We are on holiday!

Saturday 30th July 2022

A really intense wind picked up during the night, the sort that had everyone dashing out to catch loose items, check the tents and put everything away securely. No one slept particularly well, and it was a slow morning! We eventually got going to Yurmikmik, to do the boulder creek walk, the shortest and the only one we were willing to attempt with kids! We saw a herd of donkeys on the way, which explained some of the crazy noises we heard in the night!

Sadly we were somewhat late for the promise of falls and a swimming hole. More of a wet season treat for a guess! So the pool noodles, swimming gear and towels were taken for a walk for no reason! There was a lovely little pool though, once we climbed up some boulders, that we could drop our feet in. It was actually a magical spot – masses of tiny frogs kept tumbling out of cracks in the rocks and diving into the water. There was a ferny section that hid dozens of butterflies that came out when we approached, including some that were a dazzling violet colour, bright red and pink dragonflies zoomed around, and double barred finches darted in regularly for a drink. All while our feet were cleaned by shrimp in the water 😁 We stayed for a few hours, and had morning tea and lunch there. It was quite cool by the shady pool, making it harder to face the thought of doing the walk back to the cars, and driving back to a hot campsite!

Eventually Andrew and Tegan decided to move on, and check out an unmarked waterhole not too far away that friends had recently been to. We stayed on at boulder creek for a bit longer, not wanting to drive the corrugated road back to the main road to go with them, in case access was too tricky in our car. We figured if access was possible we could go tomorrow while Andrew and Tegan go to Maguk, which is 4WD access.

Eventually we made the walk back to the car, and continued the drive along the road towards Gunlom, which is currently closed due to some access negotiations. From the comfort of our air conditioned car we admired the striking landscape, covered in large rocky escarpments. We drove over the Alligator River once, then stopped to look at it at a second crossing where the road became too difficult for us (including an actual river crossing here) and we had to turn around. There is another campground mapped beyond the river that we thought we would drive to if we could but it will remain unknown to us!

We arrived back at the campsite and took it easy for a while, just sitting in the shade and having a coffee. For the first time since Cooper Pedy we are feeling like absolutely everything, us included, is covered in dust! Particularly after the strong winds last night, and not swimming for the last 2 days! This was really noticeable when the Kahn’s came back looking fresh and clean after a swim, while Bonnie had been crushing charcoal on the picnic table and had turned a convincing shade of grey 😂

Richie and Andrew went for a fish, while Tegan and I stayed and had a wine while the kids played, drew and crafted. Richie came back empty handed. Andrew had caught (and released) a small barramundi and some tarpin. We got a fire going to cook dinner on (still hoping for fire cooked barramundi at some stage….). Otis had another epic stack running down a rocky hillside, just when he had healed up from the last one! We eventually managed to cook and eat dinner though! Afterwards we took the kids to the bridge with the spotlight to show them the crocodile – which was there again, and fish, shrimp and bats. We went to bed hoping for a much quieter night – it was certainly much cooler at least.