The Loggerhead Turtles of Mon Repos

Friday, 30 December 2011

Late start to the day, we were in no hurry today as we knew we would be staying up very late.

There were a few things to do around the camp: washing, mending equipment, general tidying up to allow for a hassle-free departure the following morning.

After a late lunch and an afternoon nap we headed over to Mon Repos just after 18:00 (6:00PM).

Lots of people were already queuing, lots more were still arriving as we were taking in the atmosphere and a cup of coffee from Robby's “Vantastic Food” outlet outside the Mon Repos Information Centre.

Eventually the gate was opened and visitors were welcomed into the centre after checking their respective booking details. Tonight's turtle encounter was fully booked. When we were handed our numbered stickers we found out that we were in group 4 – it would be a long night for us as group 1 was to be led onto the beach first and turtles weren't expected to emerge from the sea before 21:00 (9:00PM).

In the amphitheatre outside we watched an introductory film on turtle research and conservation at Mon Repos. 95% of the female turtles that come on the beach over night for breeding are Loggerhead Turtles (Caretta caretta), an endangered species. If we were going to see a turtle tonight, it would be a loggerhead.

Shortly after 21:00 (9:00PM) the first group was called to assemble at one of the boardwalks that lead onto the beach, the first turtle had emerged!

A little while later Flip had the opportunity to join Mon Repos' junior ranger program.Flip and the other children got an insight into turtle research and filled in a data collection sheet after carefully examining the fibreglass model of an egg-laying loggerhead.

Outside we listened to another talk on the characteristics of Loggerhead Turtles, particularly their breeding pattern and quite extraordinary life cycle, all preparing us for the real life encounter.

Then it started to rain. In between showers Shane, the QPWS ranger in charge of the night, was receiving radio calls from turtle-spotting staff based on the beach, researchers and volunteers. He would then go on to assemble groups and send them onto their way into the night.

Eventually, at 23:15 (11:15PM) it was our turn.

Group 4 met at the gate to the northern boardwalk. Instructed not to turn on any lights we shimmied down the sloped boardwalk, slippery with rain and sand, onto the beach in complete darkness. The moon had set already, the stars were obscured by clouds.

Once on the beach we waited for a few minutes only to be told by our guide Shane that we had to return to the information centre.

The turtle our group had been assigned to had changed her mind and gone back in the water.

But a short time later we made our way down the wooden planks again and we were led to a site a few hundred metres north. We could see a few lights up there as we were walking through the sand, the rain becoming stronger once again.

The turtle had already completed laying her eggs when we arrived at her nesting site.

Bummer...we thought...

But there were a couple of reasons why the rangers hadn't called us in earlier, why they didn't want too many people around this turtle too early in the night.

This particular female Loggerhead Turtle had been on the beach the previous night. But something had spooked her and she'd decided to do a U-turn and swam out into the dark again.
So when she emerged again tonight, they wanted to make sure everything went to plan.

Loggerheads dig their nests above the high water mark, up in the dunes where the sand is soft and doesn't get inundated in the event of a storm surge.

They usually clear any grass and debris from their chosen site and dig a body pit before they proceed with the digging of the egg chamber, up to 60cm deep, by use of their rear flippers – the hard yakka.

Our turtle (who is easily identified by the tag number on her flippers) is known to have a “glitch” in her nesting sequence, this complex set of instinctive behaviour embedded in a turtle's DNA.

She digs the body pit – but then she skips the crucial part of of digging the deeper egg chamber!

In order to improve the survival rate of her offspring Barry and a couple of other volunteers had helped her out by digging the hole for her, right under her stubby little tail, so her eggs would drop into the safety of a sufficiently deep egg chamber. She had already started to fill in the hole again when we appeared on the scene.

This is the time of night when photos of nesting turtles can be taken without causing too much of a disturbance.

Our guide, very knowledgeable and truly passionate, provided us with information on this turtle lady.

She was tagged when she first emerged from the South Pacific in the year 2002. After her “lost years”, the 30-35 years between hatching and reaching sexual maturity, she'd found the beach with help of her inbuilt GPS that recognises the Earth's magnetic fields. Since then she has returned to the scene every second year.

Tonight she actually laid her second clutch of eggs for the season, over 100. And she may even return in a couple of weeks for a third clutch.

About 8 weeks from now this clutch will hatch, baby turtles will work their way through the sand – and in the cover of night they will make a mad dash for the water.

Some of the hatchlings will have their DNA samples taken to determine how many different male turtles contributed their sperm to the hatchlings of this clutch.

After obscuring the nest, she started to make her way back to the water. For a moment she wandered in the wrong direction but after we'd all turned off our lights and cameras, she found her way back down to the waves, guided by only Shane's torch light. And then she was gone, swallowed up by the sea.

We didn't encounter any other turtles on our way back to the information centre. We were soaked with rain. We had an unforgettable night.

Boh boh!
Anja

Bundaberg and Bargara

Monday, 26 December 2011

Boxing Bay

A quiet and relaxing Christmas was spent with the family in Burrum Heads. The Christmas ham eaten, all wrapping paper disposed of, condiments boxes packed again, the Toms family waved goodbye to the rellies and hit the road once again.

Our destination today was Bargara. We had booked a camp site for 3 nights at the local caravan park a few days earlier when Steve and I had travelled to Bundaberg for a look-see.

Our reconnaissance trip back then had revealed that “Turtle Sands”, a caravan park right next to the Mon Repos turtle rookery where Steve and Flip had spent a few nights on a previous trip no longer accommodates overnight campers.

Bargara Beach Caravan Park it was instead, a busy place this time of the year, packed with caravans, camper trailers and motorhomes. We checked in early enough to find a shady spot in the back of the unpowered camp site area, sandy ground, a bit of gras, dense bushland right behind the boundary fence. The first thing we noticed were the birds: Kookaburras (the laughing kind), Grey Butcherbirds, Rainbow Lorikeets, Scaly-breasted Lorikeets, Magpies, Koels, Noisy Miners – hundreds of them, going off!

A family of Noisy Miners came into our camp a bit earlier for a quick bath in the dirt. After flapping their wings and making quite a racket for a while, all of a sudden they dropped flat on their bellies, wings spread wide and “played dead”. Motionless these birds were lying flat in the dirt, staring at me and my ham and cheese sandwich. I reckon these dirt baths followed by a good dose of sunlight might help them fend off blood sucking parasites – but I'll have to do some research to find out what this behaviour really is about.
Helpful comments on this would be much appreciated!

A strong wind warning had been out for the last few days, ex-tropical cyclone 'Fina' brought rain and big swells to most parts of the East Coast.
But when we walked down to the beach in the afternoon the conditions weren't too bad at all.

The crocodile-fearing members of this expedition felt surprisingly at ease as the water was shallow and the beach patrolled by at least half a dozen surf lifesavers. Flip had lots of fun with his boogie board once he'd worked out how to ride the waves all the way in.

Tuesday, 27 December 2011

Apart from a few mozzies after dark the night was very pleasant.
After the birds had been provoding plenty of day time drama, night time entertainment continued with XL-sized possums and lots of hissing and snarling from and unknown source somewhere in the bushes out the back.

The sun was fairly high up already when the members of the expedition decided to stir.

The billy was boilt and first cuppa was enjoyed at around 7:00AM while enjoying the pleasant morning, observing the hustle and bustle of the bush. Two Frilled-neck Lizzards were having a little tiff just a few metres away. After the bigger of the two had run off and up the next tree, the smaller one continued to squabble with a cheeky Butcherbird that picked a branch too close for comfort.

A bit later we drove into Bundaberg for some shopping. Here we walked straight into the street parade of the 66th Australian Jazz Convention. Sorry, neither the banjo-playing jazz enthusiasts nor the umbrella-twirling ladies following the musicians on their parade up and down Bourbong St were really our cup of tea.

Later we checked out the turtle rookery information centre at Mon Repos. No staff were present but we found out where to book for the ranger-guided turtle observation. As all tours were already fully booked until Friday we decided to extend our stay for another two days.

Can't come all this way and then miss out on the loggerheads! The rangers cannot give us a guarantee that any Loggerhead Turtles (Caretta caretta, the species currently nesting) will actually make an appearance on the night – but I'm sure it will be an awesome experience anyway.

Boh boh!
Anja

The Big Haste (to the East Coast)

Saturday, 17 December 2011

The locals had been warning us for days that only 10mm of rain could turn the Channel Country into a big boggy mess in a matter of only a few hours.

The wind had picked up considerably over night, a few drops of rain plopping on the tarp every now and then. When daylight came we didn't hang around, a big black storm front was creeping up on us from the west, we had to pack up swiftly, say our goodbyes to the Dig Tree and make a move.

Under different conditions we would have continued to Innamincka to check out along the way the sites where Burke and Wills had perished and the place where King had been found alive.

But we seriously had no time to lose, we had to get over the many channels of the Cooper Creek before they started to flood.
Past the Jackson Oil Plant and onto the Cooper Developmental Road. Tensions eased once we'd made it onto the sealed road – although it was only a single lane for quite some time and we had to roll onto the shoulder if we wanted to avoid the spray of gravel and rocks by oncoming road trains potentially resulting in a cracked windscreen. The further we travelled the wider and more defined the road became. Once we got to Quilpie we felt like we'd returned to the civilised world.

No dawdling, we fuelled up in Charleville and drove on, along the Warrego Highway all the way to Mitchell. Particularly the teenager on board rejoiced when we pulled into a motel complex and checked into a room for the night. Dinner was enjoyed by the expedition at the Court House Hotel in Mitchell. Great place to eat, they serve whole cows there (that's what Steve thought anyway when he ordered a rump steak)!



Sunday, 18 December 2011

The last day of this leg of the journey. 
Today we would cross the Western Downs. Roma felt like an old friend since one of our local TV channel (Imparja serves large areas of central and remote Australia) keeps us up to date on cattle prices with the Roma stock report.
The Great Dividing Range we traversed as well. It felt slightly sacrilegious to rush up and down and around the hills and ridges without stopping but we were very close to our destination now and would make time to check out the secrets of the Great Dividing Range on our return trip to the Top End.


We safely arrived at Steve's parents place in a small township between Hervey Bay and Bundaberg in the early afternoon. Here the Toms family will celebrate Christmas in private before hooking up the camper trailer once more. Turtles and sandy beaches will be the focus of our attention next, stay tuned!


Wishing everyone a very happy, healthy and peaceful Christmas!
Anja

The Dig Tree

Friday, 16 December 2011

Just before first light the dry desert wind picked up and became quite gusty. It turned folding up the tent into a bit of a task, Ellen and Flip had to give us a hand holding the folds in place before we could throw the cover over and zip the whole thing up.

As the trip to Big Red and back to Birdsville to pick up the trailer would have taken us 3 to 4 hours return we had planned for an even earlier start, packing away as much as we could the night before. We stopped at the roadhouse to get some cardboard, which we taped over the rear window to protect it from stones and rolled out of Birdsville in an easterly direction on the Birdsville Developmental Road, a well defined gravel road and mostly in pretty good condition.

Past Moonda Lake and the Betoota ruins we stopped at 'Deon's Lookout'. The view from up here revealed that the 'Sturt Stony Desert' is exactly that. Deon's Lookout is named in memory of a young Birdsville resident who lost his life not far from this rocky outcrop in a helicopter crash in 1996.

We had taken note of his hat at the Birdsville Hotel the previous night. Birdsville residents their own, the ones that have done “the hard yards” in this harsh environment by nailing their hats under the ceiling of the pub after their passing. Framed portraits and newspaper clippings go with the hats, a display of strong community spirit as well as a record of recent history, quite humbling actually.

A sharp turn to the south, the 'Strzelecki Desert' ahead of us now. The track narrowed. A surprising lack of corrugations (great), bulldust only in a few places (not too bad) and – since this was grazing country – scattered small herds of cattle (visible from a distance) made the journey rather enjoyable. Occasionally the track was lined by fences in varying states of decay and a few times we had to stop abruptly or swerve to avoid getting tangled up in barbed wire (not good at all).

We took a little detour to 'Haddon Corner' and Steve got to drive the rig over a couple of sand dunes after all. Since it was lunchtime and the flies weren't too bad we had a bite to eat right on the border, looking at  the north-eastern corner of South Australia.

A short time later we had an interesting encounter with a few locals of the feathery kind. We had seen Emus (Dromaius novaehollandiae) here and there over the last few days but here was a small flock wandering through the grassy plain just a short distance away – a great photo opportunity! To our amazement they weren't scared of the vehicle at all but mozied over to where we had pulled up. Only the shutting of the car doors sent them on their way again.

In pretty high spirits after this wildlife encounter we continued our journey south as we still had a fair distance to travel to our final destination for the day.  Tall red sand dunes peppered with clumps of bright green Spinifex grass, deep blue desert sky speckled with cumulus clouds, the white fluffy ones – and a band of red dirt meandering all the way to the horizon. The colours were spectacular!

Every now and then the sand dunes gave way to barren plains, hardly any vegetation, just sharp and inhospitable rocks with colours varying from clay-white to dark brown ochre.

Eventually a band of trees would appear on the horizon, billowing at first, then more and more defined as we were nearing the creek beds these Coolabah trees (Eucalyptus coolabah) were lining. No water flowing here, just stagnant murky puddles bearing witness to rainfall in the not to distant past.

From 'Nappa Merrie' cattle station it took only a few more minutes until we reached our camp site for the night on the Cooper Creek.

We camped at the very same site from where the Burke and Wills expedition, namely Robert O'Hara Burke, William John Wills, John King and Charles Gray, made their dash to the Gulf of Carpentaria, 151 years ago to the day on 16 December 1860, leaving William (Wilhelm) Brahe and a few other men behind.

For more than four months this group stayed at the camp before Brahe decided to return to Menindee as one of the men had injured himself and there was little hope that Burke and Wills would still be alive.

They left the camp on Cooper Creek after burying some supplies, just in case. They blazed one of the Coolabah trees not far from where the supplies were hidden and carved the instruction to “DIG” and the date of their departure, 12 April 1861, into the tree before heading south.

Today the carvings are illegible but the blazes are still visible on the tree.

Burke, Wills and King were still alive (Gray had perished only a few hundred kilometres further north). They arrived back at the Dig Tree the very same day Brahe and the others had left. The camp fires were still warm. Had they not given Gray a proper burial, wasting precious energy by digging a grave deep enough in the hard desert ground, they possibly would have made it in time.

Burke and Wills died on the banks of Cooper Creek, a little further downstream. They possibly would have survived if they'd been less hostile towards the the local Aboriginal clans like the Yandruwandha people, paid some respect, supplemented their diet with bush tucker and paid more attention to the proper preparation of Nardoo, and aquatic fern with edible seeds.

Only John King survived. He was eventually rescued by a search party under the leadership of Alfred William Howitt who found King living with the Yandruwandha on 15 September 1861.

Many valuable lessons to be learnt from this ill-fated expedition!

No Nardoo for us tonight, we enjoyed a nice leg of lamb cooked in the camp oven.

Watching dark clouds forming in the west we decided to throw the tarp over the tent, just in case.
Heavy rainfall was predicted for the next day, we would have to move swiftly in the morning if we didn't want to get stuck on the Cooper for an uncertain amount of time.

For now, we were enjoying the balmy night under the coolabahs, watching a great variety of birds coming down to the creek for a drink and a little Redback spider hastily walking past, paying no attention to the explorers from Kakadu whatsoever.

Given the amount of tragedy this place has seen, Steve remarked that he could sense no eeriness.
Not eerie at all, rather peaceful and calming, the spirits of the Yandruwandha were being good to us.

Over night the wind started howling, a little bit of rain fell as well. But the tarp held up and the members of this expedition stayed dry and comfortable.

Boh boh!
Anja

Birdsville sans Big Red

Thursday, 15 December 2011

After leaving Boulia without seeing any Min Min lights – which Flip is still slightly upset about – we well and truly entered desert country.

The Simpson Desert to the west, sand dunes of varying colours, rather dense vegetation in parts after recent rains, the Eyre Creek flowing at quite some speed. I wasn't surprised to see ducks in the desert...but seagulls?

On our way to Birdsville we were on the lookout for a stand of Waddi trees (Acacia puece), a rare and ancient species endemic to the central deserts.

Waddiwood is a very hard timber, causing similar damage to axes and saws as our Ironwood – but before we found these special desert plants we came across a tree of a different kind.

Why would people part with their footwear in the middle of nowhere? Who started this custom? Bizarre!

We made it to Birdsville around lunchtime.
Steve had set his mind on 'Big Red', a monstrous red sand dune about 38km west of Birdsville and enquired at the local visitor information centre about a temporary detour to the dune due to flooding
while the rest of us were preparing lunch in the shade of a picnic shelter outside.

After gathering the facts we decided that 'Operation Big Red' would require sufficient time to plan and carry out, postponing the trip until the next day.
Our priority would be to find a suitable camp site first, check out the Diamantina River that had just started flowing again a few days earlier – and to go to the Birdsville Hotel for a drink and a meal.

During the busy time of the year up to 120 people live here in Birdsville. Since October the population has shrunk to about 60.
Only about 10 residents will be celebrating Christmas in town this year, the annual migration of townsfolk to more populated regions was in full swing at the time of our visit.

Even more commendable how much attention to detail the managers of the local caravan park had spent on decorating their office building.
We had set up our camp for the night overlooking Birdsville Billabong, part of the Diamantina River, within walking distance to the pub, naturally.
Returning after dinner we saw Frosty, the snowy Swagman, Christmas lights all over the roof, truly delightful!

The lovely people running the park came out for a chat and with an update on weather conditions and forecast. The Bureau of Meteorology had issued several warnings, forecasting heavy rainfall and flooding around the Simpson and Strzelecki deserts and the Channel Country we were yet to traverse.
If we wanted to see Nappanerica, Big Red, we would have to get up early in order to beat the weather and make for the Dig Tree before the desert country all around us would turn into a giant boggy mess...
The message was clear: Get out of here ASAP!

Just a little while later, I had already gone to bed , the children were sound asleep, Steve received word that Big Red was off the itinerary.
A couple that had arrived in town pretty much the same time as us had decided to head out there before dinner had gone missing, triggering a search and rescue operation.
The local police officer found himself as bogged (again, had only happened the previous day) as the travellers and it took until 11:30PM for everyone to arrive back in town safe and sound.

Oh well, I'm sure Steve will get to play in the sand one day!

Boh boh!
Anja

Pasta a la Burke in Boulia

Wednesday, 14 December 2011

Steve: "So, Miss Ellen, what did you learn about Burke and his expedition so far?"
Ellen: "He died today."

A fair assessment after all, it really sums up the history lesson we were listening to as we were travelling from Mt Isa to Boulia this afternoon.

But from the start: Yesterday afternoon, after stopping in Tennant Creek to stock up on Imodium to fight the tummy bug that had afflicted itself on the members of the exploration party one by one, heading further up to Threeways. Turning onto the Barkly Highway, crossing the NT/QLD border, we took yet another gamble and drove out to Camooweal Caves National Park, about 21km south of Camooweal, as our travel guide suggested we would find a suitable camp site there. We don't ask for much, can go for a few days without powered sites, we have plenty of water on board, potable as well as for showers, plenty of food in the two fridges (one has turned itself into an esky temporarily but will eventually be fixed).

It was still a bit boggy in a few places after the recent heavy rainfall and I made a proper mess of the car and trailer driving through muddy puddles and boggy holes to the designated camping area on the Nowranie Creek.

We had the site to ourselves -- after the cattle had passed on the outer side of the grid. River Red Gums (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) on the banks either side of the creek and the birdlife going off!

The family was still struggling to find their appetite, so it was an early night.

I'm not sure what screeched like a a strangled cat up in the trees above our heads -- but it kept me awake for quite a while... But apparently I did snore last night, so I must have got some sleep eventually.

The dawn chorus of birds was just unbelievable! So many different species I couldn't tell them all apart. The Brolgas trumpeting definitely stood out, they're still my favourites. And it was kind of entertaining to see this family of Woodswallows fend off an Eastern Barn Owl -- in broad daylight by now! I bet the owl really didn't want to be there...

After packing up we went round to the caves. For entering the caves you need a permit and judging by carefully peeking over the edge -- some experience in abseiling and caving wouldn't go astray. Water soluble dolomite rock, sink holes, recent rainfall... I suddenly didn't quite feel that comfortable any more standing on the edge of those deep, dark holes in the ground...

On the outskirts of Camooweal we stopped as Steve had spotted a Thorny Devil sitting in the middle of the road. But it must have toddled off before we could spot it in the shrubbery either side of the highway.

Eventually we rolled into Mt Isa. While mining is an economic factor not to be neglected in this country, let's face, it's a pretty ugly affair, too! We did the washing in Mt Isa, we stocked up and fuelled up -- and then we were on the road again.

Steve had called the Diamantina Shire Council in Bedourie and also the Birdsville Hotel to find out if heading south from Mt Isa was a safe option at all. Rain is expected from Saturday onwards in the Diamantina. While the Council officer's advice was ranging on the cautious side, Gus at the Birdsville Hotel put our  minds at ease. Dig Tree, here we come!

We made it to Boulia tonight. The caravan park is situated in the eastern side of the Burke River.
Nobody in the office when we came in, an honesty box next to the front door.
Boulia. Burke River. Limited amount of firewood and a rather awkward little fire place that doesn't really allow for cooking on the coals. We did what the explorers did, we improvised!

No Nardoo for us tonight though, pasta with a beefy tomato sauce a la Burke, all cooked in the one pot.
Turned out alright...I'm sure it'll keep us going...

More on Nardoo over the coming days!

Boh boh!
Anja

Devils Marbles

Monday, 12 December 2011

How I have missed a proper camp fire in the middle of nowhere!

We left Daly Waters this morning after taking a few photos. But we couldn't hang around, we had kilometres to chew...

As we were travelling south on the Stuart Highway, we watched the vegetation change. Tropical savannah woodlands making space for the Acacia species of the semi-arid zone.

For a while we were listening to Murgatroyd's 'Dig Tree', particularly the part where she describes John McDouall Stuart's exploits, the race of the early explorers and their sponsors to make it to the northern coastline.

Around lunchtime we arrived in the not so bustling centre of the Barkly. We took a little detour before hitting the town of Tennant Creek to go down to Mary Anne Dam -- a beautiful place for lunch, as long as you don't have to use the amenities...

Later on we drove through Tennant Creek and headed south for another 90km approximately on the Stuart Highway. Yep, Devils Marbles camp ground, got flooded here before as well -- but tonight I'm taking a gamble! 

Steve didn't put a tarpauline up over the camper trailer because I said that the rainy depression was to the north of us and we wouldn't get wet tonight.

The camp fire is burning down as I type, there's only a 20% chance of rain according to a local tour guide (who also cleans the toilets in one of my favourite Aussie camp grounds),

a nice breeze is just picking up to blow the mozzies away -- life's pretty good if not for the tummy bug that first hit Flip (when still in Darwin) and then Steve and Ellen...oh dear...

If worse comes to worst the Toms family will have to frequent the clinic in Tennant Creek tomorrow, otherwise we will travel on to our next destination, a free camp site near Camooweal.

Yes, we will be backtracking -- but we really couldn't stay away from Karlu Karlu, the "Devils Marbles".

I love this place, love the camp ground with all these rounded pebbles and rocks made up of conglomerate rock, love the sunsets that set the rocks alight -- and I love these camp fire nights where the stars reach all the way down to the horizon.

I love a proper camp fire in the middle of nowhere!

Boh boh!
Anja

From Darwin to Daly Waters

Sunday, 11 December 2011

We're on the road, finally!
The Toms family plus one left Darwin this morning.
All the boxes and bags and pillows and favourite fluffy animals made it into the truck in the end.
Goodbyes were said and off we drove (neither into the sunrise or sunset, nor into seas due north. Teaching the kids the compass will be one of the big challenges awaiting us on this trip, it seems).

We were just a few kilometres north of Adelaide River when mate Mal rang to let us know about severe storm warnings for Western Queensland and North-western New South Wales.
Well...there go plans 'B' and 'C'...

Anyway, we stopped in Adelaide River, took the compulsory family photo of the munchkins in front of Charlie, the (stuffed) Asian Water buffalo that starred in "Crocodile Dundee" some 25 years ago.

Steve and I have fond memories of this animal... when he was still alive and spent his days in an enclosure next to the service station out the front and tourists could have their photos taken with him.
After he'd been very ill for quite some time eventually they agreed on putting him down. He was sent off to the taxidermist's in Queensland, some 11 years ago -- and when he finally returned months later, he looked a whole lot younger!

Charlie wasn't the main reason for stopping in Adelaide River though. A good mate of ours, Doug T, lives and works at Mt Bundy Station just around the corner and we took the opportunity to wish him a Merry Christmas on the way through.
Should you ever need to research anything related to WWII -- he's your man!

Another couple of hours and we got to Katherine.

Steve dropped the kids and me off at the local shopping centre -- I had packed the condiments already days ago but we needed to stock up on fresh produce here.
While the three of us roamed the aisles of the local supermarket, Steve went round to the service station to fuel up all jerry cans, fill up the water tank, get ice...you're getting the picture.

By the time we met again in the car park outside, the bottle shop had opened and we could complete those stocks as well.

All the shopping out of the way, we were on the road again, on the Stuart Highway, to be precise.

Mataranka was our next stop.
We pulled into the car park at Bitter Springs, grabbed bathers and goggles for the children and walked the 230 down to the springs.

Flip spotted some fish bones on the bottom of the creek and wasn't overly fond of the gunk around the banks and the bottom (as the region probably hasn't seen as much rain yet as Kakadu). But I think we all enjoyed our little break before reaching our final destination for the day: Daly Waters Pub.

We indulged in absolute luxury, checked into one of the new cabins for the night, 2 bedrooms, air-conditioned, nicely furnished -- and most of all dry!

Not once have we stayed here in the past without copping a massive storm, turning the campground into a wetland area, complete with ducks and all!
A few years ago the Toms family, mate Mal and his dog Gondie pulled up at Daly Waters Pub on the return trip from Victria and South Australia.
Our last night on the road before arriving back in Darwin, the boys could heard the spirits calling loud and clear, trapped in Bundaberg bottles and desperate to be freed.
The tents were never put up that night, one of the motel rooms would be just fine -- since it looked like it migt rain over night.
Well, by 05:00 the next morning we had about 10cm of water in the room , the doona that had slipped of our bed sometime during the night was absolutely soaked
and there was quite a bit of commotion in the building as other guests had a experienced a similarly rude awakening.

Tonight we're playing it safe as the ominous dark clouds were rolling in from the east once again, distant lightning and rumbling giving away that we were in for another wet night.
Dinner at the pub was as good as we remembered from previous visits! "Chook is choice" but "beef is better" and "meat is magnificent", quoting the menu we could not disagree with the chef -- but half the food on the table would have sufficed for the lot of us!
The leftovers went into takeaway containers, lunch for day 2 is sorted!
I shouldn't have left the camera in the room, the spread on our little table out the front of the pub would have been worth documenting.

Boh boh!
Anja

The Key to a Successful Expedition...

...is to have a 'Plan B'.

Steve left for Darwin yesterday afternoon after days of lawn mowing, de-cluttering the front yard (how necessary that was became apparent last week when he nearly trod on a Western Brown snake that must have felt very safe and comfy under all the clutter), trips to the tip, putting tourist vehicles in various states of repair back together, packing boxes, folding up the camper trailer tent, and swearing and carrying on about the heat, the humidity and the flies.

He possibly could have put in another few hours (that's the German in me talking) but he had to bolt as he needed to attend a meeting of the Kakadu Tourism Consultative Committee today.

Anyway, the place looks half-decent (as good as it gets, really) and our house sitter won't need to be afraid of any unforeseen wildlife-encounters.

I've got a few loose ends to tie up myself over the next couple of days, before Flip and I have to wave goodbye to Josie, our four-legged family member (who looooves getting chauffeured around but unfortunately can't come on this trip) on Friday and meet up with Steve and his sister's family in Darwin.

Did I mention that Elle, our niece, is coming for the ride?

Well, I can already tick off the end of year interview with Flip's teacher, I've been given his portfolio and 'student progress report'. No surprises there...
The plate of food for the class Christmas party tomorrow is in the fridge -- but there's still washing in the machine that I couldn't hang up during this afternoon's rather violent build-up storm.

Namarrgon, the Lightning Man, has been throwing his stone axes around, making himself heard loud and clear!

Kakadu is not the only place receiving rain in recent days (87mm in approx. 2 hours the other day). We've been studying the Bureau of Meteorology's (BOM) website quite extensively, especially the weather radars and also the North Australian Fire Information's website (NAFI), to keep an eye on bushfire activity.

What shall I say, we haven't embarked on our epic journey yet and we've hit the first snag already!

The plan was to travel south on the Stuart Highway, take a day off in the Alice, show the children around, stock up on supplies and then head north again, only for a few kilometres to turn right onto the Plenty Highway to Boulia, then south to Birdsville, possibly making it down to the Cooper Creek and Burke and Wills' "Dig Tree" before heading over to the East Coast to arrive at Steve's parents' place in time for Christmas.

However, when Steve made some enquiries and called Jervois Station (about 350km from Alice Springs), he was told that the Plenty Hwy is currently closed between the NT/QLD border and Boulia.

Well, doesn't that throw a spanner in the works! We were looking forward to the Plenty Hwy, any road closures we were expecting a bit further down the track...
At the moment it looks like 'Plan A' might not work, but hey, we still have another 25 letters of the alphabet to fall back on!

So, we'll still be leaving Darwin on Sunday morning -- and we're still planning to make it to Daly Waters Pub as our first overnight stop. That's sort of a family tradition, we love that place!

Note to self: Remember to pack sense of humour, it's of the utmost importance!

We're also still in favour of spending night 2 at Devils Marbles...

...and from there we'll have to play it by ear, call the Bedourie Visitor Information Centre when we get to Tennant Creek to find out about road conditions in the Diamantina.

I'll keep you posted!

Boh boh!
Anja

Another Epic Journey

That's it, another season of day tours in Kakadu National Park done and dusted, time to pack up, check out, hit the road and do some travelling ourselves...

The Toms family is preparing for another epic road trip:
Down the track, a turn to the left...and then...depends...

I have only just set up this blog so family and friends can follow our trials and tribulations.

Part of the journey we will definitely dedicate to Burke and Wills. Sarah Murgatroyd's "The Dig Tree" is already downloaded as audiobook. Listening to a soothing female voice recounting the rather ill-fated exploits of these early explorers suits me just fine...and I hope it will keep the children interested along the way, too.
 ____


So, das war's! Eine weitere Saison im Kakadu Nationalpark abgehakt, Zeit zusammenzupacken, auszuchecken, sich auf den Weg zu machen...

Die Toms Familie bereitet sich auf ein weiteres Camping-Abenteuer im Australischen Outback vor:
 
Erstmal die Straße runter, dann links...und dann...mal schauen...  

Diesen Blog habe ich gerade erst eingerichtet, damit Familie und Freunde unseren Irrungen und Wirrungen folgen können.

Einen Teil der Reise werden wir auf jeden Fall Burke und Wills widmen. Sarah Murgatroyds "The Dig Tree" ist bereits als Hörbuch heruntergeladen. Passt ganz gut, wo mir meine neue Brille mit Gleitsichtgläsern noch zu schaffen macht, dass uns diese freundliche Frauenstimme von der vom Unglück verfolgten Expedition dieser frühen Entdecker berichten wird. Ich hoffe, es wird die Kindern auf der langen Fahrt ein wenig bei Laune halten.


Boh boh!
Anja