Picnic with pringles at sunset
Fireside blog posting tonight, but brrrr – starting to get very chilly so might have to move inside soon! It is supposed to drop to 2 degrees tonight – needless to say we have lots of layers on! We are free camping again tonight at Neil Turner Weir on the banks of the Maranoa River just outside Mitchell. There are quite a few other campers here as it is a very scenic spot and campfires are allowed. We would love to put the kayaks in for a paddle in the morning but not sure if we will be brave enough – I don’t fancy taking a dip when it is this cold!
We had a fairly late start this morning, not leaving Bungunya until 9.30am, mostly because we didn’t feel like rushing and we did a little more sorting out – each day we are getting things a bit more organised in both the car and camper! However – the kids got filthy playing in the dirt and gravel piles at the free camp which would usually be ok but when it is difficult to wash I’m not sure what to do – on one hand we want them to amuse themselves in the dirt but on the other they are fast running out of warm clean clothes!!! How do any campers manage this on the road??? No showers tonight so the kids are in bed a little bit grubby – oh well!
After checking out the cotton fields on the way, we had a stop for lunch in St George on the banks of the Balonne River – another pretty spot. After umming and aaahing a little over the maps at lunch time we decided to head for Mitchell rather than Cunnamulla and try to get off the major highway for a change. We were rewarded with a very quiet sealed road and lots of wildlife spotting opportunities for the kids! In the two hour drive from St George to Mitchell we came across a lost lamb, a turtle, heaps of Emu’s, heaps of kangaroos, a dead cow, a dead pig, flocks of lorikeets and a herd of goats, oh and a pack of wild dogs!
Ok – getting too cold to write much more – so off to bed for me – the photos can do the talking!
Ooops – nearly forgot – favourite parts of the day;
Lexi – putting the sticks on the fire
Toby – seeing the turtle on the road
Jack – looking out the window on the track we went on and seeing all the things there was to see
Jess – looking out the camper door and watching everybody sitting around the fire waiting while I cooked dinner, very close second was evening picnic on the river
Matt – having dinner by the fire
Goodnight All! Thank you so much for the great comments we have been getting! We do read them all but we are quite conscious of our internet usage at the moment – we seem to be flying through our data packs so we may not be able to reply until we come across some decent Wifi, but we love hearing from you!
Jerry gaurding our site at free camp ay Bungunya
Picking cotton – the kids were so interested!
Toby – cotton fields outside St George
Lots of huge cotton bales
Balonne River – St George
Jack having a look at the Hema maps on the iPad at lunch time
Turtle crossing the road
All in the name of good photos!
Kids wrapped to see the turtle
Emus – lots crossing the road too!
Neil Turner Weir Free Camp
Maranoa River outside Mitchell
First campfire for the trip!
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Great pics! I was a little sceptical about the turtle but… yup! It was a turtle! Go figure 🙂 x
Ha! I know right! I ran right over it (well straddled it) to begin with and I said to everyone, “That was a Turtle!” Jess didn’t believe me of course, so I had to turn around…. got to be right at least once a year!
The photos look great Matt, very clear, it’s a good camera ay?
These photos bring back fond memories of mine – we have similar photos of Bianca and Josh on a friend’s cotton farm – amazing to think that in it’s raw state, cotton is highly flammable.
Fantastic Photos Matt- love the sunset and the kids with the turtle xx
First course turtle soup tonight right?
Love reading your updates. Maybe use laundromat when stopping in a town or just be grotty and stinky for a while!
Beautiful sweet moments in everyday so different to the house life I think! And the same with the challenges, like grubby kids and clothes. What works for me is to have a big plastic tub, those popular bendy ones with the handles, and with a kettle full of hot and a bit of river cold we wash faces hands and legs or some of the family can sit in it for a bath. A drop of lavender oil or tea tree in it is lovely and cleans any little scratches and grazes. Important if you are going into the tropics.
I tend to wash and dry once a week but sometimes surrender that simply we are all a bit dusty and gritty and smoky smelling for a few days and that’s ok too:) we adults do a lot of dunking in fresh water with a scream even freezing! It’s enlivening and hilarious for the kids… Enjoy
I’m looking forward to my trip north coming soon… Ah fires and swimming and stars and family together…
Roselinde
Such beautiful moments you have captured. So pleased to see you all enjoying life after all the stress of packing up and leaving. I am so happy for you all (and envious, but in a loving way) xo
Crikey, That all looks like great fun to me. I ahd better not show Mrs Goanna that turtle, she will want you to pop him in the post.
Hello Goanna! Great to have you following along! Please stay in touch and come for a trip up north to visit us when we get up there! Lots of snakes for Mrs Goanna!
So we are not in Africa but I feel like you guys need to make sure you see Australia’s big five in the wild….Emu, Kangaroo, Koala, Crocodile, and Wombat?? Maybe platypus and dingo in their somewhere too. I don’t think the turtle makes it though, lol. Hope you are feeling quite comfortable that you made the right decision. Beautiful pictures and love the cotton photos!
Loving the photography Matt, especially the turtle! That camera was a fine choice…. Looks like you are all settling into the relaxed vibe now, enjoy and love the life you are living. Look forward to reading what you are up to next! Take care out there, Engo
Hey Engo, yup, very happy with the camera, no so much the lens. Actually thats a lie, the lens is great, but out here, 18mm wide is simply not wide enough! Had planned to pick up a nice super wide, maybe right down to 10mm in Alice but forgot, might have to try again when we swing back though Alice in a few weeks.