We are on holiday!

Friday 12th August 2022

We woke to quite a windy morning, feeling blissfully cool after being so hot the last little while! There is something very comforting about wearing jeans and a jumper when you haven’t been able to for a time. Though I also feel the same way about being able to wear a dress after being freezing, so maybe it’s the novelty of change. 😁

Richie had gone for a sunrise bird watching walk, so the kids and I got up and started making breakfast. Across the road from the campsite is a rocky outcrop, and once Richie was back we decided to make the most of the cool morning and try climb up there. We were able to find a reasonable route between the Spinifex clumps, focussing on the rock rather than the slippery scree stuff in-between. However once we got near the top, what was gusty weather down at the campsite became a full on gale at height! The view of the surrounding landscape was stunning though – and we realised we were not far from a river! Richie scoped out the higher rocks while the kids remained tucked behind some rocks to shelter from the wind. We decided the combination of strong winds and steep rocky cliffs was probably a bit risky, and we picked our way down again.

Quite a few people came and went throughout the day – mostly locals stopping in for a swim. A couple of teachers stopped in from a local school, starting a long weekend drive into NT the back way. We chatted for a bit, and they told stories of how quickly a car will get trashed and burnt out if left unattended. 😱 That immediately deterred our plans to unhitch the trailer and check out Sawpit Gorge, though they also thought we would need to walk in the last bit of the road. This was confirmed by someone else stopping in later, so we made the right decision to stay at Palm Springs!

We had a very early lunch, after an early breakfast – fair to say we have not adjusted to the time difference yet. It’s only 1 1/2 hours but it has really thrown us, and we don’t quite know what time to follow!

We followed up with a swim – this time with the sun higher in the sky we were able to see to the bottom. In fact just standing on the edge, watching hundreds of fish and turtles swimming about is pretty relaxing! After this Bonnie and I went for a walk to check out the Black Elvire River. We followed a little rocky stream to the river – it is quite beautiful! We saw a Jabiru stalking along, and some lovely white ducks (Radjah Shelducks). This place is abuzz with birds! I’m not entirely sure of the crocodile status here – given that the spring is safe for swimming I’m guessing there are no salties here? Though surely we could still expect freshwater? Either way we were cautious around the river banks, but did have a nice time watching the birds.

Another camper turned up in a bus, asking the way to Sawpit Gorge. I explained to him my very limited knowledge about the access, being that we were told we probably couldn’t get there, and that might also limit his bus. He decided to stay put, so we got a neighbour for the night. Wazza is from Melrose, on his annual holiday in his bus, and has travelled around the place pretty extensively over the years.

Richie got a fire going, put together some food in the camp oven, then went to the river to try his luck fishing – no idea what he could actually catch but it’s always worth a go! The rest of us had a swim – mainly because Otis had stripped down to his underwear and covered himself head to toe in dirt and ash! 😆

Richie came back with no fish, so we settled in for dinner – another ‘early’ meal of Morrocan chicken. 😋 We had a couple of drinks and some stories around the fire with Wazza (the last of our Melrose firewood, thanks Dad!), enjoying the near full moon rising up over the cliffs again.