Ahh... The CITY!

Perth would have to be Australia’s most liveable capital city.  Small, clean and majestic with all the state capital trade marks - a cluster of iconic tower blocks, historic buildings, state museums, art galleries, and botanical gardens.   We had a chance to drive through the city at night and see the romance of the lights (not something you often get to do with three little twinkle stars in tow).  Definitely a place I will look forward to coming back to one day.   

We had sent John’s CD ahead to the radio station about a month earlier, and they happened to start playing it on air the very day we arrived!  Surely a sign that we are on the right path.  While in town John went to the station to prerecord an interview which will air in the next week or so.  He had a great time talking about the album and about being a song writer – living his dream.   

With the rain greeting us in Perth we spent the first few days in the library, museums, Scitech, and art gallery and DFO.  (Not sure that DFO actually fits the cultural category but still fun).   The highlight was the Perth Contemporary Art Centre where we all became part of an art work, dressing up in zebra pattern costumes of different colours, inside a giant blown up jumping cave, also decked out in zebra.   

The Perth Zoo was great value, and a fabulous experience for our little family – Elephants, crazy Orangatans, Tigers, Lions, Zebra’s, Rhino’s, Reptiles and all the Aussie favourites too. The rain managed to hold out for most of the day.

Finally with sunshine we hit the botanical gardens, with large parks for the kids to play and run.  Our brave Joshua injured his foot while attempting to go down a very tall firemans pole.  Poor little guy didn’t walk for three days, and limped for the rest of the week.  Amy was not happy to be sharing her stroller.

The highlight of our time in Perth was two days spent in Fremantle.   Tall ships lined the port, and yachts moored on the river.  The town was buzzing with art, music, markets and historic buildings.  It had a feel that reminded me of many European cities merged with Aussie coastal beauty.  John made some cash playing at the market bar there, so we enjoyed lived it up for a few days - a coffee on Cappuccino strip, Malaysian for lunch at the Shanghai Inn, where Sam learn to use chop sticks, fish and chips for dinner at Cicerello’s on the wharf.   I enjoyed a cooking class at the markets – some Kid free time. 

John visitied the Maritime Museum to see the plaque that Dirk Hartog left on Hartog island in 1616, along with shipwrecks from the Batavia and other amazing historic stories.  Tales of heroic survival beside  stories of great human suffering.  In the 1600’s Dutch explorers would come and chart the area looking for ships that had been lost in search of the spices found in South East Asia.   It is amazing actually that the west coast don’t speak Dutch, but the reports the early captains brought back were unfavourable – they always landed out of season and never really encountered WA’s resources or beauty. 

Eventually we had to leave the urban thrill of city life (or we would go broke!)   So we head inland and the take scenic wheatbelt drive on the way to Esperance.  It took us past Wave Rock, which looks like a giant wave about to crash into the surrounding bush.  The shape of the rock was carved out by water thousands of years ago.  It stands 15 meters high and stretches 100 meters wide.

Esperence is named after the French who were shipwrecked there in 1972.  The coastline is stunning.   We camped out of town at Cape Le Grand National Park and enjoyed a view of wild coastal scenery, rugged rocky peaks and crystal blue water.   The sand on the beach was so fine and white it was like salt when it was dry.  It also held it’s shape well.  The kids thought it was like snow, and we shaped it into balls and had sand ball fights and made a sand snowman. 

A side note for fellow travellers when the camp site sign says solar showers, don’t expect them to be even remotely warm in the middle of winter.

Time to leave Western Australia (goodbye 'DOME' coffee).  We are now at last heading east and our lap of the map is coming full circle.  Next stop, the Nullabor and South Australia.   

From bare feet to gumboots

Our chase of the infinite summer has come to an end, with the cold weather setting in, but we managed to catch a few last sunshine adventures….

Having missed the Great Barrier Reef because it was a bit costly to put us all on a boat to sail out to the reef islands, and we didn’t think the kids were up for it, we were excited to find ‘Ningaloo Reef’ on the opposite side of the country in WA.   This time the coral and marine life start just metres off the mainland.   It cost us only a few dollars for access to the national park to enjoy a day of snorkelling in safe tropical waters.  Once I became confident with the goggle and snorkel, it felt like I was floating across the reef.  The coral looked like giant cauliflower, or strange under water flower bouquets.  The fish were electric with colour and mesmerising to watch scurry around the reef.  

Heading further south to Coral Bay we took the boys Kayaking over the reef.   Late in the afternoon you could also hand feed fish in knee deep water.   They seemed enormous with shimmering blue scales.  One of them bit my hand while I was feeding him, later I found out they are called 'snapper' - and i totally understand why - his teeth left puncture marks and drew blood.   

I expected the WA coastline to be magnificent, and it is.  With the weather a little inclement it really creates a dramatic atmosphere.   The most amazing blow holes I have ever seen are just north of Carnarvon at Quobba.  This part of the coast has king waves and is famous to surfers around the world.   Too rough for us to enjoy a swim, although Josh went in – fully clothed, and was quickly dumped by a wave.  We camped here on the beach a few nights with a lighthouse on the headland and enjoyed a roaring campfire.  Seeing the lighthouse on at night left a big impression on Amy, who now talks about lighthouses often in her daily chatter. 

Shark Bay is world heritage listed and home to the famous dolphin bay of Monkey Mia.   We camped on the beach again, and went to Monkey Mia during the day to watch the dolphins play.  It was fabulous for the kids to see the dolphins in their own environment and get up so close.  John and Sam had the chance to hand feed them.  The feeding program is carefully controlled, only feeding the female dolphins – they are continually breastfeeding or pregnant so I can totally understand why they can do with the extra food.  They give them just a small portion of their daily nutrition requirement, so they continue to hunt for themselves, and teach their calves to hunt.   They breastfeed every 20 minutes!  Exhausting thought for anyone who has had a baby.

John has had his heart set on seeing ‘Natures Window’ in Kalbarri.   He had seen a picture in a magazine of a small family there, who were travelling OZ.  This photo had inspired the idea that it was time for us to go on the same adventure.  So of course we had our photo taken there too.

Geraldton signalled a return to civilisation –Bunnings and a real Target (not the country target kind).   We also enjoyed a catch up with a long time friend Alicia Conner and met her new husband. They are shortly moving to the remote town of Derby at the tip of WA.  We wish them the best on the next league of their life adventure. 

The Pinnacles are a massive collection of limestone rocks peeking though desert sand, it was like another world.  You are free to walk amongst them, and we decided with the three little kids the best way to enjoy the moment was a game of hide and seek.  A great memory.

It has been such a diverse two weeks - we have seen shipwrecks, wild emus, a skink, a thorny devil, shell crabs, star fish, coral reefs, blowholes, dolphins and amazing wildflowers.  Now sweaty days have turned cold and wet, arid ranges have turned into green rolling hills, bare feet have been replaced by gumboots, and picnics in the sun have been replaced with hot lunches in the caravan. 

Finally arrived in Perth now.  So ready to hit a city again!  They are already playing Johns music here on the radio, he has a radio interview scheduled for Friday, and is playing later that night.  Good things ahead.

 

Campfires in the Kimberleys

Finally in Western Australia.  I have always wanted to see the other side of our enormous country and watch the sunset over the ocean.   The state is huge!  We have already needed to use our spare fuel, just driving on the main route’s.   Thinking we were very experienced now – before heading down a dirt road John wisely gaff taped the vents outside the van to keep the red dust out – but three kilometres down the road we realised we had left a window open.  Lesson learnt.

Crossing the boarded to WA our caravan was searched by quarantine, we handed over a few pieces of left over fruit and a jar of honey, which left poor Sam in tears.  Hard concept for a little by to understand.  We did try to eat as much honey as we could in the days leading up to the boarder, but I was running out of ideas of things to put honey on.  

Western Australia greeted us with giant red rock ranges of the Kimberley’s sprinkled with boab trees.  It looks like the earth has opened up and pushed it's crust through cracks in the mountains to make long rocky shelves along it’s walls.

Our first stop after the boarder were Lake Argyle a stunning gorge lake.  They wanted to charge us over $50 for an unpowered campsite there, so we just had a quick picnic lunch, and left for Kunnunurra.  Weeks later we were at a free campspot and I heard Joshua say to some new arrivals 'this place is too expensive, you'll just have to have your lunch and then go'.  Budget travel has left an impression on him. 

Somewhere between on the road between Lake Argyle and Kunnunurra we lost Amy’s ‘Lambie’ – her precious little stuffed toy.  But thankfully after a sleepless night we found her the next morning at the local tourist information centre.

Lake Kunnunurra

From there we had intended on making a straight run for Broome but found a beautiful spot outside the Bungle Bungles to stop and camp for a while, with a lovely flowing stream for the kids to play in, and campfires every night.  I had been coping really well with pit toilets until one night my torch spotted a dozen large cockroaches crawling around inside the bowl.  From now on all my night time toilet trips will be done in our caravan toilet.

After a 900km outback drive west, we arrived at Broome and enjoyed our morning coffee on Cable Beach.  Voted number one beach in the world it has a long stretch of white sand and crystal clear water.  We returned to the beach that day to watch the sunset, and again the next morning for breakfast.  We also went searching for dinosaur footprints on the rocks which can be seen at very low tide. 

Cable Beach

Broome is where the dessert meets the sea.  It is stunning to see red outback dust turn into clean white sand.   As an old Pearling town and a casualty of bombing in WW2 Broome has a great history.  It has maintained a very multicultural feel from it’s pearling days with a great mix of people, and a retro little china town.  This is very unique for such a small country town.  John took the kids to look at the pearling boats while I window shopped in the jewellery store and enjoyed being dazzled by the pearl displays.  (John picked up a great little pearl treasure which he has tucked away for my birthday).

From the Kimberelys you enter  the Pilbara region which is rich in natural resouces and houses the mining towns of Port Headland, Karatha, and Tom Price.  The area has it's own beauty with red rock ranges, salt pools, mine plants, mud flats, red dirt, and white salt mountains.  We had commented to ourselves that the red rocks seemed like we were on Mars, and read a few days later in the paper that NASA was using the area to do some testing.  At night the plants are covered in lights, and appear beautiful in the distance.

We were looking forward to Karratha to catch up with the precious Sarah and Ben Morris and there two gorgeous munchkin boys.  It was a much needed half way stop for us, so we enjoyed the luxury of a home and great friendship.  Wonderful for the kids to all play together.  A big big thank you Sarah – at 31 weeks pregnant you were the most gracious host – thank you Fin and Fletch for sharing your toys, and Ben for washing our car and taking my hubby for a fish.

We had some great memories together, Dolphins in Dampier cove, Cossack Carnival, great Chinese takeaway, and watching the Staircase to the moon.  

Before leaving home we had read about the ‘Stair case to the moon’ – a rare phenomenon seen only in a few locations on the west coast at a certain time of the year.  The full moon rises over the ocean.  It was an amazing thing to see and so good to share the experience with Sarah and Ben.   We sat on the beach looking into the black night sky, then suddenly a bright orange moon peers into the horizon and rises over the water, leaving a silver trail on the sea.  The moon gradually changes in colour to yellow then white as it moves higher into the night sky.

Moon rising over the ocean

Hanging out with our friends in their lovely house, really gave me a taste for going home again.  First time I have really been looking forward to home since we left.  We are a few weeks ahead of schedule, so home is really not that far away.

Where the desert meets the sea

Endless Summer

At home in Newcastle it is mid winter, with so much rain that our bathroom ceiling is caving in!  Hard to imagine here as we sweat through 30 degrees, swimming in beautiful waterfalls, kyacking through gorges, and soaking up the culture and beauty of the Northern Territory.   John had planned the trip so that we left home before winter set in, to chase summer as we travelled North.   

Also spent a week in Darwin, a modern city with a deep history.  It has suffered the greatest of tragedies.  The first locaI I spoke – (for those that have been following our story, he was the technician fixing our caravan fridge) had said he and his family fled Darwin after Cyclone Tracey when he was a young boy, and he didn’t return until he was in his thirties. (The government order the evacuation of about 40,000 people from the city after the cyclone – I can’t fathom what that would have been like).  Since then the city has been gradually rebuilt.    A tough task as only thirty years earlier they were rebuilding after the world war 2 bombing of Darwin.  This creates incredible contrasts with most buildings built in the last thirty years, shadowed by a few monumental ruins from both the bombing and the cyclone. 

I hadn’t realised how strong the war history is in Darwin, particularly the trail up on the Stuart Highway
from Adelaide River.  It still has a strong military presence with an army base.   We took a walk through the oil tunnels built to store oil in 1942.  They were wet and we walked in puddles.  Joshua told other passing tourists ‘This is where they made water’ – somehow I think he’s a bit confused after all the educational exhibits we’ve dragged them through.

The greatest highlight of Darwin was catching up with our travelling Newcastle friends we’d met in Atherton.  The kids were thrilled to catch up, and the adults enjoyed a meal of fresh mud crab (great cooking Tony).    The Mindel Markets held at sunset by the beach are a cultural sensation.  Stalls of crafts and international cuisine, with a hundred people all on the beach to watch a perfect orange ball slowly fall and disappear over the horizon, lighting up the sky.   I had taken Amy for a walk around the markets, she found something pink and decided it was hers.  It took me a long time to find the stall it came from to return it.

Darwin’s waterprecinct beachfront was fun for the kids, with a crocodile free netted beach area, and a wave pool.  It reminded me of Newcastle’s honeysuckle with café’s restaurants and accommodation overlooking wharf and beach.  We also enjoyed the war monuments, botanical gardens, art gallery and museum.  So nice to be in a city again.

 Finally ready to leave Darwin we drive off to the sound of a V8 engine revving, and discovered it was us – that sound doesn’t normally come out of a Ford Territory.  It was the same problem we had had with our exhaust back in Tamworth.  We tried every exhaust place in Darwin, but they couldn’t fit us in.  With one last try before heading back to the caravan park John stopped into a tyre centre that looked quiet.  They were fabulous, put the car on the hoist, tightened our loose exhaust screws and sent us on our way for free!  Thanks Darwin we had a great stay.

There is a strong mix of aboriginal people in NT, it is still there home.  The cultural displacement is strongly evident.  They are beautiful, but there is a minority who spoil their reputation and create trouble in the community.   You can tell alcohol is a real problem, even older women - grandmothes - drunk in the streets through the day.   Young men drinking, shouting, wandering and loitering.  There is a lot of iddleness.  It is all product of the western society breaking down and in some cases destroying generations of cultural structure.  A long time ago we also moved in herds of or cattle to destroy the eco system they really on.  When you head into Kakadu, on the border of Arnhem Land, and you see the pride of the people start to emerge, the incredible rock art and stories help you appreciate the deep heritage cultivated over many thousands of years. I don’t know the answers, but I greatful to see all this with my own eyes and grow in understanding - with much more to learn.

At one of the Information centres there is a library and we take the chance to read the boys stories about the aboriginal narratives.  Joshua is taken by the rainbow snake, and spends the next few weeks talking about it, and we chase rainbow snake tracks on our walks.

The kids did some amazing bush walks.  We were told that the sunset at Ubir lookout was not to be missed.  Although sunset is 6.30, the kids bedtime, but we decide to push through on the walk.  The kids were bounding with energy on the climb up, but it was so late, they were really set for a big display of tired tantrums by the time we were headed back.  Sometimes three little kids on the road is a bit of circus, and we don’t know whether to laugh or have a break down.   I am taking photo’s of a magnificent sunset vista across the wetlands, while John is chasing after Josh who has run off to the cliff, Amy is crying for sheer tired, and Sam is having a melt down over not wanting his picture taken. 

 

Our last day in NT was 2^nd of July, and we take a walk to see a boab tree with a date carved in it by explorer Augustus Charles Gregory after he was shipwrecked there in 1855.  To our suprise the date on the tree also happened to be 2^nd of July only about 160 years earlier.  We are in the middle of our trip now, and we feel like we are in the centre of Gods will.

Now we are heading across to WA.  I am very excited, but also a little nervous.  I have been told the spaces are vast, and you have no idea until you experience it.  Meeting other famlies travelling on the road with their kids they have decided not to go across.   Still we head on excited about the adventure.

Streams in the Desert

I imagined the Northern Territory quite barren, but right through the centre is a large strip of underground limestone, and during the wet season the limestone is pourus, soaks up all the water, warms it, then releases into streams.  This has created magnificent springs of warm water dotted through the territory.   For the last week we have been staying at Mataranka Springs (home of the book 'We of the never never) - originally an overnight destination for us, but as always there is a story that has seen us stranded yet again in beauty and provision.

We planned to cross the border to NT early in the morning, with the kids in PJ's all strapped in to set off, but the car didn't start.  Thankfully it was only the battery - we hadn't switched the fridge to GAS and it drained our van battery, followed by the car battery.  Lesson learned!  We were quickly jump started by a kind stranger and in no time at all we were on our way.


It was going to be a big driving day, so for the first time since leaving home, John handed me the wheel of the car to share the driving.  Sam was a bit worried about this and asked 'mum, are you sure you have driven before'.    Photo below proves that yes I did drive, but not at the 130kph limit, I stuck to a steady 80.

We drive into Tennant Creek desperate for groceries.  After seeing the asking price of up to $9 for Tim Tams at the few and far between little grocery stores, we were eating the last rations of the cupboard with no treats.  The most we splurged on was a bottle of the cheapest wine we could find - $15, and we made it last. 

Driving through the town of Tennant Creek it was afternoon and the street was sprinkled with gorgeous little aboriginal children coming home from school.  They were just so dark and delicious I wanted to put one of them in the van and take them home with me.  Somehow I am sure that is not the done thing.   I had been warned that there was a rough side to the town, but the people in the supermarket were as friendly as they come. 

We decided to stay at a caravan park here the night because our battery was still flat in the van and needed to be plugged into a powered site for charging.  

We sat outside after the kids were tucked into bed to enjoy the amazing canopy of stars in the outback (you can see the deep swirl of the milky way so clearly).  We were serenaded by the sound of drunken fighting in the street and soon went inside.

It is also here that we discover our gas ignition switch on our caravan fridge, which had caused a minor problem earlier in the day had actually broken.  The means it need to be plugged into electricity. Now so glad for the flat battery on the car and van in the morning which had forced us into a powered site that night.  We would have been in a spot of bother if we were bush camping with no gas power for my fridge full of fresh groceries. 

There was no one in Tennant Creek to fix our fridge, the only repairer was in Darwin, so we decided to head quickly there.   Because we still needed electricity to run our fridge we stop at Mataranka Homestead for a powered site on the way.  .... plus hot showers, flushing toilets and running water -  luxury.

We find it hard to figure out what day it is, let alone what time of year - and the campers next door advise us that it is coming into the long weekend and Darwin is booked out.  So we need to stay "plugged" in at Mataranka or another 5 days before heading in.  

But as God's grace prevails once again we discover we have stayed at one of the hottest places for live music in Central NT, and they have two vacancies for a muso while we are there.  The money earnt pays for all the powered accomodation we need while we wait for our fridge to be fixed, and enough spare cash to relax and enjoy Darwin.   We have experienced a new meaning to 'springs in the desert' (Isaiah 43).


We spend our days swimming in the Thermal Pools and the boys get really confident in the water.  Amy also demanded to have her nappy off and do a wee in the toilet, which was a wonderful milestone for us to enjoy.  Meanwhile John and Sam watched the Star Wars saga (thank you Tegan for lending us the box set).  I also secretly enjoyed watching it, but don't tell my three brothers.


Still so much of NT to see, Katherine, Litchfield National Park, Kakadu, and of course a catch up with our new friends on the road in Darwin.

The price of unleaded petrol - WOW

Rifles, Roo's and more lost shoes

Lawn Hill is a stunning Oasis in the Dessert, a short walk through barren scrub reveals gorge walls opening into a blue lagoon with twin waterfalls and palm trees. 

We spend the day there, and while it is truly beautiful, the lagoon is steep drop into deep water and not really a safe place for toddlers to play.  John takes a kayack down the gorge, past the crocs (the fresh water variety).    At the other end of the gorge you could hire a tyre tube for a gold coin donaton to the royal flying doctors.  So John did that with the kids while I took a short paddle with Amy in the kayak.  Amy quickly fell asleep which tilted the kayak, and I began to freak out about crocodiles, so my trip was short lived. 

We camp nearby on the river at Gregory Downs – lots of fun to be had there, and a great spot for the kids.  Some shallow river areas, and other deeper spots with a rope swing.  I try a rope swing plunge into the water for the first time ever, being a little giddy of heights it was a brave feat.   Tony also set up a flying fox which the boys loved.  Josh insisted on flying from the greatest height possible.  Down the river there was a fast flowing current, and John decides to take his Kayaks over the rapids and was tipped over.  The Kayak was saved, but he returned to report he lost a shoe.  I really was happy about this, because although we have lost many shoes since leaving home, John had these shoes for about 10 years and they really were the ugliest flop flops ever made.  I had secretly hoped these shoes would disappear for years.  Now he can catch up with the times and get some cheap imitation crocs – the ugly shoes of tomorrow.

John and Tony go hunting and bring back a roo, which was marinated and slow roasted in the camp oven coals.   One of the best meals I have had, with gravy, campfire potatoes topped with bacon and cheese, and roasted corn.  Now I look at Kangaroos with a new perspective – road kill may just make a lovely dinner.  Thanks to Tony the camp fires were amazing, he would drag back what appeared to be entire trees tied to the back of his 4WD and carve them up with a chainsaw.  Wish I’d stocked up on more marshmallows, but I did get the chance to cook brownies and scones over coals which I had really been looking forward too.

Hanging out with our friends gave us the chance to enjoy so many opportunities and adventures which we are very grateful for.  John and I were even brave enough to shoot a 270 riffle.  I wonder whether we have much to offer these lovely people in exchange, feeling very urban and out of place in the outback, but loving the experience.

Leaving Gregory Downs we say farewell to our wonderful friends they are headed on brave roads we dare not travel.  In saying that we find out that there is a shortcut unsealed road that will cut 400kms off our journey, and having heard it just got ‘graded’ we brave the road.  It was a great trip, and we arrived at our next camp spot – a billabong in Camoweal – covered in red dust which had snuck it’s way into every open crack.

 

Tomorrow we cross the boarder to NT - a new frontiere.

(will have my hand on a camera soon, so should be lots more pics to come)

The perfect set up

Out here in the slow hum of Outback QLD time is finally loosing it’s hold.  Road houses, road trains, and road kill, linking tiny towns that seem like lands caught in time.   John is also having a break from music business stuff so we aren’t running to the next town to meet a gig deadline.   

 

We are crossing the Savannah way and In the past week we have enjoyed legendary coffee in Mareeba, fed the rock wallabies at granite gorge, taken a ride on a steam train at Ravenshoe, paddled in the thermal springs in Innot, driven across amazing sunscorched landsapes, and caught king salmon in the gulf of Carpentaria.

But the greatest joy of our last week has been meeting a wonderful family from Newcastle, who are travelling OZ….

After being charged like a wounded bull at the mechanic in Mossman to fix our van wheels, we headed inland.  By the time we arrived at our next destination late in the evening the wheels on the Caravan were overheating again, and the smell of burning rubber lingered around our tyre.  We were totally crushed, thinking maybe we had melted our electric brakes again – money was dwindling and there was not much left for another costly mechanics bill.  It was late on Saturday night, at a free campspot in the middle of nowhere, the only hope we had was to stay put until Monday and find our selves another mechanic.  In the mean time we prayed together. 

Of course as Gods faithfulness would have it, we woke up the next morning and there was another family camped nearby, Josh wanted to play with their little girl, so I took him over for an introduction.  We soon discovered that Tony, Deb were from Newcastle like us and travelling Australia with their two children.  Tony is a licensed mechanic and graciously spent the morning with John under the caravan helping fix our wheels, teaching John what to do as he went.  If this wasn’t enough of a miracle, they also go to Victory Church and have the same heart for God as we do.   They say they are headed in the same direction as us and we enjoy a great day together in Ravenshoe with the kids on the steam train.

The next morning we look out the window at 7am, and find their camper trailer GONE!  We heard nothing, and they were gone without a trace, and I thought to myself they were too good to be true, maybe they were angels.  But then we found they had left their mobile phone number on our caravan step, and angels don’t usually have mobiles.

We followed them onto Karumba, which is a small fishing town in the Gulf of Carpenteria.  Supposedly one of the best fishing spots in the country.  John told me there wouldn’t be much there, but we could watch the sunset over the ocean, and he wanted to ‘throw a line in’.   (John has no idea how to cast out a rod or bait a hook so that was going to be interesting).

I think people only come to Karumba to fish.  You can’t swim or stay on the beach because of the crocodiles, and almost everyone at the caravan park we stayed at has a boat to go out on the water with expectations of a big catch. 

Of course because God is great in all his ways, we arrive at the campsite in Karumba, and are designated a place right beside our new friends.   They are there with their boat, and Tony is the son of a Fisherman, so he takes John out and teaches him to fish.  They come back with delicious fresh salmon.   A big trip highlight for John. 

The kids were totally delighted to have friends to play with, and we enjoyed the company of great people.  As we get to know each other we find out that Deb and John went to uni together in Lismore.  Deb like me also does the accounts for her church.  Tony is like Bear grylls and has so many talents fit for an outback adventure.  Only God could position such a perfect set up. 

We are both headed for Gregory Downs before going in opposite directions, and we look forward to hanging out together there for a few more days.