Kununurra to Broome

STOP! That tree has got huge nuts!

Marcus collecting boab seed pods

The boys could not leave Kununurra without climbing a few more boab trees in the search for the perfect boab seed pod.  It was rapidly reaching the forecast 38 degrees as we drove out. We heard another bush fire alert for Turkey Creek with police warning motorists to turn back if it looked bad.

The Kimberley scenery of boabs and rocky hills gradually changed to flatter country outside Halls Creek.

Jeff Johnson, a family friend, lives at Hall Creek so after some confusion (first left after the police station, followed by first right – or was it the other way around?) we stopped outside his home. He had the ceiling fan turned on for our benefit - he said he rarely uses it! Jeff had been busy baking coconut biscuits and we all enjoyed the nicest biscuits we’ve had for a long while. It was easy to see why his cook's reference from Springvale Station was so glowing. Jeff has been a stock camp cook, a station butcher, a drover and a tick staffer, amongst other things. He entertained us for a couple of hours telling us stories and reminiscing about Old Bonalbo. The kids were very amused when some of my horse incidents came up - especially the one when Jeff caught Dainty after a gallop with me somehow sitting on top of the girth after the saddle had slipped. Jeff still thought it was pretty amusing too.

Jeff and some fans of his baking

We sadly said hooroo to Jeff and drove for an hour to reach the Mary River rest stop before dusk. It was easy to choose Mary River – Sandfly Creek, March Fly Creek and Mosquito Creek just did not sound appealing! We drove off the road over a ford and Ella proclaimed it “the most wonderfullest spot” with water, abundant birdlife and most importantly, lots of shady river gums to camp under. The boys collected cockatoo feathers as we walked along the Mary River, but it was soon too dark to see, so we had an early night.

Nice stew last night!

The cockatoos made a very effective alarm at piccaninny daylight the next morning, so we were up early and packed ready to move on. Dave watched the cockatoos with the binoculars for a while before observing "They are just flying from tree to tree and shouting at each other". Marcus and Lachlan crowned themselves with their cockatoo feathers before we hit the road!

This fan could come in handy today!

We drove on and on in the heat through rocky red escarpments and huge areas of termite mounds, before stopping for lunch under what has to be one of the most fantastic boab trees!

The kids were up in the tree before the Blunderbuss had even stopped moving! Of course, some more seed pods were added to our already quite large collection. Marcus has made a Boab maracca, and they are all working on cleaning the pods to ready them for carving.

This tree is thought to be at least 1500 years old!

We arrived in Derby at about 3 p.m. and went for a drive to the jetty. The 11m tides here are amongst the highest in the world and the jetty is built up on enormous piers. The volume of water rushing in and out is staggering. The jetty used to allow the pastoralists to load their cattle for market, but is now used for lead and zinc exports.  Lachie was disappointed that we missed the turn of the tide for fishing, but soon cheered up with the prospect of fish and chips. The sandflies were eating us alive, so we beat a hasty retreat. We enjoyed dinner at the boab tree at 1 Mile Camp, where the drovers traditionally had lunch and a spell in the shade before bunching the cattle up to get them to the jetty and loaded onto the ship. The sunset behind the boab tree was pure Kimberley scenery!

The van park had a white peacock named Percy (despite many suggestions to call him Andrew, according to the owner!) which we were pleased to see before leaving. We went back to have another look at the jetty before driving out to view the Boab Prison Tree,  which was used to hold Aboriginal prisoners before the prison was built in Derby.

Boab Prison Tree Breakout!

The Myall bore (322m deep) was nearby. It feeds the 120m concrete trough built around 1920 to water the mobs of cattle on their way to the jetty. It is apparently the longest trough in the world, although be warned Pap, the kids are scheming to build a longer one. Where would you like it?

This trough is supposed to water
1000 head of cattle

We left Derby with a fresh outbreak of itching, swelling sandfly bites. Just on the outskirts we passed a mangled ute and the cow it had made its aquaintance with. Both were dead. The temperature was soaring as we cruised past Curtin RAAF Base and on to the Broome road. It wasn’t too far to Broome and we drove to Cable Beach for a swim after we had set up camp nearby. It was fantastic to be in the ocean again! Ella and I did some beachcombing and found a crab claw, some pretty shells and about 30 camels! (Which possibly were not lost, but they were certainly unexpected as we rounded a headland.) After a long swim, we went back to camp where a very tired Ella slipped out of the van and hurt her back. When her tears stopped, she opened her hand to find that she had crushed her crab claw, so there was a fresh outburst. Tomorrow may be spent looking for another one!

Stay tuned ...

WA Border to Kununurra

Can we go fishing now?

We were in the Kimberley! Absolutely stunning scenery on the way in to Lake Argyle. Courtesy of the Western Time Zone, we arrived very early at the campground overlooking the lake. Lachie's first mission was to buy himself a fishing rod (which he spotted at reception as we checked in) with his busking money! We set up camp and checked out the absolutely stunning wet edge pool.

Possibly Australia's most scenic pool!

Ella said she wouldn't want to drop her favourite teddy over there!

The temperature was climbing at an alarming rate so we drove around and over the dam wall to a shady picnic area for lunch and a play in the sprinklers. Dave and the boys played some music and we all caught up on some postcards while we waited for it to cool down. The wait was in vain, so we drove around to Spillway Creek to check out the fishing prospects. Ella was not keen on fishing so the boys went off to try their luck – and Lachie’s new rod – while we went to the pool again. While there, we saw a school group from Darwin paddle in to the bay below. Ella was bemused. "So, did they paddle in their kayaks all the way from Darwin?" 

No fish were caught, but Lach did lighten his reel by about 30 metres with a huge snag on his first cast! The day seemed never ending and by the time the kids were in bed we decided to do the same. Unfortunately one of the lovely shady trees we were camped under attracted bats, and the other we had to nickname "The Percussion Tree" after an interrupted night!

Sooty Grunter and Sandy Lachlan!

Jackson, Dave and Lachie went fishing early next morning while Marcus and Ella tried to have a much needed sleep in. The heat is adding an extra dimension to the behaviour management, and we have had far too many nights of interrupted sleep. I caught up on some domestic duties until the fishermen returned having been beaten by the heat and a moth plague. Lachie caught a 31/2 pound sooty grunter and a huge 5 pound catfish, which he released. Catfish have been renamed Silver Cobbler here to create a market, which seems to have been successful. The rest of the day was spent in and out of the pool, trying to keep cool. We also visited the nearby Durack Homestead, which was rescued from the rising waters when Lake Argyle started filling and is now a museum. We bought a copy of Mary Durack’s book Kings in Grass Castles which we are keen to read.

Playing a tune on the Durack's piano

The lovely Durack Homestead

Achieving a record pack up (7:04 am!) the next morning was due to the time zone change more than good management, but we are always happy to take a record!

We arrived at the Hidden Valley Van Park in Kununurra at 8 a.m. and were set up under the mango trees by 8:30! Deciding to visit the nearby Mirima National Park before it got too hot, we started climbing to the lookout over the rock formations that are very similar to the Bungle Bungles. It was too hot before we'd taken 20 steps, but the striated rocks were incredible so we carried on.

Which way back?

We were all very pleased to visit an air-conditioned shopping centre to get groceries before more sightseeing. The kids wanted to stay in the airconditioned shop and become Coles employees for the day!

Yes, that does say "STRAY ANIMALS FOR THE NEXT
670 KM"!

Our neighbour at Lake Argyle swore black and blue that we could drive in the Blunderbuss to Emma Gorge on the notorious Gibb River Road, so we decided to attempt the first section. We realised pretty quickly as we bounced over the corrugations that we would be black and blue and that although the van might make it in there it would fall to bits and we would never get out! So we turned around after 2 kms and drove back to the Kununurra Diversion Dam, where, in peculiar Outback tradition, one signpost said “Swim Beach” and the next sign said “Warning. Crocodiles have been sighted in this area”. A few locals were paddling to ankle depth but as no-one was really swimming we decided to forgo the water and eat lunch under the sparse shade of a bare boab tree. The shade must have cooled the ambient temperature by about a degree, but no more! We heard on the radio as we returned to camp that the temperature was 37 degrees and the next day would be 38!

Stay tuned ...

Travelling on - Darwin to the WA border

On Wednesday we were up early to do a huge pack up. We had stuff everywhere as we had been racing around and spending very little time in camp. We got sorted by about 9 a.m. and left the caravan to drive in to the ABC studios to pick up the CD of our interview. A few replays later, we decided that it really had gone pretty well! We stopped to wash the red Kakadu dust off the van and then hitched up the caravan to depart Darwin. We have absolutely enjoyed our time here, but will certainly be glad to leave the bloody sandflies behind. All of us look like we have the chickenpox and we have been scratching like crazy. We also will not miss the RAAF base next door as the planes make the ground rumble upon takeoff!

It was a quiet drive to Adelaide River – everyone was exhausted. We refuelled (the car and its occupants) and visited the Adelaide River War Cemetery to pay our respects to the interred. It was a beautifully maintained spot and was deeply moving walking past all the graves of the young men killed on the same day in any one of the 62 Japanese air raids on Darwin. The kids were taken aback that there were so many "unknown sailor/airman" headstones.

Had a long, hot delay at roadworks on the Stuart Highway. Ella made us all laugh, asking “How come there are so many single cars with no caravan? What do they do?”  She must think everyone is travelling around Australia. Sometimes, when we count the caravans, so do we! The kids were starting to unravel, and fearing spontaneous Haystack combustion we pulled in to Edith falls. Fortunately the camp ground was quite empty, so we parked in our site and made a beeline to the plunge pool at the falls. Aaaah! For an hour, our sandfly bites did not itch!

We missed Ella’s requested birthday dinner due to our late night in Kakadu so enjoyed a birthday celebration under the stars at Edith Falls instead. We were all asleep not long after.

Happy Birthday Ella

The kids were keen on another swim the next morning, but we made tracks to Katherine to do a few jobs, including buying a Beesting Cake for Ella’s long-running birthday. We visited historic Spingvale Station for birthday cake cutting, where I could not find the candles, so we used our imaginations to create 8 lovely candles for Ella.

Springvale store and homestead

Springvale Station, established in 1879, is one of the two oldest stations in the Northern Territory. We were completely astounded that the stock for the station, comprising 3 000 cattle and 12 000 sheep, were driven up fom Adelaide over 2 years! The mobs travelled about 8km each day. How is that for a road trip!

After leaving the station, we turned onto the Victoria Highway and were again in new territory, heading west. The Victoria River scenery was spectacular, with the cliffs very reminiscent of Katherine Gorge. Dave and I noted with dismay that the roadkill was becoming less wallabies and more large roos.

It was stinking hot and when we got fuel at Timber Creek the kids cooled down and chirped up in the sprinkler outside the servo.

There were huge boab trees just outside town, which excited the boys as Mike and Di showed us a carved boab nut back at Karlu Karlu. We stopped at the Victoria River Lookout to spot some crocs but didn’t see any. Travelling on, the Saddle Creek camp about 100kms from the West Australian border looked good, so we stopped there for the night. Ella and I made a huge vegetable curry (reminding us of SA) with all the veggies we couldn’t take into WA while the boys went on a mission to find boab seed pods. The boys’ pocket knives were itching for action! The sun was disappearing and they hadn’t returned, so Dave and Ella went on a search and rescue mission. They found them high up in a huge boab tree, with a cache of 10 huge seed pods.

An early morning fruit feast

Unfortunately, as we packed up the next morning we realised that we probably couldn’t take them through the border checkpoint, so the boys had some target practice, reassured by the fact that there would be more boabs on the WA side. We reached the border at 9 o’clock and stopped just outside the checkpoint to eat as much fruit as we could! We had thought we would spend some time in the National Park before the border, but it was 4WD access only, so we had surplus fruit. Leaving our pile of fruit, honey and vegetables at  the border, we wound our watches back an hour and a half and carried on into Western Australia.

YMCA? Was supposed to be WA!

Stay tuned ...

Ella's birthday in Kakadu

Ella loves her Bonnie and Clyde machine!

Tuesday was Ella's birthday and we started the day with a very excited 8 year old tangled up in our sleeping bags! Soon we were all up for pressies (necklace from Marcus, a Bonnie & Clyde chasing machine made by Marcus and some of the busking money in a sock from Lachie!) and cocoa pops for birthday brekkie. A day trip to Kakadu was soon underway - we wanted to spend more time there, but had to make up for all the days in Darwin!

Our first stop was at Ubirr, where we walked around the fascinating rock art sites. A short, but steep 250m climb up a rocky escarpment led us to a lookout over the Nadab floodplain. The vista was totally unexpected and really beautiful.

Look!

We drove a little further to Cahill’s crossing, where we had been told we would find crocodiles. There were 4 near the boatramp which Lachie kept a careful eye on as we had lunch. The crossing over East Alligator River into Arnhem Land was near a viewing platform which afforded wonderful views of another 11 crocodiles digesting their breakfast in the sun. Apparently the 7m tide pushes up inland and the crocs are very active catching their food at the weir then. We spent an absorbing hour or so watching the crocs which was fantastic.

Hey! You! I'm still hungry!

Ella had a few tears wishing she could cuddle Bonnie and Clyde on her birthday, so I diverted her into writing them a postcard. That, and an ice block, took her mind to a happier place!

Time was ticking on so we drove back to the Mamukala Floodplain to see the magpie geese return from their day of foraging. These birds migrate from Siberia and Mongolia to spend the summer months here. We had just settled in the hide when a jabiru flew down and landed just a couple of metres away, then commenced fishing. He caught and ate 3 fish while we watched spell-bound. The whole process involved a lot of spearing the fish with his long pointed beak and the fish was dropped a number of times. A whistling kite flew down hopefully, but the jabiru spread out his massive wings and the kite decided to go and get his own food!

We spent a truly wonderful few hours at the bird hide and Ella declared this “Absolutely the most bestest birthday ever” except that she was not spending it with Pap! Pap would have been glad of that as it was 10 o’clock by the time we got back to Darwin and the only good thing about the drive back was the beautiful full moon. Behaviour in the van was not beautiful!

Stay tuned ...

A Top End Extension

In which The Haystack Mountain Hermits have A Series of Extraordinary Events!

Ella in the storage tunnel

Storage Tank Number 5 - 3.8475 million litres!

There was rain on Friday night, which was an extraordinary event in itself! The sky was almost orange and the rain pelted down, which required some adjustment to the tent and the Blunderbuss in the dark.
Saturday morning was a bit cooler after the rain, which made a welcome change. We toured the WW2 oil storage tunnels which were cut by hand into the hillside when the navy realised how vulnerable their above ground storage tanks were to Japanese attack. The war ended just as they were finished, so they were never used. They were opened to the public on the 50th anniversary of their completion, and contained a fascinating collection of war photos.

Pango (with guitar) and Isodore having a Sitdown with us!

We had lunch at "our" spot on the Esplanade.  The plan was to play some music, but were all exhausted so resting and reading under the cool trees was a fine plan. We were about to leave when two Aboriginal men came over, said "Hello Band Family" and one said "I'm going to sitdown with you and make you happy, tell some stories". After a while they introduced themselves - which involved them giving us their Centrelink papers to "prove" their names. They were insistent that we read them, and Isodore thrust his Commonwealth bank card at us for good measure, very proud of "his" bank. A Police paddy wagon drove past and the officers asked us if we were alright, which was slightly disconcerting and upset Pango. He recovered quickly (after flipping them the bird!), played guitar and sang us a song in Walpiri language about the stolen generation, of which he was one. He had been educated in Adelaide and had certainly lived an interesting life as a stockman and rodeo rider, when not in jail! Isodore was harder to understand, but he told us about one of his relatives who escaped from Fannie Bay Gaol. He also proudly read us a page from Dave's Ted Egan book, and became really excited when we told him we were heading to WA. "That is my country" he told us happily.  They insisted on us taking their photographs and I promised to send them copies, care of the Darwin Post Office. It was a fascinating afternoon to say the least!

Sandfly bites are covering all of us!

It was a cool, pleasant evening (as opposed to all the others which had been stinking hot and unpleasant!), apart from all the scratching from sandfly bites which have started tormenting us.

Sunday morning dawned cooler, windy and with low humidity - which was the most pleasant weather we had. Most mornings we started sweating profusely just getting out of bed!

It was another busking day at Mindil Markets, but before we went busking we went out to Leanyer Water Park, where the kids had a blast on the free water slides. It was their lucky day as they had free sausages and helium ballons as well, courtesty of a local politician. Dave and I wrote a Hermits bio for the ABC interview while the kids slid, ate and talked to each other in Chipmunk!

A good day to visit Leanyer Water Park!

Woo hoo!

Jackson and Marcus

We went back to do a bit of rehearsal before busking, but discovered that Jackson's accordion had a sticky key and could not be played. He was gutted and resigned himself to playing the ukulele for the afternoon.

At Mindil, we were given the same pitch, so we started our set at 4 o’clock. We’d only done a couple of songs when an Australian Geographic freelancer and her partner asked to interview us for an up-coming issue about travellers on Highway One. We chatted for half an hour or so and they took some photos as we started to busk again. Poor Jackson really missed his accordion as he was photographed playing Ella's pink ukulele! We will probably be in the December edition of Australian Geographic. 

On Monday we had to be in at the ABC studios at 12:30 for a sound check, so apart from me doing 5 loads of washing, the morning was spent rehearsing our songs and pretending to be cool, calm and collected so the kids wouldn’t get nervous!

Our rehearsal was OK but the time disappeared very quickly and in no time at all the ON AIR sign lit up and we went out to wait for Richard Margetson to start his show and introduce us. The very last thing he said before we went in was announcing that Ros Lawrence had just won the C1 teams event in Slovakia. She also grew up in the shadow of Haystack Mountain, so that was a moment of pure synchronicity! Our interview was very relaxed and went well, we played our two songs live to air and everyone was on a high when it was over. We enjoyed victory icecreams  at an old fashioned Soda Shop (which seemed appropriate!) in the city before returning to camp and another load of washing!

ABC Darwin studio - Richard Margetson and the Hermits!

Stay tuned ...

Our First Busking Experience!

It was an effort to costume ourselves in the 30+ heat, but we arrived at Mindil Beach Sunset Markets all togged up and carted all our instruments in to our pitch. After the Alice experience, we were half expecting some ranger to come and tell us to bugger off, but the people were very organised and we got our busking licence for $7 on the spot.

Tuning took a while, but all the unusual instruments attracted attention, and we started playing to a crowd. Our first warm-up song was OK and a lady came and asked if we could do "Brown Eyed Girl". Dave could and the rest of us "sha-la-la-la-laed" and pretended we could. She wasn't too discerning and put our first $10 in!

We had been reminding the kids to smile, and Marcus leaned over to tell me "I can't help but smile" in the middle of a song. One guy came over at the end of a song and gave Ella (who had been drumming) $5, saying "This little girl deserves every cent of this!". Thommo gave her another $5 for smiling all the way through one song, complete with her first ukulele solo - which consisted of a C chord!

The first set of 10 songs went quickly and we had a break. The kids were very excited to buy a can of cold drink each out of the proceeds!

The second set was cut short by the fire juggling man who wanted to start next door as it was getting dark. We didn't mind stopping as the mandolin case was jingling and we had already made $235.80. My days of chasing $1 coins for the washing machines are over!! (Thanks to Ian, Alana and Thommo for helping to rev the audience up!) While we were putting the notes away (so the kids could shout us dinner!) we found the business card of the Operations Manager of the ABC Radio. There were some very excited Hermits who had a hard time getting to sleep last night.

Our first task this morning was to ring the ABC. Dave spoke to one of the announcers who was very keen to put us on the afternoon show on Monday. He explained that it would involve an interview and that we would perform 2 songs live. We were supposed to leave this morning, but after about a tenth of a second's hesitation we agreed to stay on in Darwin to be available at the ABC studios.

We then started rehearsing.

After a good couple of hours, we drove off to the air conditioned shopping centre for haircuts (all round) and had a swim to top off a very interesting start to our busking career! We are booked in to the Mindil markets again on Sunday so we will discover if our first day was indeed just a fluke!

Stay tuned ...

At the top of the Top End

New growth after fire

We left Litchfield on Friday morning after an early morning swim at Wangi Falls, our favourite! It was magic - no-one else was there except for hundreds of dragonflies and the ubiquitous white cockatoos having a blast, screeching and wheeling around above us.

There were lots of sand palms and cycads springing back to life
 in all the burnt areas as we drove back to the Stuart Highway and on to the top of our Top End journey. It is amazing to see how quickly they come back to life.

Chris tack welding to hold everything
together until he can fix the chassis

Driving into Darwin early that arvo we spotted a Caravan Parts shop on the Stuart Highway. We stopped and took the opportunity to try to get a replacement water tank for the caravan. The lady was exceptionally helpful, found us a tank that would fit and recommended a repair shop just down the road. Deciding to strike while the iron was hot (and let me assure you it was hot - 36 degrees in fact!) we found the place and explained our plight to the guy who was about to shut up for the week. He agreed to fix it for us there and then, so he hopped under the caravan.

"Holy Shit!" are not reassuring words coming from underneath the caravan upon which this whole venture depends.

The chassis was cracked in two. Fearing it was terminal, Dave and I made some rapid calculations. It was a lot of busking to buy a new caravan! Especially at our current rate of (non) success. However, Chris from Northern Van Repairs said he could fix it for us on Tuesday. He welded a quick patch on for us to keep us safe until then. We happily left the old watertank with him as we are sick of packing it in to the already overstuffed caravan every day.

We found a van park a little further down the highway and set up quickly to try to get some shade out of the awful heat. The shade didn't help much and with tempers fraying we took a drive in to the city to get our bearings. Darwin's Esplanade is on a cliff top overlooking the beautiful blue tropical waters of the harbour and has lots of WW2 memorials dotted along the shady path. Further down towards the port we checked out the deckchair cinema, which looked really groovy. Unfortunately there are no suitable films on while we are here.  We drove down to Stokes Wharf and the Waterfront Precinct, where we had burgers for dinner, after failing to find a fish and chip shop. The scenery included a US Navy ship with sailors going about their business. I am so glad that I am not in charge of all those white uniforms with these dodgy camp washing machines! We went a little further to Fisherman's Wharf where we were surprised to see a display of classic cars, and spent a good while checking out the cars (and all the personalised number plates) and wondered if they'd like a classic caravan to add to their collection! The kids enjoyed watching the container ships load and unload. Finally, we went back to camp at about 10 o'clock and it was still 29 degrees! I caught up on the blog for a couple of hours as I couldn't bear to get into the hot tent.

Personalised number plates are free in NT!

Catching up on the news

Kebab anyone?

The night was stifling and the morning hit the late 20s very early. Tempers frayed a bit more and we drove off to find something cool to do (ie anything out of the heat!!). We stumbled across the Parap Village Markets and spent a while there. The boys bought themselves croc tooth necklaces and now look like Mick Dundee with their hats and croc teeth on! The shady trees and sea breeze along the Esplanade called us next, and we had lunch, played 500 and read the newspapers for a while.  Ella made kebabs out of leaves and twigs for the "park creatures" and Marcus informed us "I like Darwin from under a shady tree"! He has a point! It wasn't getting any cooler, so we went down to the Waterfront to swim in the safety (from crocs and box jellyfish) of the artificially constructed public "beach". After a long swim, we drove back to camp for another sweltering night, being eaten alive by sandflies. Our camp is very close to the RAAF base (and Darwin airport too) and the planes make the ground rumble as they take off, keeping us awake so we can reliably inform you about the temperature and the sandflies!

Not a bad place to read the paper

Mick Dundee x3, Ella and Dave feed the fish

Sunday (Father's Day) started with a lovely assortment of handmade cards, some very melted chocolates, a tide chart and a blues CD. We drove to Doctor's Gully to feed the fish, a tradition that started in the 1950s. It was just awesome! Huge fish swim in from the sea for an easy meal and you get to stand in amongst them and pat them as they swim by. It was an amazing way to see some of the species that are out in the Arafura Sea - and how bloody big they are!

I am slightly concerned for my bass playing fingers!

Lachie was chosen to help feed the
barramundi and archerfish, who
repaid him by squirting him!

Mullet and catfish swim by!

We decided to continue celebrating Father's Day in an air conditioned shopping centre, where we enjoyed coffee and milkshakes (on our budget, not something we do very much!) and did a few pressing jobs - like buying some reading material for Marcus (well, all of us, really!) and Ella some new clothes as she has grown out of everything she came with! Jackson has been having Lego withdrawal symptoms, so he somehow managed to convince me to buy him a small box of Lego to give him his "clicking" fix!

A happy camper (with new Lego)!

Ella and I with our "mermaid's money" necklaces
bought at Mindil Markets

Mindil Beach Sunset Markets were our next stop, as we wanted to check them out to see if we could busk there. They were fantastic markets, and we enjoyed some of the other buskers as the sun went down in a blazing red ball.

Our mornings have been starting early with Ella cheering on Harry Potter as she reads Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire. "Go Harry!", "Oh no! He's in trouble now!", "Harry's got a girlfriend!" and "Hermione is going to the ball with Victor Krumm!" emanate from the caravan at regular intervals, as well as some of her hilarious mis-pronunciations. Cedric Diggory has become "Credick Buggery" (her B and D reversals are still a problem!) and Bellatrix L'Estrange is "Bethica Donkin". Needless to say, she is totally enthralled in the series.

The view from outside the gaol

After dragging her away from her book, we drove around to Fannie Bay to see the Gaol Museum. Imagine the most scenic spot you can think of (although decidedly HOT) with a corrugated iron fence, one strand of barbed wire (to keep visitors to the inmates out!) and gallows which hanged NT's last two convicted murderers. Ghoulish, stinking hot and really interesting! There are lots of funny stories about the gaol. Ted Egan once broke into the place to give a footy mate a beer! Inmates were given fairly liberal freedom, and were urged to make it back to the gaol before six o'clock to ensure they weren't locked out! One night roll call recorded one prisoner too many. Dave and I want to write some songs with all the material we are collecting.

Fannie Bay Gaol

Feeling the heat after gaol, we headed to MAGNT (Museum and Art Gallery NT) and its splendid collection of air conditioning vents. At about 2 p.m. we were finally cool, but starving, so we had lunch at Mindil Beach where we checked out the market site again as we have booked to busk on Thursday night. Rehearsal was much needed, so we drove to the Esplanade to practice under the shady trees. We attracted a large Aboriginal crowd, who all seemed to enjoy what we were doing, if their dancing, singing and clapping was anything to go by! A swim in the pool back at camp completed the busy day and everyone went happily to bed with new books to read.

Jackson's favourite plane!

Tuesday was D Day for the caravan.  We got the caravan in for repairs by 9 a.m. and drove off to the Aviation Heritage Museum, home of a B52 Bomber and a replica Supermarine Spitfire. The boys were in heaven after all the Biggles and Gimlet books they have been reading.

Trying to keep up with the blog in spare minutes!

After morning tea at the same park across from the Gaol, we went back to the Museum to continue our inspection of their air conditioning ... er, exhibits. It really is a fantastic museum and the Cyclone Tracy exhibit was particularly interesting. Chris rang to say the caravan was repaired, so we drove off to get it. He had a replica of Ned Kelly's armour in his shed, and told us it was one of the copies Heath Ledger wore in the movie. Chris' mate in Melbourne, who made them for the movie, has Heath's signature on his armour.

Ned Kelly's iconic suit

After setting up the caravan (which involved some pretty tidy reversing by Dave as we had to fit in between our tent and the next caravan!) we went to the Esplanade (again) for a picnic lunch, where our Aboriginal fans came past. They call us "The Band Family". One guy said he loved what we sang yesterday, as it reminded him of being in jail! The kids' eyes were like saucers as he wandered off ! Back in camp that night we saw the first act of a musical/comedy show where Ian and Alana (the lovely couple we met when we toured their bus) bought us some raffle tickets. We won a blanket. Just what we need in this temperature!

On Wednesday we had the van booked in for a service, so we were up early, cleaning the Blunderbuss out. Dave dropped us and all the clobber in town and we walked down to the Waterfront and the wave pool for the day. He joined us after dropping the vehicle off. The kids had a fantastic time in the wave pool and Lachie and I had a wander along the Smith St Mall to find a supermarket to get some things for lunch. We had an enforced "shady rest" after lunch and played cards to try to avoid getting scorched. The wave pool closed at 6 p.m. and the kids were very sorry to leave, they'd had such fun. Toad Races were on when we got back to camp and Ian and Alana bought a toad. Lachie "Toad Wrangler" Church handled it for Alana (who was wisely not very keen to touch it!) and it won two races. So we ended up with some chocolates (luckily didn't win the electric blanket!) and Ian gave the kids a cold soft drink, which was very well received. Cold drinks are on the top of the Things We Miss list! Next was dinner, showers, cream on sunburns and sleep!

Does my bum look big in this?

On Thursday morning we packed all the instruments into the Blunderbuss for a rehearsal at our favourite spot on the Esplanade. Dave dropped me off at Smith St Mall to try to find some 1930s-style shoes (a task I was not looking forward to - Eula, where are you when you are needed?) and got set up with the kids. I was amazed to find some shoes that fitted the bill after only half an hour of looking, so joined the Hermits for our busking rehearsal. Once again we had an indigenous crowd very interested in the instruments and what we were doing. We got a trolley full of groceries (and were tempted to stay in the air-conditioned splendour of Woolworths!) before heading back to camp to get costumed and organised for the Mindil Markets.

Stay tuned ...