Bituman, the river and the Garden of Eden!!!!

Wednesday 1st August to Sunday 5th: Wednesday: Once we'd decided to just blow through Alice Springs (after re-kitting the kids, restocking our pantries, some general repairs etc) we headed north toward Tennant Creek and the "Three-Ways" turn off (where you can continue north to Darwin or turn east onto the Barkley Highway toward Queensland)......it a big country and we're being reminded all the time of this fact because it was a good 2 days drive to TC! We found a spot to camp off the highway, got a roaring fire going, but the lesson here is that 'someone's always watching' because we had a couple of old guys come to where we were and hassle us about fire safety and to make sure we put it out completely before we left.......a bit frustrating to be honest as we are really conscious about the campfires that we have but I guess they were just being cautious.....still, it was odd that these guys turned up when we were in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE!!!!! How's that happen???? Thursday 2nd: a quick pack up (after pancakes for the kids!!!) and we were rolling again.....this time headed for TC for lunch. Just above TC is the Three Ways junction where we finally had the afternoon sun at our back as turned east for the first time since we'd left Kiama. We made a quick pit stop at the Three Ways Roadhouse where we chatted to a young Army Corporal who was driving a massive truck with a 65t Abrahams Assault Tank on the back, headed for Darwin. Seems that most of the servicing for the military is done in Brisbane but the majority of the gear goes there via sea transport however his tank (which had just returned from service for Desert Storm) needed to be moved via road.....he was a great young guy who was really proud to be serving his country and it made me feel proud also that we have people in our armed forces like him who are prepared to fight for us and for those who are unable to fight for themselves....... Anyway......I digress.....so we're heading east, passing road trains with 4 or more trailers, making our way to the Barkley Homestead where we all needed a shower and a dust off. Dinner in the pub was delicious and we caught up on some of the Olympics action too which was great. Wednesday 3rd; back on the road (we were really clocking up the kms over the last few days) and we made our way to Camowhel which is a tiny little highway town just over the Qld/NT border. Theres lots of these odd little towns out here but they're all full of gorgeous UK and European backpackers working so that they can extend their visa for a further 12months.....still it's odd to be served by an English/Irish/Scottish/Swedish/German/French/etc model in a town with nothing around it for 100's of kms......or maybe that's just me??? Anyway.....Camowhel has a lovely little river that meanders through the area which was a magnet for all the grey nomads and even though the water wasn't running while we were there, we found a very relaxing spot next to a wide open section of water and put our feet up for a couple of days. The kids swam, ran around and made a beautiful mud pool which they delighted in laying in and rolling around in while Pete and I kicked back and read a book for the first time on the trip....it was fantastic. The nomads stretched along the river (the Georgina River) for about 10km and the whole area was free for camping.......both Pete and I commented that if the council charged $10 per van that they would make a killing!! Saturday 4th: the Eastie kids were pretty keen to show us one of their favorite spots from their last trip, a place called Gregory Downs, which was further north, so we jumped back onto the dirt roads once more and headed 220km further north to this fabulous spot on a spring fed creek that delivers a minimum of 10,000ltr per minute of pure, crystal clear fresh water to the area. You jump in from directly in front of your camp and just float all the way down the creek which is bordered by paperback trees, cabbage tree palms & pandanus palms! The water is cool but seeing as the temp is now into the 30's during the day, it's perfect!!!  So we got all set up, swam the afternoon away, cooked up another feast, hunted some cane toads and fell into bed ready to take it all on again tomorrow!! Sunday 5th: relaxation is the name of the game today, but I did manage a run this morning which was quite a challenge as I'd previously been running in single digit temperatures but found myself today running in 25 degree heat which just saps the spring out of your step when your not used to it!!  The kids haven't been out of the water all morning and as I write I can hear their squeals and laughter from down the creek.......might be time to go and join them!!!! Funny how it doesn't matter where kids are they always manage to make friends! Brits and Bridie found a couple of similar aged girls from Victoria who were traveling with their family for 12mths!! So they spent every possible moment hanging out with them.....I'm not to sure what they were talking about but there were plenty of squeals and giggles....pretty cute really!! So with everyone worn out once again we chased the few little furry friends away that were sniffing around camp and headed for bed.....but.....not before all the kids had made their maiden visit to what would become known as "Poo Palace" with the trusty shovel and loo paper in toe!!! They're all becoming quite relaxed with the whole "bushie" toilet experience now!! Monday 6th: We tried to make an early start but when pancakes are on the breakfast menu nothing moves very quickly!!! Eventually we all got our act together and headed out for the day to Lawn Hill National Park. This drop dead gorgeous part of the world was about an hour or so's drive from GD, again on the trusty dusty  dirt tracks.....but my goodness this area is a little patch of heaven on earth!!!  We whiled away the day on the waters of the Lawn Hill Gorge initially with the kids floating down the Gregory River in tyre tubes but eventually we managed to hire 3 canoes (Bys, Brits & I in one, Pete & Bridie in another and the 2 big boys Samo & Tails in he third) and paddled up through the gorge (trivia moment.....the deepest section of water through the gorge is 27m deep!!!!) up to the falls where we dragged the canoes around to the higher section and continued out paddle through his amazing and majestic place! We stopped off and all had a perfect swim in the beautiful limestone rich waters further up stream before making our way back but not before we saw a lazy 7ft fresh water croc hanging out in the sun, (the first croc the Teudtys have seen in the wild!) which was pretty cool. Brits made the comment that " if she was a croc then this would be the place she'd love to live" and I couldn't agree more, this area makes you shake your head in disbelief that such incredibly beautiful places exist!! Once we'd returned the canoes, it was time to feed the animals....ummm...I mean kids and squeeze in another quick swim (an unintended one for Pete as he dropped his sunnies in the water from the bridge and had to jump in to retrieve them!). The day had heated up quite nicely (about 34degrees!) so we stopped off at a little camp spot not 10min from LH for a Magnum break which turned into a Corona break because it too nice to leave!!  Eventually we needed to head back to camp so we made tracks and by the time the second song began to play on the car stereo my 3 little guys were sound asleep! All together now......"awwwwww!!" By the time we got back to camp though, everyone wanted to take on the rapids once more before dinner so we jumped in (to the delight and laughter of all the grey nomads who thought we were nuts) and freshened up. Then up to the pub for dinner where we had a great meal and I finally got to sample fresh wild caught Barramundi......."sensational" is all I have to say about that!!!!! Tomorrow it's time to pack up once more and make tracks, this time for Mount Isa......who knows what's in store for us down there but one thing's for sure, it'll continue to be a lot of fun I'm betting!!!!