2nd day Lake Argyle

We found ourself awake pretty early by WA standards today, it was 5am when yesterday it was 6:30 a couple of hours east. Not ideal with a couple of active boys but all good.

We made our way up to the two lookouts of the lake and there were some good shots to be had, then went to the base of the dam wall for a bit of a play around in the grassy area by the river. A nice spot and I could have easily fallen asleep on the blanket. There was a cockatoo drinking from the tap beside us which the boys loved and we kicked the Sherrin around for a while too. After this we found ourself hungry, firstly because the boys divulged everything in Mum's bag, and secondly because it was 9:30 and we are used to 11:30 and having lunch...What do we do now?

The reality is if you can get here early enough, and you dont have a boat or a kayak, then you only need 1 night to have a look.

This afternoon I said to the clann we should go down by the Ord River to fish off the banks, so we did. I asked a local bloke where to go and he sent us on this off the beaten track that had been pretty eroded and came to a dead end, he said he hadnt been down there this dry season but reckons there is an area at the end full of black bream and barra.....not this time for us. We found a spot by the river where it was deep enough and got on to a couple of catties. Nat had something pretty big take her line and there were plenty of bites, but in terms of size Zander won with a 50cm catfish....for them it doesnt matter what they are, just that they catch something and it keeps them interested.

We saw a skeleton of a freshwater croc on the river bank which amused the boys, and just sitting there on the rocks with the fam was great, a nice afternoon and happy days.

A couple of beers at the Cobbler Inn on the way back and we were in bed pretty early. All good

Jase.

Lake Argyle Arrival...

A brilliant drive from our campsite last night to Lake Argyle today. The changes in scenery and “lay

of the land” we have witnessed across 2 states, & now into the beginning of another over a month

and a half has been nothing less than spectacular, but now we are where we want to be….in the

west & we love it here….

For me it was a monumentally inspiring drive into Lake Argyle, the mountain ranges and the colours

of the land were just out of this world. I found myself veering over the white lines on a

number of occasions but Nat was quick to bring me back to Earth…. We arrived at the caravan park,

inhabited by many humans and we set up camp.

We sat down and had a drink afterward and watched a massive RV roll in from Geelong beside us

where the old bloke couldn’t see behind him. It was quite comical because he had 5 attempts at

getting this thing between a 20m gap and couldn’t get it…..One thing I am finding is that in

every caravan park there is that woman that thinks she knows it all, has been everywhere, and her

children are Olympic superstars - that sticks her big bloody nose into everything and tries to help

every time….so she did. The wife of the bloke that couldn’t see just stood there while this other

lady  steered him in….bloody funny. If it was Nat she would have told her to piss of!!!.... Needless to

say there hasn’t been much movement tonight from the Sheraton on wheels….

Soon after a bus came in with all the ‘Lake Cruisers’ on it, they all got off and a few of them

commented on “my outfit” and how good a setup it was (The Mann Vann/Prado that is) which is

nice because we did set it up quite well. Mind you this is coming from guys that drive V8 Sahara’s

towing $80k vans behind them, so for them to say we have got the goods is great, particularly when

we can go more places and be set up and packed up quicker than them…..:)

I was a bit pissed when they asked me for $50 per night to stay here, that was until I went and had a

swim in their pool which essentially is carved into the side of one of the mountains here and

overlooks the largest body of freshwater in the country….simply magnificent. Water planes

taking off and landing which reminded me of the old 80’s sitcom Fantasy Island “the Plane The

Plane” with the little midget dude…this is seriously a beautiful place to be….

Tomorrow we have plans to go and see the two lake lookouts, go for a swim in the crystal clear

waters of the lake, then to the play area at the base, followed by the Ord River to go fishing. I really

want to catch something, particularly for the boys as our luck has not been with us so far as a father

and sons team.’  That’s the stuff that will stick with them forever.

To conclude tonight, I came to the realisation with Nat after dinner (& after a couple of single barrel

Jack Daniels and cheap wines) that we are in the most unique of situations. Firstly, we get to see his

great country of ours close up at an age where we won’t struggle, and secondly that we get to

spend it with our boys at an age where they are so impressionable. They can be little arseholes

sometimes  but the reality is that we get to spend 6 months continuously with them 24/7, & we

don’t think that many people would ever get to do this with their kids. After one month we are all

settling in to living in a tent on wheels and we feel that after 6 months the family unit will be all the

better for it - not to mention the social aspect of exposing the boys to all of this at an age where

they are such sponges.

Bloody great I say….Why do people bank their long service leave and accrue holidays???? The old

analogy of working to live and not living to work rings true at present…..Fishing and playing

tomorrow…what will the poor people be doing????

Jase ….

Timber Creek

This morning we got up and onto the road early as we had a long way to go, we didn’t like leaving Gunlom but, we had to in order to get far enough west to make it across to Lake Argyle the following day. About 480-500 clicks was the plan.

The drive was pretty good, we stopped in Katherine to stock up on the essentials and powered on to
free camp on the Victoria River called Big Horse Creek - which was OK, but quite full of caravans.
We threw a line in the river to chase some fish but to no avail, the boys just want to catch a barra but
we have been out of luck until now, the Kimberley awaits, hopefully we will get something there….
Up early tomorrow and on to WA…where we will lose 90 minutes across the border….

Jase

 

Kakadu

Today after 4 nights in Darwin we moved on to Kakadu. 1^st stop was the Crocodile Jumping Cruise which the boys were pretty pumped about. When we got there the boys were able to hold a python which was cool, and they stuck their heads in a fake 6m croc on display that had them a little nervous.

The cruise was OK, although I think there might be better ones around. The bloke that ran the show had a serious case of ‘high hair’ and wore his pants up around his belly button so he didn’t touch any of my better buttons…. but we did see a number of crocs and got some great pics. Interestingly 80% of salt water crocs live in freshwater, and ‘salties’ as they are commonly referred to is not their real name, rather an inherited name, they are in fact estuarine crocs hence the fresh water habitat. In the Adelaide River they think there is one every 75m so definitely a couple in there - yet that is not the most populated, the Mary River region is which is the most dense anywhere in the world and about 60klm’s down the road….

From there we travelled into Kakadu proper and stopped at the Bowali Visitor centre which was great and quite interactive for the boys. We also stopped at Mamukala Wetlands lookout which was what we expected in terms of the real Kakadu habitat that we have seen on TV and in pictures. The boys had a fight over the binoculars and don’t really understand that this might be a once in a lifetime opportunity, but they did see it and I am sure they will remember at some stage.  

We found a camping spot beside a billabong just outside Jabiru called Malabanjbanjdju (pronounced fuk-tif-eye-no) because we wanted to have a free camp…it was certainly free but also home to a gizzilion mozzies which tore everybody apart. Not sure of the reason, but they don’t seem to like me and I came out unscathed…I tell Nat it’s because of my sweet blood and she reckons it’s because of my cold reptilian blood….either way I don’t care, they look like red hundreds and thousands on white bread and I am still beautiful…….

The ranger showed up at 7am to check passes (you can’t enter the park without paying $25 per person) which we had, and we then took off to a place called Ubirr (pronounced oo-bur) which was rich in indigenous artwork on rocks. This was cool and the boys dug it, until it was too hot to walk and they needed to be carried…….I am sure they milk it and Mum is a sucker for a sooky kid….The rangers do numerous talks about the land, culture and history so they are quite good, and the boys got to play with croc skeletons and fossils, again which is great for them. A nice lookout at the top awaited us with some more special shots for the library. We then took off to the southern end of Kakadu to a couple of locations we had in mind. We passed through Jabiru which is a nice little town and had lunch. There is a holiday Inn there shaped like a croc which is different and there is the basic essentials there in terms of supermarket, bakery etc. I think most people base themselves there and travel around. Just north of there we went for a drive to have a look at the Ranger Uranium Mine which disappointingly is placed in the middle of what seems beautiful country. Uranium is very expensive and I guess we get top dollar for it but obviously at the expense of some great land. 

Jim Jim and Twin falls were closed, (lucky we flew and spewed over them in Katherine [(Nat and Mav!!)] - as was Yellow Water Billabong so we pressed on to a place called Gunlom (pronounced Goon-lom) which was about 40klms of unsealed road off the highway,  but well worth the drive. I make it the pick of the spots for me so far, just brilliant. The first time we have really relaxed. I think it is much easier to relax when you are somewhere where there is nothing to do and is quiet without a thousand people, that’s why we are in a camper trailer and the real reason we wanted to get away.   
I much prefer seclusion than caravan parks and the people that inhabit them (selfish I know) and I blame my parents for this given the numerous trips we had growing up on Fraser Island, Teewah & Rainbow Beaches when everyone waved to you as they went by - and out bush where we were all alone and had to fend for ourselves – that is real camping……The unfortunate part of this exercise is that at some stage you need power and washing machines to re-balance the ship. I look forward to the remote areas in the Kimberley….

Here in Gunlom was a beautiful waterfall and at the base was a massive plunge pool which the boys and I tested out. Mum is a bit of a princess when it comes to croc infested water but this one was OK, bloody nice in fact. I said to Mum, “let’s stay another night, it’s nice here,” I didn’t have to twist her arm, she loved it too.

In the morning I convinced Nat to do the lookout walk, it was 1klm straight up the side of a rock face wall just about, so not for the boys. We each took turns and watched the boys while we scaled the track.  At the top was a great lookout - but 200m further on were these magnificent rock pools where the water gathered before it went over the cliff making the falls. The water was crystal clear and cold, free from crocs and very swimmable…so we did (singularly). We both ended up having them all to ourselves while we were there which was just brilliant. After that I thought Z Mann was old enough to tackle the climb so I went up again with him in the afternoon - swimming together also, he had a blast after finally getting the courage to get in. As you can see from the pics, the water is amazingly clear - another must do thing in Kakadu and highly recommended in our opinion.

Jase

Jason's catch for the day!

Fish feeding.....

Mindil Beach Sunset Markets

Darwin Wharf Precinct - Beach and Wavepool

Darwin for 4 nights...the summary....

There was no rush for us when we left Litchfield on Tuesday morning because Darwin was only an hour away, so we spent an hour washing the red dust off the trailer after doing the Prado in Katherine. We left a nice patch of red mud on what was a very nice camp with green grass and shady trees, they didnt need to water our site that day thats for sure....

Arrived in Darwin around lunchtime and set up pretty quickly, then decided to go into town and see what was around. I also wanted to check possible venues for the footy to have a drink and watch a big screen. We sussed out the information centre like all travellers do and went for a short walk, which surprisingly was quite good - our expectations were exceeded - it is a pretty nice town.

Wednesday came around quickly and we had visions of going to Crocosaurus Cove and the wave pool, but Zander was playing up again like a used lawn mower so we didnt. Not sure what it is but he is being so disobedient and throwing tantrums all the time. We are hoping it settles down because it is driving us nuts. Maverick isnt too bad if he gets enough sleep, but Z Mann is really testing us - so no fun today. We went for a long walk along the river front in 35 degree heat instead...and he still didnt get it.....we could have been fishing for crocs, but instead we were walking all over town.....

The plan for the footy was the casino lawns but given the tiredness of the boys, and us for that matter we opted to stay in the camp and watch it on out TV. Just our luck 10 minutes before the start the park lost power and we were in complete darkness.

I had the ablility (luckily) to power the telly through the trailer battery so I got that up quick smart and we had a few visitors over to watch the maroons win another origin, so not all bad in the end....I got pretty vocal so the locals knew what it was like to have a spirited queenslander amongst them....

Thursday arrived and I knew Nat needed some time out so I said she should go and have a massage because I am an exceptional husband and father. She did and Zander Mav and I went down to the beachfront to perve on all of the back packers, it was really boring....Seriously though the area they had to swim was great and so were the backpackers...

After Mum got out of the massage we went into the wave pool area which is just like wet and wild and the boys had a blast, we met some people from the Gong beside us in the camp area and they arrived so all the kids had a good time, which is very cool and gave us a bit of a break.

We took off as we wanted to go to the Mindil sunset markets which are on each Thursday night from 5pm to 10pm in the dry season, everyone gets a feed from the huge variety of cuisines on offer and pulls up some grass or sand and watches the sun go down. Ive said it before but for all of us east coasters, it is a bit of a novelty seeing the sun set over the ocean. We caught up with Monte Dwyer again and said hello, had a walk around and we were all tired so went back to the van. 9:30pm and still 30 degrees, bloody uncomfortable. We dont get why people would live here in this heat when you cant really just go and jump in the ocean to cool off.....

This morning (Friday) came around and I was up early on an Arafura Bluewater Charter all day, this has no link to the offer of the massage yesterday for Nat - that was just because I am exceptional husband and father.....

It blew up this morning to 28knots so not the most pleasant day out, but it was still blue skies and we got some nice fish, although not as many as they normally get. I got a nice Golden Snapper which we cooked up tonight and it was sensational, and we still have 4 more feeds of fillets for the tribe as we now embark on Kakadu for the next few days and not as much civilisation. I could really get used to this fishing thing, and not knowing what day it is, it definitely agrees with me.

Nat took the boys to the fish feeding (Aquascene) and the boys loved it, they then went to a big playground in Fannie Bay and they also had a ball. No tears or tantrums today I hear, so hopefully they are getting the idea that this is how we are living at the moment....

In summary Darwin is a good place to visit, there is enough here to do for more than the 4 nights we stayed, although we did what we wanted to and think it was enough for us.

Croc Jumping Cruise in the morning and then into Jabiru, I hope to convince the Mrs that I need to do a specific Barra tour to ensure I catch a barra, because...you guessed it...I am an exceptional husband and father!!

Jase


Jase

Katherine & Litchfield National Park

We got up early to pack up so we could arrive at the airport at 8am for our scenic flight over Katherine Gorge, Jim Jim Falls and Twin Falls.  We were all very excited, especially the boys!   
The flight started out great and it was a perfect morning for it.  But it was short lived when poor Mav started to feel sick and started throwing up everywhere!  The flight was a bit rough.  And then of course, it was my turn as well!  Mav had another turn at throwing up before he practically past out!  By the time we landed both Mav and Zander were asleep and Jason and I were feeling a bit worse for wear.  I am glad we went on the flight (especially since today we found out you can't access Jim Jim and Twin Falls at the moment by car) but I will not be in any hurry to go on one of those planes ever again!!

We continued onto Litchfield National Park which is about 250kms north of Katherine.  We were all a bit quite on the journey and still recovering.  We arrived just after lunch and booked into the Litchfield Tourist Park.  We dumped the trailer so we could go have a look around.  We went to the Termite Mounds and some of them were over 50 years old and 5m tall!  We then drove on the 4wd track to the Lost City.  I am not sure why it is a 4wd only track as it was pretty tame (and Jas and the boys were very disappointed as they wanted to go "rough" 4wdriving) but the 10km drive was well worth it.  The Lost City looks like ruins of an old city but it is made of sandstone formations.  It's quite a site - very unusual.

As we headed back to camp, Zander almost threw up in the car and we had all had a enough for the day.  Went for a swim, had a BBQ for dinner and early to bed.  We are off to Darwin tomorrow.  I am looking forward to a "capital city"!

Nat

 

Katherine

Yesterday we attempted to walk to the lookout at Katherine Gorge.  As usual, we got much resistance from both the boys today.  The track was very steep and rocky so Mav got carried most of the way but it was well worth the effort.  The views down Katherine Gorge were amazing!  And the day just got progressively worse.  The boys turned feral (and I mean feral!)  Zander started it off - wasn't listening or doing what he was told, swearing at Daddy (and I can tell you, that didn't go down too well!), hitting and kicking me!  And of course Mav just followed suit and became unbearable too!  After Zander's mouth was washed out with soap, we thought he may calm down, but to no avail.  It has definately been the most challenging day of our trip so far and we were certainly contemplating going home.  I think we would have sent Zander home on his own before we all went home!

But today is another day and I can tell you Zander is a different child today.  We got up really early to go on a morning cruise through Katherine Gorge.  It was well worth the early wake up to see the sun rise and enjoy a great bacon and egg breakfast on the boat.  The boys were fairly well behaved also and we even saw a saltwater croc!

We didn't want to push the envelope today, so we went back to camp and spent the rest of the day swimming, walking down to the creek and Jas even got to wash his car.  He has been itching to do that since it got one speck of red dust on it!  I also made some damper and for my first attempt, it was pretty good (if I do say so myself!)

Tomorrow we have another early start, we are off on a plane ride over Katherine Gorge and Kakadu.  Looking forward to it.....

Nat

Mav's Oscar performance

Might I add to Nat's post that I went to the extent of splinting his wrist at Mataranka for the drive to Katherine because the agony he seemed to be in had me worried and I felt pretty bad about it. I didnt think I had done anything aggressive, I just picked him up by the wrists and helped him walk along, but I really thought I had broken something.

After milking it for a few hours and hamming it up, the suggestion of McDonalds for dinner seemed to perk him up a bit, 5 minutes before he couldnt move his fingers, now he magically could so he could use the playground....

I was then waiting to get a coffee and he was high fiving Mum with his bung hand...that'll do me - the little prick...he got one over me this time.....

I must say, he does make me smile...much like with the girl (Jemma - the same age) he met at Daly Waters Pub that he thought to bring her into the camper to show her his bed, nice work little Mann.....

Jase

Katherine Arrival

After a fabulous night at the Daly Waters Pub and way too many cheap wines with another young couple travelling with their 3 and 4 year olds, we headed off to Katherine.  On our way we stopped at the Mataranka Hot Springs.  This was a nice spot for a warm swim!  Very popular with the Grey nomads!  On our way back to the car, Mav decided he didn't want to walk anymore and Jas was getting cranky!  He dragged him back to the car!  Mav was hysterical and holding his arm saying it hurts like it was broken so I had visions of us having to find the hospital in Katherine and him having a cast on his arm for the rest of the trip.  His arm wasn't swollen or bruised so we decided to see how he went (more on this later....)

We continued to Katherine and I have never been happier to see a Woolworths in my life!  And the boys were very excited to see a McDonalds!  We have spent the last week or so in some fairly remote areas where you are lucky to get bread and milk!  We were just about to start eating baked beans for breakfast, lunch and dinner!  All I cared about though was buying my WHO magazine!

The kids were nagging us to go to McDonalds so we did for dinner (and I think Jas felt a little guily about Mav's arm!).  But it is amazing how a cheeseburger and an icecream can make his arm all better!!!  The little bugger was banging it on and by the time we left McDonalds his arm was back to normal.  I swear, we could have killed him!  He is way too smart for a 3 year old!

We are staying at the Shady Lane Top Tourist Park and I think this has been the nicest place we have stayed in yet.  Thanks to Nanna for the recommendation.  And I was even more excited when I saw how nice the showers and toilets were!  It's like staying in a luxury hotel!  We have stayed in some dodgy places with dodgy facilities over the last couple of weeks for not much less than what we are paying to stay here. 

We are thinking we might stay another day or too.....

Nat

Daly Waters Pub arrival

We left King Ash Bay this morning, my Prado is just covered in red dust, it is getting into everything. 600klm's in it will do that and I am amazed at how much it cakes on to everything. You hear the stories but you don't understand until you see it for yourself. I will need a good week when I get back to clean it the way I want it. My wife is now officially a bushie, she hasnt complained once about the dirt, the gates, flies, the mozzies, the humidity, or the repetitiveness of setting & packing up, just the boys and I irritate her sometimes which happens at home anyway.....

We needed fuel and some basic supplies in Borroloola so we stopped in and got some gear. Surprisingly the locals were pretty freindly, all said hello and I didnt feel threatened at all like the stories I had heard.

I learnt from a lady at King Ash Bay that the aboriginals dont pay for freight on fruit and veg so go to their store to get that, and the supermarket alongside to get the rest, so I did. I also got a great coffee there as well which surprised me. Aboriginals everywhere here, as black as black can be, and as I said, quite friendly.

We fuelled up at $1.86 per litre (it was $1.92 yesterday when we came through), loaded up and kept going. All good at Borroloola.

We had about 400klms to Daly Waters so another big day, but there really is nothing to see between unless you are Monte Dwyer chasing the nomads, which we are not so we did the journey all at once. Again the boys were great.

We got here at around 3pm today, have checked into a great spot across the road under a tree, there is barra and beef all you can eat at the pub tonight at 7 so we will be on that and we have already taken the boys for a swim in what was a very clean pool wth all of the other kids....

Since we have been here about another 20 odd vans have come in and the place is chocked. It is really amazing that you don't see a car almost all day then when you get to these places there are so many travellers just for overnight stays...very strange.

Tomorrow we will have a look around at the Stuart Tree and gain some knowledge on the history of the area then push on to Mataranka and Katherine for a few days. Not sure there is a lot to do here so it makes sense, although it is a very unique pub and servo and well worth a look.

Hope to be in Darwin for the State of Origin.

Jase

King Ash Bay

This morning Monte and Matt came over and said we should travel with them today as they were going the same way and the word was that the river crossings at the Calvett and Robinson were a bit scary and it was better to go in pairs - so we did.

By the end of today we had done 440klm on unsealed road, some graded, some not, some smooth gravel, some chunky stone, some just crap and it was a hard slog, but we got here in the end. The river crossings that were diabolical never came to fruition, nothing over the running boards again but it kept the boys interested and they didnt complain once all day. We are really happy with the way they are travelling, problem is that when they get out they have all this stored up energy to expend and Mum & I just want to sit down and relax....oh well, its all good.

We had lunch at the Robinson River crossing with Monte and Matt, and morning tea at Hells Gate also, they are a couple of great blokes and good company. They went out to Seven Emu and we kept on through to here but I think we will see them again in Darwin when Monte does his Markets trilogy and pumps his books and DVD's.

King Ash Bay, very nice, again if you have a boat. The lady wouldn't let us camp near the river because the boys are too young and she was worried about the crocs, so we ended up in the general area in the middle which had plenty of space and shade, so a good spot. Amenities were average, and there was a pumping station that went all night long and annoyed the shit out of me, so without being able to fish here, I would go to Karumba before here although there definitely would be some good times here with the boys fishing and drinking. There are some good house boats you can hire which would be a good option because you are on the water all day and night, with 2 tinnies behind you. No need to come in each day and launch a boat etc, so a good cheap way to do it. I got the business cards of the operators if I ever want to come back. A local bloke said they were getting some good bara but I am finding that there are a lot of stories out here as well. Everyone has caught something that was massive and has a story to tell.

We thought we might have stayed another night but it didnt really press our buttons so we think we will move on to Daly Waters tomorrow.

Jase

The first car "incident" of the trip - Jason backed into a tree!

Kingfisher Camp

Today we made our way to Kingfisher Camp which is about 150klm's north from Lawn Hill. There were two options, around the long way on graded sealed road or up the 4WD only road. We opted for the 4WD route even though it takes the same amount of time because we wanted to have the "outback experience" as they put it. In saying that it was pretty timid, a few creek crossings up over the running boards and a little chunky in parts, I think a 2WD with clearance would make it although it would be hard going.

Plenty of gates for Nat to get out and open, and lots of red dust to go with it. The boys saw a couple of dingoes and plenty of cattle, so I guess from that point of view it was great.

We set up camp and settled down and then saw the bus we had seen in Karumba and Lawn Hill pull in. Zander went and said hello and the guy driving it then came over to introduce himself. I knew that I knew the bloke from somewhere, and when I asked he told me he used to do the weather on the Today Show.....it was Monte Dwyer. He is doing documentaries on outback Australia alone in an old 4WD bus with his big mug on the side and does books and DVD's in a series called Red in the Centre. This time around he is doing the impact the Grey Nomad Phenomenon has on the country and is visiting and talking to as many as he can, predominently in the caravan parks. He has been doing it for 5 years.

He took a real liking to the boys and we started a fire and had several beers with him and a single bloke he was travelling with called Matt. He had some funny stories on his time as a weather man with Steve & Tracey and still keeps in contact with them today. Bloody funny.

We threw some crab pots in for the boys also and hope to have some red claw in there tomorrow. I was told this place was beautiful but I am not so sure, better than staying at Hells Gate, that is for sure but without a boat you cant really see the surrounds and an overnight stay doesn't cut it. Definitely grassy and shady which is not that common out here.

A long hard day's driving, the boys didnt complain and they were great tonight also. Z is still making friends everywhere he goes and Maverick is not far behind him now and settling into the travelling thing. ... King Ash Bay tomorrow.

Jase

Lawn Hill Gorge

Yesterday after leaving Burketown bound for Lawn Hill we stopped at a place called Gregory Downs on some good mail again from Bob Bond. This place (the river camp) is easily missed if you arent told where to go so we got there after a little searching and it was well worth a look.

We had some lunch & I took a swim in the crystal clear water of this flowing creek, magic is all I can say. I managed to convince the boys there were no crocs and they got in also for a brief moment, Nat...not a chance...You could easily stay here a few days, but we had to push on along the unsealed road to Budjamilla N/Park or Lawn Hill Gorge....

It was bloody hot when we got here, we had a look at Adele's Grove on the way through and it looked nice, but we were camping at the N/Park which was 10k's away and where you do the canoeing from so we pushed on and got set up.

It was Mothers Day so I cooked up some of my fish and some veges and we were all good. I even cleaned up too but that had a little to do with the fact Nat had the shits because I had a crack at her for the way she stacks the fridge....and she went into the trailer to read a book. I ended up alone in the dark after a bottle of red...(to myself,) a few VB's and a couple of JD cans looking at the stars...sensational. I fell asleep with my mouth open, god knows what sort of shit went on in there and didnt go to bed until a bull ant the size of your thumb had a crack at my big toe....all good but, I dig being out in the doghouse, especially when it is out here...

This morning we awoke and I said how sorry I was and she was the best person in the world, and all was good. Im pretty good at that through years of practice.

We went down to see the canoe man and grabbed a 3 seater for 2 hours. The boys sat in the middle and I took the rear, Nat in front. The pictures are decieving as it looks like Nat is doing all the work, this is not the case, all the horsepower was coming from the back end....

I will probably say this many more times, but this gorge is extremely nice. We went early and had the hole place to ourselves, we stopped along the way and climbed the hill to the lookout and had a feed with the spectacular views. Z Mann thought he was on top of the world and we got some good shots. Maverick is tough work when you need to carry him up rockfaces, I do it for safety in these circumstances and just get the shits when he wants it for no reason. To his credit, there was no complaining and we did the whole 2 hours easily. We went all the way up to where the rivers make their way into the gorge and I can never help myself in this type of clean water, I have to go for a swim, even if there was a freshwater croc that got spotted minutes before on a rock nearby. They wont hurt you I am told so I took a quick dip. This is definitely something to do if you are ever out here. We all thoroughly enjoyed it.

After a $42 rip off lunch at Adele's Grove...I can be a bit of a prick sometimes..we went back down to the canoe place and had a swim. The boys are a little apprehensive of river water because they can't see the bottom, so we eased them into it and by the end they were playing like in the pool at home, again I think the best part of today was the fact we could do everything together. I will remember this one, particularly if I get to sleep outside again.....

Will post photos later....

Jase.

The Mann Vann after travelling some of the Savannah Way today!!

Burketown

There were a lot of tears from the Z Mann when we left Karumba today.  He didn't want to say goodbye to his new 'best, best, best friend'.  We got some food and fuel from Normanton before we headed for the Savannah Way.  Our first unsealed road of our trip.  We also had our first river crossing!  We stopped to check it our before we ventured across because there was a carvan on the otherside deciding whether to cross.  There were pelicans walking across so we figured we were safe and set across with ease.  I am sure that won't be the last river crossing we do!
Everyone tells you the red dust gets in everywhere and it does!  We were driving along and every so often I had to wipe my sunglasses because it was coming through the air vents, even with the air con on.

Bob Bond told us to visit Leichardt Falls so we stopped there and had a look around, took some pictures and a quick bite to eat.  We continued onto Burketown to stay the night.

As usual, as soon as we arrived Zander made friends with the kids who lived in the house behind.  They managed to have fun between the fence for the rest of the afternoon.

We are all off to have showers as we are covered in red dust.  I look like I have a really bad spray tan and am orange!

Off to Lawn Hill tomorrow, looking forward to a couple of days kayaking!

Nat


 

Karumba Day 3

Jas is off fishing again!!!  That's really the only thing to do around here!  You can't even swim in the water because the crocs will get you!  It really is a boys town, the whole caravan park is full of V8 Landcruisers and boats!  I must say I am a little over it and Jas owes me big time!

Jas went fishing with Bob Bond (Dave's dad) and I must say he has been looking forward to it for ages!  They caught one fish, a Silver dew. 

The boys and I (plus Zander's new friend Mitch) just hung around the caravan park and went swimming.  I was well and truly over the babysitting duties by the time Jason returned.  Nothing a glass of wine (or 3) couldn't fix! 

I decided I didn't want to cook and we were told the hamburgers from the local fish shop were excellent so we tried them.  Then after the sun went down, the boys and I and Mitch's mum went to see the kangaroos that gather outside the caravan park after dark.  We even saw a frog mouth owl.  The boys also thought it was fun to poke all the cane toads with sticks.  The cane toads certainly grow BIG around here!

Nat

Blue Salmon.........

The charter was good today, although we didnt catch any barra or mackeral like I had hoped. Basically they take you where you can catch a fish rather than try your luck and come up empty handed. They are either on or not which is why they play the safe bet.

We ended up with 16 blue salmon, a crab and a couple of skip jacks, so it wasnt too bad. Upon arrival back to the boat ramp Zander was waiting & wanted to come and watch me fillet them. This is quite intimidating for the amateur fisherman in that this is a fishing town and the filleting tables in the caravan park are very busy. There is always 10-20 seasoned fisherman filleting their catch and doing it pretty well. Rock on in the J Mann not really knowing what he is doing...or at least not to their standard anyway...and you feel a little out of place.

Zander didnt mind giving me up either, "Daddy, are you sure you know how to cut the fishies?" he kept saying...It wasnt enough that I already felt like a fish out of water, he had to throw his 2 bob's worth in. He is nothing like his father at all.... I just wish I had the same charisma as he does....
Zander has once again made heaps of new freinds in the caravan park, in fact one couple from Sydney have taken him for a while to give us a breather as they have a 5 year old (Mitch) which is nice. We took Mitch this afternoon for a couple of hours so I guess it is the nice & right thing to do, not to mention the boys love it. His Mum told us we should be very proud of Zander, he is very polite & extremely athletic which is great to hear. Pity he can be such a little prick at home sometimes!! I will take that any day if that is the way he presents himself to others...

The guy behind us is 88 yrs old, comes up every year and has done since 1978, he drives a V8 Cruiser and he took pride in telling me for his 4 month stay he packs in a 20L drum of port, 20L bag of red wine and 20 dozen cans of  XXXX. He packs the pets, the boat, the piss & the Mrs (in that order) so a good laugh there.

Nat had the morning with the boys so I tried to take the boys fishing to give her a break this arvo, Mavvy wouldnt walk, Zander wouldnt listen and just wanted to wind the reel in as fast as he could, then they took off up the beach dropping their rods in the sand along the way....I had to laugh, I go 5 hrs on a charter and Nat got 30 mins when I got back. I made it up tonight by cooking my catch, cleaning up and pouring her a wine. She is an absolute darling.......did I say I was going fishing again tomorrow morning!!!!

Jase.

Karumba Day 1

Arrived in Karumba today at 12:30 and had to set up in the heat of the day, not a great idea but we got there in the end.

We are here for a few days so we did the awning and floor, TV etc so everything is set up for a relaxing few days. We went for a swim in their very clean park pool afterwards and we were all good
Everyone has tinnies here, we are packed in pretty tight but have enough room to breathe. It is a boys club thats for sure, they just come here to fish in their boats, bag plenty, freeze them and take them home. I was chatting to a few boys and they tell me they are catching Barra in cast nets off the beach just outside and some days the beach goers are getting more that the boaties, just watch out for the stonefish and there is an 8ft croc a little way up to the right - and another across the way, but they will leave you alone if you dont go swimming...

I grabbed the tribe and we went for a walk down the beach and up to the Sunset Tavern for dinner, a few schooies and a magic sunset. It is diferent because of where Karumba is, it is on the eastern side of the gulf facing west, not what we are used to in Bris Vegas but great all the same.

Dave Bond's Dad, Bob, was kind enough to offer to take me out on Friday to chase some Barra, and I will do a charter also. Tomorrow I will take the boys to do some beach work and let Nat have some reading time. She is having a good time although I dont think a fishing expedition for a few days is her thing, but as always she is supportive and never complains. Hopefully we will have smething to spruk about tomorrow in terms of what we catch....

Jase

Burke and Wills

Today we left Mt Isa bound for Burke & Wills Roadhouse, about a 3 hr drive so not too bad.
We arrived mid afternoon and set up pretty quickly. There was an Irish dude serving at the counter so I had to ask why he was there, and he said he had visa extension issues....they certainly wont find him out here...

I gathered some firewood courtesy of the Irishman from outside his donger...this is a common term they use everywhere in the west that means single persons quarters. He was happy to relenquish it and I had myself an inferno going before too long..I said to swing by for a beer later but he didnt given he finished at 10pm.

We met a great couple from Frankston in Melbourne, Mike and Lisa with their two kids Allie and Jai, I hope my two boys become as well spoken and respectful as these two, they really were great kids and of course Z Mann clung to them like glue...They stuck around for a few drinks around the fire and we hit it off pretty well.

To my surprise they live a couple of minutes from the swim start of IM Melbourne and welcomed us to stay the night before if it made it easier on race morning next year - how good is that!!
Afetr the boys and everyone went to bed (after 10pm the littkle buggers) I had some quiet time to sit by the fire with my black cans and read my book.... for the first time I felt relaxed and content, that was until the drunk Tasmanian came over and wanted to tell me his life story...oh well, you cant win them all....

Maverick seems to be setling a little now, Zander is just a million miles an hour wherever we go but he is starting to get the feel for the gypsie lifestyle.

Jase

Mt Isa

Mount Isa is not what I expected.  I am not sure what I expected but I just didn't expect the mine to be in the centre of town!!

Jas asked me yesterday if I have thought about packing up and going home yet and you know what?  No I haven't, not yet anyway!  Each day is new and exciting and there is always something to do.  In saying that the boys have been hard work the last couple of days but I think the reality has set in now so hopefully they will settle down.

Today we drove out to Moondarra Dam.  It was quite nice out there & very strange to see this huge dam in the middle of nowhere.  We went for a walk across the dam wall and Mav managed to fall down the stairs and hit his head (again, the second time in 2 days!)  This time Nurse Jason had to administer first aid as he was bleeding everywhere.  An old lady walked past and asked me a million questions like is he feeling sick, did he throw up and I told her "No he is fine, he is just a gumby!"  I am sure I get mother of the year for that comment!  We had morning tea there and the boys had a play in the playground.

We then ventured to the Mt Isa Family Fun Park.  The kids had an absolute ball.  They had a water fun park and a great kids playground.  We went back to our campsite afterward and spent the afternoon relaxing and talking to some new friends we met last night.  All the kids played together and the adults had a few drinks together.  A nice way to spend the afternoon.

Tomorrow we are heading further north on our way to Karumba.

Nat

The awesome view from Mt Isa City Lookout.

Mt Isa Arrival

This morning we took off after a quick pack up and stopped at McKinlay where the Walkabout Creek Hotel is. We got some photos but couldn’t go in because it wasn’t beer o’clock. It is another small town, one of many, and Nat made a good point in trying to imagine the amount of commotion created when Paul Hogan and his crew invaded the town to do the Crocodile Dundee shoots at the pub – it must have been crazy…

Contrary to popular belief the pub is in outback QLD not NT as depicted in the movie.

Through to Cloncurry and we timed it perfectly to spend some time with our good mate Geoff Goss who I worked with for a number of years in the Gong and on the Gold Coast.It was good to catch up and we will speak soon buddy.

Into the Isa afterward & Mavvy was blowing up wanting an ice cream, so we found a place called McDonalds and they calmed down for a while. As soon as they get what they want, they seem to digress back into not listening and doing what they want.......

We chose The Top Tourist park for the next 2 days & the boys are scooting and bike riding like crazy kids, I guess that is good because it kept them out of our way for a while so we could set up. We plan to go up to the lookout tonight, & maybe do a mine tour tomorrow depending on mental state of our children. We can also do the water park, the dam or the city area walk…..There seems to be a bit to do here so I think it might be a good little stay. It reminds me a bit of Wollongong in that there is a massive mine site in the middle of a town built around it, much like the steelworks in the Gong, a real eyesore but massive in scale in its own right.

I have a lot of friends competing in IronMan Australia today and they are all going pretty well to date. Well done everybody, another huge effort by all and congratulations on another finish.

Jase

Blue Heeler Pub Stay

We awoke today to a magical sunrise which Nanna Mann said we needed to see… Gold.

Toast for brekky and we were then on our way westward to the Blue Heeler Roadhouse for our next stay.

Just before Winton is the Age of Dinosaurs’ exhibit and laboratory. We stopped in for a look because the boys were going bananas after they saw the sign. Once again their concentration span was limited and they managed to find some time to run amok. That aside we still managed to gain some great learnings on how fertile the Winton region is for dinosaur fossils, along with how they go about excavating, retrieving, transporting and preserving this stuff. Bloody brilliant and who would have thought digging up bones with dental picks in 40+ degree heat was appealing? Well I can tell you that these roosters love it and they were so pumped about it you almost wanted to go and give them a hand….I did say almost!!! Good stuff and well worth the entry fee.

A couple of hundred more clicks down the road we arrived at the Blue Heeler Pub at Kynuna, population 20. A powered site was the order of the day so the cheese and kisses could shower (and the three men...) The boys loved it, again making friends with the travellers in the campsite. We arrived with one other van in the park and by happy hour there were about 10 beside us.
 
This is an outback pub – fantastic. Some might think the outback is only categorised as such if it is on unsealed road, if this place isn’t then it is getting close…It amazes us that out here, in the middle of nowhere there are 2 (quite good looking) German backpackers and a girl from Bracken Ridge in Brisbane running the bar…Needless to say we settled in for a few white wines and schooners while picking their brains as to why they would want to be in outback QLD with the flies serving beers to passers through. After a few frothies the answer was simple, this is a great way of life…no stress out here, just smiling faces and hospitality.

The boys proved a hit with the girls behind the bar and were afforded a few free games of pool by Jess who dug them immensely. Road trains, blue heelers (literally) at the front entrance, free games of pool and getting to sit at the bar with the boys and have a beer (waters for them) was priceless for us. When they are old enough to realise how cool this was I think they will feel the same. We all had a ball and met some great people…..
We are not really sure what day it is, so although we are still talking about our work I think we are well on the way to forgetting about it …a dozen schooners helps you forget….

Mt Isa tomorrow…hopefully we can have as much fun….

Jase