Wednesday 27 March 2013 - Renner Springs
We finally cut the apron strings and left Mittiebah yesterday morning. We went as far as the Barkly Homestead (what the locals call ‘Bark Hut’), which was a couple of hundred k’s driving, before setting up camp. Barkly Homestead is a roadhouse with camping facilities, a swimming pool, restaurant and bar along with fuel etc and is really nice and well-maintained. Unfortunately our visit was horrendous, although we had no idea of what we’d be facing when we first arrived.
We set up without incident and took the girls over to the roadhouse for an icecream that Yasmin bought out of her own money from her grandparents ($4.20 – lucky it came in two pieces so they could share it!). Then it was off to the pool to cool off (it’s still hot and there’s still lots of flies). Yasmin (‘The Fish’) spent over two hours in the water, save for a short break while we went and got my phone so I could make some calls (talked to Bec and Mum) whilst supervising her. The pool got quite busy in the afternoon and poor Yasmin was eyeing off two sisters aged about 7 and 9 wistfully, hoping they’d play with her, but it just wasn’t her day. It’s hard for a mother to just sit back and watch – I see her eyes light up as soon as she catches sight of another little kid and my heart aches for her when she’s ignored. Glenn and I encourage her to try and make friends on her own, without depending on us, but it’s sad when other kids don’t respond.
Glenn and Sienna had left the pool after about three quarters of an hour, but it was almost sunset by the time I managed to drag ‘The Fish’ out of water. On returning to camp, we found that the whole grounds were covered in ants’ nests. Not big meat ants or nasty green ants, just the little black ones that run really fast, crawl all over your legs and absolutely stink when you squash them! It was absolutely horrific. We couldn’t stand still to prepare meals, let alone sit down anywhere and eat. The other campers were experiencing the same problems. I carried Yasmin to the toilet block because we couldn’t walk anywhere without encountering another nest. We retreated to the tent as quickly as possible, but the morning was even worse.
Yasmin climbed into our bed just before 6 because the ants were inside the tent. The flies were out in full force (like, in your eyes and ears, gross!) as soon as dawn broke and we didn’t even bother with making breakfast before packing up. The ants were swarming all over our washing up dish, kitchen benchtops and stove. Glenn had the fun job of packing up, while I entertained Sienna by taking her for a walk over to the roadhouse and Yasmin watched her DVD player in the car. Glenn sprayed a super-thick layer of Bushman’s all over his feet and set to work, but even so, by the time he got in the car he said his legs were still tingling from all the bites. We decided to treat ourselves to breakfast at the roadhouse for all our dramas. The night’s camping fee was $20 and breakfast was $40 – it can’t have been much more for a cabin and we’d have saved ourselves a lot of discomfort!
The experience, combined with several others over the past few weeks, has made us question whether we should continue doing this in a camper trailer or start looking at getting a caravan. We’ve decided to hold off until after the dry season before researching other options. But for the moment, we did need to think hard about where we headed next. The heat is very restrictive in what we can do – the girls can’t play outside, they can’t have a daytime sleep, we can’t do any hikes or exploring – and it also drains our energy and patience very quickly. Of course the flies and bugs that accompany the heat don’t make life any easier and considering we’re in one of the hottest parts of Australia at the end of the hottest time of year, camping in this region isn’t quite as pleasant as it could be. We talked through a few options and instead of making our way north towards Darwin, settled on heading to Limbunya, another cattle station situated about 900km southwest of the capital. We were due to head there in early May after I arrived back from Brisbane, but assuming it was all ok with the manager there, we thought we’d rather get there before I left.
We figured if the weather continued to remain unpleasant, that at least we’d have access to creature comforts to keep us sane until it cools off a bit more. Plus, because Glenn is going to do electrical work there, we reasoned it would be better to get the work stint done now while the weather isn’t so pleasant, so that once it does turn, we’ll be able to make the most of it for the rest of the year. And of course it saves us a lot of money in camping fees along with grocery bills when we stay at a station.
So today we drove down to Tennant Creek, picked up fuel for 20c a litre cheaper than at Threeways and did a little grocery shopping. Aboriginals make up a large percentage of the population in Tennant Creek and Yasmin wandered around the Food Barn with eyes boggled, as it was pension day, therefore shopping day. We were told yesterday that the pubs are closed every second Thursday in the hope that the women get a chance to get food in the house before all the money is drunk.
Tonight we’re camped at another roadhouse called Renner Springs. It’s cooled down beautifully as a few rain showers have been passing through the region. There have been hardly any bugs and the flies were nowhere near as prolific as they have been. A really nice breeze is blowing through (although the wind picked up quite a bit when a rain storm passed us) and I even had to put a t-shirt on over my singlet because I got goosebumps! It’s such a refreshing change to the relentless heat and hopefully it’s a sign of what’s to come.
