It has been more than two weeks since I updated our journey. There have been a couple of reasons for that. The first is that I have been working. I put my name down for some relief work at the Nhulunbuy High School and they must be desperate as I’ve had lots of work. I’ve spent most of my time in the Special Education Unit which is actually a nice break from being in the mainstream English class. I have quite enjoyed the work but it’s exhausting.

The other reason is the passing of our beautiful friend, Janine, from Motor Neurone Disease. She was a great friend for many years and should have had another 20 or 30 years with her family. I wasn’t able to go back to Western Australia for her funeral due to covid19 in other states which affected flights here. Kyran has a friend visiting. His father in law passed away the day after Janine and he was also unable to return. When these things happen, it is hard to escape the heavy heart and the memories, and focus on embracing your own life.

However, life here continues to be full of beach walks, barbecues, visits to the Boat Club and Surf Club. Last night the Surf Club hosted markets, outside on the grass next to the sea. There were bouncy castles, stalls, food for sale and drinks from the bar. A lovely way to pass the evening. I bought a few local bits and pieces.

Once again Vanessa had to stay home to work, but Kyran, Tommy, John, myself plus Kyran’s friend, Nic and his dad, Don took off to camp for a couple of nights at Giddy River. This time we took our caravan although the others had swags. Tommy, Skylar and I went exploring just after we arrived.

We all managed to put our sadness behind us and had a terrific few days. We had an awesome camp fire and the boys did all the cooking. In fact, Don made damper on the camp fire both nights.. We paddled in the creek next to our camp, went fishing and four wheel driving. It was just what we needed.

Kyran was keen to go fishing at the end of the track we were on so we took off in convoy.

We stopped at Wonga Creek on the way. Like all waterholes and creeks in this area, it was like a little oasis but home to crocodiles. The boys had a swim and a play in the water anyway to cool off.

Once we had cooled off, we continued along the track until we found a beautiful little spot that looked good for fishing. Despite the peace and quiet, we knew that danger lurked under the surface with crocodiles. Skylar was locked in her cage on the ute and Tommy stayed very close to us.

Even though the fish were jumping, no-one caught any so we moved on through the bush to the end. The further we drove, the narrower and more overgrown the track became. It was worth the rough drive though. The river widened and there was a group of large boulders we could fish from. We had moved from Giddy River to Port Bradshaw.

Just before we headed back to camp, Kyran wanted me to try something else for the first time. He brought out his rifle and bullets and went about showing me how to hold it! It was so heavy. He didn’t tell me how loud the bang would be but I should have realised when he handed me earplugs….

We had a fabulous day, ending with dinner and a campfire.