Wilsons on the road: Saturday 11 May 2013

Saturday 11 May 2013 - leaving Hayes Creek

We spent Thursday night at Douglas Hot Springs Nature Park and Friday night at Hayes Creek. Both were very pleasant one-night stops. Douglas Hot Springs is a nice little spot with a campground right beside the creek. The water in there runs hot a little further up (apparently about 60 degrees), but mixes with the cool water to make the river access point a very pleasant temperature. You can sit in spots where it’s a fairly even warm temp (good for Sienna) or move to certain locations where it runs quite hot (not scorching) and then a cool change comes through as the current pushes the waters through. The mozzies weren’t really a problem and the night got pleasantly cool, so we all relaxed and enjoyed ourselves.

In the late afternoon, Glenn baked some bread in the camp oven and the girls cooked little bread twisties on sticks over the coals. While they were cooking on the riverbank, Glenn spotted a nice sized barra pottering around the shallows. The following morning we saw a little freshwater croc in nearly the same spot! Glenn went and flicked a few lures around and picked up a sooty grunter and a tarpon, but they were both a bit small. After we left the Douglas River, we drove out to find another waterhole spot further along the same road, but we didn’t see any signs the girls were sleeping so we didn’t pursue it too much. We turned around and headed to Hayes Creek, only about an hour away.

Hayes Creek is a roadhouse with benefits. It has a nice grassy campground down the back with plenty of shade, two pools (the girls swam in both!), a little creek out the back (croc free) and good amenities, plus they gave us a powered site at the unpowered rate ($22.50 for the night). We were also given a voucher each for a free cocktail at happy hour (4-6pm), so took the girls up for an afternoon icecream and a few drinks before dinner. We could have ordered meals there too, but as we have a well-stocked freezer, we decided to cook for ourselves.

Our fresh supplies are getting low, plus we’ve run out of lots of basics like Vita Brits for the girls, so this morning we scratched together a breakfast with two eggs, a tin of tomatoes, 3 bacon shortcuts, a little bit of haloumi and the last of the bread. It ended up being quite delicious – I fried the bacon, then chopped it up and stewed it in a pot with the tinned tomatoes and served it alongside the fried cheese, toast and scrambled eggs. Yasmin wasn’t very impressed but Sienna was pretty happy with it and there weren’t any complaints from Glenn! Fortunately there was a tiny bit of muesli and mango left so Yasmin didn’t go hungry.

After breakfast we packed up, a process we’re starting to feel we’ve mastered now. While we’re not super-quick, we’re usually not in a rush and because we’re not being hasty, the girls don’t seem to get as demanding as they have been. Today it was slowed down a little when Glenn had his back to the boat on top of the camper and somehow managed to hook himself on a lure. After I cut him down with the scissors, he used the Leatherman pliers to tug it out in the same direction it went in, with me guiding it and ensuring the rest of the hooks didn’t snare him at the same time. Yasmin was more worked up than Glenn was, although he did get a bit light-headed for a minute afterwards.

After we’d packed nearly everything up, I took the girls for a swim while Glenn finished off the last few things and then we called back into the roadhouse for smoko – fruit salad and devonshire tea for the girls (I got the tea, they got the scones) and a famous Hayes Creek meat pie for Glenn (Sienna liked that too). Then it’s back on the road again, with a little dose of Phenergan for Yasmin (red eyes and runny nose) and me (a rash flared up on my leg yesterday and bothered me a bit during the night still isn’t clearing up). All in all though, the warm but comfortable weather and beautiful scenery means we’ve got a car-full of happy campers!