Emily @ Litchfield National Park

We spent today exploring Litchfield National Park. It was a very hot day and quite muggy so we were happy when we got to a water hole where we could swim.
First we looked at the Magnetic Termite Mounds.It looked rather like a graveyard. Then we drove to Florence Falls and walked a little way until we got to a waterhole.Josh and I counted 187 steps! In the water there were fish around 30 cm and Josh ankle got chewed on! The water was very cold but it was lovely. When we were ready to go we decided not to go the long way up 187 stairs, so we walked back along a shady creek walk. We walked to Tolmer falls lookout. There was a very skinny waterfall and it looked wonderful.

We drove to the Wangi falls picnic area and had lunch there and then walked down to the swimming hole. The water was beautiful with three different waterfalls falling into it. Mum and I swam out to the waterfalls. The smallest one was so warm as it ran down metres of hot rocks. Next to the pool we saw a water monitor sitting in the grass.
It was a great day!

Camping @Mt Bundy Station

We are currently staying at Mt Bundy Station, a busy farm near Adelaide River. Our caravan is parked near a stable and horse corral which has provided lots of entertainment to the kids and a beautiful farm aroma to our stay.
On our first night here we watched the peacock, peahens and about 8 guinea fowl walk past us in procession and climb into the large mango tree to roost for the night. (see photo below).

They were very cute to watch until the middle of the night when the peacock began to call VERY LOUDLY! We were woken again at 6 am with more calling. People would not complain about the gentle call of a rooster when compared to the peacock. We put it down to another wonderful holiday experience and have decided not to add peacocks to our list of new pets. See below for some daylight photos and in the early morning fog.
Other animals we have encountered have been both delightful and not so. We enjoyed meeting Nigel the hand reared bull who loves a scratch on the nose and two geese who are very friendly and were waiting at our front steps the first morning we were here. Abigail was not so keen on their presence as they were almost as tall as her.
One not so popular creature we have come across over a few evenings this last week is the cane toad... not a pleasant creature to meet while making a late night toilet trip.

On return to Adelaide river today we met a watermelon farmer selling his ware from his van. They were the largest watermelons we'd ever seen, about 12-15kg in weight. At $7 each we bought one and cut large slices to enjoy. Abigail was very happy to clean off the pink skins too. I imagine we used 2kg, now where will we put the rest as it won't fit in the small fridge easily.

Katherine@Katherine Gorge

We had a lovely day exploring Katherine Gorge from the water yesterday. We joined a Nitmiluk tour on the Katherine river which took us to see 4 of the 9 gorges in the park. The rocky cliffs were certainly impressive and it was hard to imagine it 3/4 full in the wet season. Apparently in the wet there is enough water flowing down to river to fill Sydney harbour every 9 minutes.

At the end of the first gorge we saw some Aboriginal rock art which had been carbon dated to 13000 years old and we found the rainbow serpent painted among them- can you spot it in the photo? The kids were very excited to hear and recognise the Aboriginal legend told by our guide as we brought the rainbow serpent story book with us.

The boat took us through the first gorge and then we walked 900m through to the second gorge and similarly through to the third gorge.
At the end of the 3rd gorge we got out of the boat and climbed some large and very hot rocks to look into the fourth gorge. Spectacular!! The rocks had perfectly round holes worn in them and they were about a metre deep- another photo opportunity.

We retraced out steps to the first gorge where we stopped for almost an hour to swim and eat. The water was a beautiful temperature. You will see from the photo that Abigail has gained so much confidence in her swimming this holiday that she swam without a noodle (and it was deep).
Today we don't plan to do much, maybe a short walk, but it feels too hot for much other than swimming and drinking lots of water.

Katherine @ Katherine

We got the car back yesterday afternoon, so powered by lollies and fabric glue for car stitching (thank-you Kylie) we jumped in the car and drove to the NT. It was a very hot and still night and this morning we woke feeling tired to an already warm day.
We got to Nitmiluk National Park (Katherine Gorge) campground around 3.30pm. It was very hot and humid, so as soon as we were set up we hopped into the blissful pool.
I write this while children are settling to sleep and we are listening to the second bracket of live music from the poolside restaurant. Abigail struggled to eat dinner with us by the van, even with wallabies nearby, as the sound of music called to her. She kept moving her chair closer to the music. We decided to head poolside for a cool drink while the kids danced to the tunes on the acoustic guitar.
This is no ordinary National Park!!

Sailing with Oliver@ Lake Argyle

It was Aunty Janet's birthday but we couldn't go as we were going on a boat for the day. We drove in the borrowed car to Lake Argyle and looked at the dam wall and the hills from the lookout. We then went into the shop and watched a movie about how Lake Argyle was made. I liked watching them use the bombs to blow up part of the rocky hills to make more rocks for the dam wall. It was very good.
After that we went on a special bus that took us to the edge of the lake and we got on the 'Kimberley Cat'. The boat was really cool. It had a kitchen, 6 bedrooms with their own toilets, a table inside and 2 outside and lots of places to sit on the top of the boat. There was cordial and biscuits and cake out on the bench as well as fruit for morning tea.
We stopped later in the morning and everyone who wanted to went on a rubber motor boat to an island where we looked for our own piece of Zebra rock. There was a very smelly dead crocodile on the rocks. The man told us he probably ate a cane toad which is poisonous. There are about 30000 freshies in Lake Argyle.
I went back in the motor boat before mum and dad and when I got on the big boat it was lunch time. We had wraps which were yum.
Sometimes when we were sailing along you couldn't see land as far as you looked.
We met lots of people from all over Australia and the world. They were funny and I liked talking to them.
In the afternoon we swam with the crocodiles. The water was nice but the man said no crocodiles swim there.

We watched the sunset and the rocky hills changed colour. I got to help drive the boat back to shore. It was a great day.

Emily@ El Questro

Our car is in the mechanics so we hired a car to explore.The first day we explored around Kununurra, including the markets, Mirima National Park, some water holes and the Zebra Rock Gallery.Zebra rock is a stripy rock only found in the East Kimberly. The Gallery was full of things that were made of Zebra rock and was on the edge of the Ord River. We went down to the river with bits of bread to feed the fish. There were catfish and black Bream and my, weren't they ugly.Yesterday we left early to drive to El Questro, a three million acre property on the Gibb River Road. We were all busting for a swim, because the day was 36 degrees, so we decided to go for a walk to Zebedee Springs to have a swim. Mum thought it was a bit too warm but we all thought it was relaxing and didn't want to get out after an hour and a half! Then we went to have lunch. Fish and chips, beef burgers, Caesar salad and ice cream to follow. After lunch we went on a beautiful 2 hour walk down Emma Gorge. Teddy had to come too! When we got to the end there was a lovely waterhole. It was very cold and we enjoyed it thoroughly and Josh swam all the way to the waterfall and back. It was a day we will all remember.

On the road again...sort of...

It has not been the week one would plan for on an adventure around Australia. As we have been carless and many kilometres from shops etc. we have made our own entertainment. There has been recycling our rubbish into vehicles small and large, playing music on various instruments and much, much whittling of sticks into whistles and boats.
The wildlife and interesting trees here have been categorised and checked against bird books. The red tailed black cockatoos yesterday were very impressive and loud.
Today we climb aboard our transport for the next leg of the journey. The photo below is a new one, but very similar to one you may have seen on this blog before!
See you in Kununurra!