When we were in Cooktown we asked around about the road conditions to Cape York and were met with mixed messages. It seemed we had lots of creeks to cross and the water level had dropped. In the end we decided, after our scare on the Bloomfield road, that we would give it a miss. However I was keen to go to Laura for three reasons: it was my niece Laura’s birthday the next day, I wanted to see if it had changed much over the years, and I had read about some Aboriginal Rock Art near there.
There were several spots to see the rock art but only one was self-guided; the other two cost $190 each per tour and that was well outside our budget unfortunately. I believe these paintings are 40,000 years old so it would have been amazing to see. We did go to Split Rock, just before Laura, and climbed up to see those that were around 15,000 years old.
It was a bit of a climb to see the rock art
As we climbed we caught up with a group who had an Aboriginal guide so we tagged along and listened to some good descriptions on what the pictures meant.
It was well and truly worth the drive and the climb. Fabulous! (I nearly didn’t take my phone to take photos as i didn’t think it would respectful but the Aboriginal guide said it was fine). I read that the rock art around Laura is listed by UNESCO as being among the top ten rock art sites in the world. We were so lucky to see it.
We continued along the road into Laura but it hadn’t changed, there was still nothing much there. Instead of camping there, we drove down to Lakeland Hotel where they allow free camping on the grass. We had a great lunch there and a nice overnight stay.
The following morning we took off south, stopping for lunch in Port Douglas with a plan to camp at Trinity Beach. The scenery was beautiful.
My only memory of Cooktown is of a main street with a milkbar, the main street being a dirt track. So it was a pleasant surprise to drive into such a beautiful, pristine, thriving town with a population of just over 2,000. The main street is still there but it’s bitumen with beautiful, historic buildings on either side. The town sits on the Endeavour River and is surrounded by ocean and mountains with stunning views from many vantage points including the main street.
Beautiful historic buildings line the main street
Cooktown is, of course, of great historical importance and this is evident throughout the town. It was named after Captain James Cook who explored the east coast of Australia in 1770. Cook’s ship, HM Barque Endeavour, struck the Great Barrier Reef off Cape Tribulation and was forced to beach here on the river until it could be repaired. It was Cook who named the river after his boat. There are monuments of James Cook all around town and we visited the James Cook Museum situated in the old convent school building. The original anchor, cannon and other artefacts from the Endeavour were on display there.
There is still a Chinese influence in some of the old buildings left over from the Gold Rush in the 1870s when, just like in Croydon, the Chinese moved here and become cooks, shopkeepers and developed market gardens.
Australia has quite a violent history but from the information supplied here, it seems that Captain Cook had a good relationship with the Aborigines from this area. According to his diaries they resolved issues peacefully. This is reinforced in the Reconciliation Garden just off the main street.
As well as visiting the James Cook Museum, we called into the Cooktown History Centre run by volunteers and with terrific displays of Cooktown’s past. It focused less on James Cook and more on the progression of the town particularly since the Gold Rush, and also on the cyclones that have hit the area.
This photo was taken at the Cooktown Golf Club
For such a small place, there is a huge amount of history on display. Before leaving, we drove to the lookout then wandered around the rest of the town, enjoying morning tea at the Botanic Gardens. This is definitely somewhere I could happily live if it wasn’t so far away from family and friends .
We ended up camping in Ravenshoe for two nights because the mechanic, Nigel (who spent nearly two hours on our car but only charged us $50) could not fix our windscreen wipers. He did, however, refer us to Volkswagen in Cairns and rang them to explain our problem. It was Friday evening and raining so there was no point in moving on right away. We camped at the Tall Timbers Roadhouse which was lovely. There was a river with platypuses near our van but they hid when we tried to find them.
Our plan to drive to Cooktown and beyond was thwarted by the windscreen wipers’ issue so, instead we drove to Cairns. What a beautiful drive it was through the Atherton Tablelands. Coming so recently from the red dirt, the green of the tropical rainforest was just incredibly lovely and quite a refreshing change. The road itself had a canopy of beautiful trees for much of the way. We pulled up at Malanda Falls to stretch our legs and for morning tea at the lovely little Cafe there.
Canopies of trees lined the road Malanda Falls
The scenery was actually breathtaking. The road was narrow, enclosed by the greenery, but it full of twists and turns for a very long way. John had to focus really hard on driving and I began to feel car sick. I just wanted the road to end. It was actually a huge relief to book into the G’day Caravan Park in Cairns which was only a few minutes from the Volkswagen mechanic.
Everywhere we have been on this trip has been impacted by covid19 and the lack of staff. Nothing was any different in Cairns. The car couldn’t even be looked at for three weeks. All we could do was book it in and continue our journey.
To drive to Cooktown meant going back the beautiful, winding road and I couldn’t face it. My stomach was still recovering from the previous day. I don’t think John was keen on driving it again either. Doing a big trip like this means having to be flexible so we took off towards the Daintree with a plan to visit Cooktown later. On the way we stopped in Port Douglas. John had stayed there years before and remembered it being lovely with an amazing golf course. Port Douglas is lovely. It is certainly aimed at tourists with lots of white hotels and apartments overlooking the beach. The main street was busy with people having coffee and browsing the souvenir shops. Lovely as it was, it wasn’t for us. We found The Tin Shed with an outdoor cafe on the water. Then we took off for the peace and quiet of the rainforest.
Coffee at The Tin Shed was a better option for us.
I did the Cape York Peninsula in 1989 when my son, Kyran was just two. You needed a 4wd and a lot of nerve in those days to drive further than the Daintree ferry. John was turned back from the ferry around the same year because he only had a 2wd. We were interested to see how things had changed in over thirty years.
The ferry was just as we remembered it.
Daintree Ferry (photo from their website)
The road from the ferry was all bitumen. I was afraid the area would have become too touristy and commercialised but, while there were ice cream shops, cafes and accommodation, I was pleased to see everything tastefully done to suit the beautiful surroundings. We found our way to Cape Tribulation to camp ‘where the rainforest meets the reef’ and it was just as lovely as I remembered it. The camping ground (which didn’t exist in 1989) blended with the rainforest and was bordered on one side by the beach and the other by the National Park.
We had a great couple of days here. We wandered along Myall Beach to a boardwalk which took us through the rainforest. This was a bucket list item for John, and it met his high expectations. It is hard to describe the beauty of the rainforest – the stunning trees and root systems all on display for us to enjoy. I took these photos on my phone but I hope they capture some of just how lovely it is.
We left the van and went to have a look at more of the Daintree area which is just gorgeous. We took another walk – this time at Jindalba. Once again, a boardwalk was provided which blended well with the environment.
After so much walking we decided we deserved a special ice cream from the Daintree Ice Creamery. Wow! Such choice. John chose Mango Kulfi and I had Coconut, Chocolate Chip and Chocolate Sauce. They were delicious.
Our last stop was at Thornton Beach, yet another deserted beach. We had noticed the amazing shapes the Bubbler Crabs were making on all the beaches here.
Thornton Beach
Naturally we don’t swim in the water here because of crocodiles and stingers. There are beautiful waterholes nearby but we didn’t want to swim. At this beach a large crocodile has been spotted regularly for the past twelve years.
We had purchased a return ticket on the Daintree Ferry but decided to take the rougher road through Bloomfield to visit Cooktown. It may not have been the best decision. There was a sign saying ‘4wd vehicles only. No caravans or trailers’ but we were assured by a few people that the road had been graded and was fine. In fact there was a caravan behind us and a large touring bus in front of us – and we loved its name!
So we felt fairly confident travelling this road although the van in front pulled over to let us to go first! The drive turned out to be very scary! The creeks we drove through were fine; the sand, mud, stones and potholes were manageable; but the steep (27%) declines and inclines on the narrow road were horrendous and when our brakes locked and we slid down a long, steep hill with a sharp drop down the mountain beside us, that was not fun. Thankfully, we survived to tell the tale but it reinforced our decision that we have done enough adventurous driving and we will stick as much as possible to the bitumen from now on.
When we left Undara to drive in the direction of Cooktown, something we were dreading finally happened. It started to rain. It wasn’t the rain that bothered us but more the fact that our windscreen wipers stopped working in Gove and no-one has been able to fix them. By the time we drove into a little town called Ravenshoe, it was raining quite heavily and it was too dangerous to keep driving. We pulled into a little roadhouse, had a coffee and rang the local mechanic. Long story short, it was their lunchtime and we were asked to return two hours later.
What to do in a small town for two hours in the rain? My idea was to find either the library or the Visitors’ Centre. As luck would have it, they were next door to each other. So we spent an hour in the library where we were made very welcome and offered the wifi password. Then we moved into the Visitors’ Centre which, unexpectedly, had some very informative and interesting displays for us to browse on the history of the town (timber logging) and about the traditional owners of the land. In another room, we took a look at the display of old photographs and were surprised to find that Ravenshoe – this little town- played a big part in the Second World War. So much so that King George VI secretly visited the troops here in January 1944.
King George VI visiting troops in Ravenshoe
It was discovered that the rainforests and climate around the town here was suitable for training soldiers in preparation for jungle warfare in Papua New Guinea so up to 100,000 soldiers were stationed here at any one time. We had no idea about this!
We would never have learned about this had it not started raining! Just another small town with another interesting story to tell.
While in Mount Isa a couple camping next to us recommended we stop at Undara near Mount Surprise on our way towards Cooktown. So we took their advice. And didn’t regret it.
The Undara Experience is a large bush campground that also caters for non-campers with pioneer cottages and railway carriages plus it has an area of permanent swags. It offers bush walks plus tours to lava tubes formed from a volcano many thousands of years ago. There is an abundance of wildlife, particularly wallabies who aren’t too shy. At night we listened to the kookaburras laughing as we sat at our campfire. They were also noisy early in the morning!
We loved the peace and quiet of the camp. We also took a short bush walk as the tours of the lava tubes were booked out which was a pity. On our way out, however, we did walk up to the Kalkani Crater to have a look.
On the first evening, we had dinner in the large, outdoor dining area which had a high roof and railway carriages on the perimeter. The tables in the centre looked onto the bush which became quite lively at dusk particularly with laughing kookaburras. It was a beautiful environment. We decided to enjoy the ambience of our little camp on the second evening and set a little campfire.
Dining area and barCampfire on second night
In the morning we joined a few others for breakfast in the bush. This was awesome. The area was well set up with logs to sit on and small tables with cup holders also made from logs. We had Billy tea and toasted our own bread on the fire. There was cereal, fruit and yoghurt as well as a cooked breakfast from the camp ovens. Of course the kookaburras watched our every move hoping for some scraps.
We had a fabulous few days at the Undara Experience. So glad we didn’t miss it!
The drive from Cape Crawford to Mount Isa took us two days, with a pleasant night camping at Barkly Homestead. It was a relief that the road was bitumen because we weren’t confident in our hitch towing the van . But it held.
We booked into Sunset Caravan Park near town and set about organising a spare tyre and some minor repairs to car and van. We do have a few issues with the caravan that need to be seen to when we get to Brisbane. The poor van has been battered about on these dirt tracks. We also took the chance to give the car and van a really good clean to try and get rid of as much red dirt as possible. As we had had a good look at the town a few months ago, we were quite happy to chill out around the van. It was nice though to shop in Woolworths and have choice!
Then it was time to move on. The drive was lovely and there was no shortage of wildlife to see; we nearly ran over three different race horse goannas that wandered across in front of us, there were wallabies everywhere and we had two young emus racing us on the road!
We stopped to stretch our legs in Cloncurry. What a great outback town with a real western vibe. There were horses tied up on the main street next to cars and caravans, then on our way out we had to stop while jillaroos on motorbikes and horseback mustered cows along the road.
We spent a night at a free camp in Normanton. They had had some recent rains so we camped close to the road to avoid getting bogged. Even so, we slept well but woke to the noise of road trains passing . Normanton is another small outback town on the Savannah Way. The thing that stood out on the main street was the Purple Pub, and there were many other old buildings still in use.
Shire offices
I wanted to have a look at the old jail and tracker’s accommodation still there just off the main street. Apparently in the 1890s Normanton was the main jail for the whole of the Gulf region. It was then used as a watch house until the 1990s when the current police station was built. Alongside the jail is the Aboriginal tracker’s quarters, although not the original one.
The old jail
On the main street of Normanton is a replica of the largest crocodile ever captured in Australia.
We saw the Savannahlander train in the siding in town but it wasn’t going anywhere when we were there. I’d hoped to do a short trip either on this train or the Gulflander to see and hear more of the outback but our days did not coincide with their trips unfortunately.
However, before we left we took a drive north to Karumba Point which is a lovely little fishing port and coastal town. We bought a coffee and wandered around.
Karumba Point
All the little outback towns we have visited so far in Queensland have made a huge effort to attract visitors, mostly by displaying their history. Croydon was no exception. We drove into this charming little town having never heard of it. It seemed quiet, organised and clean, with lovely homes and neat gardens, some with picket fences. There were also lovely white lamp posts all along the streets which were replicas of two original ones that we couldn’t pick out.
We popped into the Visitors’ Centre – not actually expecting such a small place to have one – and were given a wealth of information about the town and what it had to offer. And what it had to offer was free: from free golf and free use of the pool to free exhibits on the town’s history. Remarkably John did not take advantage of a free game of golf but we did pay a $5 donation to camp at Freedom Camp at the rodeo park. This was lovely: quiet, close to town, flat with clean toilets and excellent showers. When we can, we prefer to save money and free camp or make a donation then make sure we spend money in the town. We did so by having a drink at the old pub and having an excellent cooked breakfast the next morning at the Cafe. We sat outside and enjoyed bacon and eggs to the sounds of Troy Casser-Daly and other country singers from the cafe’s speakers.
The Croydon pub has murals painted on the inside of the verandah
The two things I found most interesting in the history of Croydon was it’s role in the gold rush and the large Chinese population that largely came with that. The Chinese were not allowed to pan for gold so they worked as cooks and cleaners for the gold mining families. The Chinese built a temple just out of town which is now an archaeological site.
What’s left of the Chinese Temple
We had a good look round town at the old buildings and mining relics, reading all the information supplied. Then we drove out of town to look at the site of the Chinese Temple and also Lake Belmore. This area was as welcoming as the town with a picnic area, a bird hiding box as well as peace and quiet.
Croydon is well worth a visit to enjoy all the work the Shire and the locals have put into making it a very interesting town.
I knew it would be hard saying bye to the family but I also knew they had to get on with their lives and we had to get on with our travels. So it was short and sweet when we said au revoir at the end of the Blue Mud Bay track. They were turning right to go back home and we were turning left to continue on the Central Arnhem Road. I’m sure we will see them again soon somewhere. And there’s always Facetime.
They took the high road and we took the low road!
So we continued on the quite treacherous track towards the Stuart Highway. We stopped at Bulman for fuel but because it was a public holiday, the store was closed. The track did improve a bit and we finally camped for the night at Mainoru Station which was lovely (and the new managers were very nice!). We had a glass of red, an easy dinner, a quick shower, then fell into bed exhausted.
Mainoru Station is a lovely stop on the track
This was our fourth time driving the track with the van (I also did it with Kyran last year) and it was still as interesting. The vegetation changes along the way and we always see animals in the wild. This time we saw a dingo, a snake, lots of brumbies and wild donkeys.
Lots of brumbies crossed the track in front of usAs well as donkeys Morning coffee at the escarpment
Our plan was to reach Mataranka Homestead the next day and we did. We have explored this area before and had enjoyed our stay here. We booked in for a couple of nights to dust ourselves off, clean the van and do a washing. One of my first stops though was the hot springs. Heaven.
We knew we were going to start heading towards Queensland and we didn’t really want to drive a route we had already done ie through Mount Isa. John was hesitant about going the Savannah Way because we didn’t know how rough the track would be. Also, our motor had gone on our windscreen wipers although rain was unlikely. In Nhulunbuy we had met Glenn Griffiths who had introduced us to his parents, Anne and Noel. They do lots of travelling within Australia and come to Nhulunbuy every year to see their family. They often spoke to us about Roper Bar and a place called Tomato Island where they have stayed every winter for 16 years. They like to fish there for Barramundi. We were curious about the place and decided to go that way – over the Savannah Way.
The track was much better than the Central Arnhem Road although it was just one lane for most of the way which meant we had a lot of 4wds and road trains to avoid. We arrived hungry at the Roper Bar store but found out they no longer do food. We did pick up a few supplies and I shared the toilet with a huge frog .
ROPER BAR STORE
It was mid afternoon when we drove into Munbililla Campground aka Tomato Island, where we had heard Noel and Anne say they stayed. The camping area is a large expanse of mainly dirt with gravel tracks. It has a grassy area for tents, a large, clean ablutions block and a caretaker’s residence. Very basic and remote. Next to the camp is the river but you can’t walk on or fish from the bank because there are so many crocodiles. We set up camp and went for a stroll. This camp was set up by Vietnam Vets and has a little ANZAC garden. Some vets still come annually and many regular campers aim to get here before ANZAC Day. The garden was nice with some military objects dotted around, donated by the Department of Defence. One object was a rifle with a slouch hat sitting atop it. We had to go back and look at it again the next day when Bobbie, the camp host told us it had been made by a man out of an old gas bottle.
The campers are retirees who come from all around the country with their boats to spend two or three months fishing for Barramundi in the Roper River. From about 4pm we noticed them returning with their boats and, I imagine, their day’s catch (although we were told by Anne later that they have a catch and release system and only keep what they need for dinner or to supply someone else who didn’t have such a good day).
By five o’clock, most had gathered around the campfire and we were invited to join them for Happy Hour. Everyone was very friendly and we began to see what the attraction was for meeting up every year to share their enjoyment of camping and fishing. We ended up staying four nights and enjoyed the chat and sing song around the campfire. The camp hosts organised joint dinners some evenings- jaffle nights, pot nights and so on, and, while we were there, the women got together for a Mothers Day morning tea.
Happy Hour at Tomato Island
We had only intended to stay one night here as we were low on supplies and there was no store for a long, long way. However, Anne and Noel turned up and persuaded us to stay a bit longer. They very kindly took us out on the river in their boat and we helped put cherubine traps in which would, hopefully, be their bait for fishing. We had a beautiful couple of hours and saw a sea eagle’s nest, a sunken paddle steamer and a couple of crocs – one was massive!
A huge crocodile just watching us!
After a lovely few days, we said goodbye to Anne and Noel and headed along the Savannah Way towards Lorella Springs. We were getting low on fresh water, food and fuel. The track was a little rough and became much rougher driving the 29kms off the road into camp. However, we did enjoy seeing a bit of wildlife including another dingo (with breakfast in its mouth), buffalo, donkeys, eagles and many flocks of green budgies.
Lorella Springs is a little oasis in the dusty outback. Well not so little: it is one million acres of working station and tourist attraction. It was nice to camp on green grass and be able to soak in thermal springs once again. There is a restaurant and bar too. As a guest you are free to roam the 4wd tracks to swimming gorges and other hot springs. This is the main attraction of Lorella Springs of course. We probably went at the worst time for us. John wasn’t keen on paying $3 a litre for diesel, and the meals were super expensive. To camp was $60 per night. We enjoyed our one night stay but decided to move on without exploring the property. Maybe that was a wrong decision.
The track from Lorella to Cape Crawford was very rough and we ended up with a sheared tyre on the car. Being low on food, fuel and water, it was the worst thing that could happen. Correction. The worst thing was that we were unable to disconnect the spare tyre from under the Amorok. It was connected by a wire that needed to be folded in like a butterfly clip but, no matter how hard we tried lying there on that hot, dusty track, it would not work. After an hour, we gave up and cut through the wire. It took us another hour to get the spare tyre on!
We were filthy, exhausted and thirsty by the time we finally got moving. In hindsight, we were probably careless when we reconnected the caravan to the car. About fifteen minutes later we drove through a gully and felt a huge thud! The caravan had come off the car. The shackle was broken, the hitch was broken and the Anderson plug was broken.
It took us another hour to jack up the caravan and for John to make the hitch reasonably safe. We were so relieved to see the Heartbreak Hotel as we limped into Cape Crawford later that day. Heartbreak Hotel is the only thing in Cape Crawford (and it isn’t named for people like us who crawl in off the Savannah Way). It isnt a hotel; it’s a caravan park and fuel stop used by road trains. But it had diesel, a campsite, a shower and a licensed cafe so we were very happy. We even got chatting to some lovely campers – as you do – and they were able to give us some advice on having the caravan fixed and getting another spare tyre.
Heartbreak Hotel The emu followed me to the laundry
So the next morning, after a nice hot breakfast, we turned right instead of left and headed back to Mount Isa instead of Borroloola to get some repairs done and fill the fridge at Woolworths.
The drive along the ‘track’ was challenging. The recent heavy rains had caused washouts and pot poles everywhere. With Kyran in front of us, we weren’t too concerned; we knew he would have eveverything he needed to get us out of trouble. The drive to the turnoff to Blue Mud Bay was around 200kms then 60kms in on a gravel and corrugated track. It took us about five hours but that was towing our vans and stopping occasionally to give the children a break. But it was worth every kilometre.
Blue Mud Bay is a partly enclosed bay on the western side of the Gulf of Carpentaria. It lies close to Baniyala homeland. The Baniyala Garrangali Aboriginal Corporation operates the camping area where we were staying. There appeared to be five camping sites offering direct access to the beach, fresh water and a fireplace. There was also a ‘drop toilet’ and showers. We were very impressed given the remoteness of the place.
It didn’t take us long to set up camp and head off to explore the area. There was only John and myself, Kyran, Vanessa and the children on the first night with friends expected to arrive the following day.
Our campKyran and Vanessa’s camp
We had four nights booked and we planned to relax, fish, explore and cook over the campfire.
our campfishing was fun but we caught nothing
Vanessa and Tommy made cheese, bacon and chive damper in the camp oven for lunch then I made pulled pork for dinner. After sunset John and Tommy toasted marshmallows over the fire. While all this was happening, Joey just chilled out.
We took a drive into Baniyala, hoping the shop might sell ice cream. We were out of luck although they were well stocked with food – just no ice cream nor soft drinks.
Baniyala Store
The next day, Sam, Drew, Talei and Lincoln arrived, plus Troy, CJ and other people we knew and some we were yet to meet. The Stevens brought their quad bike, and Talei and Lincoln took turns riding Tommy around. Talei spent lots of time with Joey too.
Vanessa had brought a couple of paddling pools for the kids as it was very hot. The big kids loved them almost as much as the little kids!
The days were hot and we went off exploring on the bush tracks and beaches. We did more fishing and still caught nothing!
This was us driving along the beach
And there was always cricket! Or making bridges!
But the most stunning part of the day was sunset!
What a fabulous few days and a magnificent and memorable way to end our time in East Arnhem. Thank you Kyran, Vanessa, Tommy, Joey, the Stevens, the Griffiths, the Gales, Sue Fraser and everyone else who contributed to making our six months in Nhulunbuy so wonderful.
After some false starts, the time has come to leave our beautiful family and our new friends in Nhulunbuy. To say our time here has been wonderful is an understatement. We have had the most fabulous experiences and met terrific people, and I’ve tried to share most of these on this blog. The most precious time, of course, was watching Joey grow from a brand new baby to a happy, chubby six months old, as well as having so much quality time with Tommy.
Although the covid rules and lock downs prevented Tayler from going back home to Perth at the end of her three weeks holiday with us at Christmas, it was a huge bonus for us to have the extra six weeks with her and for me to have my side of the family all together.
The last ten days since we were supposed to leave, have been interesting. The heavy rain brought two crocodiles to the golf course! When the course opened, golfers had to battle sodden greens and cane toads as well as looking out for crocs! (Photos courtesy of Jane Utting)
We had a couple of lovely evenings out. First to the Golf Club for dinner with some of the teachers and then to the Boat Club with Kyran, Vanessa and boys. Sunsets on both nights were beautiful.
Gove Golf ClubGove Boat Club
It was a lovely way to end our time in Gove but it was time to move on.
Our plan was to drive out of Nhulunbuy after Kyran’s birthday and Easter. We booked a campsite at Blue Mud Bay for four nights with the idea of camping there with Kyran, Vanessa and the boys before leaving them to head towards Far North Queensland. However, the rain put an end to that. Well not really. We have just postponed it. We had everything packed up and ready to leave: we had completed our last housesit, I had finished working at the school, our big shop had been done, the car was topped up with fuel, the caravan made ready – but the rain didn’t stop.
Getting out of here involves driving ‘the track’. The Central Arnhem Road, as I’ve said before, crosses Aboriginal owned land for most of its 663 kms (412 miles), and road conditions vary with most of it unsealed and prone to seasonal flooding. And this is the Wet Season. And it’s flooded. 1.4 metres at some points.
The Track yesterday. Photo courtesy of Sam Dentith
Taking our caravan, Kyran and Vanessa’s camper trailer, a baby and a five year old child along a flooded dirt track for several hours did not seem sensible so we have rebooked Blue Mud Bay for the end of April and hope the rain has eased.
I was a bit disappointed that we were unable to go camping. None of us has been to Blue Mud Bay and it’s said to be beautiful. Then I remembered that time is not my enemy any more. We have plenty time. And, of course, I get more time with Tommy and Joey.
Another reason I am not disappointed is because there is always something interesting happening in Gove. Since my last post there have been a few more birthdays. John’s was first and we splashed out on another beautiful painting by Gayili and Mary. Once again the paint was still drying when we collected it.
I organised with one of our Nhulunbuy ‘family’, Drew, to take John out fishing on his birthday. They had a great morning.
John enjoyed his birthday. But a birthday isn’t a birthday without cake. Vanessa and Tommy made the birthday cake, and Tommy helped John blow out the candles.
I was invited to Tommy’s friend, Evie’s fourth birthday at Latram River. We had a lovely afternoon. I had never been to Latram before and it was so nice; the perfect, safe place for children to splash around and have fun. No crocodiles! And, of course, Kylie made another incredible birthday cake.
Kyran was recovering from covid on his birthday but we managed a birthday cake when he was out of isolation. Joey loved the light from the candles.
Another couple of interesting things happened that are probably unique to the Territory. During the last week of Term, the Yolngu students caught and cooked a Magpie Goose for lunch! I was tempted to taste it but I didn’t. I was told it tastes a bit like duck.
Mikey enjoying the Magpie Goose
I also had the chance to take a few students to look through the police station and lock up alongside the resident policewoman at school, Kiara. It was really interesting.
Sam and Talei, other members of our Nhulunbuy family, have been learning to weave baskets courtesy of some of the indigenous ladies. They explained the long process of finding and picking pandanus leaves, drying them, dyeing them and weaving them. So much work goes into them and I decided I wanted to buy one to take home to WA. Sam took Vanessa and I out to meet a lady in Ski Beach who makes beautiful wall hangings and baskets. She was almost out of pandanus leaves so we said we would organise a time to take her out to collect some.
Janet with one of her woven wall hangings
Unfortunately, the weather has been too wet to go out picking leaves so I bought a basket from the Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Art Centre in Yirrkala which I love. It came with a biography of the artist so I was very happy. Now that we have been delayed here, we might still get a chance to help find leaves. Who knows?
One of our favourite things to do is have a campfire at the beach. It’s such a social occasion and very relaxing. We took the chance to gather at Middle Beach to acknowledge everybody’s birthdays and say au revoir to a few Nhulunbuy family members that we thought would be away when we drove out of town.
When I said goodbye to the staff and students at the high school, I didn’t think I’d be back there at all never mind the first day after the holidays! I can work every day here until we leave. I’m not complaining . I don’t mind as it helps pay for our trip. As with all schools I’ve worked in, the staff are great and so are many of the students.
Carlee, Laila and Alesha from school and below, some of the kids I’ll miss
If we are going to be rained in then staying in Nhulunbuy is a great option. The rain comes down heavy in between lovely sunshine and the temperature has hovered around 30 degrees. So we often head down to East Woody or Middle Beach with Tommy and Skylar (and sometimes Evie and Sunny too) to collect shells and look for hermit crabs. When it’s too wet, Tommy and I might go to the library or toy library, or we all might head out to Latitude 12 for a coffee or lunch.
East Woody BeachWirrawuy Beach At the local library
Yes, if we have to wait out the rain anywhere, we are very happy it is here in Gove!
Two special things happened this week – Harmony Day and my 65th birthday! While I am joking about my birthday being special, it did turn out to be one I will always remember.
But first to Harmony Day. This is a day when Australians celebrate their cultural diversity. It’s a day for cultural respect for everyone who lives in Australia. The school here in Nhulunbuy organised some fabulous activities. Unfortunately, at the very start of the celebrations, there was a massive storm that lasted all day and caused a power failure. It meant that the afternoon had to be cancelled which was such a pity. However, what did go ahead was lunch and a traditional dance by some of the Yolngu girls. It was beautiful.
The girls did a lovely dance
I had also looked forward to the boys playing the didgeridoo but sadly that wasn’t able to happen.
The previous day, the Yolngu students went fishing with spears and came back with dhu fish, yabbies and mud mussels. They made a delicious fish curry and damper for us all to enjoy for lunch on Harmony Day.
It was such a pity about the storm; the grounds of the school were flooded and the power was out which made for an interesting afternoon of teaching.
The wet season
My birthday fell on the weekend and John suggested we go out to Latitude 12 for coffee. Vanessa and the children joined us. Kyran worked nightshift so was still asleep but little Evie, Tommy’s friend came along too. It was lovely. We had thought we might have a camp fire on the beach in the evening but storm clouds were still hanging around so we decided just to have a celebration drink at home.
On the way back from coffee I realised we were on the wrong road home but John said he thought we’d go for a drive. After a few minutes we turned left off the road towards an Aboriginal community called Galupa. I told John we shouldn’t go in there without permission but he kept going then stopped the car and got out. I had no idea what was going on but he had actually commissioned one of the Yolngu artists, Mary, to paint a traditional painting for me. He knows how much I love them! I felt very overwhelmed with surprise but also because I’d already had my birthday presents from John, Tayler, Kyran, Vanessa and the boys – gorgeous matching Embella bracelet and anklet which I love. But here I was being presented with an amazing painting where the paint wasn’t quite dry! In fact I had a choice between two – the one just finished of a waterlily (or nyamnyam in Yolgnu) and one Mary had just started of a crocodile. Although I chose the Nyamnyam painting, I was intrigued watching her paint lines on the other with what I discovered was human hair! This photo is of me with my beautiful gift and the artist, Mary, sitting next to her mother, Gayili.
My beautiful surprise gift
As we drove out of the Galupa, we saw a new friend, Sue. She was helping a Yolngu lady take red and black bead seeds off the trees. I was quite fascinated by what they were doing. Later, Sue came round for a drink and presented me with a red and black necklace, bracelet and earrings set made from the bead seeds by the Yolngu women! I was so thrilled.
The red and black bead seeds earrings
In the late afternoon, some family and friends came around to the house for birthday drinks. It was a hot evening. John had put up balloons and Vanessa had set the tables outside beautifully with candles and flowers and shells and a ‘happy birthday’ sign. It looked so beautiful!
Vanessa had laid out a beautiful table for my birthday drinks
I had a magical evening. I was really overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of our Gove family and friends. Sam had made an amazing Pimms punch, Glenn brought me some freshly caught and cooked crabs for lunch the next day, everyone brought gifts as well as lots of food and drink and we had a great time.
As if all that wasn’t enough, Kylie (in blue in the photos!) surprised me later in the evening with the most amazing chocolate and salted caramel birthday cake which she made. Wow!
My incredible birthday cake courtesy of KylieI even got to make a wish!
At the end of the night I remarked to Drew what a wonderful day I’d had and how I was overwhelmed by everyone’s kindness and generosity. He replied “that’s what we do; we are a family and we make sure we make a fuss of each other because we don’t have our real family here”.
The most enjoyable time for me relieving at the high school in Gove is spending time with the Yolngu students. They are delightful: friendly, polite, helpful – and extremely affectionate. It is not at all unusual for a student to hug me in the classroom while I’m teaching, or to stroke my arm, play with my rings or do my hair. Once I got used to this, I was fine with it. Except during the covid outbreak when some would forget to wear their mask!
The Yolngu people speak about twelve different dialects of their language with English often being their second, third, fourth or twelfth language. While they speak in language to each other, they talk English to me. Some are trying to teach me Yolngu words but I’m not a very good student I’ve discovered. Some of the girls call me ‘Aunty’ and I call them ‘Gathu’ meaning niece. Some other words I know are ‘Gutharra’ (grandchild), ‘Momu’ (grandmother) and ‘Ngathi’ (grandfather). One group of students wanted to give me a nickname and, after some discussion, they came up with ‘Bonba’ meaning butterfly. I was pleased. I often hear them calling ‘Bonba’ and waving across the quadrangle.
One of the Yolngu students is always playing music or tapping. One morning I listened to him playing a piece of poly pipe like a didgeridoo. It was amazing. He told me his father is the lead singer in the indigenous band, King Stingray, and his grandfather was in the well known group, Yothu Yindi. Obviously music is in the genes.
Last week I went out with some students, a teacher and members of Clontarf who were cleaning up around their bush shelter at the back of the school. They were also starting to build another one. (The Clontarf and Stars Foundations help to improve the education, life skills and employment prospects of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, and they work with students in the school). They use the shelter when they have lessons outside – they might be making spears or collecting bush tucker for example.
The students gave me permission to post some photos I took.
One of the students showed me a tree which has leaves they use as soap. This is the Alphitonia excelsa plant also known as Red Ash.
The leaves from the soap tree froth up to clean our skin
I don’t always work with the Yolngu students. Many other students here that I work with have grown up around Gove and speak some of the Yolngu language. It’s great.
I’m not sure if the students are learning anything from me but I am certainly learning lots from them.
Life just can’t get any better. In 1989, when Kyran was two, we travelled from Sydney to Perth around the top. It was an amazing six months but I always wanted to do it again and take more time. I keep pinching myself to check that this is real, this is our life, spending several months here in Nhulunbuy. We didn’t plan to stay for so long; we didn’t really have a set plan at all which is what I’ve loved. Its so freeing. Friends keep asking if we are going to stay on and live here – and we could. There is plenty work and housesitting available. But no, we are not. We are coming back to Western Australia later in the year. We miss the family there but they are all very happy to see us doing this trip.
On Sunday we finished housesitting for Angela’s family, looking after Red, Bomber and Cat. We had a lovely stay and enjoyed playing with the dogs and taking them to the beach. (Cat preferred to stay in the wardrobe!)
Bomber Red and Bomber
The next day we moved into Lindsay’s house to look after her two poodles. She is a Remote Nurse with Angel Flight. Sadly, Lindsay’s home in Queensland, and that of her parents were both impacted by the recent floods and it appears they have lost everything. Poor girl has only been in Nhulunbuy for four weeks. She has gone back home to help with the clean up. In the meantime we are taking care of Digby and Louie, her two beautiful pets.
Louie and Digby with their basket of toys
Aside from looking after dogs and houses, I am working lots at the school still and John plays golf at least twice a week. Rarely a weekend passes though without us having some kind of adventure.
One such adventure was another trip to Macassan Beach with some new teacher friends. We took fishing rods, drinks and pickies to share. One teacher, Jane, brought along a friend Linda who is also new to East Arnhem. She is an Early Childhood Teacher who has decided to retire next year. As it’s her last year of work, she wanted to do something different so left her husband and family behind in Victoria and took a job here for twelve months as a Remote Teacher. She is based in Yirkala (a local Aboriginal community) and flies out daily to other remote communties to teach the young indigenous children. I found her fascinating to talk to and we’ve organised to catch up again.
We left for Macassan around 3pm in a convoy of three cars. The track in was very wet and muddy from earlier rain and we drove through lots of water. Luckily none was terribly deep. Our car drives really well on these off road and four wheel drive tracks and it’s something we are used to now. When we first left Dongara, we were definitely inexperienced off road drivers but don’t even give it much thought now. It had been quite a windy day and we thought it might be a quick trip but it turned out to be a perfect evening. No-one caught any fish but we had a lovely time with lovely people.
Another evening we were invited to Middle Beach by Drew and Sam who had recently caught lots of fish and decided to make beer battered fish and chips for their friends. There was quite a group of us gathered with our camp chairs and eskies. Of course they had the traditional camp fire going as well as all their cooking equipment. This was a windy evening but it made no difference to the lovely sunset and our enjoyment. The fish and chips were fabulous – as were the beer battered onion rings, brie and prawns. Lucky us.
Kylie, a friend of Vanessa and Kyran’s, had her birthday recently and invited us all to spend the day out on the boats. We had another spectacular day cruising up Giddies River then anchoring at Granite Island. John didn’t come with us that day, preferring to have a quiet day at home. He missed a terrific day out.
You may have noticed some people missing in these photos! With the borders now open, Vanessa took the opportunity to take the children back to Melbourne to see her family. Tommy was just three when they left Victoria and, of course, Vanessa’s family hadn’t met Joey. Unfortunately, all of them contracted covid within a few days of arriving and they were sick and isolated for a week. Happily they are all well now and having a lovely holiday. We miss them and look forward to seeing them soon.
Tommy at Lego Land with GrandmaJoey will have grown so much by the time we see him
Who knows what the next weeks will bring? We never tire of the amazing beaches and bush here. They are rugged and beautiful. And the people we have met are great. We have about six weeks left in Nhulunbuy. We will be so sad to leave the family and the town but look forward to seeing more of this amazing country.
Here we are half way through February and we are still in East Arnhem Land, and enjoying every minute. When we set out on this trip last May, we thought we would be slowly making our way back home towards Western Australia by now. We live in an unpredictable world at the moment and covid19 has impacted our trip – mostly in a good way. We made the decision to hunker down in Nhulunbuy for the wet season and it was a good decision having so much time with family. Tayler finally got home last week. We were all very grateful for the extra time we had with her, especially Tommy who had lots of fun with her planting seeds, making a worm farm and collecting tadpoles amongst other things. I think she was sad to leave us but happy to return to her own life and her studies. As she said ‘when could I ever take a two month holiday in real life?’ Mind you when her flight home was delayed by over an hour, we all wondered if she would ever get back home.
Tommy was hoping the plane wouldn’t leave and Tayler could stay!
A few days before Tayler left, a group of us planned a trip to the Granite Islands for a barbecue. It would be an ‘au revoir’ to Tayler. There were four boatloads of us but no Tayler; she woke up that morning with a sore throat. She missed out on a lovely afternoon but Kyran was good enough to take her back out there in the boat when she recovered.
We did, however, manage to have lunch at Latitude with Tayler the day before she left. Vanessa, myself and the children joined her for some cocktails and a meal, and Tommy swam in the pool. It was lovely.
Cocktails, lunch and swim at Latitude
We are currently in our third housesit and we move into another next week. We thought that might be the last and, if the track out was driveable, we would move on to Far North Queensland. However, someone we recently house-sat for asked us again for ten days over Easter. I’m happy to delay leaving Tommy and Joey for as long as possible but we decided to stay because I’m getting so much relief work at school here. With covid rife in town and spreading quickly through school, I should continue to get lots of work. Providing I stay well of course. Things change almost daily but our new plan is to leave Nhulunbuy around 20th April. Kyran, Vanessa and the boys are going to drive the track with us and try out their new camper trailer which should be fun. We will head to Far North Queensland. We’d like to go as far north as Cape York (which I did in 1989) but we will see how brave we are nearer the time.
I’ve always said I’d never have another dog, the main reason being it’s devastating when they die. The other reason is that I’ve never wanted the responsibility and I’ve always wanted to be free to travel. During our time of housesitting, we’ve had to look after some dogs. So far there have been a cavoodle named Harry, two bull mastiffs called Remy and Jayda, and we looked after a beautiful Cavalier King Charles/Cocker Spaniel pup, Sunny, for a few hours. We’ve also spent quite a bit of time with Tommy’s dog, Skylar. We take her to the beach often and she usually accompanies on day trips and camping expeditions . When I worked in the special education class of the high school here, one of the teachers brought in Nala and Max, his Golden Labrador and German Shepherd for the day. The day turned into a week because the students loved them. So did we adults. For once the kids were calm, only fighting over whose turn it was to walk the dogs!
HarrySunnyRemy and JaydaOops. I forgot to close the toilet door last night!Nala and Max, visitors to the classroom!
Skylar eenjoying the beach
We have some more housesits with dogs coming up and one with a dog and a cat. I have to say I have really enjoyed the dogs. They have all been great company and mostly well behaved. We were both a little hesitant about our ten days with the bull mastiffs (Remy and Jayda) but they were well trained and not at all aggressive. John has always agreed with me about not having a pet, however, after spending so much time looking after dogs, I think both of us could be open to the idea when we return home to WA. We can’t see ourselves doing any more long trips, and John has said his days of travelling overseas are over. So who knows? We won’t rule it out.
At the time of writing its pouring with rain. Well it is the Wet Season but we have really had very little rain. Recently we had our second cyclone warning (the first being on Christmas Day). We had to batten down the hatches and prepare a cyclone emergency pack. At the same time our friends in Dunsborough in Western Australia had to evacuate because of a bushfire; friends in the east of the country were battling floods. As it turned out, once again the cyclone moved away and we were spared. We had one day of good rain and that was it. I haven’t gone through a Wet Season before but I’m liking it. It’s hot and humid but not unbearably so. I love the rolling thunder that comes with the storm clouds which often don’t produce much rain.
The weather isn’t affecting how much we are enjoying ourselves here. The two caravan parks are closed, so are some of the beaches and bush camps. The tracks get muddy and impassable. Now that covid has arrived in Nhulunbuy and the surrounding Indigenous communities are exclusion zones, some of the cafes and the amazing Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka Art Centre in Yirkala are closed. But there is plenty to keep us occupied. John, Tayler and I have been swimming laps at the pool, we enjoy taking Tommy and Skylar to the beach, we visit the library and toy library often, and have the odd dinner at the Boat Club. And John continues to play golf.
Boat Club at sunsetWirrawuy Beach
Skylar loves the beach
Tayler, who came to visit for Christmas, is still here, unable to get home. As the covid numbers have increased in the Northern Territory, so the Premier of Western Australia, Mark McGowan, has tightened the border making it almost impossible for WA residents to return home. The initial plan to open the WA border on 5th February was cancelled. However, soon there is going to be a slight broadening of compassionate reasons for residents to get home and Tayler hopes to get an exemption to return to Perth on 8th February. Fingers crossed for her. Every cloud has a silver lining and ours has been spending all this extra time with her, and for her, having all this extra time with her nephews, Tommy and Joey.
Tayler, John and meTayler with Joey At the pool with Tommy
As luck would have it, Tayler was offered her own house sit for a couple of weeks. She jumped at the chance mainly because there was a very cute dog to take care of as well as some baby chicks. The house was lovely and had its own pool. Tommy, in particular, loved spending time there with her. She even had use of a car.
Evie, Tommy and I in the pool at Tayler’s housesit
We had another visitor. John’s sister, Maureen, came to stay for a week from Darwin. Despite some businesses being closed, she had a good time and enjoyed being with family. Kyran took us out to Macassan Beach (Garanhan) about 40kms of dirt track from Nhulunbuy township. With the recent rains, the track was very muddy but fun to navigate. As we approached Macassan, Tommy rode his quad bike the rest of the way. He loved the puddles!
Australia Day with Maureen at Latitude 12
driving the muddy track to Macassan Beach
Tommy on his quad bike
Despite being cloudy, it was lovely and we enjoyed fossicking in the rockpools there. We were surprised to see coral, sea urchins and fish in some of the larger pools.
Macassan Beach was named after the annual visits by the Macassan traders from Sulawesi in Indonesia who traded sea cucumbers (trepang) and turtle shells hundreds of years before European settlement. Maureen and I wandered around and found some Aboriginal Rock Art in the form of stone pictures telling the story of the Macassan traders. The arrangements are believed to have been made in the 19th century by the Yolngu elders to teach future generations about the visiting traders. It is amazing to see something like this just there with no fences to protect it. This is one of the things I love most about East Arnhem Land.
We spent a couple of hours looking around before detouring to look at Turtle Beach on the drive home.
Turtle Beach
So things are changing again. Maureen has gone back home, Tayler has finished at her housesit and has moved in with Kyran and Vanessa, and we have moved back into the caravan. We have three more housesits lined up ending on 5 March. It will depend on the state of the Central Arnhem Road whether we leave Nhulunbuy then or stay longer. I have been asked to go back to the high school to do some relief teaching when school returns next week. Things have worked out really well for us. We are looking forward to what the next few weeks brings.
Flannerys' Footprints 