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!”.
Ed was only 8 months for this Easter so Claire decided to take him up each day. We arrived on Friday and left on Monday. The weather was wonderful, around 25-29 each day. The kids spent most of the time in the water and it was freezing – they all shivered but claimed not to notice.
It was an amazing holiday, the kids all played really well together. They invented a game called “Touch Mouse” which one would shine a touch on the ground and the others would pounce on it. They went on a “dunny run” in the ute and as Lindi drove them away they all chanted “dunny run, dunny run” and Claire pointed out they probably didn’t know what it was. When they arrived back Maggie said to Claire “We went to the toilet!!”
Maggie loved handing out the chocolate brownies and birds nest she had made with Claire so much that when the Easter Bunny came and left her a humpty dumpty she decided to give out the smarties to everyone.
Another funny comment was because Maggie was having difficulty telling “Tony” and “Uncle Brian” apart and she said to me on the last day she kept “getting confused because they have the same head”.
As always, these trips tend to be the hardest to write up as they are just made up of many little moments. I doubt we will get weather this good again for a while – but hopefully we can all camp as a family next year!
Maggie outlasting everyone in the water, chanting “Canooooe”Ed very happy eating mud
The Blue Pool was once a “locals” spot where if you were from the area you knew about it. Now, it is totally loaded with people so much that is it barely useable.
Using google maps (and a chat with a mate) I found another spot on the same river that looked quite good. It did not dissapoint. It was one of the prettier spots we’ve been to swim and Maggie had an absolute ball.
The sun set behind the escarpment early in the afternoon so the lack of shade wasn’t that noticeable for Ed. The parking was pretty tight but it was a 35 degree day on a Saturday close to the Christmas and New Year break.
On a hot day we got some advice about an interesting place to swim. Just off the road with a few flat spots to the car is a clear river. It was a great place for a picnic and Ed even managed to get his feet wet. It was a bit windy and not a lot of shade, but overall much easier to manage than the beach.
Across and 26 & 27 December Pa and I took Maggie to the Seaspray for a swim, and on 2 January we went again with Claire and Ed.
The beach is fast becoming Maggie’s favourite thing, and 24 January we went again for Australia Day.
Ed was less impressed with the wind and sand, and spent more time in the playground.
Maggie’s energy was at a 10 the entire time, there is nothing that she loves doing more than running and jumping in the water. She even tried a bit of boogie boarding and did quite well at it.
I tried to take out deeper once and she tried to pull against my hand at exactly the wrong time and got a “wipeout” which dampened things, though the fish and chips afterwards made up for it.
