Douglas Daly

Today we managed to get a little way down the road towards Katherine before we stopped for the night.  It doesn’t look very far on the map, but we had a few detours and tourist stops and so it took us all day.

First of all we packed up the van.  Joseph videoed us all so he was very motivated and that helped all the little boys along.  When everyone gets involved it really doesn’t take us long – even with all the boxes of food and schoolbooks that we put outside every time we stop for the night.  They were sitting on the two couches that are now beds for Oskar and Cooper, but with the bed reshuffle, they all have to go outside.

We also found the cupboard at one end of the caravan that I was storing a lot of food in, wasn’t really coping with the weight, so all the cans and heavy items are in a plastic box outside.

I’m not a real neat housekeeper, and in a van that’s a bit of a problem.  My sister, who is camping right now in Hervey Bay, is very organized and has lots of systems in place for keeping everything ship shape.  My systems all seem to work for a bit, but things just get messy when I turn my back.  However, the baskets and boxes system at the moment is a basket for togs and towels, a basket for dirty washing, the food boxes, and a few mango boxes full of shoes.  The other things we put out each time are four folding chairs, a table with four chairs attached, and the ground mat.  The ground mat is such a great thing.  It doubles the size of our living area, because it gives us clean floor before we walk into the van.  I’ve never had one before, and I don’t think I would go camping without it ever again. 

After packing up the van we went for a short 1.2km walk around the Wangi Falls.  The walk passed through nice rainforest, then stairs up to a tree top viewing platform, then more stairs to the top of the falls and across the little creek that feeds it, then down a whole pile of stairs to the bottom.  It was very nice and the children did it very well.

Oskar, Dom, Katie and Jo in front of rocks at the Lost City, in Litchfield National Park

We jumped into the car and headed back towards Batchelor, taking detours to the Lost City (a pile of sandstone rocks in all sorts of shapes that you reach via a 15km 4WD track.  Grant loves speeding along those dirt roads!) and the Magnetic Termite mounds (tall, flat termite mounds built oriented North South, so that one side will catch the full morning sun and keep the mound warm).  Both were interesting detours but certainly gobbled up our day.

Grant in front of Magnetic termite mounds - they look like a pile of Gravestones

In front of a giant Cathedral termite mound

We kept heading down the Stuart Highway a bit and then turned off to the Douglas Daly River area, which was recommended to us by our friend Maryanne. After driving up and down the river, we settled on a grassy, shady spot under some trees beside the river.  It is a nice change from camping on rocks and dirt.

Our campsite at Douglas Daly

Cooper hunting out a good camp site for us

We are beside a little river with murky green water, who’s banks are crowded with pandanus.  It just screams crocodile home!  I must be incredibly paranoid.  I stay way back from the edge! There was a rope swing tied up to one of the trees above the water hole.  Grant said the crocodiles put it there to entice unsuspecting swimmers!

Nadine found a whole tree covered in cicada skins.  There were wallabies everywhere, as well as very large cane toads after dark. 

Joseph has been our chief washer-upper this week, and I usually load everything into the washing up bucket and send him off to the amenities block, where there is often a washing up sink and light provided.  He will start to get himself sorted out there, and decide he needs to use the other facilities for a bit of a sit first.  Well, tonight, he headed into the toilet block as usual, and in the toilet bowl was a large, green, frog.  He flushed the toilet, and the frog swam down below the s-bend.  Joseph decided that sitting on that toilet for any length of time was too risky, so he went into the other toilet, only to find two, large cane toads sitting on the ground staring at him!  What to do?  Well, of the two he decided he could defend himself best against two toads he could see – only to be attacked a little later by a mosquito, you know where!  Joseph, the ultimate bush camper.

Vicki