We are on holiday!

Sunday 7th August

That was our hottest night camping by far! The night stayed hot and still until the early hours of the morning when it cooled down a little. The big disadvantage of being in a tent is that after a hot day, the ground stays hot, and you are effectively lying on an electric blanket all night long! 🥵 Years ago we camped at Kakadu during some hot weather – after not being able to sleep and going a little crazy we gave up and went to Litchfield instead, where for some reason it’s cooler at night. So after a terrible night’s sleep for everyone, Richie was talking either flying back home, or cutting the holiday short by using up our funds on an air conditioned unit somewhere! 😆😵‍💫 He really doesn’t like the heat! 🤪 The flies are also quite bad here, similar to Jabiru, and Bonnie in particular is annoyed by them. Luckily Antony and Jodes gifted us an extra Oz tent panel when we were in Melrose, which has been really handy for providing privacy for the “ensuite” when required, and also makes an excellent fly free zone outside of the tent!

The day’s plan was to do the Leliyn loop walk, a 2.7km walk that goes to a couple of lookouts of the middle pool, and access to the upper pool for a swim. The kids were pretty tired and grumpy about the whole idea, but we packed lunch and pushed off regardless. Otis didn’t even get past the carpark before Richie had to start carrying him, and Bonnie complained endlessly about having to walk in the heat! 😣

The walk took us through more burnt country. We are beginning to wonder about the burning here – is this a big year or a typical year? If the amount that we’ve seen is normal, surely there is a big impact on biodiversity? A lot of plants wouldn’t survive a high burning frequency, and need a decent break between fire events. The birds of prey would love it though – it’s easy to tell where an active fire front is from the flocks of kites that would be picking out the escaping fauna!

After a bit of a walk up, then a walk back down we made it to the rock pools for a swim, hooray! The kids definitely perked up here – a stunning spot with lots of rocky outcrops, a waterfall, monitors basking in the sun, waterlilies flowering. It is obviously a popular walk, and the rocky path has been upgraded with stairs, hand rails and bridges where considered necessary. Plenty of people came and went while we were there – no surprise given how full the carpark was! There is an option to walk to a further pool that sounds beautiful, but not an option for us, at over 8km!

We had a lovely snorkel and swim. Some other kids showed Bonnie and Otis how to scramble up the rocks and go sliding down into the water, and with Richie’s help Bonnie was able to get behind the waterfall which was the BEST THING EVER!!! Though not for Richie, who found it stressful trying to pull her through the current whilst stopping her from being pummelled underwater. 😆

We stopped for a picnic lunch in the shade, before jumping in for another swim. This is where we – unknowingly at the time – made the classic mistake of not reapplying suncream after a swim, oops!

Eventually we got back out and prepared for the walk back. The sun felt brutal once we were away from the water, making the climb back up again! The lookout over the middle pools was absolutely stunning, this time from the eastern side, and a nice place to stop for a snack. We made it back to the bottom pool by 4:30, and jumped in for another swim. It was at this point we discovered that Richie’s back and shoulders were a disturbing shade of red. 😩 This is especially annoying because Richie is the most sun conscious person I know, and takes so much care not to burn! We cooled off on the water – Bonnie and I snorkeled around the edges while Richie and Otis swam – in the shade! Bonnie started to get cold so we walked back to the tent – where everyone immediately felt hot again! Then we hung around in the shade of the tent until the sun was low enough to move around again.

The sunburn audit was done – Richie’s back and shoulders are feeling pretty sore, and Otis’ cheeks and arms look pretty pink too. Even Bonnie might be a little pink on her face, which is surprising since she is gaining confidence swimming underwater and spends most of her time doing so. Fine in a swimming pool of course – terrifying in a seemingly bottomless plunge pool when she can’t yet swim far on her own! We make her keep one hand on the pool noodle at all times!

After dinner and showers the kids were put to bed – Richie as well with a damp towel on his back. The evening is a little more pleasant with a definite breeze, so fingers crossed the tent cools down a bit more!

This is such a beautiful area – there is a five day hike that connects Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) to here that sounds amazing and is definitely going on the to do list. I just need to convince the rest of the family that five days walking in the heat is an excellent idea. 🤔