Into the Territory

MONDAY, 8th August 2011

We had a lovely weekend relaxing in Palm Cove, with a special visit from Nanny. The kids were stoked to have her stay with us (me too!), and it definitely distracted the kids from being upset that Jace had flown away for the weekend. Of course though it managed to rain the whole weekend and the sunshine only came out as she was leaving.  We are all missing you again already xx.

WEDNESDAY, 10th August 2011

We've hit the road again and this time we are headed West. We stayed last night at Innot Hot Springs, one of the spring pools they had there was so hot that I couldn't even dip my toes in, but there were a few milder ones that the kids could swim in. We went down to the creek where the springs occur naturally, but looking was as far as we got as the water was so hot at some places that we saw a lady scald her foot.

THURSDAY, 11th August 2011

Today we stopped in at the Undarra Lava Tubes, which were really impressive caves. We took the kids for a walk down one of the tubes that holds water, which was freezing...but refreshing

FRIDAY, 12th August 2011

You can tell its dry season up this way...

SATURDAY, 13th August 2011 

We stopped over in Normanton, where we checked out the replica of the largest documented croc killed, the lady that killed it also started the Guinness Book of records (according to Jace). The kids gave us their biggest croc imitation too :-)

SUNDAY, 14th August 2011 

Aye Karumba! Another change in scenery on our drive out to Karumba Point.

And we took in some Barra and chips at "Ash's Cafe" before heading down to the beach to watch the sunset over the Gulf of Carpentaria.

MONDAY, 15th August 2011 

Onward to Burketown, we took in Leichhardt Falls where Jace pulled out some waterfall dancing moves, while the kids made their own natural sandpits nearby.

FRIDAY, 19th August 2011 

We spent a few days camped at Adels Grove, Lawn Hill just on the QLD side of the NT border. It definietly lived up to the expectations that other travellers had set for us. Jace spent endless hours fishing with no luck, meanwhile the 7yo girl camped next to us was pulling in fish every 10 minutes "just for fun"! The kids enjoyed the (croc-free) swimming hole for hours on end, with rope swings, pontoon and tyre rings adding to the fun. And the countless kids around kept them entertained the rest of the time.

We took a short drive up to the National Park for a bushwalk with the kids, lunch by the creek where Ella collected as many mussel shells as she cook. Then we dragged them up a 250m steep climb to check out views of the gorge. It was well worth it, and Ash did his usual charming of the oldies while we were up there.

I went back the next day to do a couple of the longer walks, that paid off with the views, and the swim at the falls afterward.

P.S Aunty Richelle, as much as Ella has loved the Dora dress, after today the threads couldn't hang in any longer they were so well worn. I do remember it starting out white once, but since its been on this trip a pale shade of brown is more what it has become :-) No worries though, I'll be returning the favour of white clothing to your child in the near future xx

SATURDAY, 20th August 2011

We left Lawn Hill today for some more dirt roads up to the King Fisher Camp. After opening and closing one of the twenty odd gates along the track I noticed one of the shock absorbers on the trailer dragging on the ground. The thing is starting to fall to pieces. We'll see if the warranty picks this one up.

Meanwhile KingFisher was nothing much but for a lot of gumtrees and bucketloads of spitfire caterpillers which left a charming mess of gummy eucalytpus residue on everything. SUNDAY, 21st August 2011 We crossed into the Northern Territory today. And set up in one of the free camps alongside the Robinson River. We scored another beautiful sunset, and a dog! Not sure where he came from, but he stayed with us until we drove off the next day. The kids were thrilled to have something new to play with.

TUESDAY, 23rd August 2011 

Camped overnight at the Southern Lost City, and took the kids for a short walk through the rock formations....not that they did much walking!

We stopped in a Butterfly falls for a swim.

And then headed over to the much talked up Roper Bar. But we weren't overly impressed.

P.S Grandfather...we thought you might like this letterbox.

SATURDAY, 27th August 2011 

Katherine put on the Big Day Without Festival for us tonight. Ella loved the facepainting. Ash loved the dancing. Jace loved the hip hop.

TUESDAY, 30th August 2011 

We've spent the last few days staying at Katherine Gorge, and we managed to sneak in a bush walk and a boat tour. I swear these photos don''t do justice to how impressive these gorges are.

WEDNESDAY, 31st August 2010 

We've moved 30 minutes north up to Edith Falls, and have been enjoying the closeness of the falls and spent plenty of time swimming and paddleboarding in the plunge pool. Jace and I took seperate bush walks up around the top of the falls since we weren't keen for dragging the kids up the steep tracks. The views were well worth it.  And the kids enjoyed hanging around the campsite, as you can see Ash took to decorating himself.

Kakadu is up next.