4 Stray Katz: July 2015

16 Jul 2015

Hanging out at Woolies

On Monday we left the lovely Manning Gorge (we were torn, we loved the placed but didn't like camping on top of other people - it was too busy for us after our bush camping). We were slowly making our way back to Derby to restock and thought we could find a secluded camp about halfway back. After investigating a few spots, and turning them back as we thought we could find better, we ended up only 100kms from Derby with no camp spot, we'd definitely been too picky. Plans changed and we decided to just get to Derby earlier, restock and get back to the middle part of the Gibb river road where there was more camping and a lot more water.

For me Derby consisted of:

- 3 x 2 hour stints at Woolies for groceries. 3 exploding trolley loads and $1500 later we have food again.

- A pulled muscle in my foot from attempting to wheel and steer a trolley full of cans down the car park ramp.

- countless hours getting frustrated with the incredibly slow internet.

- indulging in ice cream and wine.

For Daniel Derby consisted of:

- Filling up gas bottles and general car maintenance.

- Fighting old ladies in the laundry to get 4 loads of washing done (someone cheekily moved his bag of laundry out of the queue - he was not happy)

- Checking out the local bakery.

- taking the kids on numerous bike rides & walks.

-Making friends with the local butcher who cryovaced and froze all our meat for us.

We did manage some fun though- we watched the sunset over the jetty, went to the local pool (where we saw an owl), ate lots of yummy food (we even went out for dinner) and followed the white peacock around the caravan park.
It has taken us 3 full days to prepare for the next 5 or so weeks in the rugged Kimberley and we can't wait to leave tomorrow morning (after one more early morning trip to Woolies for bread!).

Helping 'Batman' fly

Sunset over the Derby jetty

Owl at the local pool.

The caravan park pet.

'This is too beautiful Mum, I never want to leave' Emilia about Manning Falls

After finally getting Emilia to swim behind the waterfall at Manning Falls she sat on a rock gobsmacked at the beauty and power of the water cascading in front of us. We were so pleased both kids had this experience as it was amazing. It took us an hour and a half hike (interspersed with some piggybacks) in the hot sun to get to the gorge and falls but it was so worth it. A huge pool to swim and the incredible waterfall. We climbed to the top of the waterfall, swam in the sandy 'beach' sections, warmed ourselves on the hot rocks and Daniel impressed everyone with his jumps from high up on the rocks. We had a marvellous day. Both kids were exhausted by the time we left. Daniel carried a sleeping Jackson the whole way back and his arm muscles are only just recovering. Our other few days camped at the Manning Gorge campground consisted of floating down the river on our lilo, exploring the rocks for indigenous art, swimming back and forth to the rock island and generally relaxing.

Pulling the rickety boat over to get us to the other side.

The boat to take you to the beginning of the hike to the falls.

Hiking to the falls.

The spectacular Manning Falls.

Dangerous, Daredevil Daddy.

Exhausted after so much swimming.

Dusk photography, Emilia is really getting into it and has taken some great shots.

The water was so still it created incredible reflections.

Final swim on our last morning.

Stealth Camping Episode 2 : BUSTED!

Our next campsite, on the Manning River, was just perfect. We camped on the sandy bank a few metres from the river, where we even had our own little waterfall. We spent the days building elaborate sand castles, damming the river with rocks to watch the flow change, digging moats, swimming & playing in the water and walking along the sandy banks. Late in the afternoon we would light a fire to cook and spend the evening by the fire stargazing. We could not believe our luck at finding a spot like this! We began our mornings with a swim is the icy water then we would sit around the campfire drinking coffee (hot chocolate for the kids). Emilia and Jackson got into the early morning swims, especially when we did it naked- they found it hilarious when Daniel and I nuded up! We spent 6 blissful nights here and planned to stay at least another 5 but our luck ran out. The spot is apparently the local swimming hole and one day a car arrived. After getting out and walking around they left, I was panicked but Daniel was ever hopeful. About an hour later we heard another car coming up the track and I hightailed it up the river with Emilia (I am no good at confrontation and already felt guilty that we shouldn't have been camping there). Before I got our or earshot I heard a guy pull up and say to Daniel 'this is private property mate, you can't camp here'. Daniel ended up having a good chat to him, he was the manager of the campground at Manning River. He agreed that it was an awesome place to camp but that we had to leave in the morning. He even offered to help get us out if we got stuck in the sand. We had to move to the actual campground just a few kilometres up, but he gave us a discount too so all good. We were all disappointed but glad we got nearly a week here.

A highlight for the kids here was 'toilet making'. After our first disaster hole (Daniel spent ages digging a deep hole in the soft sand but whilst using it the edges collapsed and I slipped in the hole, thankfully the sand that caved in covered my business so I didn't end up with pooey feet) we spent ages trying to perfect the perfect bush loo. I did the first one and found a Y shaped stick to use as a toilet roll holder and a large stick as a balance rod! I even reinforced the edges so there was no chance of me slipping in again. Well Daniel had to better me with the next one and he used 3 sticks to make a working toilet roll holder! For a few days later the kids imaginative play consisted of toilet building!

The mornings were very cold. I was so jealous of the kids uggs.

Early morning nudies!

What a spot!!!

Helping pack up. He wants to do everything Daniel does!

Quite a challenging site to get out of.

Nearly there. Daniel did a great job getting the van out and didn't even need to use the winch.

15 Jul 2015

Stealth Camping Episode 1: Secret Gorge

Upon leaving Silent Grove and the hordes of other travellers we vowed to find a secluded free camp where we could toilet train and deal with tantrums without an audience. Every track we checked out was either gated with signs saying 'No trespassing' or led to nowhere. We had nearly reached the next gorge and were coming up with alternate plans when Daniel spotted a track near a river crossing. We hastily u- turned and headed down, full of anticipation. We persisted past a very rough part of the track and were rewarded with several shady camp areas next to the river to choose from. We ended up with a great area near a flowing part of the river, complete with 2 large boab trees. We spent 6 great nights here enjoying the solitude. We had campfires, waded in the river, the kids enjoyed the river mud and they could ride their bikes on the less sandy parts of the track. Jackson got completely toilet trained and impressed us with his ability to use a bush loo (a hole). The river ended just near us and the rocky river bed was calling for exploration. Daniel did a preliminary look and found a huge gorge. According to our map it is a private gorge and the entrance was on the other side but we hiked to the top of it and again marvelled at the beauty and expanse of the gorges in the Kimberly. It was too hard to get the kids down for a swim and Daniel had seen a large freshwater croc there so we were put off swimming. It was a great find though and the kids did well scrambling over the rocks to get there (and Daniel did well carrying them both through the prickly grasses when needed)! From this spot we did 2 days trips, to Manning Gorge and the Mt Barnett Roadhouse (ice-cream tastes extra good when you haven't had it for a while) and to Galvans Gorge. Just up from the roadhouse we found a track that led us to the white sandy banks of the Manning River, a secluded spot for stealth camping number 2.

Our last piece of fruit.

The kids loved naming the boab trees - this is Mummy Boab.

This is Daddy Boab

Adcock Gorge

Morning tea overlooking the gorge.

Saving the kids from the spiky grasses.

Rock art with charcoal paint.

The rocks provided so many great hiding places.

Bush style bath - check out the colour of the water!!

Our picturesque camp spot.

The Boab Family

Some of the beautiful wildflowers in the Kimberley.

Galvans Gorge - the water coming off the rocks was warm, so lovely after the very cool pool.

There were heaps of tiny frogs hiding in the pandanus.

14 Jul 2015

Reality TV

After several weeks of staying in caravan parks and busy campgrounds I was beginning to feel like I was a star in a bad reality TV show ‘Toilet Training Tantruming Toddlers’. The toilet training of Jackson was taking a lot longer than I’d expected as we didn’t always have the facilities available and often had to put him back in nappies. The accidents also seemed so much worse when you had an audience of other campers. I found it quite mortifying to walk past a whole group of other campers holding a potty full of poo with Jackson running behind me screaming as he wanted to carry his own poo!

However the worst one was when Jackson was playing and he yelled ‘POO’ so I ran to get him whilst Daniel got the potty. I started pulling his shorts off but it was too late and I ended up with poo all over my hand. We were in a campground with no running hot water so it was horrendous to try to get off. Several groups of campers witnessed my ordeal and if they didn’t see, they certainly heard as Jackson screamed that he had more and wanted to sit on the potty even though he had it all over him. After washing myself and Jackson in a cold shower I hid in the caravan! Thankfully we left that day and found a secluded bush camp, I couldn’t face those other campers again.

Several days in the bush and toilet training was complete. Jackson decided it was rather exciting to use the shovel and dig a hole to go the toilet in so the accidents ceased. Jackson was also very proud of himself and encouraged an audience, Emilia was happy to oblige and found a rock to sit on to watch the show!!

Bell Gorge(ous)

From Windjana Gorge we headed 100kms further onto the Gibb River Rd to the King Leopold Ranges. The campground at Silent Grove was beautiful and we had our pick of the sites as we had managed to arrive early. We chose a large shady area complete with 2 boab trees and a fire pit and enough room for us and our friends. There was a lovely creek walk adjacent to the campground (however no swimming was allowed as it was the drinking water for the campsite) but we found a great spot to cool off at the river crossing about 1km from the campsite. Everyone would ride down (except me who doesn’t have a bike) to cool off and wave to the passing cars, a few were quite shocked to see 2 bikini clad women and 3 naked children as they crossed the river. You couldn’t see us until you were driving through as the river was shaded by heaps of pandanus palms. The kids had a blast bike riding around the dirt roads of the campsite and spent several fun mornings sailing leaf boats down the small waterfall. From the campground it was a short drive to the impressive Bell Gorge, where cascading pools flow down to a large waterfall and a huge swimming hole. It was a rock hopping walk down to the large swimming hole but the kids did it with ease (in fact they were more confident on the rocks than me). The water was icy but so refreshing after the dusty walk in and we used the rocks to warm us up afterwards. It was busy the first time we came so we went back a few days later early in the morning and had the pool to ourselves. We sailed the kids to the waterfall in a blow up boat (which was quite a mission as the water was so powerful and kept pushing us back).
The kids had a great time playing together and their imaginary play was hilarious to listen to. One morning they decided it was time to get married and got themselves made up (Jackson included) so Jackson could marry Emilia, with Alexandra the bridesmaid. Emilia already had a baby so that came to the wedding too. The girls talked a lot about weddings and who they would marry, Emilia decided she could marry Daddy but Alexandra didn’t want to marry her dad as she was worried he would be too old! Poor Martin.

Our friends left after 4 days to continue their Gibb trip but we stayed a few extra days enjoying the campfires and warm showers. After 6 days we were ready to camp off the beaten track and left to find a secluded spot.