Hawaii 5-0

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DAY 269


We awoke fairly early it was still dark, we could hear barking in the distance, we listened, it is not the normal barking of a dog and dingo’s don’t bark, they howl, we think that what we can hear are Barking Owls. If you listen one barks then the other one barks, we have been told that they come in pairs, we are definitely listening to a pair of Barking Owls.

Andy is restless and he is keeping me awake but finally he says at 6.30 that he is going for a shower and a shave, great I can have a bit longer in bed and some peace and quiet, if I was being a really good wife, then I would get out of bed and put the kettle on so that Andy has a nice cup of tea waiting for him when he gets back. Instead I end up with a cup of tea in bed.

They have good facilities here including hot water showers, so it is now my turn. The hot water comes out I turn on the cold to get the temperature right and step in, a short while later it gets too hot, then it goes cold and then the water stops altogether, so I keep dodging in and out of the shower and hop back in when the temperature evens out. It is too cool a morning to mess around like this.

Back at camp Andy is busy on the blog, we realise it is Sunday and a good excuse for Bacon and Eggs, so I soon have the frying pan out and make it busy. After breakfast we decide to head up to reception and borrow their satellite Internet connection, it is the only way we can get Internet here, no point even trying to plug the Telstra Dongle in! At $5.00 per half hour we can get the blog uploaded and let family and friends know that we are ok.

While Andy goes off to do the Internet, I put a load in the washing machine, however it seems to be continually running water, that is to say it is never filling up, a lady stops by to collect her washing from the only other machine and tells me that she tried that one earlier and it is not working, she had to transfer her washing into the other machine, so that is what I am going to have to do too.

Soon my washing is successfully on the go, but I do go to let the management know that one machine is not working, they do not seem that interested as I am the second person and they are not bothering to put an out of order sign up, instead the guy tells me that if I get bored waiting then I can use the bucket to tip water into the machine to speed it up, i.e. the pipes are so clogged with calcium deposits it takes ages for the water to run through, I thought “yes, so long that it continually runs out at the bottom!” Not really the answer, however he does refund my money and pays for an additional wash by way of apology, so I am grateful for that.

I find Andy hammering away at the Internet, I must point out that this is the first Internet since we left Borroloola, when we were sat on the side of the road uploading blogs in between making a sandwich for lunch.

We are really pleased to see that we have Skype messages and we have 4 messages on the blog. It seems that Google Earth is being used to track us i.e. just to see where we are, that’s great news. Thanks Karen (Matron) for also doing some research for us, I should give you the next part of the route so that you can give me the information on what to see and what not to see and we both agree, I don’t know why we didn’t do this when we came over in 2007, we just fell into the tourist trap, but next time we promise it will be different.

So the blog’s uploaded with photos, messages read, we have Skype messages, thanks Kahlia (Travelin’ Trueys, not so travelin’ at the moment though). Washing collected from the machine, we can now go out and play, so we hop into the truck and head out to Lawn Hill Gorge.

There is a campsite at Lawn Hill Gorge, but the spaces are limited, we see the campsite when we get there, but on reflection I am glad we are at Adel’s Grove as the site is beautiful and we have plenty of shade, the ground is dusty but we cannot have everything.

We wander off to find the canoe hire place and soon we have a canoe in our possession, we give the chap $40.00 for the hire, that should cover us for two hours, enough time to get up to the top gorge. Andy is given a double paddle and I am given a single paddle he seems to think that Andy would do most of the paddling anyway, as we are paddling along we are singing the tune to Hawaii 5-0, just to add realism to our canoeing expedition.

We sit in the canoe, Andy in behind and me in front with the camera, it is not long after we set sail that Andy says to me, “I will paddle, and don’t you do anything except take photos.” So every time I try to paddle he tells me to take it out of the water, I am not sure that he trusts me with the paddle, even though we have both canoed before.

I did not bring my camera with me, we just have Andy’s point and shoot, even though we have been given a flotation container (not guaranteed waterproof), our bits and pieces go in there for safe keeping should the canoe tip over. I also wonder why I put clean clothes on this morning, it was a complete waste of time.

Lawn Hill gorge is beautiful, it is a hot afternoon, but nowhere near as hot as some gorges we have experienced, it is so gentle just being paddled up the creek, there is a cool breeze catching us every now and again.

We canoe to the top of the middle gorge where there are some beautiful waterfalls, the scenery here is just stunning, all very tropical with the palms and the pandanus overhanging the water and people swimming and playing on the tubes.

Andy gentle manoeuvres us to the landing pad, I gingerly get out in order not to overbalance the canoe. I put our gear on the side and then hold the canoe steady for Andy to get out. This is the tricky bit, we have to get the canoe out of the water, up the specially built slide in order to drag it up the slope and over to the landing pad on the top gorge.

We slide it up and over soon we are ready to launch down the slide on the other side, I sit in grab our gear, Andy gives the canoe a shove into the water and the whole lot goes in including me! No not really I just wanted to see if you were paying attention. Andy pushes the canoe gently so the back of it is afloat then he gets in and pushes the canoe off the slide and we are away.

Every time I try to stick the paddle in the water Andy shouts at me to take it out. I try to keep the camera handy to keep taking photos; we have been promised freshwater crocodiles in here, no saltwater crocs though, although no one ever commits to a guarantee that there are not saltwater crocs. I guess the possibility is always there, if one had come in during the last wet season they may have known about it by now.

There are 6 kilometres of gorge in total to paddle up, so we cruise up this section, every now and again we see someone canoeing towards us coming back from their little jaunt up the gorge. One canoeist tells us where the freshies are hanging out, so just up around the corner we keep an eye out.

There it is basking on a rock in the sunshine looking very serene so Andy canoes closer in order to get a photo, I do hope that he has full control of the boat as I do not want to bash into the rock to incur the wrath of a croc. The freshies will not harm you as long as you do not bother them. It becomes aware that we are there it starts growling (kind of a loiw frequency grumble - but we get the message) so Andy paddles backwards to take the canoe and us out of harms way and we move on. We get up to the rapids, when I say rapids they are not raging rapids, just a narrow shallow gap where the water is running fast through. Andy gathers all of his strength to push against the flow of the water. It is calm normal flow on the other side and you eventually come to the creek where the water comes from.

Paddling back down through the gorge, we see two other freshies hanging around by the rapids, we paddle past for the customary photo, they are quite well masked by the mangroves, although we are a fair distance we hear one of them hiss, so again Andy paddles back and we paddle on.

We enjoy our trip down the gorge, we are back out of the water over the slide and back in the gorge on the other side, I manage to pinch my thumb between the canoe and the landing pad in the process of re launch, but soon we are underway, we canoe past the swimmers enjoying the falls it all looks very relaxing just floating up to the falls, but I cannot say that I am finding this hard work as Andy is still doing all the work.

As luck would have it we find another freshie in the middle gorge, this one is basking on a fallen tree, we get quite close to it for a photo but it ignores us blissful in slumber. We have been fortunate to see four freshwater crocodiles on our jaunt up the gorge.

Eventually we are back at the start, Andy makes a bee line for the landing stage which means paddling it right up onto the beach. We are soon beached and back on dry land.

We arrive back at camp, we get back onto the Internet to finish uploading missing blogs, I make a cup of coffee for us, making a gold coin donation to the Royal Flying Doctors Service.

Adels Grove is well worth a visit, it is a beautiful place, I had a walk in the afternoon by the river, it is so tranquil and a bird lovers paradise here. The only thing that does not work well here seems to be the reception area, the computer system makes everything seem hard work for the reception staff (they might be new) it took us 20 minutes to check in yesterday and there is always a queue of people waiting. I bought two ice lollies but by the time you get to pay for them they melt. However don’t let that put you off, it is a great place and I would go back there.

I heat up the curry for tonight’s dinner, leftovers again, we wanted it last night but it was still frozen, still tonight it is a welcome feast with naan bread and rice.

Andy and Caralyn have put together the camp fire, we weren’t going to light it quite yet, however the ashes from last night were disturbed and before long smoke started to billow out, I went over and blew on it, there were already a couple of embers and suddenly with one blow flames just appeared and the fire was in full flame. It is that easy to start a fire and out here you can see how easy and how quickly it can turn into a disaster.

We sit around the fire, eat dinner and chat with Scott and Caralyn, they are moving on in the morning but we have not quite decided what we will do yet, we need to have a review of the map

We see an Agile Wallaby wander past while we talk, and every now and again we hear a rustling in the bushes and trees, we wonder if it is a snake or a lizard, we have not seen any that were on the list and we were so desperate to see the 4 metre python, but no such luck.

Soon it is bedtime I make my way up to the amenities my torch is giving up and every now and again I am plunged into darkness, I must get new batteries otherwise I will end up in the pitch dark somewhere, thankfully tonight we have plenty of moonlight and I remember that I must tell you about the notice behind all of the loo doors.

“Please close the lid of the toilet to keep the frogs out and anything that would come in to eat the frogs!” Trust me the last thing that you would want while sitting on the loo is a cuddle from the local python, or anything else for that matter!

I try to zip up the tent before I jump into bed, but it is becoming increasingly a problem to zip up. I need to think of a way for a quick cheap alternative. I may put some Velcro on the inner flap and then get a large piece of mosquito netting and put Velcro on that to attach it to the door. We have to be able to keep out insects and snakes.

As I lie in bed the moon is so bright tonight the inside of the tent is completely lit up.

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Photos

Me
Doing all thework

Our shady spot
At lawn Hill

Lawn Hill Gorge
It was just beautiful

Does my bum look big
In this Crocodile suit

Dargging the Canoe out
Of the water

Dragging the Canoe
Back in to the water

Caroline
Queen of the Nile

Comments

[Mum and Dad]

Barking Mad
Hello there you two...... Barking Owls!...are you sure, the heat in Oz must have sent you two barking mad (sorry, just a joke) We would love to see and hear the Barking owls.....I was telling my hairdresser today how much we have appreciated your blogs.....we have learned such a lot about Oz we feel all the better for your daily diary......you will never know how much we appreciate all of your writings (or typings!) We so miss you but you have allowed us to enter into your daily lives by blogs and as we have said before the blogs are a highlight of our day apart from the days when we are able to talk and to see you on Skype. How you both have enriched your lives with your wonderful adventures. Wished we had thought about Google Earth to trace your journey.......Fantastic......We are using Google Earth at the moment to trace where we would like to spend a month in the Spanish sun.....will let you know the dates later..... Speak to you soon......Love you millions...Mum and Dad xxxxx