Wednesday, February 18

Coffee and creatures

Sadly we had to say goodbye to our wonderful company from yesterday. I think they may well have liked to have stuck around a bit longer but since they had to meet someone in Broome later this afternoon their hands were pretty much tied. Nonetheless the kids made the most of the time they did have and came over for one last play while mum and dad did the packing. 

We were then given cups of fresh hot pod coffee for our child entertainment efforts and I was even more distraught to see these lovely people bid us farewell. Decent coffee is really the only thing that I am longing for while on #ouadventureofalifetime.

As the day went on we took a walk along the beach and found a few little creatures along the way. Mainly of the insect variety. I do love how the girls are not adverse to playing with creepy crawlies. As much as they can be girly girls and get ridiculously excited about all things pink and Barbie, they are equally at home catching grasshoppers, ladybugs and whatever beetle happens to cross their path.




Thankfully one creature we didn’t encounter today was the little sandpiper that Zany was so certain she was rescuing from a life of solitude and despair.

Yesterday, while walking along the beach with another family, the eldest child of which she befriended the day before, she returned with a somewhat stunned sandpiper in hand. Adamant that the poor creature was in need of care and she was just the person to do so she began pleading for me to let her keep it as her new pet and create a home for it.

Instead I convinced her to put it under a tree with a bowl of water in case it was thirsty.

After an hour or so the bird began to look visibly stronger and began walking around a little more. Much to Zany’s disappointment I told her that it was now time to return the bird to the beach. Rather reluctantly she agreed and found a perfect little hideaway for it amongst some rocks. 

It was with great relief to discover it was no longer there today. The real highlight of the whole sandpiper incident though was learning that many sandpipers on the Western Australian coast migrate from places afar afield as Russia. I do love it when our learning is to visible and stimulated from things that interest the kids.

There had been some record high tides in the days leading up to our arrival which had meant that there were a few pools of water left higher up on the beach. Which naturally the girls delighted in laying in. Which would have not been a probably had they not been wearing lovely brand new white rash shirts. (Related who in their right mind would buy their children white rash shirts when you are living in the bush?)


While the children sat in the water I took the opportunity to try my photography skills out for a bit. I couldn’t help but be inspired by all the beauty around me. I also couldn’t help but continually be amazed at just how lucky we are to be out here doing things like this.


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Tuesday, February 17

Birthday drinks and three course meals.

Not long after we arrived yesterday a little person seemed to appear out of no where. Which is not actually anything unusual. Children have a way of just appearing at our campsite.

As it turned out her name was Jemmina and she belonged to campsite about a forty meters or so away from ours. She was four and had been on the road for a couple of weeks longer than us and was super excited to seem some children near her age.

One of the things I have loved about the trip so far is the way that children just seem to be drawn to one another and friendships formed instantly. There is a real sense of making the most of the opportunity to play.

Before long Jemmina’s mum popped on over to say hi and check that all was ok. We instantly began chatting like old friends swapping tales of where were had been and where we were going. Naturally we were going in opposite directions. It feels like almost everyone we meet that I just seem to click with is going in the opposite direction to us.

Anyway it just so happened that today was Jemmina’s Dad’s birthday. He popped on over rather early this morning making a few jokes about drinking with Territorians as the ideal way to spend his special day. Since he was the birthday boy it seemed only right that we oblige.

All the campers gathering round to enjoy one of the best
roast I have ever had the pleasure of someone
serving me.
The first beer was cracked open shortly after ten, because that is when the pubs open so it is quite a justifiable time to start drinking. And while I realise it may sound terrible to say the last drink was had around ten hours later the drinks were consumed rather slowly and it was all about pace and endurance rather than how much could be drunk.

The best bit about the day, other than having made some rather cool new buddies, was that the campground hosted a roast dinner so there was no cooking to be done on my part. A grand total of $57 for the five of us to be fed a three course roast meal makes for one of the best take out options I have had for quite some time. Sadly we had to bring all our own plates and cutlery so there were still dishes that needed doing but I guess you can’t win them all.


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