WOW! WOW! WOW!!!!

LAWN HILL QLD – WEST MCDONNELL RANGES NT

20^TH – 31^st July 2011.

Lawn Hill NP

Lawn Hill NP was only about 90km from Gregory Downs – where we last left you. But 90km on a dirt track way out here takes a lot longer than zipping down the freeway for 90km. Bulldust, creeks the odd heard of cattle grazing in the middle of the road, road trains oh yes and crazy emu’s darting in front of our vehicle.

Lawn Hill NP is a spectacular place and was high on our to do list for this holiday, we had heard and read so much about it and were so excited when we arrived. The excitement is like waiting for Santa to come, the build up nearly drives you insane and then when you get there after all these KM’s  you just can’t believe you are finally there. Whilst exploring Lawn Hill we camped at a place called Adels Grove. A beautiful camp beside a river under all these really old trees, so very, very cool in the shade, but no good for Solar Panel use.

Lawn Hill NP - girl power

Lawn Hill NP

Lawn Hill is known for it's Gorges, and one of the ways to explore them was to paddle a canoe. So off us Smith's set in our two hired canoes. What a way to see this place! I will let the photos do the talking.

I have to say that this post will not contain many words and mainly pictures. The places that we have been to and seen in the last 10 days have just been awesome, breathtaking and my words would not do them justice. (yep believe it or not i have been lost for words on more than one occasion this holiday)
The best way I feel that I can share these places with you are through my photos. I hope you enjoy.

Lawn Hill NP

Never smile at a Crocodile

After Lawn Hill we headed south, passing through Camooweal (groovy name for a town!) and hitting The Northern Territory. Now how excited were we! They even have a special place to pull over so you can take a picture on the boarder between QLD and NT.

Let me tell you some interesting facts about the NT.....

Maximum speed on the highway is 130km/hr
The highway is dead straight
You can see nothing for miles and miles. ( I am loving seeing nothing - I love nothing from my window)
Every passing vehicle waves to you
The ground is rock hard. Normally the density of the soil would not worry us, but when we need to bang 7 pegs in to set up our camper you begin to appreciate how hard the ground is.

our camp at The Devils Marbles

We had been here two minutes and I heard Ben and Matty yell out from this rock - heart failure!!!

Heading further south we stocked up at Tenant Creek. Now there's an interesting town for you! Can I just say is was a very brief stop. I will fill you in on the details another day. But needless to say we managed to leave the town with all our possessions and vehicle intact and set off to The Devils Marbles.

The Devils Marbles was unreal. We ended up staying two nights and exploring the area. The kids loved climbing all over the big boulders, it was every little boys dream come true to clamber all over the rocks. We camped with some great people and shared a rather late night around a rather large campfire with them all. The sunrise and sunset were spectacular. BUT I have to say that the most memorable thing for me at The Devils Marbles was.....The massive rental camper van that pulled in next to us one afternoon whilst I was preparing dinner, out hopped the two kids and the dad, then not long after out hopped mum, all decked out in her finery, hair coiffed, face on, wearing her Sunday best and something that I will never forget.......topping her outfit off with a fabulous pair of RED STILETTO'S - yes you read it correct. I was by myself at our camp and had no one to share this moment with and had to take myself inside my camper trailer and peek out through one of the windows to get a better look to actually confirm what I was seeing. Too funny! the lady didn't let me down the next morning when she stepped out in the very same pair of RED STILETTO'S. Love it!

Woo Hooo on top of the world - Devils Marbles

I always knew Geoff was STRONG

Spending only one night in Alice Springs as a stop over, we would have loved to spend some more time there but were keen to get out into to the wilderness and see the West McDonnell Ranges.
We stayed at and walked so many spectacular Gorges, camps, waterholes and experienced the Dessert in the Northern Territory. Like I said my words cannot describe what we have seen and done.

Enjoy the photos.

Only three weeks until we come home.....very sad.

Also may I just also say that not long after I was bragging about the 48% humidity in the Gulf, we experienced a chilly -4 degrees in Alice Springs overnight when we were there. So I eat my words. The days are still gorgeous blue bird days and we are still managing to keep our bones warm in the Northern Territory sun.

A Simpson at Simpson's Gap woo hoo (I was a Simpson's before I became a Smith)

Ellery Big Hole - West McDonnell Ranges NT

Ormiston Gorge - West McDonnell Ranges NT

Ormiston Gorge - West McDonnell Ranges NT

We are off to Palm Valley and then Uluru next.....can't wait

CROYDON - GREGORY DOWNS

Getting to know our camp.

A lot of people have said to us…..’I don’t know how you can live out of a camper trailer with 5 of you for such a long time!’ or they’ve said…..’How do you manage?’

We also get asked….’Do you get sick of putting the camper up and down every time you pull up somewhere?’

I am not sure if it’s because we’ve always been camping people, or that we simply cannot afford a 30ft Winnebago? But I can tell you for sure that we are doing it and can do it because we love camping and are thoroughly enjoying exploring Australia. And for the 4 months that we are away, it’s such a small chunk out of our everyday life and sure as eggs I will be back home doing the ‘school run’, zipping here and there with the kids and their activities and Geoff and I will be back at work, just like we did prior to us leaving. One thing is for sure, we don’t get sick of putting the camper up and setting everything up and we don’t think it’s a hassle to boil the billy for our cuppa on the gas stove or even collect the firewood to cook our dinner on the campfire. Because time flies when you are having fun and it won’t be long before we are back into the swing of ‘normal’ life and an electric kettle. (Might I also point out that on some occasions I have longed for a freshly brewed strong flat white from the Gerringong Deli to start my day! But you can’t have it all)

Sooooooo I thought that I might provide you with a little insight into our camping life on the road. It’s all pretty basic and simple and the key is to bring only what you need. As I have mentioned previously I am pretty sure that we have brought along a good amount of stuff and there would not be many things that we would leave behind next time. And just for the record you will NEVER EVER see Geoff and me tripping around in a Winnebago!

I hope you enjoy the photos!

Washing up tub - complete with washer-upper-a

Kitchen

Pantry

Fridge and fruit bowl in back of vehicle

 

Forget your ‘home brand’

Forget your ‘black and gold’

Forget your ‘Coles smart buy’

Forget your ‘no name brand’

I have discovered the generic brand to end all competition…..Let me introduce you to ‘FABULOUS’ unless I am missing something here and it’s new on the supermarket shelves Australia wide? I came across the ever reliable brand of ‘fabulous’ whilst shopping for some gourmet delights in the tiny Karumba supermarket. If it’s not already in NSW we I think I may start importing it. I can highly recommend their tinned pink salmon – it’s FABULOUS!

MMMMMM Fabulous

BULL DUST – two words, that’s all I have for you….. BULL DUST or maybe its one word BULLDUST. I’m not too sure. But let me tell you a little bit about it! Firstly pop into your pantry and get yourself some Flour, any flour will do. Bulldust is the colour of dirt but as fine as flour. Now, put some flour into the palm of your hand, and then clap your two hands together. POOF, a big cloud of flour! Well that’s BULLDUST! And that is the stuff that is mostly responsible for all the mess in our car and belongings. It’s everywhere; you drive on it, camp in it, walk on it and live in it. Every time you disturb the dust there is a cloud of smoke. Loving every minute of it! And a tip for the traveller – make sure you keep your eye out for said bulldust whilst driving on the dirt roads as the wind whips up the bulldust and deposits it into potholes or just leaves it in big mounds on the road, which doesn’t provide any traction for your vehicle what so ever.

After the Mt Surprise Rodeo spectacular we pressed on to the town of Croydon. Croydon is an outback town with a lot of history in the gold fields. One classic looking pub, one shop and a petrol station. $26 for the night in a cosy little caravan park. We soaked in a little more history from the Australian gold rush and then promptly decided that Croydon would be the last gold mining town we would visit for this trip. And whilst we are on the subject we have decided that we’ve also seen enough Lime Stone Caves, overtaken enough Grey Nomads and walked enough Gorges as well.

Leaving Croydon we passed through the Gulf town of Normanton. Here we had a photo taken with the giant Crocodile ‘Kris’ she was 8m long and is reportedly an actual size replica of a Croc that was killed by some crazy croc hunting woman by the name of Kris, many many years ago. The kids had fun laying in its mouth for a photo and poking its eyes. I am sure they were seeking revenge for all the water they couldn’t swim in whilst on this holiday. Normanton has the infamous ‘Purple Pub’ which we just took a photo of as we passed by and wished we had stopped at to have a ‘pot’ of beer. Normanton led us to Karumba, really the only two towns this end of the land of OZ, the area is known as – ‘where the outback meets the ocean’ and that is so true! All of the land in the Gulf of Carpentaria is very low lying and is mostly ‘salt flats’. In the Wet season it floods here and is not accessible. We also learnt that because the land is all ‘salt flats’ rubbish is a huge problem in the Karumba/Normanton region. Salt acts as a preservative and it takes such a long time for things to break down. They don’t have rubbish tips in this area and have to transport the refuse to another area and burry it in a really deep hole. The wild life don’t even touch the scraps on the ground that people might throw out their vehicle window because once is touches the ground it becomes too salty for them to eat. This was all made more real by a lady showing us an orange that was found on the side of the road 7 years ago and was only just becoming a shrivelled mess now. Amazing!

Kris the 8m Croc - Normanton

Karumba

BBQ Pontoon Karumba

 

The town of Karumba was beautiful, situated in the ‘big dipper’ of Australia. We got to enjoy beautiful sunsets over the ocean, enjoyed a nice meal at the pub at the beach, and shared the camping with about 12 billion grey nomads who migrate to Karumba every winter for 6 months from the Southern states. Karumba is renowned for its fishing! You know – species like Barramundi, Snapper, Bream, Salmon and Jew fish. I can report that ‘Team Smith’ gave it a red hot go and tested the theory…and can tell you the score ended up being: Cat Fish 2, Toad Fish 1, and any other desirable species – A BIG FAT ZERO!  Ten table points for trying though. We hired a BBQ pontoon for the day and took ourselves out on the Norman River, fished and fished, cooked up a storm on the BBQ, spotted some croc slide and claw marks on the shore line, enjoyed the scenery and had steak for dinner when we got back to camp.

Two nights at Karumba soon turned into four…yet again it’s time to move on.

Next stop Leichardt Falls, just a small dot on the map, down a dirt road on the way to Burketown. Had we not been told about it, we would have driven straight past. The dirt road lead to a weir about 150m long, we then turned off a side track which lead us to these magnificent falls which actually sat bellow the very same weir we had driven on. You know, you drive along and see the sides of the road and the horizon but you just don’t know what’s ‘behind the scenes’ until you look. I’ll let you judge for yourself by the photo’s.

Leichhardt Falls

Can someone ring Geoff’s and my boss please and tell them we are not coming back! We’ve just discovered Gregory Downs. We are camping beside the Gregory River – absolutely magnificent. You can swim here. The Fresh Water Crocs are not a problem in the river, if you leave them alone, they will leave you alone. (well now I am totally confused about the whole croc thing). The Gregory River is a fresh water river which starts right up in the Gulf from an underground spring. By the time it flowed past our camp site it was moving at a pace and provided much fun for everyone floating down the river through some little rapids. Putting their own spin on the word ‘fun’ the Smith boys decided to float down using our unused diesel jerry cans as a ‘floaty’, this enabled them to pick up quite a bit more speed and also was the cause of a few grazes along the way. Gregory River was free to camp, the ‘town’ at the top of the river bank consisted of a pub which provided ice, frozen bread (at $5 a loaf but who’s keeping count) a nice counter meal, oh and beer. There were also public showers and toilets and a great park for the kiddies. So we camped for 4 days. Whilst at Gregory Downs we met a young couple travelling for 12 months looking for somewhere to call home. They had watched me and the kids making damper one night and we ended up all sitting around the fire together with our new friends eating warm damper with two inches of butter – yummmo. The young couple asked if I could show them how to make some damper, so the next afternoon I went to their campsite to teach them and word had spread, before I new it there was two other people from other campsites all standing around watching my damper making lesson. I shared my recipes that I have collected on the way and we had lots of fun making a big mess and a big damper. Peter Russel Clark eat your heart out.

Gregory River

Our camp at Gregory Downs on the Gregory River

Gregory River - Geoff on the rope swing

We are on the home stretch and are becoming more aware of how much time we have left or should I say – don’t have left. We have been having such a great time seeing the land of OZ and don’t really want the adventure to end. We are well and truly in holiday mode and are very relaxed.

I think taking our time to get to places and not rushing has really paid off for us as we’ve been able to fully appreciate the places we’ve visited.

I have to tell you a funny story about how unaware of time we are at the moment. A few weeks ago the five of us had a fairly lengthy and animated discussion trying to figure out what day of the week it was, for the life of us we couldn’t figure it out. So when we came to the next town I was pretty excited when the general store (that sold everything) had newspapers. Being out in the bush, not only is it easy to forget what day of the week it is but you also miss out on the latest news. So I thought I was going to solve all our problems by purchasing a paper so we could catch up on what’s been going on in the world. Can I say that it’s just not that easy to do when you are in the QLD outback and the general store clearly doesn’t get a daily delivery of the current day’s newspaper. I had in fact purchased a newspaper that was over a week old and the only way we realised was that we had already read the same paper a week ago. You can imagine Geoff getting some mileage out of what I thought was a great idea. So I have decided not to purchase another newspaper until I return. No news is good news.

The kids continue to get dirty and dusty everywhere we go and are loving it. They have also met some lovely like minded friends and have exchanged addresses; I hope that they are still motivated to keep in contact with some of them upon our return. As I have said previously it is easy for us to keep going and going and get a little tired so it’s important to find places that we really like and set up camp for a few days to

 re-group. Because tired and cranky kids doesn’t make for a pleasant holiday experience.

they need this sign at the bottom of my driveway

So ON ON again next stop……….Lawn Hill NP

We do hope you are enjoying the winter weather as much as we are in The Gulf with our 30degree days and humidity well above 50%. Just thought I’d rub it in.

Vyrilia - Mt Surprise QLD

View from our camp site Vyrilia

It’s funny how when you spend a large amount of time in a place that you are quite fond of, that it’s very hard to leave.

We have been on ‘The Cape’ for 3 weeks now and are feeling that it is very sad to leave. But there is also so much more to see. After leaving Punsand Bay, we stopped of at Vyrilia Point on the west coast of the tip for a snappy overnighter….Yep you guessed it, four nights later we dragged ourselves away. Vyrilia Point is on the west coast of the tip of Australia and if you look at the map, we hadn’t travelled too far. It’s about 30km from the ‘main’ road and absolutely beautiful. We set ourselves up right on the beach and there we stayed, we caught Quean fish, tried our heart out for a Barramundi (no luck there). Being on the West coast we were able to enjoy the most spectacular sunsets over the ocean. Something that we don’t get to see at home that’s for sure. I am pretty certain that the kids didn’t share our passion for this once in a long time opportunity, to watch the sun set over the ocean. To them the sun sets every day and big woop if it happens to be over the water for these four days. Don’t worry I managed to snap a few pictures to record the memories.

Sunset over Vyrilia Beach

The beaches where we were camped at Vyrilia were beautiful! The tide goes out for miles leaving big sand flats. What was interesting about this place was the amount of ‘flotsam and jetsam’ washed up on the beach above the high tide mark, a legacy of the prevailing winds and big tides they get up here. We could have spent days walking the length of the beach collecting and looking at all the stuff. We were told that most of the stuff had been washed overboard from all the Indonesian and Korean fishing trawlers way out to sea. It had to be seen to be believed…thongs – thousands of thongs of all shapes and sizes (the rubber must just take that long to break down in the water) fishing nets, buoys, rope, bottles (couldn’t find any with messages) even though it was all rubbish it was still quite interesting to look at. Being the hoarders that we are, we felt quite pleased that we only walked away with one fabulously massive plastic white buoy and about 20m of big fat thick rope that is being transported home wrapped around our spare camper tyre.

The access to this particular camp spot was via a pretty dodgy looking log bridge that had not seen any maintenance for quite some time. On the way over we managed some pretty fancy moves to not come to any grief. On the way back from Vyrilia it was a different story. Managing to experience our first (and hopefully last) bit of 4WD mishap. I still blame it on the dodgy bridge and lack of maintenance, but my driver says that the mishap had something to do with the terrible navigation from the co-pilot on the other side of the bridge. And it had absolutely nothing to do with the 3 smallest Smith’s in panic mode standing with me. You see the bridge was made out of big fat logs all laying next to each other but one was completely missing leaving a nice gap all the way across and another log had fallen into the creek and was sticking up half way along the bridge. But you could not approach said bridge straight on as the track went off at an angle at either end and there was also a massive hole in the track to navigate around as well. So now I’ve painted the picture…. The vehicle made it across most of the way ok, but one of the camper trailer wheels fitted nicely in the gap left by one of the missing logs and became wedged up to the spring.

 Driver and navigator remained calm but the 3 smallest Smith’s went into overload thinking that we were going to be stuck on the bridge for the rest of our days. The emergency was over before we knew it. Thanks to the creative thinking of the driver. You see, we have been carrying around this round billet of wood since we left our very first campsite after we left home….Dunns Swamp NSW. (Never let it be said that Geoff throws anything out!) Well anyway this billet of good wood just happened to be the right size to wedge in under the stuck tyre, give us enough leverage to get some grip and get the camper back up onto the bridge. Not to mention the expert opinions from the host of on lookers and people waiting to cross the bridge as well.

Ooops

The log bridge

We thanked everyone for their participation and calmed the little people down and went on our merry way.

A snappy over nighter at the Elliot and Twin Falls again, then onto Weipa for four days of admin, car servicing, fishing, groceries and a much needed shower. Weipa is on the west coast of the tip and is a mining town owned by Camalco, parts of the area were forcibly taken from Aboriginal tribes in the days of Sir Joe ruling QLD, but some areas have now been returned to the rightful ownership of Aboriginal tribes and are being run as very successful communities with schools, medical and businesses run by the tribes.

Geoff was fortunate to meet some fellow campers who invited him to go fishing off the coast of Weipa on a 6.8m ‘tinny’ much fun and fish catching to be had.  As I have said again and again….we have been so lucky to meet such generous people. The kids loved Weipa as it was still QLD school holidays which provided lots of like minded little people to play with and the place we stayed at also had a pool! For me, the sunset over the ocean was a highlight (and a well stocked Woolies for groceries to boot).

North QLD car wash

Our plan once we left the Cape is to head to the Gulf of Carpentaria, described very keenly by the passengers in the car as….’the big dipper at the top of Australia’ We were hoping to take some back roads and cross a bit of outback country and head west from Musgrave to Dunbar then onto Normanton in the Gulf. Don’t worry this meant zero to me at the time as well. But had the roads been in better condition and not closed still in some places and we could go that way, we would have cut out a fair bit of back tracking and about 500km. We had been advised by the Coen police not to go that way, so we didn’t. 

So anyway we had to back track down to Mareeba and head North West from there to get to the Gulf. But things happen for a reason and when one plan doesn’t work out the next plan more often provides you with a new adventure. West of Mareeba we camped beside the ‘Rocky Tate Creek’ which was situated in the middle of a cattle station, it was here that we met a lovely family with 3 kids who were doing much the same as us and used to live in the Gulf area that we were heading to, so we spent a lovely time with them and the kids had a ball.

Had we not headed out this way we also wouldn’t have happened upon the Annual Mt Surprise Rodeo. You haven’t lived until you’ve experienced the Mt Surprise Rodeo. What a great night that was. Mt Surprise is not a very big town and I am pretty sure that every person who lived within cooee was there. A free camp out in the back paddock behind the main arena. Can I just tell you that I have never felt so out of place though, it would have been the funniest sight to see the 5 of us emerge from our vehicle looking like we were off to the beach in our classic coastal attire, you know…thongs, peaked cap, surf shirt, boardies – you get my picture? It’s 28 degrees in the shade and the whole population of Mt Surprise were decked out in their Blundstones, jeans, 10 gallon hat, chequered shirt, big buckled belt and a swagger to boot! There was no blending in the crowd what so ever. Talk about abandoning ship though, Geoff decided to change into his jeans, work boots and flanno for the evening’s program, it was a dead give away when he was closely followed by the four of us floundering around in our shorts and t- shirts. Too funny!!!

The evenings program was kicked off by a bit of a parade of local talent on horse back, closely followed by the MC swanning out into the main arena decked from head to toe in denim (double denim! A sight to behold) we all had to stand for a recital of ‘A Rodeo Cowboy’s Prayer’ I was so moved by the total silence of the place whilst the MC said the prayer over the sound system, it was to the beat or rhythm of ‘The lord’s Prayer’ (I managed to find a copy of it on the net for those of you who are interested, I have included a copy of it at the end of my words). And straight after reciting the Cowboys Prayer the MC threw himself into a magnificent rendition of the National Anthem that would have left Julie Anthony for dead. Goose bumps all round let me tell you.

We were treated to a wild night of mad people riding bucking bulls and broncos. Lasooing calves, barrel racing and more. And to top it off we were entertained by all the young cow-cockies partying on into the wee hours of the morning.  Yeeee Haaaaa

A Rodeo Cowboy's Prayer

Our gracious and heavenly Father, we pause in the midst of this festive occasion, mindful and thoughtful of the guidance that you have given us.

As cowboys, Lord, we don't ask for any special favours, we ask only that you let us compete in this arena, as in life’s arena. We don't ask to never break a barrier, or to draw a round of steer that's hard to throw, or a chute fighting horse, or a bull that is impossible to ride. We only ask that you help us to compete as honest as the horses we ride and in a manner as clean and pure as the wind that blows across this great land of ours.

So when we do make that last ride that is inevitable for us all to make, to that place up there, where the grass is green and lush and stirrup high, and the water runs cool, clear, and deep -

You'll tell us as we ride in that our entry fees have been paid.

These things we ask - Amen.

---

© Clem McSpadden. In memory of Howard Manuel, Jim Moore and Zachary Vanwhy.

COEN TO THE TIP!

The kids made some scones - yum

Coen to the Tip

Here are some Fast Facts……

We’ve travelled nearly 9000km

Put the camper trailer up and down approx 67 times (will have to confirm that one)

The kids have done 3 pages of their journal (the only school work they are required to do whilst away – who’s in charge here?)

Driven over a Pasquillion corrugations in the road.

Transferred about 6 different Ant species to different parts of QLD

Had the statement ‘Gee you’re a long way from home’ said to us about 41 times by different people we’ve met along the way.

Caught 2 Barramundi (still trying)

Paid at most $2.24 / litre for diesel at the most northern petrol station in Australia. (We’ve stopped looking at the price of Diesel now – it’s too scary)

Paid $12 for half a kilo of mince from the most northern supermarket in Australia. (Ya gotta eat)

All you people with DOCS on speed dial get your pen and paper ready….consumed approx 500 packets of 2 minute noodles!!!! (If you look closely at the nutritional value of a packet of 2 minute noodles you may be surprised)

We have taken nearly 2000 photo’s (no surprises there – can’t wait for the ‘slide night’ upon our return, I am going to make you sit through each and everyone one of the photo’s whilst I give a detailed description of each picture (questions will follow)

Leaving Lakefield NP and visiting all the ‘Laura’s’ There’s New Laura, Laura and Old Laura, and stocking up on a few supplies at the Laura Road House ( $3 for a packet of 2 minute noodles, $5 for a loaf of frozen bread we didn’t get too much– you get my meaning?) We headed for Coen and camped by the river and listened to the 2^nd State of Origin on the car radio, whilst sitting by the campfire eating pumpkin scones. Doesn’t get any better than that! 

fun fun fun

This is where the fun gets fun! We kissed the bitumen goodbye at Cooktown; we haven’t seen any sign of a paved road for some time, hold onto your hats. It’s dirt all the way now. Just a little note for the general traveller….make sure all loose items are securely stowed away inside your vehicle (that’s what glove boxes and centre consoles are for) if you require the assistance of a brassiere during the day, make sure you have your heavy duty sports bra on, don’t have that loose change or that pen for that list you need to write floating around in the car, because it’s all going to be rearranged once you get onto these roads up here. Also a trap for young players is the vehicle you see in the distance coming towards you is coming at speed and you need to time the winding up of all four windows in your own vehicle prior to the dust cloud that is going to be sucked into the car if you are not quick enough. Geoff and I have it down to a fine art. I’ll spot the car coming and he’ll put the windows up with just enough time to spare. (It’s interesting the things you find to amuse you whilst driving many kilometres in a day). One other tip for the traveller…..when your own vehicle comes to a stop, ensure all your own windows are up prior to stopping, because the dust that you have been kicking up whilst travelling along is going to catch up with eventually and it’s going to end up inside your car with you.

Twin falls

A trip to the ‘Tip’ wouldn’t be complete without stopping at ‘Twin Falls’ and ‘Elliot Falls’ An absolutely beautiful spot – nature is an amazing thing. It’s been quite a while since we’ve been able to have a swim (like about last summer) but with the heat and the humidity we are experiencing a dunk in a fresh water hole is something you can’t say no to. The falls has a great camping area and plenty of spots to cool down with a swim. Nothing like messing with your children’s minds though! It took a bit of convincing for them to hop in the water after we had drummed it into them that it wasn’t safe to swim in other places. Don’t worry I am a tad confused myself, what is the difference between swimming in a water hole at Twin Falls and not being able to swim in any other creek or beach? It’s all water and Crocs live in water. Was trying to channel my inner Steve Irwin with no luck.

The beach at 'The Tip' of OZ

The Smith's 'At the Tip'

You may be wondering why it is taking so long to get to ‘The Tip’. We were wondering the same thing also, seeing as though we’ve been away for about 8 weeks and thought we would have been up at The Cape by now. We’ve since figured it out….We get to a place to stay – say like Twin Falls thinking that we are going to do a snappy over nighter – then all of a sudden BAM you’re up to night number 3, contemplating night number four because you can’t bare to drag yourself away from some of these beautiful places. Even though we are fortunate enough to be away for such a huge amount of time we have to be careful we don’t find ourselves with 2 days to get home from Uluru. Wouldn’t want to miss the first shift back at work - no way!

$18 worth of SPAM - when only the best will do

So anyways…’On On’ we go still heading north, crossing the Jardine River via car ferry, a 150m wide river system far too deep to drive across at a bargain price of $99 return. Well we’ve made it. We set up camp at Punsand Bay, which is about 20km from ‘The Tip’ we were camped right on the beach front, the bay faced North and you could see ‘The Tip’ from our campsite. What a place to be! As I have mentioned we have met the most amazing and generous people along the way, which really restores your faith in human nature. Some people camping not far from us, who were up here for the Dry Season on a work contract and happened to have two U – Beaut quad bikes and very generously let us use them to explore the area anytime we wanted to use them. You can imagine Ben’s excitement with this activity. From the minute he opened his eyes he was campaigning for a ride of the bikes. It also happens to be QLD school holidays at the moment so there are plenty of kids around to keep our people company.

Our camp at Punsand Bay

Being at the top of Australia is really amazing and such an achievement for us, as it is something that we set out to do a long time ago. But reaching ‘The Tip’ is

bitter – sweet for us, as the day we arrived at Punsand Bay we found out that my dear Grandfather (Popsy) had passed away. Such a proud but quiet man who lived a full life of 87yrs. It was such a difficult time for everyone and we have never felt so far from home both physically and emotionally. I flew home for 4 days to be with my Nan and my family, such an emotional roller coaster going from one extreme of emotions to another. I am so grateful that I found out in time to say goodbye to Popsy. So our visit to the top was extra special but very hard. We were fortunate enough to have the place to us for nearly 2hrs (this was very fortunate as we had heard stories of people crowding the ‘tip’ and lining up for photo’s) we  spent the time remembering all the special things we remember about Popsy and how much we love him.

Give your family a hug and tell them you love them.

Daintree NP to Lakefield NP

7^th June – 14^th June 2011.

Don’t believe all you read – Telstra will tell you they cover Australia wide with their internet. I just cannot understand why they can’t provide me with wireless internet access EVERYWHERE!

The things we packed for our holiday was the topic of much discussion leading up to our departure date. There were lists galore (I love a good list) many, many debates over pushbikes, surfboards, kids – to bring or not to bring. It was all narrowed down to….’If it doesn’t have three uses, then it can’t come’ Lucky Geoff makes a mean omelette, likes driving and can reverse the trailer. One thing that we probably packed too much of is clothing, so when we arrived at a dinky little town called Mt Molloy in the QLD hinterland, we did a bit of a repack and re organisation and decided to post some clothes home that we had not worn. You can imagine the excitement on the post mistress’s face in the Mt Molloy post office when she had to help me configure the best way to send the stuff home. I think I made her week.

Can you imagine the excitement on the Smith tour when our vehicle rounded the bend above Mosman and we had first sight of the ocean since we left home on the 1^st May!!! There were cheers of joy that was until we broke the news that you weren’t allowed to swim in the ocean up here. Well that went down like a lead balloon. But the consolation was that we could let the sand go between our toes, gee it was a nice feeling. We gave Cairns a miss and headed straight to The Daintree. Popped the camper up at Noah Beach and spent a few days in the rainforest. Man it was humid. What a beautiful place, so tempting to get into the water but we weren’t going to risk the chance of a close encounter with a Saltwater Croc thankyou very much.

First Croc sighting!

From the Daintree we made the trek along ‘The Bloomfield Track’ it takes you from Cape Tribulation to Cooktown , the track had just been opened for the dry season. Not for the feint hearted (well so far) this being the first bit of real 4WD’ing we had done. The track took you over these huge mountain ranges with some of the hills having a gradient of 33%. For quite a few km, pretty steep. I think if some of the passengers could have gotten out and walked some of it they would have been happy. None the less we made it safely to the Wujul Wujul community and visited the Bloomfield Falls which were quite spectacular and were treated to our first croc sighting. It still didn’t stop Matty asking to go for a swim.

We landed in Cooktown for our last stop before the big trip up north. Can anyone remember their history lessons at school and seeing pictures of The Endeavour being repaired at Cooktown? Well Cooktown looks exactly the same as the pictures….. Massive mountains meeting the sea with the Endeavour River winding it’s way in the background. We went to the Cooktown Museum to soak in some more history, got to see the Endeavours anchor and cannon, which had both been salvaged from the spot where the ship hit the reef. (Geoff and I are pretty passionate about Captain Cook and his ship, as we had just both completed a year 3 and 4 school project on the very subject before coming away).

Does anyone remember this little poem about Captain Cook?

“Captain Cook chased a chook all around Australia, lost his pants in the middle of France and found them in Tasmania”

The kids thought that was hilarious.

‘On On’

Cape York here we come…….

Dragon Flies the colour of Jaffa’s – Butterflies the brightest yellow you have ever seen – Ants in every shape, size and colour you can imagine – Birds that sound pre historic in the middle of the night – Wild Boars as black as night the same size as a small sedan!

We have named a new species of bird… It’s called the ‘Corduroy Bird’ it makes the same sound as Corduroy clad legs rubbing together as you walk….”Vvvt Vvvvt Vvvt’ too funny. Straight out of the ‘70’s.

We are not sure how many bugs, insect or little critters we have consumed this holiday, nor how many we have cooked up in our meals, nor how many of the poor things have come to a sudden death at the hands of our bulbar and driving lights. Can I just say that the ‘three second rule’ is out the door whilst camping in the bush. Purely because the law of averages states that you are sure to drop that knife in the dirt or that piece of bread on the ground and something’s gunna stick, and sure as eggs… you are gunna eat it with your meal or drink it in your cuppa. But gee we love camping.

Ummm...yep we all need a shower

Where else would we be? No ‘Big4’ fancy shmanzy Caravan Park for us thanks! We are in the OUTBACK. Yep we have hit the bush big time. At the moment we are in the Lakefield NP which is North West of Cooktown. We have spent a couple of nights camping beside the Normanby River and a few waterholes. Now don’t get too excited with the picture of HOT weather and camping beside a river. Don’t even think about dangling your big toe in the water or even going close to the edge!! We are in serious CROC territory. I have never felt so anxious whilst camping. Keeping one eye on the location of your children whilst keeping the other eye on the water. As if I know the habits of a fresh water Croc! Anyway, we managed to come away from the Lakefield NP with all our kids and limbs. The Lakefield NP is the second biggest in Australia (out done by the Simpson Dessert NP) we were quite worried about our timing of our arrival at the park being the long weekend and if it might be difficult to get ourselves a camping spot. Let me just say, we need not have been concerned. Plenty of room for everyone, this place is huge ( I did say that everything is BIG in QLD didn’t I?)

Our camp next to a water hole Lakefield NP

No luck on the infamous Barramundi front, we did however catch us some more of those Red Claw and we were also introduced to the massive prawn looking thing called a Marin ( not sure if I spelt it correctly) but these were tasty oversized prawns that we boiled up and ate with delight. It is so hard to describe this place.. It is so full of Australian history and many stories. The wet season is something I will never fully understand. All we did was make sure that we were travelling in the dry season when all the roads were open. But the seasons up here are something else. There is evidence of the water that rushes through here in the wet, the trees have a tide mark of mud higher than our vehicle, and as the water evaporates it’s amazing to see the massive eagles and other birds come down and clean up all the fish and other animals that are not quick enough to get out of the water holes.

crossing Isabella Falls QLD

Geoff and I were starting to think that there were a lot of New Zealand expats living in North QLD. Every local person we came across talked with a feint Kiwi twang. But we have since realised (doh) that it’s the way they speak up here.

 Roool Occa, too funny. The kids are also finding it amusing the different names that they have for certain things, like Toggs, flip flops, pluggers, zippy ties and others that I can’t remember. But they too think that people are speaking a different language.

A couple of things that we wished we had brought away with us, I will leave it up to you to figure out who wished what………

A boat

An Au Pair/Nanny/Baby sitter

Thermometer

Large Tonka tip truck

Small radio

Compass

Push Bikes

Chain Saw

Hope you enjoy the photos, they only tell half the story but we are glad we can share them with you.

Don’t mind me I could write all day about what we have done and seen, and have taken lot’s of photos – feedback is welcome….less writing more photos – or more writing less photos.

Ahhh we love the beach - but only stayed in for a minute - up to our ankles
Daintree NP

Balyando Crossing - Lake Tinaroo

Never fear for the Smith’s are here.

'Windy Hill' near Atherton QLD - puts Gerringong's little wind mill to shame - there were
20 wind mills 80m high!

NEWS FLASH!!! We’ve created a new meal it’s called ‘SECOND BREAKFAST’ yep you read it correctly – ‘second breakfast’ was created out of pure desperation by the youngest Smith on the tour. It’s not to be confused with ‘brunch’ or ‘morning tea’, no sir-ee, second breakfast is the wedgy meal, only the truly hungry consume after a hearty bowl of cereal at the crack of dawn,  closely followed by what the rest of the family are having for normal breakfast

Whilst in the cold mountains of NSW in the first part of our trip. When we were wearing every item of clothing to bed enduring below zero temps – Geoff made the announcement….”Anyone who complains about being too hot when we get up North faces eviction” Here’s my disclaimer – I am simply making a comment and am certainly not complaining one little bit. But gee it’s getting WARM!!!! We are daringly showing a bit more skin, have  cracked out the ‘double pluggers’ and are warming our bones.  The nights are still a bit cool, about 13 degrees but manageable.

We finally bid farewell to Lake Elphinstone after 6 nights. It was such a lovely, relaxing place to be. We feasted on Red Claw every which way possible – thanks to the generosity of some lovely people we met, who shared their catch more than a few times. We met some great people there and some characters too.

We celebrated Marley’s 9^th birthday at Lake Elphinstone, we thought it might be a special but low key affair. But things happen for a reason and the day turned out to be spectacular. Being on the weekend some of the locals were camping there too, and they just happened to have some girls Marley’s age whom she befriended and the girls father just happened to own a thumping big ski boat. And they invited Marley to ski with them all day. Nice! We celebrated with stale fairy bread, a few cheezels and a bit of cake from the next mining town. Great day had by all.

After Lake Elphinstone we headed to Balyando Crossing, stayed out the back of a road house and enjoyed extremely high pressured, extremely hot showers and took advantage of the $2 per load washing machine. If you are ever out that way and need a place to stay, Balyando is worth popping in to. (It’s only 200 odd km from anywhere)

Our road train next to someone elses

A snappy visit to Charters Towers for some groceries then onto a free camp at Fletcher Creek, a close encounter with a black snake made the kids think twice about playing in the long grass.

After Fletcher Creek we left heading North, this is where things got interesting. We were sharing the road with road trains 4 trailers long. I know I mentioned the trucks previously, but that was nothing compared to what were came across. You can see in the picture that our driveway is wider than this road. The truck drivers have call points along the road where they call up on their UHF and let you know they are entering the particular call area. Lucky I am such a top gun radio operator and I was able to use my superb radio skills to advise the road trains that we were coming along the opposite direction. And when you cross paths the smaller vehicle (us) has to drive on the edge of the road. Not for the feint hearted. So glad I wasn’t driving let me tell you.

The Beef Rd - Central QLD (not much road)

We spent a night at Undara NP visiting the Undara Lava Tubes, a pretty amazing sight to see these massive tubes underground made a bazillion years ago by lava flows, we even got to swim in one of the tubes.

We are now nearing the end of 4 days at Lake Tinaroo near Atherton QLD, albeit a little sun burnt and in desperate need of a shower. Lake Tinaroo is  another rather large lake in a NP which just happens to be stocked with Barramundi. So far we have managed to catch a 4 inch baby Barramundi, a turtle, two yabbi’s and a few bait fish. We suspect we don’t have the correct lures and also the Barramundi are more active in the warmer months, but try we will. Stay tuned.

Can I just give everyone (and us) a bit of a reality check here for a moment. As you can tell we have visited some really amazing places and seen some fabulous sights. And are experiencing a once in a life time trip that we are thoroughly enjoying! But living out of the camper trailer still poses the same ‘issues’ and presents the same ‘dramas’ as living at home. The kids still argue and fight amongst themselves as much if not more than at home. The day still requires routine and formalities. It is still a challenge to get the kids to help out with chores and jobs. I take my hat off to the kids teachers we struggle to get Ben and Marley to complete their daily journal, which is the only school work they are required to do whilst away. (any motivational advice greatly appreciated)

It’s just that we are in a different environment and I don’t have to look at my dirty floors or the lawns to be mowed. And the washing up consists of 5 of everything because that’s all we brought along….five plates, five spoons, five cups – you get my drift?  One other challenge that Geoff and I are facing is trying to help the kids appreciate the NOW instead of worrying what we are going to do tomorrow or the next day. Children, we have realised have a different sense and understanding of time. Geoff and I both know that before too long we will be back at work – re living the memories of this trip through our photo’s. But it’s all a big learning curve for all of us as individuals and as a family. But a very positive one. We have met some interesting and very generous people who have made this holiday most enjoyable.

I have a few questions for you….

Why was there an odd number of Salada’s in the packet this morning?

Why won’t the kids willingly ride in the roof top basket? It would be water and dust proof.

Why do some campers feel the need to chose the spot right next to you in the middle of a NP when there are acres of other vacant sites around?

Why do Kookaburras choose to perch in the tree above our camper and cackle away right on the dot of six every morning no matter where we are?

Why didn’t we bring a boat?

Why can’t we catch a Barramundi?

Why are my kids always hungry?

Why do ski boats choose to drive in the bay that I am fishing in?

Lake Tinaroo - we really wanted the water front site

Bidding farewell and love to all, I hope you are enjoying our stories and are not too bored?

Geoff said ‘good morning’ to an old snoozer at a camp site the other day.

The old snoozer asked if Geoff was having a good holiday?

Geoff replied ‘It’s better than being at work!’

The old snoozer replied with ‘Aaaah – work is for fools and horses!’

So the saying of the holiday which always brings a laugh from Geoff and I is…

‘WORK IS FOR FOOLS AND HORSES!’