Wednesday, 27 to Sunday 31 August 2014                                                       344.1kms

We left camp at 9am headed north. We were thinking of checking out Daly River, but as we left camp later than expected, we ditched that idea and continued north. We stopped along the road side many times looking for didgeridoos. Unfortunately we didn’t find any.

Our lunch stop was at Robin Falls. We ate in the car park, before making our way along the short walk alongside the creek to the falls. The creek was beautiful and very inviting. There were a few small waterfalls along the way which added to the ambiance.

We climbed up a fig tree’s roots to get to the middle pool where Elokin and Hendrix paddled in the cool water. Nath went under the waterfall while I wet my legs in the cool water and it was refreshing. We left the waterfall feeling revived.

Further north along the road we stopped again to look for didgeridoos. Again we came out empty handed. Nath is determined to get one for himself.

We finally made it to the Lodge at Dundee late in the afternoon. We are staying for 5 nights, unpowered and it is only costing us $100. The unpowered area is huge and we chose a spot among trees for plenty of shade. We found the swimming pool just before sunset and the kids thoroughly enjoyed their swim. This is going to be a great place to relax and spend a few days chilling out.

For the next few days that is exactly what we did. Nath also had to pull apart the front right hub of the Patrol to try to identify where our mystery noise is coming from. He thinks it is either the brake pad or we need a new calliper.

We spent time lazing by the pool and swimming in it. We walked along the beach, watched boats get launched and retrieved by a loader which was interesting; and fished off the rocks. Hendrix hooked a blue-nose salmon but lost in at the rocks. Nath also caught a shark and kept all of the kids and adults entertained, getting them to feel its skin.

We met Bruce and Ally from near Newcastle and spent a bit of time with them. Nath went with Bruce in his boat fishing and for once was the one catching all of the fish. He caught a metre long Queenfish and a barracuda. We followed them to Finesse River, watched the tide come in over the flats really quickly, and met Sammy a professional crabber that gave Bruce some crabs that he can’t sell as they have no nippers. He was an interesting fellow that lives in a shanty on the edge of the river. I would be scared to live there with all those big crocodiles around.

After they left we went to Boss Creek for a look. It was low tide, so Elokin and Hendrix had a swim in the pools that remained. We also found some nice shells. We then met Ed and Anne and that night Hendrix and Elokin busked in front of them as a practise for Darwin.

 

The downsides to our time at Dundee were the plagues of sand-flies and the weekend crowd. We will never EVER camp near a bottle shop or bar on a Saturday night again. Down the beach from the park was a beach party with very loud nightclub music playing until about 2am. The pub had a band playing until around 11am, then the drunkards had fisty-cuffs and yelling and finally the police were called but didn’t arrive until 4:30am to take the 3 lads that couldn’t hold their liquor or their temper away. Then the best one was the football team that decided to camp near us and compete with the beach party music. Over the pub and the party, none of the other campers knew these clowns even existed, but we did. We watched them stumble around, attempt to dance naked and then fall over. One idiot decided it was a cool idea to ride on the bonnet of a car while his drunk mate backed up multiple times in an attempt to flick him off. The bozo in the car thought he was too cool for school and did donuts in the paddock. Thankfully he drove away for a while and the rest of them decided to call it a night and bed down in their tents and swags about 3am. The car then returned after all was quiet and thought he would show off his drunk driving skills by backing up to a tent and stopping millimetres from his sleeping friends before driving away from them. He went head on at a swag with his lights shining his mate in the eyes, again stopping millimetres from him. When none of the guys got back up he decided to do more donuts, this time near our camper. He narrowly missed us and both Nath and I were ready to get up belt the guy, or crash into his car with our bulbar, but then that wouldn’t make us any better than him, so we let it be. Finally the bozo got the idea and left, thankfully. So eventually we did get some sleep, but it wasn’t for long, as then the brawl at the pub started. What a crappy night! The following morning I went and found the car and got his number plate. If you know the guy tell him to pull his head in before he kills someone. He drives a black Toyota Kluger.

Until next time…. Happy and Safe Travels.