Litchfield Trip

We decided to book a room in Batchelor and take an extended trip in Litchfield.

We went straight away to the Buley Rockholes. Eddie was very excited and it was a huge amount of effort to keep him from hurting himself. Maggie thought it was the best and was happy jumping and swimming around and playing in the small waterfalls. Clarie did her best to keep up with a broken foot (and was thankful for the footware that I’d bought her).

That night we had a parma and a pint and there was a karakoe night on which made it difficult for me to sleep – but not for the rest of the gang.

The next morning we went to the Walker Creek day area, which was alright but probably not worth a revisit. Eddie had slept the whole way there so it made things awkward and we went to Wangi straight after and he was not in the best spirits, although Maggie was loving it, and we touched both waterfalls.

It was an extended trip back home as we got 45 minutes of sleep into Ed and we all got in the pool when we arrived back.

The next morning we went to the picnic spot and Florence. It was Claire and my favourite and the kids were in good spirits. From there we headed home.

Claire’s 40th in Kakadu

We went down to Cooinda lodge for Claire’s 40th. We decided camping would be too much with Eddie, and we got a (very expensive) small cabin. It was very nice though and perfectly suited to us.

Each afternoon we went for a swim. On the first morning we went to Nourlangie, and on the second we went to Ubirr. We were unsure how Eddie would go on these sort of long bushwalks. Well the “path” part wasn’t his favourite, although with a bag of pretzels in his hand he did not seem to mind. But climbing the rocks was his all time favourite activity – that and “doing what Maggie does”.

Maggie was loving it of course, but it was just amazing to see Eddie keeping up. He would refuse to let anyone help him too much too – holding the hand was okay but not taking him over rocks.

On the way back home we tried and failed to get to Ikomarrya and we ended up at Pine Creek for lunch. There was old fashioned trains there to play on and Eddie was in seventh heaven!

On the top of Ubirr

Barra fishing at the Farm

Maggie and I went down to a barra farm today. We also went on Saturday but didn’t manage to get anything.

On my fourth cast of the day I managed to hook a little fella. Maggie helped me wind it in.

A bit later on I hooked my second barra and Maggie reeled it in by herself.

At this point I cast and let her wind it in (teaching her how to jerk it a bit) and soon enough she hooked it herself! I had to get it off a pipe but otherwise she reeled it in all the way by herself. She was very proud and so was Dad!

She really liked the farm, additionally it is a great place to practice casting. She seems to be quite good at it too.

Gippsland Trips 2023

Had some reasonable weather when we went down. We managed to get to the beach (in the morning to avoid the wind which was a good move) as well as Stratty bridge and McKinnons.

Seaspray – Maggie loved it but complained about how cold the water was. Eddie was uncertain at first but slowly warmed to it. Flo was there and liked to dig – and eat – the sand.

Stratty Bridge – We actually went twice as it was the kids favourite spot. There was a strong current in some shallow water which let Maggie ride her board down it. Eddie was in seventh heaven with all the rocks and sand and water to play with. He did not want to leave at all. Maggie “rescued” a girl which involved her getting freaked out in the thigh-deep water because of the current and Maggie took her hand and brought her to the shore. She loved it and everyone heard the story as soon as she saw them.

McKinnons – It was interesting as there were loads of cars and tents on the rocks. It wasn’t as kid-friendly as it had been in the past with lots of alcohol going and music pumping. We found a quiet-ish spot. Ed didn’t quite like it as much, I think because of the difficulty he had with moving around on the rocks. Was still a nice day though.

Berry Springs with the kids

Ed’s naps have prevented us from being able to travel to Kakadu and Litchfield, but Berry springs is only 40 minutes away. So we decided to head down early one morning. Claire and I were unsure just how much he would get out of it, but we knew Maggie would love it.

Well, it turned out Ed had a great time! He couldn’t do much but hang onto his Mum in the shallower part, but still thought it was a blast. And Maggie absolutely loved it. It was hard describing it to her, she seemed to think she was going into a big pool that looked like a lake. But when she got there she saw the fish and we swap downstream to the bigger pools she said in her geniune voice “this place is amazing Dad!”.