Broome - Day 38

Mackenzie: Today we slept in then we went to town.  After that we went to the pool and did crazy tricks.  We went and had showers and then had an ice cup, I had cola.  For dinner we had curry and noodles then we watched a movie.

Fletcher: Today we slept in till 8am , we had bacon and eggs non toast and I finished it at the time I wanted to finish it at which was 9.00.  We left to go to town, mum and Mackenzie went to target while dad and I went to the airport to take a look.  We saw a Qantas passenger plane then dad and I went looking at some houses.  I played in a playground and then we had to pick mum and Mackenzie up.  They got me adventure time pyjamas with a hat.  I got to go to the pool, we did belly flops and cannon balls, we did some with dad too.  We had chicken curry for dinner.

Today we had a big cook up for breakfast, eggs and bacon on toast.  It was a great way to start the day but makes you want to go back to bed.  As you know Daniel is a bit of a sleepy head at home but on holidays he is always on a mission, with his alarm set between 6am & 7 am everyday.   He leaves the alarm going long enough that he has woken up the whole van, sometimes the vans around us!  After our cook up we headed into Broome for a look around again.  Mackenzie and I decided to have some girls time at the plaza and Daniel and Fletcher some boys time exploring.  Mack and I had another look in target and got a few more bargains.  When we were here the other day she heard a lady say to her little girl, "you go order a baby chino and I will be over in a minute"  So we got chatting as she hadn't heard of a baby chino, poor kid just because her mum doesn't drink hot drinks she was nearly 10years old and never had a chino.  We went to the café and she ordered herself one and when I went to pay the girl says we don't charge for chinos, bonus.  She took her number and chose the stools to sit up to and we had an in depth chat over a magazine, you know all about the Kardashians and Katie & Suri Cruise, really important world & life changing news!  Her chino came and without embarrassing her she was pretty excited, she gave me the marshmallow, she was rapt to get through the froth to find there was cocoa in the bottom - I call it hot chocolate but tv shows out weigh mums education so cocoa we call it.  So I had now seen my 1st baby chino in real life too.  We had a lovely few hours although it did go too quickly.  The boys went to the airport and watched some planes come in and take off, they went out to Gantheaume Point, Broome racecourse, a park and another drive on a different beach.  They had a great time and were on a bit of a high when they came back seeing all the blokey things.  We drove to Chinatown where most of the Pearl business is in Broome and some lovely little shops.  We got out of the car and I took 2 steps and my thongs broke!  Pure luck we were out the front of a surf store and I was able to get a new pair, not to be outdone Dan got some too to replace the ones from the speed hump incident.  We had a look around but it was honestly too hot so we really wanted to see the sun theatre so we went to see that before we left.  It is the oldest outdoor cinema in the world and is in the Guinness Book of records.  From the front of the street you wouldn't realise it was an open air cinema, but step inside it and it has a part roof and the rest is open air, there is chairs but not like a cinema that we go to, old canvas chairs that are barely holding together and smell a bit but are so comfy, the toilets are actually behind the screen and in front of the screen is a grassed lawn area if you wanted to bring a picnic rug to watch.  It was so great with all the old equipment there to look at and old billboard posters dating back years and years.  We would have loved to have seen a film but nothing suitable was showing for kids.   We headed back to the van and made some homemade pizzas, we all chose our own toppings and put the little oven outside for them to cook. We had another swim and because we were on our own we got a bit silly in the water doing crazy star jumps and belly wackers and all the things the signs normally say not to do, so as no one was there we weren't bothering anyone and we were being safe so we had fun.  The kids are taking it in turns to chose what we cook so tonight was Mackenzie and we had curried chicken pasta with vegies.  It was from a sachet but it was really nice and we could use all our left over vegies before we moved on tomorrow and got fresh ones.  It was really quiet in the park with no other vans there.  A car did pull in at 3am and scare the goodness out of me, there was 40 odd sites in the park and it was huge but what do you think they do?.......yep pull in next to us!  Dan was awake and I was actually getting a bit scared as there were 4 of them and had torch lights aiming at our van and then one of them came over our way, I was whispering to Dan if we were going to be ok, he was reassuring me yes.  So there is 3 men and a lady and its the lady that comes over behind our van to have a wee so the men don't see her.........hello we can see you!  So here I am thinking we are in trouble and she needs the loo !  3am, I'm not needing this thank you, I actually wished she'd knocked on our door for the toilet key, I probably wouldn't have been so scared then.  All 4 of them slept in the car and they were gone before the roadhouse opened at 6am, not my idea of a good nights sleep, even though it was a free nights accommodation.

                                                                The sun theatre

                                                              the gorgeous caravan park

                                                           Mack with her baby chino

 Fletcher is rapt with his adventure time pjs, he looks just like Finn and jake is in his pocket

                                                                   The chairs at sun theatre

                              the big kid having fun too- can you believe this pool is at a truck stop

Broome - Day 37

Mackenzie : Today we drove to the next place and stayed at the caravan park and then we had some lunch.  After that we went to the pool, in the pool there were lots of bees.  After that me and Fletcher watched Fantastic 4. We went back to the pool and for dinner we had chicken and chips with gravy and vegies.  Then we watched Fantastic 4 number 2 rise of the silver surfer.

Fletcher:  Today we went to a roadhouse to camp at.  When we got there we went to the pool there were millions of bees there.  We came back to the van to have a rest then went back to the pool to swim then back to the van for tea, we had chicken with chips and vegies.  Dad and Bentley had a haircut.  Mackenzie and I watched Fantastic 4 on my dvd player.

We decided to move parks today.  The park was lovely but it had no hot water and the dog rules were a bit dumb!  Is that a sentence that a grown up should type? I don't know but we were sick of the dirt sites and dumb rules so we decided to head out to Roebuck roadhouse which is 30kms out of town.  When Dan came through here all those years ago, Roebuck was just a dry, red dirt parking bay for trucks.  It had the roadhouse but just a huge space for trucks.  Well there is still a huge space for trucks but they have converted a big part into a caravan park & dongas.  It is like a tropical oasis, it is so amazing what these truck stops are like, some of our best and favourite accommodation has been these roadhouses.  The grass is green and soft under foot, the pool area is something you would kill for in your own back yard with established palms and plants and 2 huge shade sales over the pool.  There was a bee problem going on but apart from Mackenzie being very allergic, we had her epi pen so we spent most of the day at the pool.  There were a few vans here but we could chose our site and we had some lovely shade.  We spent the day out here and the boys were in their element with road trains coming in and out constantly.  Although we were right on a main road and had trucks pulling in and out within metres of us, it is really a quiet park, the trucks are only going slow so you don't even notice them.  Dan even commented how it was all ran by generator, I hadn't even noticed the noise from that and in the dead of the night it was such a quiet hum that you wouldn't have realised it was a generator running a huge truckstop, petrol bowsers, flood lighting, a caravan park with us all running aircons.  The toilet blocks are spotless, which is a lovely change.  We got chatting with a lovely man in the pool named John who had just sold up everything and he and his wife decided to hit the road, with a few health scares they thought "why not" they brought a brand new van with all the bells and whistles their 1st stop a wedding at El Questro and then who knows.  One day that will be us I hope.  We will spend a couple of nights here but it seems most people are moving on in the morning.  Bentley got a bath today and a haircut, John shaking his head at us blow drying our poodle on a 36 degree day.  I cut Dans hair too, with Bentleys clippers hehehe, number 1 all over, I was hoping the blades were universal and number 1 for dogs was the same as number 1 on hairdresser clippers, yep thank goodness as I may have been in trouble.  A quiet night in tonight and a really relaxing day, now this is the life.  I'm thinking I will add some truck photos for Dan & Fletcher to have on here in the future so sorry all you non truck lovers - its road train pictures today.

 

Broome - Day 36

 Fletcher : Today we went to the market without breaky so we had food there.  I had a tropical ice cup and a steamed dim sim.  Then we went for a drive.  Mackenzie and mum went into Target while dad and I played a game on his I phone.  Then we went to a port.  Then we finally went to another market to watch the staircase to the moon.  The staircase to the moon is when the light reflects on the sea floor to make a staircase.

                                                               the staircase just starting

                                                                   me patting a frog

Mackenzie : Today we got up and had a look around town and we went to the market and had ice cream for breakfast, it was yum.  We went to target after that.  We drove the car down on the beach and mum took photos of me, Fletcher and dad in this cave, then we went to another market and for dinner I had a dim sim and a roll with roast meat and cheese, then we went down to the beach and went to see staircase to the moon.  It is where the moon reflects onto the water.  It was the best thing I have ever seen, I loved it so much.

                                                              the staircase to the moon

                  Dad driving the car on the beach- he didn't do the wheels spins but it looks like it

                    us in a rock that has been worn away like a window by the sea and sand

                                    more stairs on the sand from the reflection off the moon

Today is take 2 for staircase to the moon.  It also is my best possible day ever with 2 markets to go to!!  This morning we headed to the courthouse area where there was a great market setup.  There were a lot of handmade jewellery and clothes, and of course food stalls.  Our fruit cup lady was there so the kids and I got 1 each, they were so excited to be having an icy pole for breakfast, no one call child services we did eat food too.  I had the yummiest pancake with salmon, avocado, feta and egg, Daniel had one with egg and bacon.  The food is so affordable at these markets and most stall holders were the same as last nights market, it really was cheaper to eat tea there last night than buy and make something ourselves.  We spent a good part of the morning at the market and the park adjoining it, the kids went across the road and had there photo taken at the police station and jail, yep there is a jail in the middle of town, a full on jail with razor wire and high walls.  We went to the shops to try find some shorts for Daniels dad and found ourselves in the middle of a huge Target sale, I got Mack a rash vest for $2.83, shorts, thirts for $4.83 and pantene shampoo for .83 cents - crazy.  What a shame we only have an 18foot van as I could have stocked up.  Don't ask me what the .83 was all about but I was happy with a few bargains.  Mack also got herself a onesie, it's too hot to wear it but that wasn't going to stop her.  We headed down to the port to have a look and to see the beach.  I've been nagging Dan to have a drive on a beach and I wasn't letting him out of it today, he was not impressed that I had waited till the day he finally found a car wash and cleaned the car from top to bottom to then get it covered in sand - his enemy and salt water.  Grumpy yes but it was amazing and I think he would admit it too.  We had a drive and took some photos in a cave, there were a lot of people with bbqs setup and tressel tables with dinners and drinks, some just with deck chairs and a beer.  Lots of dogs running around and chasing the fish in the rock pools.  We headed back to the van for a quick shower before our next market.  We decided to have tea there again, yes I do know how to cook and although the kids seem to only write about the take away food we get, we do eat most times in the van!  We could fill our whole blog about the food we eat! Oh maybe we are!  We again got bits and pieces and shared our dinners so we got to try a bit of everything, another ice cup to take to wait for staircase to the moon.  We sat down on the grassed area with another few hundred people.  The most bizarre thing, the time for the moon was to be 7.54 tonight and I kid you not at 7.54 out of no where the most beautiful moon appeared.  I don't know if I can put into words how magical this experience was.  The moon came up bit by bit, it was obvious already why it was called staircase to the moon because the steps had already started to appear, I truly had goose bumps and although the kids were ooohhing and aaarrring louder than I would have liked, I was thrilled that they were loving it to.  It was an overwhelming experience and I was so pleased to be sharing it with Dan and the kids.  Dan was just as excited and the people next to us said, oh it gets better.  Well it did, as the moon was clearly in the sky and off the horizon, the staircase was brilliant, the moon was glowing a red yellow color, I have never seen anything like it and probably won't again.  My camera wasn't doing me any favours on night setting and the iphone took some ok shots.  The guy next to me said "is that the best camera you have", I said sadly that my phone was doing a better job than my good camera, he whipped out his phone and opened up his notes and said give me your email address we will send you our photos.  He and his girlfriend had brought the camera only a few days earlier on a whim and had the most amazing shots, so I am hoping that I gave them our correct details as Dan & I were both overwhelmed by his kindness at the time.  Forget coming all this way to eat great chips and gravy this is what you should come over for, if you ever get the chance to come to Broome, do your best to be here the days that this occurs, it really is amazing.  Funny that the moment that the moon appeared hundreds of people rushed onto the beach to get there photo opportunity, we stayed where we were and did just as well.  I will put a photo or 2 on off my phone but if we get the good ones emailed I will add them on to whatever day they come through.  We were all on such a high after this we really didn't want to go back to the van, a pub would have been great or a carnival but no such luck.  We all got ready for bed and Fletcher needed the loo which proved to be more excitement for us as he & Dan went on a toilet safari, as Fletcher put it, they found green tree frogs all around the outside of the toilet block, on walls, drain pipes etc.  They were so friendly that you could pat them, well Dan and Fletcher did, miss adventurous me left that for the boys ! Anyway it was a great way to cap off an amazing day.

                                              the steps top the moon- nature is awesome

                               the reflection on the mud flats make it look like a stair case

 the kids outside the jail- didn't even get to joke about locking them in there-very well behaved lately

                          Dan with the car on the beach - gotta love the things he does for me xx

                     this is my idea of what a road train looks like- rustic- this type is called 7 decks

                  the sun starting to set at cable beach - the same night as the staircase- blessed we were

                      Cable Beach - beautiful and busy spot, so many 4wds on the beach a bit further up

                    the kids loved the rocks and rock pools, just not the crabs that were everywhere

Broome - Day 35

Mackenzie : Today we drove from Pardoo to Broome.  When we got to Broome we setup the caravan and had a look at the caravan park.  Then we went into town and went to the market, I got a hair extension and a glow fan and for dinner I had all different sorts of food.


Fletcher: Today we left Pardoo Roadhouse to go to Broome.  We stopped at Sandfire roadhouse there were lots of peacocks and we saw a white one too.  Then we left sandfire to go to Broome, when we got there we unpacked the van and went to the market we were supposed to watch staircase to the moon but it was covered with clouds.

We stayed hooked up to the car at Pardoo so it was a really quick getaway today.  It was about 450-500kms today and I spent most of my day watching DVDs on the laptop.  We passed through mainly station properties today and the last of the wet season storms followed us a fair bit of the way and we could see the rain far off in the distance too.  We have all been bitten by little critters and they are driving us crazy, they aren't mozzie bites and we are wondering if they are the little red ants that drove Daniel crazy at Exmouth.  We have done our best to put creams and lotions on but I even find myself behaving like a four year old and scratching until I have broken the skin, even though I know I shouldn't.   We haven't been bitten until now so that is amazing for us as Dan and Mack are always being bitten by mozzies.  Ha I'm scratching as I type, so bad.  We got into Broome and if we thought that we were discriminated against for having a dog, Broome is bad, there is only one caravan park that allows dogs and not allowed at all in June, July & August and the rules are beyond explanation.  Dogs aren't even allowed to wee in the park- what!!  You have to take them out of the park, oh yes this will be fun.  The park it self was lovely, grassed sites for the non doggy people, dirt for us doggy owners but lots of shade and very clean toilet blocks.  Even down to ceiling fans in the toilets and showers.  Seriously you are on the toilet and you have a ceiling fan above the cubicle.  There is also a full length mirror, the first I have seen on this trip, I know no one cares what they look like when your camping but it was a nice touch and all the teenagers used it.  They had left a note for us so we just went and setup with the details left and the owner headed on over when she got back.  She lives in Temora in NSW and works for 7 months of the year here and heads home over the xmas/wet season and her daughter and family fill in at the park over the wet season.  It is really interesting to hear peoples stories on how they live.  We are ahead of our schedule by a week so we are in Broome in time for staircase to the moon, this is a phenomenon where the moon reflects on the mudflats and it appears to be stairs up to the moon.  They have a night market on the weekends when this happens which is once a month on the full moon.  This is something on my bucket list too so I had been devastated that we were going to miss it by only a week so to be here on time I was so excited.  So double that excitement when a market was involved.  We went to the market about 5 and the moon was due to happen at 6.55pm so we had some time to look.  The stall holders there again had dogs tied to their tables so we felt comfortable with Bentley tagging along.  The food vans were fantastic and there was every type represented there, philipino, indian, thai, chinese, french, aussie bbq etc.  Broome has a very mutli cultural population.  So the powers were in their element.  We did look at the other stalls but that was just to talk about what we were going to eat for tea!  Mackenzie had a hair braid put in her hair with beads and stones in it which is really cute and Fletcher got a fantastic 4 dvd which he loves.   They both got a neon flashing thing that sings crazy frog and flashes like a nightclub neon light, annoying much.......yeeeeeessssss.   We all chose something different for tea and shared it all around, the highlight of the night was a $2 ice cup, the most simple icypole like treat that was so yum, the kids want to suggest it for their school market next year or the Harkaway show, so we wont give away too many details until they chat with their teachers.  There were some aboriginal performers on guitars and didgeridoos.  It was a great family night and you haven't been to an open air concert till you have heard this amazingly shy aboriginal man sing, Johnny Cash, Elvis & under the board walk by the drifters I think.  He had the most beautiful voice and we sang along but it was still funny to hear him with his strong aboriginal twang rip out Elvis.  We went and sat on the grassed area of the beach, that you cant have dogs at, well by now Bentley was exhausted from trying to sneak all the scraps of everyone's food they had dropped so he fell asleep.  We must have had a good half hour wait but I had no intentions of missing this amazing event.  6.55 came and went and people started to leave saying it was never going to happen because of the cloud cover.  No way was I moving from that spot until I was physically removed.  By 7.30 we were one of a few people left of the many hundreds that started, it wasn't going to happen and I couldn't contain how sad I was.  I couldn't believe that we had got to Broome, got there while this was on and then clouds were going to take it away from us.  Our only saving grace for me not having a big cry was that we had one last chance tomorrow night, so fingers, toes and everything else crossed.  We went home and I couldn't lift my mood, I knew exactly how the kids felt when they didn't get to do something important and they thought their world was ending.  Pathetic, yes but I will get over it.  By now crazy frog was driving me insane so I removed all the screws from it and did my best to pretend I was an explosives expert to work out which wire to cut to stop this noise.  Well it wasn't hard even Mack picked it was the green, so on a promise if I broke it I would buy her a new one, I cut the green wire and crazy frog was never to sing again.  I was happy now and so was Mack as she was also on a promise that she could have the lights going at anytime if I could stop the music.  This is a promise I can see I'm going to break too, it driving me crazy on day 1, hopefully the novelty will wear off.

Pardoo Roadhouse - Day 34

Fletcher : Today we left Marble Bar to go to Pardoo.  We packed our stuff and while packing we payed with the owners of the caravan parks dog, her name is Indi.  She is half dingo and ridgeback.  We got to Pardoo and went to the pool.  We left the pool to go have lunch, we had chips and gravy from the roadhouse then we went back to the pool.

Mackenzie: Today for breakfast I had nuggets and we drove to Pardoo.  When we got there we setup the caravan and went to the pool.  After that, for lunch I had chips and gravy  then went back to the pool.  We watched a DVD and for dinner we had soup.

We didn't have much to pack up this morning and we now have the pack up & set up down to a fine art.  Another play with Indi the dog, although she had ulterior motives, she was just using us to get to Bentley!  The boys topped up the petrol tank with the jerry can before we left as petrol was $1.99 a litre but no complaints when you see how far it has to come, the conditions to get there and we were lucky they had it.  They have a great store/post office that had everything.  We didn't have that far to go today, 150kms to get back out to the main road and then 100kms to Pardoo.  Pretty uneventful trip thank goodness, we had quite a few rivers to cross today but none were flowing, Dan was a bit sad, I was too I think but a bit happy too because its a bit adventurous for me and I know when it happens I will just have to go with it because unlike some of the things I chicken out of there is no getting out and walking or waiting while you do a river crossing.  Pardoo is one of two roadhouses across this stretch from Port Hedland to Broome, the other being Sandfire roadhouse, and lets just say there is some competition between the two when it comes to who is better and why you shouldn't stay at the other.  Pardoo was great, it had the roadhouse and dongas behind and the caravan park behind that. The toilets were borderline for humans to use!  But this really was their only downfall, they needed  real good clean or the building to be removed and start again.  They have a pool so terrible showers and toilets was a small price to pay for the kids having a swim.  We got chips and gravy for lunch and they were amazing, if you ever do this drive you have to stop here just for that, or make a trip just to eat the chips & gravy, they really were that good.  They are also famous for their sausage rolls, so my pie man Dan had to give them a go, lets just say they were $6 each and Dan walked back to the roadhouse for a 2nd.  Ok, ok so we got a 2nd box of chips and gravy too, as Dan always says you have to support the local!    When we ordered the chips we said it looked like a storm, the guy said nah it will go around us, wrong, the wind picked up and the rain started and didn't stop for the whole night.  The storm didn't stop Dan & the kids having a swim, while Bentley and I rested our eyes on the couch in the van!  We may have fell asleep but I will blame the beautiful sound of rain on the caravan for that.  It was strange to see the wind pickup the way it did and the rain set in so quickly.  The sprinklers ran all night mind you and at day break they were swapped to another part of the park.  Its hard to believe that there could be facilities like this at a Roadhouse.  Sandfire didn't disappoint either, although we didn't stay there, it was a little tropical oasis and had peacocks wandering around the petrol station, just when you think you have seen the strangest things in the outback you see beautiful peacocks at a truck stop.

                            one of the buildings damaged by cyclone lua this time last year

                                              the road looking north from Pardoo

                                                                   Pardoo Roadhouse

                                                        Beautiful sunset even in a storm

                                                      the caravan section at Pardoo

Marble Bar - Day 33

Fletcher :  today we left Point Samson to Marble Bar.  We got chicken treat for lunch, I got a Double fillet chicken burger and chips.  We kept driving to a road train swap.  Dad thought it was funny because the truck drivers swap the truck and the other truck driver gets into a Hyundai Getz.  We are staying the night in the hottest town in Australia, it is called Marble Bar.  We stopped at our destination we went to Coongan River, it is the greatest sunset place and has lots of mountains.

                                         the little getz that the truck drivers swapped in to

                                               A quad road train with 4 trailers

Mackenzie: Today me and Fletcher went to the park and then we drove all day.  For lunch we had Chicken treat, it was good, then we drove again.  Then when we got to Marble Bar we went to a lake and we had a swim in it.  It is the hottest town in Australia.  For dinner we had tuna pasta.

Today we went from Point Samson to Marble Bar,  we had to head 150kms inland to get there, but Daniel assured us it was worth it.  We had to pass through the Coongans to get there and didn't have time to change our 2 way radio to the station required to go through the pass, all went well though as no trucks came through at the same time, when we really thought about it not having a 2 way on was almost a death wish as the road isn't wide enough for car & a Quad road train.  Yep, I've now seen a quad road train, these things are monsters at 53.5metres long and a triple is 50mts, can you picture how long that is, it is unbelievable.   Well we survived the pass but our windscreen didn't, poor Dan could see it happening, as we passed a quad road train on a bend, Dan was hugging his side of the road and the truck his side but the truck flicked up rocks.  The first I knew was the thud of a rock hitting the windscreen and a crack making its way up the drivers side.  I went 24 hours without looking at it as I knew I would be cross but when I think of the kilometres we have done we are lucky to get this far with our windscreen intact.  We made it to Marble Bar and it was just how Dan had described it, you know when you have a mental picture in your head of something described or a character in a book.  Marble Bar is in the East Pilbara Shire and it is the biggest shire in the world.   It is the hottest town in Australia and it was living up to its reputation today.  On record it has had 160 consecutive days of being over 38.7 degrees.  Insane, but this isn't a one man town, people live here! By choice!   It's a community- a few stores, a pub, accommodation, a gorgeous park for the kids, and a really modern public toilet block- you know the ones with automatic doors and flashing buttons that everyone is too scared to use just in case they open while you are still sitting on the loo, or is that just me?!  They also have a beautiful memorial park set up, which was very fitting being Anzac Day, Dan and I are disappointed we didn't think to get up early today to go to a dawn service somewhere in one of these lovely towns.  We went to the caravan park, which needs a bit of love but the owners are so nice, the toilets are a bit iffy but when you think of where you are on the grand scheme of things, a fully equipped caravan park is amazing.  The accommodation Dan & Cam had stayed in has now been condemned, it was a donga style accommodation with ensuites to each room but a fire saw the health dept condemn the buildings so they are currently trying to renovate them now.  We set up and headed down to the river/waterhole that Dan had loved on his last visit with Cameron.  He was disappointed as it wasn't flowing but we were happy to be having a dip and I loved the spot.  Cattle walking around, all the sounds of birds and kangaroos hopping about, this is what I think this trip is all about and to be honest we have really enjoyed the simple things the most.  Well we wont mention one child asking is there a button to flush while they were in a drop toilet and the other freaked out by it- so maybe they aren't enjoying the simple things!  A few campers had been stuck here an extra day as the town had run out of fuel waiting on the truck, the truck had driven in behind us.  There were also a lot of machinery waiting on the fuel on the outskirts of town too the lady at the petrol station was telling us.  She was also waiting on a truck with her delivery of bread, milk, meat and a few other supplies coming from Perth!!  Check on a map where Perth is and then where Marble bar is - 2000 kms at a guess, give or take a few-  that's a bit more than a sunday drive.  We headed back to the van and made friends with the parks dog, Indi who is 3/4 dingo and loved Bentley, she was a beautiful placid dog.  We had some leftovers for tea, we have had a few treats for snacks along the way so we are trying to get as many vegies into us daily, even if I have to hide them so I seem like the cool carefree holiday mum that isn't serving vegies everyday, if only they knew.

                                                  The beautiful water hole that we swam in

Point Samson - Day 32

Mackenzie : Today we got up and Fletcher and I went to play in the playground.  After that we went to town and then we went fishing.  I caught 2 fish.  Then me and Fletcher went to the tv room and watched ABC3, before dinner we watched Home and away.  For dinner we had honey soy chicken.

                     I caught a fish I don't know what sort, I'm going to ask my friend Jack at school

                                                                      Us fishing

Fletcher :  Today was a fun day.  We went to the tv room and we watched kio vs kat on ABC3, then we went to have a look around.  We had a look around a ghost town at Cossack there were cool buildings there too.  We looked at a cemetery, there were kids who died at the age of 1 in the 1800s.  We were fishing at the river we caught 2 little fish.  We saw a weird blue fish floating.

                                         Me and dad in the mangroves looking for mud crabs

                              The moon was really small but bright and a boat at the rocks

Its been nice the last few days not to be woken up by other people, we are at The Cove Caravan Park and it is so well maintained, the lawns, the sites, toilet blocks, even down to the bins being emptied daily, lovely change not camping with the stinky bin smell.  Daniel's friend Mark left today heading for Broome.  We headed to a town called Cossack which is now a ghost town, so we were thrown the questions of 1. Are we going to a town full of ghosts or 2. is this a town with no people in it.  Ok so there was a moment that it would have been a laugh to terrorise them but we were guessing it would have back fired and no one would have got out of the car, as it was there was cemeteries there so a good thing we had told the truth.  We had already had a problem with story telling, we were looking through Marks photos of Ayres Rock and showed the kids how steep it was, I said that maybe we should just take the elevator and we wouldn't take back packs with water as I had heard there was a coke machine at the top.  All good, we had a chuckle.  Next day when we were discussing that although it will be a big challenge to climb the rock, we should do it if we are allowed and we will help each other out.  One of the kids, who I wont name said "I have already decided I will climb up it but I will take the elevator down" so I'm feeling bad by now then came " and I definitely want a can of coke at the top"  Bad mother, I couldn't even have a giggle because I felt bad, although I am laughing now as I am writing this!  Cossack was a great town, you could do a walk around the town and look at the historical sites but it was a 6km in total so in 35 degree heat it was too hot for us.  The buildings that were still standing were so well preserved and one had been converted to a budget accommodation for tourists.  The cemeteries were beautiful, if that's not too yucky to say, many of the headstones had been destroyed in cyclones but the people in those graves had been named on a separate sign.  The iron work around the graves was lovely, the headstones were the same as many we had seen but the words were things like "deeply regretted by his wife ...."  the wording was so different to what is on modern day headstones but these were form the late 1800s and early 1900s.  It was sad to see so many kids in there but times are so different now, with medical advances we are so lucky.  They were buried in different sections according to there nationality, I wish we could have stayed longer as we removed fallen trees and weeds out of respect but it would have been lovely to do all of them.  Yep creepy sorry, I'm not one to be all creepy but it just seemed we should do our bit for these brave hard working pioneers.  We drove to the lookout and all around the town, the old customs building has also been preserved and is now used for dances.  It would be an absolutely gorgeous place for a wedding too, anyone who wants to get married in 40 degree heat!  Oh yeah that's right We Did!!  We then went fishing, we didn't have any bait but had cut up some tasty cheese and thought we would have some fun.  There were so many fish, we would drop our lines in and there were fish coming from every where to have a bite of the cheese.  It wasn't long before Mackenzie had caught one, she pulled it in by herself, it was beautiful.  We had already said whatever we caught would be thrown back but Mack just stood there saying "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry" to the fish.  She was so excited to catch it and was close to tears with excitement but she felt so bad for the fish.  Dan unhooked him and he swam off to his friends so all was good.  She put away her line and we had 1 more piece of cheese so we broke it into 3 pieces and Fletcher kept trying, on the last piece of cheese he had lost interest and handed the line to Mack and if you would believe she caught another one, we had an audience this time and again she was excited but full of apologies and sadness for her fish, Dan unhooked him and off he went.  It was the such a great time, we had a paddle in the river but the sun was starting to burn us all so we decided to call it a day.  We headed back to caravan park.  Not long after there were screams of stop stop stop from the site behind us, there was screaming and yelling so of course we had a gig!  I don't know if I can even explain the scenario in words as seeing it  was hard enough to work out how and what had happened.  So, caravan behind us sitting having a drink, a brand new prado from the camper next door to them mounts the caravan sites and gets stuck sideways on the caravans drawbar and starts dragging the caravan. What/ how???!!!  It is just too hard to explain and we would have to draw a picture, well of course it nearly comes to blows and then there was the task of getting the car untangled from the van, by now the hitch was stuck in the Prados front wheel!!??  Of course this took at least 30 people from all around the park, at least Dan and I were only gigging from our site.  Don't know the damage to the van or car but I'm guessing probably bad to both. Hmmmmm that's going to be really comfortable in the morning saying hi to your neighbours.  The kids and I headed to the games room for Home and Away, just in time for Gina's funeral, wow its amazing what you miss in 4 weeks ( or not!!  )  Tea back at the van.  I went to hang out some washing and got chatting to a man named Barry at the clothes line, how exciting my life is!, anyway he asked about how I was going in the heat and said he was here for work, I asked what he did and he said he was a stevedore.  I said that my husband was a stevedore and we had a great conversation for the next 20mins, he said he would love to meet Daniel and we should rendezvous back at the clothesline (look what our life is becoming!) Anyway I went and got Dan and left them to it, he was gone for so long, I said to the kids I'd either be in trouble for introducing them and wasting his night or he was having a great chat.  Lucky for me it was the later and he had a really good chat with him and met his mate who actually worked at Daniel's work , small small world.

                           The bond & customs house now used for art displays and dances

                                                       inside the customs house

                                                            Dan unhooking the fish

                                         The moon and coconut palms in Point Samson

                                                            Mack wanted to hold the moon