We are on holiday!

Monday 18th July 2022

We awoke to the joyful sensation of not being cold! What a relief to be able to step out in the morning without putting on 10 layers first! I have been really looking forward to the devil’s marbles. I have fond memories of the place as a 10 year old and have been excited to bring the kids here. I’m so glad we could get into the campground, it is amazing to be in the middle of a boulder field, and to walk straight from camp.

The packed campground cleared out early, with a steady stream of caravans leaving from 6am. It wasn’t long before we were one of three remaining vehicles. Obviously a popular overnight stop but not much longer for most.

After breakfast we headed straight into one of the walks, an easy half hour loop. Three hours later, after exploring every single cave and crevice, playing “cave children” in every possible location, we made it back to our camp. 😁 It is such an amazing location, seemingly perfect spheres of granite balanced on top of boulders. The kids found a great shelter under some boulders for morning tea – one that we could comfortably fit us in as well! We were joined by another three who turned out to be relatively local (Canberra/Batemans Bay), and one has a brother who works at the Braidwood IGA! It was surprisingly nice to talk about home whilst sitting in a rock shelter in the middle of Australia!

It was feeling pretty hot by the time we got back, so we spent a few hours lazing in the tent, and then in the shelter at the camp site, doing some reading and drawing. We had the sudden realisation of how tricky it might be to manage the heat as we travel further north. 😬

Bonnie is keeping a daily journal as part of her “home schooling”, so we caught up on that. It is interesting to see what she considers the noteworthy event of each day! For example, finding and drawing a dead zebra finch was a feature of our stay at Uluru! 😆

The kids were feeling the heat a bit so I ducked out to walk the 4km circuit that skirts around the northern extent of the boulders, while Richie hung out with the kids at camp. It was rather pleasant to get out for a brisk stroll without carrying anyone! Richie then did a trail on the eastern side when I got back. This timed with two girls arriving and setting up camp next to us, which both kids found much more interesting than hanging out with me, so I used the time to cook dinner while the kids were occupied!

We climbed up a nearby boulder pile to watch the sunset and have an ice cream – thanks Dad for lending the fridge/freezer, it has revolutionised camping! Bonnie and I managed to make shadow figures on the boulders of the whole alphabet and numbers 1-30. I felt like we were doing some sort of awesome yoga but Richie assured me we actually looked completely ridiculous! 😆 Then back to camp for dinner and bed.

We have both loved camping at Karlu Karlu – it’s so amazing to be right in the landscape we want to explore, unlike Uluru which you have to drive some distance to get to. Interestingly someone I spoke to commented that they feel like they don’t need to stay the night, because now they’ve seen it, but staying there and seeing the landscape change during sunrise, sunset, and being able to explore, you get so much from a place.