fighting their presence for the next two days!

Friday was our best Litchfield day yet. We spent the morning at Buley waterhole, jumping off the rocks and sitting in the small falls, and then we hit the 4WD track out to Sandy Creek Falls which included our first creek crossing in Reg! Along the way we detoured into the old Blyth Homestead — a tiny corrugated-iron hut built in 1928 by the Sargent family, whose teenage kids dismantled it at its original location, moved it over the plateau with a team of 32 horses, rebuilt it, and then lived out in the middle of nowhere working the tin mine with no electricity or running water. It made our caravan feel like a palace. The walk in to Sandy Creek was long (Leah was not thrilled) but beautiful — amongst a forest of golden grass trees and along small streams. The falls were spectacular with clear water, butterflies and fish. We swam out with the girls (and Pa) and touched the waterfall — and on the drive back out it was my turn to drive and take on some four wheeled driving and the water crossing!

Kakadu time! We packed up at the Purple Mango, said goodbye-for-now to Gordon and Tricia, and headed east — stopping briefly at the Bark Hut Roadhouse that had both a water buffalo and a crocodile in the backyard for us to see. The girls swapped around between Reg and Lizzie depending on what they felt in the moment between stops, although Lizzie was definitely favoured overall because driving with Pa is fun and they’ve seen A LOT of Reg in recent weeks! We had walkie talkies going between the two cars and we hooked Pa up to the Starlink so that he could access the all important personalised playlists. First stop in Kakadu was the tourist information centre in Jabiru so that we could get our bearings and come up with a plan. Unfortunately all of the waterfalls in Kakadu, apart from Gunlom, were closed due to damage to the area from flooding that occurred earlier in the year, but we got some great advice from the ranger about all the good things to see, and from there we headed to our camp for the night — Merl campground. That evening we walked up to Ubirr for sunset, which was just beautiful. Along the way there are ancient rock art galleries — which include X-ray style paintings of barramundi, wallabies and turtles with their bones and insides showing, a thylacine (painted before they went extinct on the mainland thousands of years ago), and an image of the Rainbow Serpent, which she is said to have painted herself as she passed through — and at the top you get a stunning view over the floodplains where we watched a sensational sunset together. Back at our campground we had a fire, and then I was absolutely annihilated by mosquitos, from which the bites haunted me for days!

The next morning we walked out to Cahills Crossing where we saw several enormous crocodiles loitering by the crossing, and also several moronic people fishing on the edge of the road beside them. After that we headed south again to Jabiru where we stopped in to see the Crocodile Hotel (a hotel built in the shape of a crocodile) and some beautiful ochre art, before continuing south to Mardukal campground, where Dylan absolutely nailed reversing the van into our own private bush campsite. While he got some work done, Pa, the girls and I went exploring at Cooinda Lodge down the road, where we found a swimming pool, playground, jumping pillow and a bar stocked with board games.

Monday started early with the Yellow Water sunrise boat tour, which was absolutely stunning. We saw so many different birds (egrets, jabirus, sea eagles, magpie geese, whistling ducks, azure kingfishers, brolgas, the Jesus bird) as well as a few saltwater crocodiles, and even some wild pigs. The girls were absolute troopers getting up in the dark and getting onto the boat (we really do put them through their paces, and they are incredibly tolerant of our ludicrousness!), and they loved spending the time on the boat — although they were pretty restless by the end. The rest of the day was a classic camp day, with the girls bike riding and exploring, Dylan working, and Pa and I getting a few jobs done. In the afternoon we all headed back to Cooinda for a play and swim, and in the evening Dylan, Pa and the girls tried their luck at fishing, which turned out to be no luck whatsoever.

Tuesday we packed up and moved to Gungurul campground — which was essentially a carpark by the road (goodbye private bush retreat!), had a quick lunch and then took on Gunlom Falls. The road in was about an hour of corrugated 4WD track — along which our radio antenna bounced right off the front of Reg, so we had to turn around and fetch it! We made it through though, and once we arrived we scaled the massive stair hike straight up to the top pool which was rewarded with a very cold swim with a stunning aspect looking over Kakadu. Unfortunately the bottom pool was closed due to some recently-moved-in resident saltwater crocodiles, which we could see under the water from the pool above! We headed back down the stairs and took the bumpy drive back out again, which was tolerated by all children (and Pa) as long as Aqua’s Barbie Girl was played on repeat. We capped off our Kakadu experience with dinner by the campfire and an early night.

Today was a day filled with both logistics and touring fun. We started the day by packing up at our super comfortable apartment and heading out to the industrial area to pick up Pa’s campervan that he was to call home whilst travelling along with us — the girls affectionately named this ‘Lizzie’ due to the company logo of a gecko splashed on the side. The van was set up with two car seats so the girls could choose which car to ride in for each stage of the adventure, which they thought was the most exciting thing they could imagine. On the way out of town we pulled into Coles to pick up a click and collect, then swung into Chris’ place to reunite with TITANIUM HARDCORE. After that we pushed on to Adelaide River to join the Original Jumping Crocodile Cruise — a boat cruise where enormous saltwater crocodiles launch themselves vertically out of the water to eat meat off a giant pole. We saw SO MANY giant crocodiles which are really just mesmerising… The boat had huge windows that the kids got right up against and got a big fright when one leapt unexpectedly. Once they’d fed enough massive crocodiles they threw some meat into the air to attract a load of kites which caught the food mid-air and then continued on their way.

From the crocodile jumping we drove down to the Purple Mango brewery — a tiny independently owned brewery where we met up with Gordon and Tricia and we all set up our camps together for the night. Dylan did a bit of electrical work on the Bluetti solar battery to make it work more efficiently, and then we enjoyed an evening of locally brewed beer, mango smoothies, and wood fired pizza — the barramundi pizza was unexpectedly amazing! Once the kids were in bed and settled I ventured up to the open-air showers to enjoy a shower under the stars. When I got there I gradually realised that I was joined in the cubicle by 5 small frogs… surrounding me on each wall. I toyed with the idea of bailing and having a quick rinse off in the caravan instead, but as my friend Charlotte says, I “CBT’d the shit out of myself” and decided to face that fear head on… so I had a very speedy shower under the stars with my 5 froggy friends (one of which I watched very closely as he started to gradually move around the shower).

Given that we’d made it all the way to Darwin we decided to live our best life and splurge on a couple of nights in an apartment in the city to really make the most of what it had to offer. So on Wednesday morning we packed up TITANIUM HARDCORE and took it over to Chris’ house for a couple of days. On the way into town, we stopped at Leanyer Recreation Park which is an incredible free water park, and while Dylan got some work done the girls and I hit ALL the slides and the pool. Leah was just tall enough to go on the big slides, and after the first very wary slide both girls could not get enough of going again, and again and again.

From there we headed into the city to check in at our apartment, with a brief intermission of freaking out that Reg wouldn’t fit in the underground parking (he did, but only after Dylan removed the recovery boards!).

We spent the afternoon down by the waterfront where the girls had a swim and a play in the sand, and then we headed back upstairs for a luxurious hot, long and strong shower before dinner. Just before we headed out again, disaster struck — Leah was playing with her toy Bilby out on the balcony and dropped it over the edge where it landed two stories below us onto another balcony! She was distraught… We tried to knock on the door and nobody answered, so we ended up attaching a note to a pen and dropping that as well, reassuring Leah with confidence that we would definitely get it back (eek!). After a lot of cuddles we walked over to Stokes Hill Wharf where we enjoyed a seafood dinner whilst we watched the boats come in with the sunset in the background — perfection. Hazel, who won’t eat most things, tried her first ever taste of Moreton Bay Bug and LOVED it… After dinner we took a couple of e-scooters back to the apartment which the kids were thrilled about and Dylan sent them into fits of giggles by tucking the leftover bottle of wine from dinner into his pants so that he could steer it. Back at the apartment complex we had an ice cream for dessert, and then Dylan made a Bilby substitute for Leah to take to bed out of a jumper tied up into an abstract shape with hairties.

We woke up on Thursday and Bilby was still on the balcony below… So we just kept waiting hopefully for someone to find him and our note. Dylan headed out early to do some work, and then he took Reg out to do a few errands. The girls and I indulged in a cruisy morning enjoying the apartment, then wandered into town for a look around (a walk Leah expressed much enthusiasm for — “No!! I’m not walking. I don’t want to walk anywhere!”), and then we hit the wave pool. Whilst we were there, Dylan arrived back with one of his very important ‘errands’ — a surprise visitor — Pa!! To add even more magic to the moment, Pa arrived holding Bilby, who he had managed to hook off the balcony with his specially made rod and hooking device that he created after hearing about the Bilby catastrophe the night before. Leah was beside herself with emotion from the surprise of his arrival and delivery of Bilby, she just welled up and went quiet for a while which was adorable to watch. We spent the afternoon swimming in the wave pool, playing on the Aqua Park — a giant inflatable playground on the water, and spotting jets at the bar with Pa. We finished the evening with dinner on our balcony while the girls watched a movie.

After three nights relaxing at Wangi Falls we packed up and headed for the big smoke of Darwin. We’d booked three nights at the Oasis Tourist Park in Virginia, which is about half an hour south-east of Darwin, so we headed straight there to set up and make a plan for the next few days. Our site was lovely and shady and the park had a great pool, so it was a good base for us to head into Darwin a few times and catch up on some work and life admin.

After setting up we headed out to visit Dylan’s childhood friend Chris, his wife Holly, and their two girls, who had recently moved to Humpty Doo. Hazel and Leah loved exploring their beautiful place, seeing the baby chickens, and swimming in the pool with Scout (Ocean napped the whole time we were there).

That evening we went to the Mindil Beach Sunset Markets, which was fun although outrageously busy! We caught up with Dylan’s family friends Gordon and Tricia there, who are also touring around in their caravan, and then we got some laksa and pizza and watched a beautiful sunset over the beach alongside about a thousand other people. There was also some very successful shopping: Hazel picked out a new dress, Dylan picked a new shirt, and Leah came away with a frog toy, so everyone left happy.

Monday was a slower day, with some trip planning/work/games/bike riding in the morning, and then in the afternoon we headed back into Darwin to pick up some parcels from the post office and to spend a few hours exploring the city. We wandered the streets in the centre of town where we found some great street art, and then we got a couple of e-scooters which we rode down to the waterfront precinct — I had Hazel on the front of mine, and Dylan had Leah (who tends to struggle a lot more with her centre of gravity!). Once back at camp Dylan gave the girls one of the parcels, which turned out to be two Gameboy devices preloaded with old school Nintendo games — something to help break up the really big driving days! Gordon and Tricia also came to visit us for sundowners and to do some collaborative trip planning, as they are going to join us along the Gibb River Road.

Tuesday was a great reset day. Dylan worked, whilst the girls and I did a Kmart run to restock craft supplies, and then we did some bracelet making, bike riding, swimming in the caravan park pool and I FINALLY got on top of all the washing folding!

We’ve spent the last few weeks zooming across the country and cramming as much into the days as possible. It’s been incredible, but at this point we are tired and have let ourselves fall behind on life admin tasks (i.e. unfolded laundry — which seriously gets in the way in a caravan!, unprepared meal plans, unplanned trip legs, incomplete home-school…), so we were very much looking forward to moving onto Litchfield National Park for 3 nights with no agenda — this was only our second 3-night stint for the entire trip so far, with the last one being Uluṟu which was pretty action-packed.

On Thursday morning we packed up at Little Roper Stock Camp and headed off for about a 4 hour drive to Litchfield. Compared to other drives we’ve done this one was not too long, but GOOD LORD it FELT long. Hazel and Leah were sad to be leaving their new friends who we’d overlapped with for the last four nights, I hadn’t slept well and was feeling generally overwhelmed by the small spaces/chores/constant packing-unpacking/trip logistics, and Dylan needed to catch up on some work. The vibe in the car was LOW. We also spent a good part of the trip stuck behind road trains, which seemed to extend the length of travel immeasurably (although in reality it was probably only by a few minutes). We hobbled through with kids podcasts, playlists and junk food. We stopped in Katherine to fuel up and fill up the water tanks, and then again in Batchelor to buy more Pringles. Thankfully, during our highly motivated period of trip planning over Easter we’d been organised enough to book an NT national parks campground site at Wangi Falls, which we made it to by mid-afternoon. After setting up we wandered down to the falls around sunset to check them out and dip our feet in, which turned out to be the perfect antidote to a challenging day! By the time we arrived everyone else was leaving, so we had the entire place to ourselves. As the sun was setting we ended up taking a spontaneous sunset swim in our underwear! It was freezing, exhilarating and exactly the circuit breaker that was required.

Over the next two days we spent our time moving between the campsite and the falls to swim; we chilled out, caught up on work/life admin, and during one lunchtime swim I unbelievably ran into my cousin Meredith and her daughter who live in Newcastle! We also watched a bowerbird work very hard on building his elaborate bower — for which he collected hundreds of shells, ornate sticks, and scraps of tin foil. We even watched him bring back a lady friend and show off all of his proud possessions!

On Saturday we gathered the motivation to leave our campsite and explore further afield. We headed to Walker Creek where we walked up a track that took us to a beautiful swimming spot with small waterfalls that we could climb around/jump into/swim in. We also saw some of the biggest termite mounds I’ve ever seen. We are planning to return to Litchfield National Park after we do Kakadu in a couple of weeks, so we didn’t feel a pressure to rush around and see everything, and I think that has been a good lesson for us in really realising the joy of somewhere by just absorbing it slowly over a few days.

On our final evening at Wangi Falls we went back at sunset as we had promised the girls that we would swim out and touch both waterfalls. Dylan and I got our exercise by towing them along on their pool noodles to get there (and back), and once out there we climbed up into a little pool next to the smaller waterfall and sat together looking back over the plunge pool as the sun was setting. The small pool was so warm, which made getting back into the big one to do the swim back challenging for everyone… but we managed it and now have the story to tell!

Strap in for many, MANY photos of the falls. We just couldn’t stop taking pictures because it was so beautiful, and this is the culled version!

This morning started with billy tea and johnny cakes around the campfire at our campsite, Little Roper Stock Camp. We also picked up a loaf of freshly baked bread that we’d ordered from Des, the owner. After breakfast, Hazel and Leah (and all the other kids) fed the animals, and then went into the reptile house/garage filled with fish tanks full of lizards and snakes, where they got to hold each one and learn a little bit about them. Leah LOVED all parts of this — she was first in line to hold things (especially the turtles) and came back around for a second go. Hazel was slower to warm to the experience (absolutely where I was at too), but gradually worked up the courage to hold everything too — she was most excited about the blue tongue lizards.

For a few hours in the middle of the day we all spent some time just mooching about and enjoying the campsite, and after that we headed over to the Bitter Springs swimming area. Just like yesterday it was another incredible experience. This one is a much bigger swimming hole than the Mataranka Thermal Pool and it has a current that means you can gradually float along to the end before getting out and doing it all again. We stayed for several hours — swimming, floating, jumping off tree branches into the water and just soaking it all up. I loved being able to swim in amongst the water lilies, with the dragonflies and underneath the enormous golden orb webs strung between the paperbark gums and palm trees. It was a real highlight of the trip so far.

When we got back to the campsite the girls played games with all the other kids (including the most elaborate game of hide and seek in the hay bales) whilst Dylan and I enjoyed a drink with the other parents. We ended up pushing the limits a bit too far because dinner and bedtime were a cacophony of emotions, so we’re aiming for a quiet one tomorrow!

Today marked the beginning of us officially slowing down the trip after making it into the Top End of the Northern Territory for the dry season — hooray!!! We’ve covered a lot of ground in the last few weeks and seen some incredible things, but we’re all really looking forward to staying at each site for a bit longer and having the opportunity to take things at a slower pace. The drive today was between Daly Waters and Mataranka and was just under two hours — such a doddle! We took a cruisy last stroll around the pub before setting off and arrived at our new campsite at Little Roper Stock Camp before lunch.

The campsite is the brainwave of Des and Telka, who have essentially set up a kids’ oasis. It’s got hay bales to climb on/roll around/hide under with slides built into them, rope swings, slacklines, pigs (and piglets!), cows, buffalo, goats, AND a whole garage full of reptiles — snakes, lizards, turtles. The place is teeming with adventure, rough around the edges and absolutely perfect for us for a few days. After arriving, the girls were straight onto their bikes, the playground/hay bale stack, and playing with the animals.

In the afternoon we headed down to the Mataranka Thermal Pool for a swim, which was incredible. The pool sits in Elsey National Park, surrounded by a palm forest, and is 34°C all year round. The water comes from Rainbow Spring, which pushes out about 30.5 million litres a day! The pools are crystal clear and you can see right to the bottom. There were a lot of people there when we first arrived, but after a while it thinned out a bit and we got a chance to really enjoy the natural beauty. By dinner time we were all completely exhausted, so we opted for another movie night and early to bed.

Today we woke up at our free camp at Churchill’s Head and enjoyed breakfast by the fire before packing up and heading off for the Daly Waters Pub. I drove again today so that Dylan could do some work. On the way we stopped briefly at Renner Springs, where we saw a road train carrying several classic cars and a bunch of hay bales (?), and then also at Elliott. At both places we only really saw the inside of the service stations, as we’d heard that we needed to get to Daly Waters in good time to secure a campsite.

We made it to the Daly Waters Pub by around lunchtime and it was hot, which was such a relief after all of our layering over the last few weeks. The girls even braved the pool after we’d set up!

The Daly Waters Pub is a fever-dream frenzy of chaos. Inside there is SO MUCH stuff — every section of wall is covered in something that travellers have left behind: IDs, stickers, photos, underwear, t-shirts… basically anything and everything. There’s a whole wall of bras. Then outside, the owner, Tim, has sourced a random assortment of what appears to be anything he can get his hands on… old helicopters/airplanes/cars, ancient traffic lights, giant KFC buckets; there’s also an assortment of animals — chickens, turkeys, horses, goats, cows, and a freshwater crocodile (Snappy Kevin). It is absolutely wild… the pub is a perpetual party. There’s live music every night and Tim zooms around on a mobility scooter which he’s decked out with buffalo horns and a ‘wide load’ sticker. At 5pm each evening he gives a speech about the history of the pub and the local area, following which the ‘Beef and Barra on the BBQ’ is served. We went all out and chose the mixed plate of both beef and barra, which was honestly amazing.

Today was our biggest driving day yet. We were keen to head north to break the back of the trip up to Litchfield National Park so we were aiming for Banka Banka homestead, which is a 590km trip. We spent a lot of time swapping playlists, listening to audio books/podcasts, eating snacks and playing car cricket — Leah was out for a golden duck for about four innings straight which she found quite distressing, so she ended up with a handicap.

We stopped very briefly at the Tropic of Capricorn statue, indicating that we were once again officially entering the tropics (yay!), and after that we stopped at Aileron Roadhouse where there is a ginormous art installation of an Aboriginal man holding a spear high up on the hill — the Anmatjere Man, who stands 17 metres tall. Down at ground level we also met two painted lizard sculptures who, according to their sign, are the “Desert Mermaid and her lover” — no further explanation offered, none needed. Our next stop was the Devils Marbles Hotel where we bought some ice creams, and then we were back in the car for the final stretch.

As we approached Banka Banka we did some research on the nearby campsite options and decided to go with a nearby free camp called Churchill’s Head so that we could enjoy the bushland and a campfire. There were a few other campers with kids there who we befriended and we all ended up having a spontaneous party around the fire with marshmallows, sparklers and glow sticks.

A life admin/work/play day. Supermarket, washing, cleaning, bike riding, games, drawing. Reset time.

In the afternoon we went for an explore around Alice Springs. We headed up to ANZAC Hill to look out over the town and had a meander down by the dry river. It was beautiful weather and it was good to get a feel for the town.

Today we travelled from Uluṟu to Alice Springs. We set off early as we had to get the car in for a service by 1pm. Roadworks along the way and getting caught behind two ENORMOUS trucks carrying mining machinery caused the timeline to be a bit closer than intended, but we did it. Dylan dropped us off at a pub (with a playground!) for lunch, whilst he took the car in and then came to meet us.

Right beside the pub we stumbled across the Newlandia Music and Skate Festival — a celebration of First Nations music and culture, which we enjoyed exploring during the afternoon. Leah was in her element getting her hair sprayed pink, picking out gemstones and getting to hold a snake! Hazel enjoyed more from afar — opting out of the snake holding and hair spraying, but loving the homemade crafts and gemstones.

After the festival we picked up the car and set up camp at the caravan park for the night.

This morning was cold and ridiculously foggy. We drove out to Kata Tjuṯa (The Olgas) — 36 domed rock formations about 40km west of Uluṟu. On the way we could not see anything beyond about 2m ahead of us, but just as we arrived the fog started to lift and we could see their enormous scale. I was completely blown away by the size and beauty of this area — pretty sure all I said was ‘wow’ about a thousand times. We did the Walpa Gorge walk that goes into the valley between two of the domes and down to a small oasis. Leah and I walked together most of the way and she tried to convince me that there was a town on the top of The Olgas which people accessed by ladder.

After our walk we headed back to Uluṟu where we had planned to hire some bikes to ride around it together. Unfortunately our lack of organisation was again our worst enemy as the bikes were all booked up. We had Hazel and Leah’s in the car already though, so they got the opportunity to cycle around the base of Uluṟu whilst Dylan and I walked... In the end I think it was probably for the best as a lot of the track was very sandy which made for some very unsteady riding from Leah, so it was good to be able to pick her up and dust her off without being on a bike!

In the evening we indulged and booked the sunset picnic at Uluṟu experience — Wintjiri Wiru. This was honestly spectacular! It included cocktails and canapés whilst we watched the sunset, then an Australian cuisine picnic which included kangaroo, emu, crocodile pie and a selection of cheeses and local jams (the girls had ham and cheese sandwiches!), followed by a drone show and light show which told an Aṉangu Dreaming story and included local music. Definitely a highlight of the trip so far!

We woke up to rain again today, so had a very slow-paced morning which was incredibly welcome. Around mid-morning we headed into Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park to the cultural centre where we learnt about the history and cultural significance of Uluṟu to the Aṉangu people, the traditional owners of the land. We learnt about how they have lived around it for tens of thousands of years, how Uluṟu holds spiritual meaning and how they use the caves within it to teach their youth, and hold sacred ceremonies.

The cultural centre connects to the cafe and gift shop, so we hit those for a snack and a magnet, and by the time we’d done that the sun had come out and the day had warmed up, so off we went to explore Uluṟu! The landscape and history are absolutely mind-boggling! We took the Kuniya Walk which goes from the base into the Mutitjulu Waterhole, and I was surprised by how much green vegetation there was at the base.

Poor Leah is very tired (not surprisingly!) and she was pretty resistant to walking anywhere today, so we did what any good parent does and bribed her with some screen time in the afternoon and took a very slow pace. The pace allowed us to fully appreciate the cave art, and take in alllllllll of the information on each sign about how different parts of Uluṟu were used for different purposes by the Aṉangu people. After taking about a million photographs that we will probably never look at we headed back to camp and made good on that screen time promise (the first outing yet for the ipads!), did some laundry and enjoyed some really restful time.

Today we moved from Kings Creek to Uluṟu. We packed up camp and had breakfast at the cafe at the station where Dylan and I tried our first ever camel burger! We both agree that if nobody had told us we’d have just assumed it was beef, so all-in-all the experience was pretty good. On the walk to the cafe Hazel and Leah spotted two giant holes which they were excited to learn were rabbit burrows, and I let them know I’d seen a rabbit last night when I’d got lost trying to find the way back to our caravan from the bathrooms which they (and Dylan) found hilarious.

After refuelling we hit the road for a picturesque journey toward Uluṟu. On the way we passed ANOTHER giant rock which is known as ‘Fooluru’ because a lot of people think that it’s Uluṟu in the distance, but it’s not... it’s actually Mount Connor, which is on private property and not quite as big. So obviously we stopped for some pictures of this giant rock too.

We arrived at Ayers Rock Campground by mid-afternoon where we set up (Dylan absolutely NAILED reversing the caravan into a tight spot first go), had some downtime and explored the site, and then we went into Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park to the sunset viewing location. Driving in was a really special experience, as we were just blown away by the sheer size and vibrant colour of Uluṟu — I’m not really sure what I had expected, but it really is extraordinary jutting out of the earth in the middle of the desert. Unfortunately the grey clouds meant we didn’t get a spectacular sunset, but we had a wonderful time just hanging out in the car park socialising with all the other people who were there to do the same thing!

Today was incredible! We left the Kings Creek Station early in grey weather to head to Kings Canyon to explore. As we were driving toward the canyon the weather started to clear and the sun came out which brought me immense joy. We committed to doing the Scenic Rim Walk, which is a 6km loop that takes you along the edge of the cliffs of the canyon. It starts with about 500 steps (heartbreak hill), moves through ‘the lost city’ — a collection of sandstone domes that look like an ancient city, over to Cotterill’s lookout, down into the Garden of Eden and out via the south wall. The guide suggested the walk would take between 3–4 hours, and with our collection of little legs and many snack/play stops it took us about 5 hours.

Hazel and Leah were absolute superstars, and only once we got toward the end did Leah get tired and start her own mini protest telling us that she wasn’t going to walk any further — thankfully it was around that time that we reached a point where you could yell out/sing/cooee into the canyon and hear it echoed several times over... so that provided a fun energy lifting break which motivated everyone enough to make it the final stretch. We also saw two wild dingoes from a distance!

After the walk we headed back to camp for a quick bike ride, play, dinner and big sleep.

P.S. Don’t freak out about the photos! We were always super safe and all of us remained way back from the edges at all times… the pictures make it look like a sudden drop, but we don’t trust our kids (or ourselves) that much!

Today we travelled from Alice Springs to Kings Canyon. We’re stopping at Alice Springs again on the way back north, so we decided to hold the sightseeing there until then. Thankfully the rain stopped, but the skies remained grey and the temperatures freezing, which everyone apart from me seems to deal with pretty well. I’m working on finding an inner peace (it’s a work-in-progress-type-project) but let’s just say that cold, windy weather is not supporting the growth of the peace.

Our first stop today was Stuarts Well, which is marketed as a ‘desert oasis’ and in real life is a building by the side of the highway that houses a pub, a small shop and a campsite. They do have some animals though, which was a big highlight for us as they currently have two emus and three emu chicks! The roadhouse also sold camel pies, which we will try another day...

Today we also took Reg and TITANIUM HARDCORE onto our first proper dirt-road adventure — the Ernest Giles Track which cuts about 150km off the trip between Alice and Kings Canyon. I’ve never really driven on dirt roads before, so I took the opportunity to practice and Dylan did a bit of coaching. It was a marriage testing activity for us both, after which we both apologised to each other and the children for the tension levels that were flying around in the car. Dylan took over about halfway through and felt compelled to rally-drive us through to the end which he assures me is necessary to manage the corrugations effectively, which I sort of believe.

After airing the tyres back up we hit the bitumen again (much to Hazel’s relief) and made it to Kings Creek Station where we’re camped up for the next two nights. When we got there the girls enjoyed bike riding around the station and playing on the playground, while we set up and got dinner sorted. We had dinner in the van tonight as it is SO COLD!!

This morning when we woke up it was absolutely freezing! Temperatures are getting down to about 5 degrees overnight, and it was also overcast and drizzly, so we were missing the warmth of the sun. After setting off from our free camp we stopped in at the old Barrow Creek Telegraph Station where we learnt about the old telegraph line that ran from Adelaide to Darwin from the 1870s to the 1930s, connecting Australia to England via an undersea cable. Whilst we were there the rain picked up so we hit the road again.

We stopped in at the Ti Tree general store for lunch (which Hazel was not impressed with — “we drove all this way and all I got was a peppery sandwich!”) and then continued through the rain until we arrived at our caravan park in Alice Springs. It was so cold and miserable that we put the heater on, played some games, ordered pizza and had a movie night in the van!

This morning we enjoyed a beautiful sunrise from the Barkly Homestead whilst we had our breakfast. Leah was straight onto her bike, whilst Hazel sent some videos to her friends. We are all also learning to come to peace with the fact that ants are a pretty big part of our lives now, and that they will crawl over you no matter where you are, and that most of the time that is ok.

We set off mid-morning and drove several hundred very straight kilometres along the highway until we reached Threeways, which is literally an intersection named for the fact that it goes three ways. It may sound absurd, but after travelling about 700km along the one highway with nothing in any other direction it was actually pretty momentous. Obviously we had to pull into the Threeways Roadhouse, as roadhouses are our new favourite pastime, and this was a bit of a highlight for the girls as they discovered the Nutella/biscuit stick snack. Dylan purchased more dim sims, we all stretched our legs and then we were back in the car to the outskirts of Tennant Creek.

We pulled up briefly in Tennant Creek, and the extent of the hardship facing the community was immediately apparent — most places were closed, windows were boarded up and there was a lot of property damage. We did some reading later and learnt that Tennant Creek has a long history of entrenched systemic failures — stretching back generations — which have proven difficult to address effectively over time.

We drove on further south to see the Devil’s Marbles (Karlu Karlu), which are incredible rock formations that have been shaped over 1.7 billion years. For some reason, both Dylan and I had dropped the ball (or marble, lol) here and thought that we could free-camp around the Devil’s Marbles, but when we got there we realised that all the sites were pre-booked through the NT national parks site. Unfortunately the site was full, so we had to think quick as we were all a bit done with the car... Thankfully we found an incredible free camp about 40 minutes further south called Barrow Creek WWII — a former Australian Army staging camp where convoys of troops and supplies would stop overnight on their way north from Alice Springs during the war. We set up in a beautifully remote location, danced together in a dry creek bed, set a fire for the evening and saw the most magnificent night sky.

Today was another big travel day — we’re cruising through QLD quickly so that we make it to the NT top end for the dry season and chase the sun down the West coast. Also, in the places that we were in today there is absolutely nothing for vast stretches, so long travel days are just a necessity!

Today we set off from Mount Isa for Barkly Homestead, which is about 400km from anything else. We stopped briefly at Camooweal Roadhouse for fuel, where we realised that one of the caps on our water tank had come loose on the road and was now missing... so whilst we taped that up the girls tried to catch a fly in a plastic bag, and what can I say — that’s just the sort of fun times you can expect on road trip days. Unbelievably, they caught the fly and we also secured the water tank.

Just after Camooweal we crossed the QLD–Northern Territory border which was very exciting, and we saw police searching cars coming in the opposite direction for contraband fireworks after the Territory Day celebrations yesterday. We arrived at the Barkly Homestead mid-afternoon where it was very hot and humid. After we set up we played some games together, explored the homestead which is home to some beautiful birds and amazing garden sculptures, hit the pub and met some campers who had cycled there from Brisbane over 6 weeks!

A work/life admin/play day in Mount Isa. Not a whole lot to say today — did some washing, shopping and cleaning... all the exciting things that don’t go away even when you’re on holiday! Hazel and Leah enjoyed bike riding with new friends around the caravan park, then braved the pool briefly before realising it was way too cold. Dylan took the car to get the tyres and airbags checked, I hit the bright lights of Mount Isa’s Kmart and Coles. I enjoyed driving around the town and gaining context for the places that my family and friends had lived and worked in. We finished the night with drinks with the family camped next to us who we befriended over the last couple of days and who were 3 months into their 10-month trip.

This morning we woke up to the rain pouring at our free camp in Dinosaur Creek, so we packed up early and hit the road, making it to Cloncurry as our first stop. Whilst Dylan did some work (he’s juggling work in the mornings, evenings, spare time and during the long drives) the girls and I enjoyed a slow few hours exploring the tourist information centre, writing postcards and playing on the playground. For lunch we had our first pie at the Cloncurry bakery (way better than expected) which we took to the picturesque Chinaman Park on the dam just outside of Cloncurry where we watched the kites soar overhead.

After lunch we hit the road again toward Mount Isa, which was a beautifully scenic drive, with rocky ridges and arid foliage. We hit Mount Isa by mid-afternoon where we stayed at the Sunset Tourist Park. The girls enjoyed bike riding around the park and meeting new friends. That night we went along to watch the live music and enjoy a ‘bloody big burger’ at the on-site BBQ which was great vibes (and delicious burgers which were eaten by all)!

Today was a day that accurately represents how quickly a travel day can swing between highlights and low-points, and the mundane to the extraordinary.

The day got off to a rocky start when I forgot to take my towel to the shower block, and I was forced to get creative by drying off with my pyjamas. As I was doing that I thought to myself ‘this will make a good low-point to tell the kids about’.

The day deteriorated from there as we demonstrated a moment of extreme stupidity and naivety by not fuelling up in Longreach before departing for Winton. I think this was a combination of our accommodation being on the north side of town (past the petrol station) and us feeling lulled into an entirely false sense of security with the travel time today only being 2 hours compared to the previous travel day reaching almost 6 hours. Anyway, all that to say that embarrassingly we VERY nearly ran out of fuel on a two-hour stretch between Longreach and Winton — it got to the point where we had to pull over and empty the contents of our diesel heater into the car, and even with that we only JUST scraped into Winton (the fuel gauge indicated we had less than 10km left in the tank). It was stressful and I have learnt my lesson. Dylan took a WILDLY inappropriate video during this moment, during which if you listen carefully I can be heard saying ‘I’m not ready to joke about this yet’.

After the most relief-filled petrol stop of my life, we hit the Tattersalls Pub in town for lunch, and then headed out to the Australian Age of Dinosaurs which was absolutely epic. The girls loved it, and I now want to pivot into archaeology, or at least put completely irrational pressure on my children to become young diggers as a part of their youth volunteer program so that I can tag along for an annual dig. After we finished up at the museum we headed about 60km north-west of Winton to a free camp called Dinosaur Creek, where we set up, walked up a nearby peak and watched a stunning sunset.

We had a luxuriously slow start today, with a chance to make pancakes, do a load of washing and watch the girls cycle around the caravan park with other kids. Around lunchtime we went to the Stockman’s Hall of Fame, where we saw the live show — which involved a lot of impressive whip-cracking, some very well trained horses and dogs, and an incredibly moving tribute to the men and horses who defended our country during the wars. I’m not usually a lover of museums, but the one at the Stockman’s Hall of Fame was as engaging as they come, in a truly beautiful building with automated headsets that kick off little narratives as soon as you walk into the relevant exhibit... It’s hard not to take in information on some level when that’s happening!

In the afternoon we headed back to the caravan park where we all got a chance to take the bikes out for a ride together, and then the girls and Dylan went kayaking on the river whilst I watched warm and dry on the bank.

In the evening we headed to the Qantas Founders Museum where we went to ‘Luminescent Longreach’, which is a very cool light show projected onto the side of a jumbo jet, telling us all about the history of Qantas, its founders and air travel within Australia.

Today was a big driving day. Charleville to Longreach is about 5 hours and 30 minutes, and we ambitiously took it on. We kept ourselves occupied with personalised playlists, kids podcasts (ABC Listen is amazing!), snacks, chatbot facts about each town we visited, activity books and car games. Hazel and Leah were absolute superstars. Many discussions were had about the best strategies for catching yabbies and what to do with them if we did catch them... Hazel decided that the most logical storage place for them would be the washing machine, so I’m now on high alert for checking that before doing a load.

First stop was Tambo — home of the Tambo Teddies, teddy bears made out of 100% sheep wool which were first made and distributed in 1992 by local mums to raise money for the town during a severe drought.

Next up we stopped in Blackall (population ~1,300) for an unexpectedly delicious lunch at The Lodge on Hawthorn which is based in a beautiful old Masonic Temple. On the way out of town we visited the Black Stump, which was used to mark the boundary of surveyed land in the late 1800s — everything to the East was charted, and everything to the West was uncharted and wild. It’s where the expression ‘beyond the black stump’ came from! The monument itself is somewhat underwhelming and confusing as there are two, positioned right next to the high school oval... the original black stump was destroyed by a fire, so the town created a memorial for it out of petrified wood in the 1980s, but then it seems as though the council felt that that wasn’t a realistic representation of what the ACTUAL stump would have looked like, so they built another one (much smaller and what I can only describe as a significantly less ostentatious tree) right next to it. So ultimately, multiple fake tree stumps were seen and photographed by us.

On the next drive toward Barcaldine, we saw a wild emu by the side of the road which was pretty exciting for all of us. At Barcaldine I had the family SO PUMPED to see the Tree of Knowledge — we’d read up on the original tree being the meeting point of the shearer’s strike, which led to the birth of the Australian Labor Party, the mysterious poisoning of the tree and the subsequent development of the multi-million dollar memorial tree (note the theme of immortalised trees in today’s travels)... Anyway, we arrived in Barcaldine SO ready to see this thing and it was closed for maintenance. The kids took that in their stride, Dylan and I poked our heads over the barrier to catch a glimpse of what we were missing.

We arrived in Longreach by late afternoon and enjoyed live music and a drink at the Muddy Duck Caravan Park while the girls played in the mud by the riverbed.

Today was a really great, slow-paced day filled with old friends, meandering walks, bird watching and leaf collecting. We went to the Bilby Experience and got to see the two bilbies who live there. Dylan and James took the opportunity to make a few tweaks to Reg to optimise the battery charging systems. I rediscovered the joy of a corned beef and pickle sandwich on fresh white bread.

Today we travelled from Miles to Charleville where we met up with our friends James and Chloe and their three daughters Aquila, Astrebla and Ochre. Not long out of Miles we drove through the Dulacca Wind Farm, where the turbines tower over the road — they’re 230 metres tall, and photos completely fail to capture how enormous they are in person. We also stopped in at the Roma saleyards and went through the museum they have on-site, which was admittedly way more interesting than I thought it would be (although probably more for Dylan and I than the girls). Unfortunately it wasn’t a sale day so we didn’t get to see the yards in action, but it would be good to come back to witness that!

After a few more hours in the car we stopped at Morven for a play on the playground and a look at the kerosene tin hut, which is exactly like it says on the tin (lol) — a little house that people built out of old kerosene tins to live in during the Great Depression. We had a look around it, and I can’t even begin to imagine raising a family in there — it certainly put any of our modern day complaints into perspective.

Enroute to Charleville the landscape changed and the red dirt started to appear, which prompted Leah to ask ‘is the soil red from people’s blood falling out of their bodies after they are buried?’. We reassured her that it’s actually iron in the soil, although she didn’t seem convinced.

We arrived in Charleville by late afternoon, and it was really lovely to catch up with good friends. In the evening we all went to the Charleville Cosmos Show, where we got to look through enormous telescopes at the stars in the outback night sky and see whole constellations that aren’t visible to the naked eye… SO COOL!!

After months of intensive planning and preparation, we finally set off on our 6-month adventure! We had initially planned to set off early in the morning and make it to Roma for the first night, but not surprisingly there ended up being last minute chaos (including an emergency call to a plumber to fix a leak in the bathroom), so we didn’t end up leaving until about 11am. Dylan’s parents were in town, so it was great to have them there to wave us off, and quite a few neighbours also made the effort to come out to say goodbye which was so lovely.

We took one brief stop at the illustrious BP truckstop in Charlton where Dylan got his first Dim Sim of the trip, or ‘Centrelink Oyster’ as a friend of ours recently told us they are colloquially known.

Reg had his first challenge towing TITANIUM HARDCORE up the Toowoomba range, which he did with no problem whatsoever.

Due to the later departure time we didn’t quite make it to Roma for the night, but instead we pulled up at a free camp in Miles. The campsite was right beside a (very green) creek which had ducks and there were a couple of loose roosters which the girls loved.