We left Cairns after an essential stay at the holiday park to stock up and do laundry, but three days of constant drizzle and one significant down pour left everything wet and dank. Bern being Bern though, she donned the running get up and circumnavigated Cairns through the storms, meeting Steve and the kids at Rusty's to enjoy another post run crepe, and pick up some fresh food for the travels. Steve, not wanting to be left behind, pulled on the slightly damp joggers and headed out for an afternoon run climbing the hills behind the botanical gardens and looping back to town to meet the kids having a blast (along with every other kid needing a wet weather day activity) at Monkey Business, a soft play centre. The weather was still patchy and starting to see some signs of clearing, but we didn't give it a second chance. We headed inland where the average yearly rainfall is 300 mm, not 3000 mm.....

Magpies singing, currawongs warbling, the chatter of parrets and lorikeets, the gentle soar and swoop of the grey goshawk, the raucous scream of the red tailed black cockatoo, the panicked honk and flap of the ibis, the laugh of the kookaburra, the graceful dance of the jabiru... and this was all in the 5 minute walk to the amenity block, Archie in arms pointing and taking in the wonderment of this beautiful sunrise morning.

Undara Outback Experience was our first stop on our trip towards Darwin via the Savannah Way, and how we felt our souls relaxing after a peaceful and quiet sleep amongst the eucalypts listening to the purr and cheep of the local crickets, and waking to the warm glow of the sun peeking through the trees as the birds frolicked in the new day. A maze of walking tracks meandered through the countryside surrounding our camp, so we couldn't resist. Bern completed the Bush Walk Loop 7 km, and Steve, the Flat Rock Return 9 km for our 45 minute Wednesday runs all before 9 am.

The tour to the lava tubes was the must do activity in Undara, and other than being an amazing piece of geology, it was an excellent tour. The tubes were formed by a volcano 190,000 years ago oozing channels of lava across the plains, dissolving the ground in its way and slowly forming a solid arch crust which the lava flowed through for over a year. The result was 160 km of tubes 20 m in diameter, cut through the countryside, a lot of which have collapsed, but sections over 2km long still remain. In the collapsed sections, a beautiful lush self supporting ecosystem of trees and animals has evolved, in the middle of this dry and expansive environment. Theo survived the tour exceptionally, just needing a muesli bar and bread roll to get him through, and Archie slept on Bern the whole time, waking up just as we returned to the bus with a tired, dazed and slightly confused look on his face.

We then headed off on our long drive west towards to Gulf. A slight hiccup was when Bern was pulled over only half an hour in, doing 118 kph in a 100 kph zone in the middle of double demerit school holidays. But Bern managed to argue her point extraordinarily well, such that the officer decided to not give her a ticket or a warning, and even gave her an apology...... and this was from a female police officer! Croydon was a one nighter in the local rodeo ground before we made it to Karumba, nestled on the south western corner of the Gulf of Carpentaria. On the drive in from Normanton, the plains opened up into wide flood plains and intermittent wetland pools, and Brolgas in swarm proportions appeared. These regal animals standing 2m tall walked at their own pace and crossed the road with the slow lope that says 'I know you are there, but you wouldn't dare hit me... look how cool I am.'

The spectacular sunsets and the delicious gulf barramundi were the key highlights from our stay, but observing the grey nomad in their stationary existence was also an entertaining side show. Hundreds of these couples have travelled thousands of kilometres with boat and caravan in tow to set up here for months on end. The caravan parks cater for this too, with the Sunday Roast night and Saturday Free Fish and show, with the show being a group of 70 plus year old ladies singing (with actions) 'Give me a home among the gum trees'.

Gregory was our next free camp on route to Lawn Hill National Park, and camping on the bed of the Gregory River could have been well up there with one of our favourite free camps. The afternoon relaxing by the river and floating down in the cool waters beneath the bridge was spectacular. It was also just a short 100 km drive into Adels Grove where we found another gorgeous spot located in shade of the 'grove' with the burble of the Lawn Hill River only metres away.

Adels Grove is located on the Lawn Hill Cattle Station, and interestingly the National Park was only formed in the late 80's when the South American Cattle Barren donated the land back to the Australian Government. It has since grown significantly, but the river and Gorge are spectacular with the high calcium content from the underground aquifers creating amazing flowing rock formations as the water flows. A highlight was the cruise up into the depths of the gorge, and swimming into the waterfalls between the upper and lower gorges. Other than being near the spectacular National Park, Adels Grove was an impressive destination of its own with lovely swimming spots, a good restaurant and a few great walks that we managed to complete numerous times on our strict running regime. A few relaxing days was exactly what we needed before we embarked on the long red dirt experience ahead.