Monday 30/09/2013
Our first full day at Edith Falls. Our camp site was glorious, a high grassy spot with morning and afternoon shade. We all went down to the falls for a swim in the Plunge Pool. The signs are quite confusing to us. One sign said that the pool was open and then there was a sign warning of crocodiles. Apparently because the out flow river is so low the crocodiles cannot get into the Plunge Pool. Nicholas and the girls swam out to the waterfall and back. Angela was too scared of the prospect of a crocodile lurking somewhere! Good thing we have the noodles because it is 150m each way to the waterfall.
The plunge pool is really huge. There was an island of rocks in the pool that the girls loved playing on. There was a stone wall someone had started and the girls continued to turn into a fort. If you sat on the edge of the pool the fish came up and nibbled at your feet. All well and good until one of them took a bigger bite and really hurt. Most of the fish were Archer fish, which spit water at insects to knock them into the water. There were also some freshwater Lontom that are very shy and look like Garfish.
It was daddy's fault that we did an afternoon walk on the trail to upper pools. The total walk was 2.6km and about half way was a swimming hole. By the time we reached the water hole the three littlest members resembled beetroot! They soon returned to normal colour after a swim above the falls. The water in the rock pools is much warmer than we expected. The sun on the rocks during the day generates so much heat that the large bodies of water become bath like. After the walk back down from the rock pools we were all in need of another swim and a bit of a lay down.
Tuesday 01/10/2013
Another packup this morning. We are not planning on driving far today just into Katherine town to have a base to explore that area. Still there is time for a swim after packing up just to cool back down.
When we drove through Katherine about five weeks earlier there was a lady running a popup cafe in a park. She was still there so we stopped for refreshment and to find somewhere to stay. That was easier said then done. There are lots of vacancies at every park but to find one that doesn't charge silly amounts for children is not an easy task. We are not sure what they think children cost, but one park was charging $10 extra per child per night on top of a site fee of $48. We found one that sounded great but when we looked at the sites they were totally unsuitable for our camper; it would have been impossible to setup in the tiny patch of space they called a site. We had found a camps app in the Apple apps store that has proved invaluable. It came to the rescue again locating a farm stay just a few minutes out of town. Probably the most difficult time we have had finding accommodation all trip.
Following another setup we went in to swim at Katherine hot springs. Having already been to Mataranka hot springs Katherine was a bit of a let down. The water was not particularly hot, possibly not hotter than Edith Falls, and there were a lot of other people to share a relatively small swimming hole with. European backpackers had setup their vans in the car park obviously with the intention of camping the night. The water was very clear and it was nice to cool off in the water.
Wednesday we all drove out to Katherine Gorge. We met a park ranger in the car park who was admiring our car and he gave us the low down on what not to do in the park. It was too hot to go on most of the walks and the falls were not flowing much. We did one walk to the lookout which gave great views up and down the gorge from the top of the gorge wall. When we returned from the walk we were all ready for a swim.
The girls were really enjoying having a filled French stick for lunch and sharing it. It really is a simple way to prepare lunch for us all, and we can all eat together.
After another swim in the gorge we took a walk through the gorge interpretive centre. These centres are all put together very well and each one seems to have something new or different to learn.
We all enjoyed our hot day at Katherine Gorge.
Thursday means we are on the move again. Now we are heading south towards Alice Springs and Uluru. A long day in the car as we travel to Tennant Creek.
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