We started packing up early this morning to avoid the heat. After cooling of with the luke warm showers we were nice and comfy in the a/c and on the road again!
It was a scenic drive south onto the Great Northern Highway. Lots of Boab trees scattered along rocky cliffs. Kids had a bit of a rest in the car, Caleb really needs to catch up on his school work but it is still a battle to get him to do it. I can see us working crazily in the last week finishing it all to take back to school ;)
We stopped briefly at Fitzroy crossing for fuel, then headed to Halls Creek where we drove to Caroline Pool to bush camp for the night.
It was a nice lil water hole in a dry river bed. We drove through and got bogged in the sandy river bed while looking for a good spot :( Looks like this may be where we are staying. Shaun got to use his max trax for the first time, so at least we didn't take them across Aus for no reason ;) They weren't enough though and it was Gaz to the rescue with his winch... which also got its first workout ;) so after what felt like a couple of hours.. we were out and able to set up a quick camp on solid ground.
The night was a bit hectic then with feeding kids, bubs, a quick wipe down of hands, face and feet then it was off to bed for the kids and we enjoyed what was becoming our signature drink of the trip - Malibu and juice :) as soon as we stopped and sat down though the tiredness set in so it was another early night!
Archie was awake around 1am for a feed and all 3 kids were up at 5am so I'll have to leave catching up on sleep for another time ;)
It was a quick breaky of toast all round then pack up and we were on our way to El Questro on the eastern side of the Gibb. It was a great drive through some gorgeous ranges. It was quite burnt out and dry but still beautiful.
Stopped for fuel and lunch at the Doon Doon Roadhouse, another hot day of 45 deg. Archie didn't feed well so I sat back in the car with the a/c so he could finish his bottle. Caleb and Benny were eyeing off a reptile guide book in the shop which I bought for Caleb hoping this may encourage him to do some reading on the trip ;) it definitely helped.
Turning back into the Gibb River road and the scenery just got better. We stopped for a couple of photos and headed in El Questro wilderness camp. It's was $20/adult to camp and kids under 13 free. Also had to buy a parks pass at $20/adult which gave us access to the sights on the property.
We got a nice shady camp spot right in front of one of the swimming holes. You could have fires which was great as I wanted to do some camp oven cooking. Generators were allowed from 8am to 5pm.
The kids all played in the sprinklers while we set up camp. They were saturated and having a ball. Shaun and Garry played ball with the kids then took them into the swimming hole for a cool down. There was not much water in it but it was a perfect depth for the kids to play in. Archie and I joined them after I made curried sausages for dinner. It was lovely, so refreshing and great to have our own lil swimming hole at our doorstep. Later that night the boys spotted a croc in the water, I'm glad it didn't come out to say hi while we were in there ;)