Sunday

Sunday

The saddest update. 

Yes my friends it's Sunday already! Sunday the day after Saturday the day before Monday. Also the last day of holidays. The very last day. 

After another soak in the hot pools (well two actually) I got up early and thought at 7am I might be the first in the hot pools to be able to take some nice pictures with the steam coming off the water at sunrise, but no I was beaten to the pools and the guy was spank bang in the middle of the pool I wanted to take pictures of and his wife with kid were on the banks... So I had to take some pictures from a different spot but then he moved and I saw my opportunity to pounce and I took it snapping away quickly before he took kid and she got in the same spot. 

I have managed to get some great shots. (Even if I do say so myself) and seen I was down here I thought I might as well have a dip. 

After breakfast and packing up mum and I headed back to the pools for one last dip before heading to Darwin. Not a real long one just long enough for dad to fill the tanks with water and say good bye to his new van park friends. 

We took the rest of the tourist drive into Adelaide River, stopping along to way to collect wild growing rosellas.... When mum and I drive this road three years ago we saw them so we knew we needed to stop so we could pick them for jam. Even dad got in on the action and helped pick them. At Adelaide River there was a small market which we stopped to have a look at. One lady was selling her wild rosella jam for $7 bucks a jar... Lucky I have a talented mum I thought. We had morning tea here and then the last 100km into Darwin. 

Mum and dad have booked themselves into a caravan park just around the corner from Patricks so they are nice and close. We got to have dinner on Saturday night with Patrick before he had to fly to Brisbane for work this morning. 

Today mum and I did a nice long 50km bike ride, this was great as we have done very little in the past three weeks since the ride finished. After that we did the washing as you do! And mum and I made jam (well ok mum did but I hung the washing out) and dad caught up on some couch surfing and tv watching I think he even had a nana nap at one stage. 

Tonight we have been down to Mindil Markets, a must for any tourist who comes to Darwin. We got dinner and sat on the beach for the sunset. 

Home now, I've found my work clothes and I think I am ready for it. 

Not really but I need to set the alarm and get some sleep, I am sure I will have a lot of emails to catch up on. 

I will be back in a few days! 

Thanks for coming on my holiday with me. 

Friday

Friday ( :-( sad face today it's the last Friday of holidays) 

With the pending weekend and the thought of having to be back at work on Monday when I woke up this morning, it was a fitting morning to roll over pull the sleeping bag up and hide for a bit longer in bed. This however did not last long, the thing with camping is the birds get up at the crack of dawn... And it would seem that it was even earlier than that this morning. But I did manage a small snooze. And the fact we did not have to drive anywhere today was a bonus. 

I got up finally and headed for the van to only find dad, sitting alone with just his radio. No mum and no breakfast in sight. Just about every day for the last three weeks mum has at some stage or another always had breakfast on the go. Last week they were on toast before I got there so this morning I thought I'd missed out all together. Not so, mum was down in the creek for a morning soak in the hot springs before breakfast... So I quickly got changed into togs and headed that way. In the creek was mum and no one else, there was a last just in front of me on the steps but it was so nice to have it like this. We spent about 1/2 an hour in before deciding we needed food. 

After breakfast we packed morning tea and headed the 17km down the road to Butterfly Gorge, this was the only driving to be done today and dad did it again. I was not too bothered by that as the road was pretty bad. It's easy to see why it's been closed before and it wouldn't take much for the road to be closed again. Butterfly Gorge is just a day area, not much there. A sign post for two walks. Down to the rocky outcrop was easy but then you come to the end of this track and its either up oner the rocks or swim into the gorge. We tried the rock climb, but decided it was too hard. And we also opted out of the swim, although there is only freshies in this part of the creek it was very deep and cold! We would have maybe if the water was warmer like lower down. 

Heading back along the track we see the marker for the lookout walk that we missed on the way in, dad headed for the car and mum and I took the hill.... Very glad we did, it took us around the rock climb we had tried before and down into the gorge on the other side a lot safer than if we'd gone over the rocks. There was water flowing over the rocks on the other side of the gorge, we again did not take the swim. But an amazing view and very pretty place to see. The 17km of crappy road was not wasted. We walked back out and found dad like he said waiting at the car, we had morning tea out there and then drive back to the camp site. 

Mum and I had a swim before lunch and dad did his usual, after lunch dad had a nana nap and mum and I found a book to read each. When I got bored with reading mum and I headed up the creek for a walk to try and find the spot we has swum in three years ago. We think we found it. They have closed off the track we took last time so we walked up the creek, and found a spring coming out of the bank that was boiling hot. Where this spring met the river was the point we think it was, it didn't really matter this was as far as we got. After about 1/2 hour 40 minutes we decided to go and get dad and bring him up. I kept the spot so no one would take it and mum walked back, it was not far! 

By the time mum and dad got back I had some other people joined me and got chatting, they live in Townsville and have lived in other places mum and dad lived. So it was nice to talk to them and mum and dad swapped stories with them when they got back. They are not staying in the national park but opted for the caravan park about 10km up the road. This has been one of the nice things about this trip, meeting people and just having a chat. 

After we felt we had pruned up enough we headed back to the van for happy hour! Had some dinner and played some Quiddler. I won three of the four games. I am getting better so look out aunties... 

We will head into Darwin tomorrow, it's not far about 100km. Mum and dad think they will head off on Wednesday. 

Not sure if I am ready for going back to work, but I guess the bills have to be paid.

Thursday

A day packed with stress! 

Leaving Edith Falls this morning a lot later than we have been leaving (yes it was 20 minutes) but 20 minutes could mean the difference between a spot close to the toilets or even a camping spot at all!

As my bike has another flat, (I don't think it likes the back of the car) and as I could not be bothered fixing it yesterday, I missed out on a ride this morning with mum. We had breakfast and packed up and at the stage where almost all was done mum hopped on her bike and rode off into the distance. Edith Falls is 20km from the highway, so dad and I were to meet her at the highway. So we finished the packing up sat looking at each other blankly for five minutes and decided the car was the better place to be due to the increasing number of flies. 

Yesterday mum said "we are not in a hurry tomorrow so we can have a lazy morning and not rush" but it seems we are getting too good at the pack up stuff and our lazy morning only delayed us by 20 minutes. 

We picked mum up as planned. 

We did not have a long drive today 100km or so. So we where set up and having lunch by midday. We are at Douglas Hot Springs. Mum and I found this place three years ago when driving to Darwin, so we knew it was a must to bring dad back. 

This is about where the stress started. 

It's really really hard to decide where to sit in the creek! We had a small walk to find a nice spot but as we walked further up the creek the water got hotter and hotter. Like almost boiling. 

Douglas Hot Springs as the name suggest is a natural hot spring. The creek it split in two, down one side comes cold water and down the other hot. Its really is like a hot and cold tap in your bathroom, but in the most amazing and beautiful spot. So the stress of how hot or cold you want to be and if you want your top in the hot and feet in the cold or your feet in the hot and top in the cold, and then there might be the spot where it's just warm or you might want to brave the hot for a bit and get up and have a dip in the cold.... See the stressful day I have had. Are you feeling sorry for me yet? (I'd think not) 

Needless to say I spent the afternoon chatting to a nice girl in the creek (getting far too much sun!) yes I've already started to turn beetroot in colour! Mums not too happy about that. I will have to remember to cover up tomorrow! 

We are here for two nights. We will head into Darwin on Saturday. 

Dad even had a long swim today but mainly in the cold due to high blood pressure. Mum brought me down a peeled  mandarin and a cool drink at one stage and then headed off for a walk. Then I decided it might be time to get out. The long (50meter) walk back to the van and I find out its only 4.15pm... Heaps of time. Mum and I start a Quiddler marathon only to be interrupted at hand 3 by the nice girl I had been chatting to in the creek. We invited her to watch and learn the game and then we had a game with her. This was really nice, I think she was sick of hanging out with her brother and his girlfriend. But is was also nice for mum and I to have someone else to play with. I don't know what mum will do next week when it's just her and dad on the road, she won't have anyone to play with. 

So with dinner done and a bit of laziness tonight, we are all in bed (separate ones). 

Tomorrow we are heading a bit down the road to Butterfly Gorge, this was closed the last two times I've been down this way so it will be nice to see what it's like tomorrow. It's only 17km down the road so dad seems to think we will be back at camp by lunch time. Just enough time for me to sit in the creek and become a prune again. 

It's getting quite real now that my holiday is almost over. I spoke to one of the guys from work today and he said he couldn't wait until Monday as they where out of milk... I said have you been out of milk for 5 weeks and his answer was yes! Guess ill have to remember to get milk on my way to work on Monday! 

btw - not even a hope of reception here, this will be posted on Saturday from the road.

Wednesday (the rest of)

The rest of Wednesday

So from the highway where I managed to find a bit of reception and also managed to get mum and dad to pull over forgive minutes with reminding them the needed to make a phone call... I was able to update the last few days. 

I am in an area of yes sometimes it wants to work and others not... So I'll see in the morning if I can stand out on the side of the hill here and get reception to post. 

The place I had reception today was Mataranka, (can't check spelling) I don't remember it being so big three years ago. But then we also went to the springs and that might have been a different road. Anyway today was again all about the driving, there really is not much to see between the towns (although mum is getting really good at Turkey Bush spotting). (A bush that is in full bloom at this time of the year in purple) I also thought today after 35 years well yesterday really but today I was going to see my parents have a fight... Thank god not! But what ever was said yesterday resulted in mum doing some driving today (me! I was happy in the bad seat staying well out of it). 

We did have a quick stop in Katherine for bread and booze as I'd been calling it all day. Mum ran out of chateau a la cardboard in Alice Spring and we needed to top her up! 

Why didn't we in Alice you ask??? 

Well discrimination is why. Just because there are some people in the Alice area who can not control what they drink you can only buy cask wine after 6pm and only at a drive through! And as it was cold we could not be bothered going out after dark in the cold so mum missed out! 

Further to add to the discrimination story, today at Katherine the bottle shop does not open until 2pm. And you can't buy cask wine at all!! According to the shop guy and I quote! 

"That's a prohibited substance, you cannot buy it!" Like I was asking for meth or cocaine... 

So anyway it was 1.40pm when I found out that the shop did not open until 2pm so I waited only to be told the above rather rudely. 

Mind you will still brought 4 bottles of wine which was far more than the two litre cask we wanted! So up yours service man! 

Anyways we didn't want to waste too much time in Katherine as Edith Falls was waiting for us. This is a national park with not many camping spots so you normally have to book, but as the kiosk got washed away last year and its not been rebuilt yet there is no booking system. First in, best spot kinda thing. We got here about 3.30pm. Found the spot and set up. We have this down to a fine art now. 

Mum put her shoes on and went for a walk, I have been here twice and was not really keen, so today I kept watch with dad. 

After dinner I sat out in the empty day parking area and made a few calls and checked in on emails. I thought I'd better as I know the next two nights I won't have any. 

We are off to the Douglas Hot Springs!! Mum and I have been once but did not stay so we are heading there for two nights. Then Saturday into Darwin. And yuck back to work on Monday! YUCK!!! BUT the Douglas Hot Springs are ssssoooooooo much better than Mataranka which is why we didn't go back today! 

The last few days with the weather have been amazing. Today I even dug my thongs out of my bag. I said to mum last week, what a waste of space in my bag... Today I was so glad I had them. I did however only bring one pair of shorts with me... So they will be stinky by the time I get home on Saturday. Oh well. Lucky it's only mum and dad in the car. 

Tomorrow is only 100 or so Km's so an easy day. 

I see I have one bar of reception... Will try and post now. 

Nope you will have to wait until I venture into the car park in the morning. (It's the morning now and I have reception)

Tuesday

Tuesday/ the start of Wednesday 

Not much to report... 

Oh yeah there is sunshine lots and lots of sunshine. So much sunshine in fact we all have sorts and t-shirts on!! 

We packed up from the Devils Marbles with all the plans to get to Newcastle Waters, but first we have a bit of a drive. It was to say the least a boring day. Now I might get in trouble for saying I was bored, when we where kids if we told mum we where bored we got offered jobs like weeding and washing and mowing... It's not like she could have given me these jobs yesterday but I'm sure she might have made me play I spy or something just a naff. 

Anyway, there was a lot of build up getting to Tennant Creek. Mum and dad had been here 20 years ago and I was told there was corrugated iron fence on both sides of the road for about 20km either side of town and all that was bend it was green and gold... Cans of course, VB cans. So I was prepared for the worst. I have to tell you I was surprised, no fence and not cans! The town was dirty but not like Todd Mall in Alice, and there was rubbish but not like some of the free camping spots we've been to. I was even pleasantly surprised at the public toilet... Although there was no toilet paper it was pretty clean. We just had a quick walk down town found the post office to post mail, then back to the car for fuel and back on the road. 

The next town is Elliott, last time I was here three years ago on my drive to Darwin I had to fill up with fuel and o took mum to wait with the car. It was a get out and fill up as quick as I could and get out! Not a nice place at all. So knowing we did to want to stop there we found Newcastle Waters in the camps book and dad spoke to the ranger the night before and he gave directions. So thinking we had it sorted, just after Elliott there was a turn off. We took the wrong one. The second one we tried was also wrong... So we ended up at Dunmarra a highway stop with a caravan park if you can call it that! 

Mum and I stayed here three years ago in tents and we where right up the back, this time we are closer to the road house and the highway. And jammed in like sardines. It was nice and warm tho, we sat outside until dinner was ready and then again after dinner. This was nice as we have not been able to do this in a few weeks. 

But this morning was a totally different story, not the weather it's still perfect. I just don't understand why people need to pack up at 5am. Packing up a caravan is not something you can do quietly no my friends you can not. Some (more than one) dick head was packed up and on the road by 5.15am this morning. And then you've got the dick head truck driver who starts his not so quiet truck at 5.30am and leaves it running in the car park for an hour... I'll fully admit I don't know much about trucks but I am dam sure they don't take an hour to warm up before you can drive them!! Anyway I've been up for a while this morning. We are currently on the road to Edith Falls. 

Until I am in reception again. Wait I see a tower in the distance... Maybe I'll have reception soon. 

....... Waiting ........ Waiting....................... Waiting...

Monday

Monday

It seems like forever since we left Alice Springs... But it's only been 2 days! How time flies when having fun. 

I had a bit of a sleep in this morning, 7.30am but we were still packed up and on the road by 8.40am. We really are getting good at this. Last nights camp was good, very quiet and not so cold. It was the first night I've not (apart from holiday within my holiday) slept with a beanie on... Just thinking about it, I hope it's not cold tonight as I've left it in the van and mum and dad are asleep. Anyway a very nice night under the stars. I could even see them through the window of the car... Yes I was wide awake at 1am so I was looking out the window, then I got up and read my book for a bit and finally went back to sleep. 

Today we drove up to the Devils Marbles. 

First tho! Burrow Creek, of course made famous by Ms Lees and the ornage combi Van! not much here. up the road was Wycliffe Well, now I've heard stories about this place so it was on my list of places to see. Really just a road house come caravan park but this is the place where the most UFO's are seen in Australia. So the whole place has UFO and alien stuff every where! Yep! Even the toilet door has an alien holding on for a pee! Inside is every single bit of merchandise you could think of. I got a new stubble cooler and post cards. I guess some people could go crazy in a place like that. I have a picture of mum and dad that will make you laugh. Need to get some reception so I can post it. 

We saw a guy on a bike (push) leaving WW just as we pulled in. And up the road at Wauchope where we had lunch we saw him again. Had a bit of a chat and he was on his way to Darwin from Alice, I told him what we'd been up too and he knew the track said he'd done it last September. He did it on his own! Brave man but he had fine weather so I guess it makes a big difference. 

After lunch was just a short 11km up the road to the Devils Marbles, this is pretty much right on the highway. But the camping area is down a bit. This is a national park so it's quite expensive at $3.30 per person per night!! LOL! But it must be a good mid way point. We are not alone! There would easily be 25 to 30 vans in here tonight. Being a Monday there was a ranger talk. 

After setting up mum and did our usual of leaving dad to (guard) the camp while we went for a walk. I joked to dad before leaving that I should change the memory card in my camera before leaving as it only had space for 76 pictures... Lucky I did! I took more that 80 on the big camera and a few on the phone and a few more on the small canon! I think I might have a problem... 

Anyway, this is another amazing place. The ranger talk was good too, he set fire to a bunch of spinnifex grass and smoked a few of the other campers out of there seats. But it was all in aid of showing us how they put fires out in the bush. Saw a dingo run through the camp site. This means I WILL NOT be going far for the toilet tonight. 

Hope to be back in some sort of mobile range tomorrow to be able to post these for you.

Sunday

Sunday

My little holiday within a holiday is over! A little sad I must tell you. It has been a really great trip camping and seeing parts of this country I have not seen before, but a few nights in a kings size bed with big screen TV and a toilet and shower inside has been very very nice indeed. I have been of course spending a few nights with Patrick while he has been in Alice for work. We had lunch together today before heading north again. 

We got into Alice on Thursday, mum and dad checked into the caravan park and finally met Patrick after 12 months. Friday he worked and mum and I did the shopping while dad went and found a barber. He really needed a trim having not seeing a pair of clippers since Easter. Once we finally finished the shopping dad sent mum the the same barber for her trim! Mum bangs where worse than dads, and given she'd given herself a little home trim in Adelaide it was also looking like it needed a good trim. 

Anyway Friday did not see much more exciting stuff happen. We cooked (ok dad cooked) corned beef for dinner and Patrick came round to the caravan park after work. We taught Patrick how to play Quiddler! I don't think this was a wise move... Four games over two nights and he won by lots in each game. We will try take two when we get to Darwin and see how he goes with that. 

Saturday mum and dad packed lunch and we headed out to East Mcdonnell Rangers, we went to Corroboree rock first, we had all been here apart from dad. Then out to The Rock Hole (John Hayes Rock Hole) then out to Trephina Gorge  these where both amazing places. Mum and I did the lookout walk at The Rock Hole and the rim walk at the Gorge. The boys minded the camp! Then we drove out to the Ross River Homestead. Can't really say I've seen it, we drove in the front gate and did a U turn and drove back to Alice Springs. Dad did have to do a good bit of 4WDing to get to the rock hole. 

AND the sun finally came out!!!

Yes after three (almost three full weeks of no sunshine) it's finally sunny. Still cold but sunny. 

Had dinner at Vietnamese place on Saturday night which was really good. We wanted to go to a different place but it was full, but so glad we found this place as it was really good. 

Sunday, did the Todd Mall markets this morning not much has changed here. Then lunch with Patrick before dropping him at the airport before we headed north. We are about 150km from Alice. This is the third camp spot we have tried and this is it for the night! Prowse Gap. The first stop was a bit early, the second stop was really dirty (I don't mind you shitting in the bush but there is a right and a wrong way to do this!) so we drove the extra 14km here. It's just a small rest stop but it has a real (long drop) toilet. Dad found us a spot off the main road behind a fence... We set us and a few others have found the same track but thankfully so far have not set us close to us. There is a million and one flys here so mum has set us for the first time since buying a new one in Adelaide her fly net tent. Not really a tent but cable tied to the annexe its big enough for us to sit under and not be bothered. (Apart from the few that got in)

Mums off for a walk, dads pottering around and I'm sitting here with no real plans to move until I really have to. There is no mobile coverage here tonight. So this is being posted at a later date and time. But before I go a bit more on the sun... It's 5.15pm and I am sitting at camp outside with my shoes and socks off my jeans rolled up as far as I can and wait for it... Just a t-shirt on... Yep no jumper, no thermal... Just the t-shirt!!!!! This is the first time since I landed in Adelaide that I've had just a T-shirt on!