We woke to the van rocking and swaying like a couple of 18
year olds were testing out the suspension, the only problem was it was the wind
and not De and I! A few months ago we stowed the table inside the caravan away preferring
to eat outside, and it gave us just that little bit more space to move around
inside Gator. The chances of us eating outside this morning were Buckley’s and
NONE, so the table was reassembled and a warming breakfast of eggy bread (aka French
toast) was dished up to the hungry
hoards!
We rolled on to Julia Creek, heading straight for the
library to do some school work, rather than sitting in the cooold van! With
that out of the way we wondered the streets of ‘The Creek’ poking our nose in
some shops, having lunch and checking the information centre. I really wish we
had held off spending money in Cloncurry yesterday and used it in Julia Creek
instead. The information centre was one of the best we have seen, simple but
informative and while we missed Digby the Dunnart ( a Julia Creek Dunnart is a
small critter than looks like a cross between a meerkat and a possum and can
only be found around Julia Creek) we quite enjoyed our stay!
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| The boys and Digby |
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| We really enjoyed Julia Creek! |
While there is a free camp just outside of The Creek that is
provided by the local council (including free loan bikes so you can ride into
town) we headed further east to an old railway town called Nelia where a unique
couple, Eric and Georgie, have set up a kind of caravan park in their back yard.
Apart from being in their back yard the other big difference was the menagerie
of animals that we were sharing the yard with. To name a few there were geese,
turkeys, a few breeds of ducks, heaps of chickens, peacocks, guinea fowl,
doves, pigeons sheep and a herd of goats that had wondered in a month or so ago
and decided to call it home. And the boys were loving it!
They wondered around the yard with turkeys gobbling at them,
rounding up ducks and checking the chicken laying boxes that were old mower catchers.
At one point Jack saw a cattle truck pulling out of a road so they jumped on
their bikes and went to investigate. They rode for 15 minutes down the road and
then decided that they couldn’t find it and to come back. The only problem was that
the 15 minute ride was with the wind at their back...so half an hour later
puffing and panting and with faces as
red as a beetroot they crawled into camp. A trick for young players!
As the sun drew down on another day it was time to feed the
animals and they came from everywhere in even bigger numbers! Georgie fetched
some old pop corn and gave it to the boys to feed the goats with. The boys were
in 7th heaven and I was starting to look around for an old bloke
with a long grey beard building a boat!
As I cooked dinner the boys and Eric got the camp fire going
and we sat around it eating our dinner and having a few laughs. The boys also bottle
fed ‘Jilly’ an orphaned goat and amazingly enough she and Sebastian a full size
goat hung around the fire warming themselves from it. I have never seen an
animal do this before it was quite amazing as it warmed its side, then head,
then the other side and eventually its head. Once Sebatian was warm enough he
wondered of into the darkness to who knows where!
We put the boys to bed and stayed for a drink or two more
but even with the fire glowing red coals in front of us it wasn’t enough to
keep us warm all over so we retreated to the van and pulled the covers up as
high as we could!
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