Anyone who knows me would know that I am a bit of a stress head. What they may not know is that I am borderline diagnosable with general anxiety disorder. It's not something I talk about. It's not something I admit to. Mostly because I feel that there is something wrong with me and I should be able to control it, even though I know that's not true. So perhaps that is why I do need to talk about it.
I didn't know I suffered anxiety until about 4 years ago. My mum was always a worrier. She would worry about all sorts of things and I grew up thinking that was normal. I thought it was normal to lie in bed at night imagining all sorts of worse case scenarios and coming up with solutions for them before I could go to sleep. I have always wondered, because of mum, whether anxiety in "nature" or "nurture". Is anxiety hardwired into me? Or did I learn it from my mum and her constant worry? None of these thoughts solve the problem though, do they. But I am doing my utmost to make sure that my kids don't see my anxiety because I don't want to make them anxious (if that is even possible).
So what does anxiety have to do with my travelling? For the most part, nothing. But in one area it has been having a massive impact on me. For those of you who've read this blog from early on you would know that I had an encounter (of the not-so-good kind) with a Coffin Ray at Jervis Bay. I had been for a snorkel by myself, because someone has to stay onshore and make sure the kidlets don't drown while the other one gets to have fun. I had snorkelled near the entrance to Honeymoon Bay, which is an absolutely stunning place, but the water was a bit churned up there and I freaked myself out snorkelling alone and headed back for shore. Just as I got to knee deep water, I knelt down to take off my mask and flippers when I felt an almighty whack to the back of my leg. It felt like being kicked by a horse or an electric fence... if you've had either of those experiences, which I have. I freaked out and yelled for Greg, scaring the daylights out of half the people on the beach I think, and then put my other knee down. As I did I felt something wriggling and moving underneath it, which resulted in way more thrashing and freaking out by me. It turns out a Coffin Ray delivers an electric shock to you, which was the hit I felt on the back of my leg... but knowing that still didn't help that initial spurt of terror because of course, I immediately thought "shark" and that I was going to die (not an over reaction or anything, hey?)
Following that adventure, or misadventure, we really weren't anywhere where we could swim, as it was always too cold. It wasn't until we went home to help Nana and Pop that I was in a position to go near/in water again. I was sitting on the side of a boat ramp at North Haven and went to dangle my feet over the edge. As I put my feet down (still about 15cm above the surface of the water) I freaked out that I couldn't do that as something (ie, shark) would come and bite me. Highly irrational, I know, but oh so hard to control.
Having just been at Mataranka and the hot springs at Bitter Springs, that fear of danger associated with water has reared its ugly head again. The whole time we were in the hot springs, floating in the crystal clear, stunningly blue, beautiful warm water, drifting downstream with the current, I had a constant low level hum of anxiety sitting in the back of my mind, detracting from the experience. It is kind of like the constant low hum you get from power lines - present, noticeable and annoying but you can tune it out sometimes. I was OK if other people were in sight, but if we were alone I started to completely freak out.
And as we head further into croc territory I think I am going to be permanently stressed. I know there are 2 key bits of advice: 1 - if there's a sign that says crocs, stay out of the water and 2 - if there's no sign, stay out of the water. But what happens if we miss the sign? What happens if the ranger misses the signs of a croc? What happens if a croc moves in between inspections? So many worries... and no answers except to stay out of the water, but I really don't want to be ruled by my irrational fears and anxiety.
I have always loved the beach, the ocean and playing around in creeks. The beach especially is my calming place, the place that restores my soul... and now all I can think of is the fear. I had grand plans of swimming with whale sharks at Ningaloo. It's something I've wanted to do for a very long time, around 20 years, but now I just won't be able to. I wish there was a way to talk myself out of my anxiety, out of how irrational my fears are, but I can't at this stage. It seems like my time in croc territory is just going to make it worse. I hope that I can possibly desensitize over time and come good before we hit the amazing beaches and snorkelling spots on the north coast of WA. I don't want our journey of a life time spoiled by my fear and anxiety. Hopefully I come up with a solution to this particular anxiety... the other ones just make me sound crackers lol!
Monday 22 August 2016
Mataranka
What can I say about this amazing oasis in the middle of such a dry and harsh place? Well, actually, Mataranka itself doesn't have a lot to redeem it... or perhaps I am just biased by my annoyance.... but the Hot Springs at Mataraka and Bitter Springs are amazingly wonderful oases and I am so glad we got to see and experience these.
The township of Mataranka pretty much peeved me because everything is so ridiculously overpriced and we had pretty much run out of food and water so we needed to buy stuff. I understand the whole argument about distances groceries are transported adding to the cost due to fuel costs, but given that towns further south (and therefore requiring much more transport) don't charge anything like they were at Mataranka, it is apparent that they are absolutely price gouging based on the distance between big townships and the likelihood of people running out of groceries and needing to replace them You could pretty much add $2 or more to the price of every. single. item. in the shop. It cost us $36 for 3 tomatoes, 4 tiny over ripe bananas, 1 loaf of frozen bread (but pretty much all bread in the outback is frozen), 4L of milk, 250g of cheese and a box of chocolate paddle pops. There was no water to buy unless we wanted to pay around $5-$6 for a 1L bottle of spring water. So this experience absolutely soured me on the township of Mataranka.
But the hot springs are an entirely different matter. They are free, which is amazing considering how stunning they are, and both such a wonderful experience. The water simply comes out of the limestone at the temperature of the ground there and flows downstream. They truly are an oasis and it is hard to imagine these beautiful bodies of water in the midst of all the dry, hot, dusty, scrubby land. I can imagine how surprised and elated the first explorers to discover them must have felt.
Bitter Springs runs at about 32 degrees C and is very natural. The only man made bits are 4 sets of steps (2 at the beginning, 1 in the middle and 1 at the end) and a path around part of the Springs. The edges are completely natural, just like any other river, lined with cabbage palms and forest. The water flows along and you get in at the first set of stairs and then float with the current down to the last set of stairs. Pool noodles, or another floatation device, are very handy to have, as the freshwater is nowhere near as bouyant as salt water. I float OK without but Greg struggled. We had Rory in his life jacket and once he learned to relax and float either vertically or on his back, he had an absolute blast. The water is crystal clear and you float along over gravel, rocks, logs, weed and algae. We saw turtles and other people saw some small fish as well. It is so hard to find the words to describe just how incredible an experience it is. I hope the photos do some justice. Despite how calm and crystal clear the water was, and how popular it was, I had a constant level of anxiety about crocodiles. It is the type of place where they could be (and it is inspected daily to be sure there aren't any). As I floated down the river I could see a croc calmly and slowly sliding into the water to hunt one of us. Despite that anxiety, it was a wonderful, amazing, incredible experience that I would pay for without any hesitation. The caravan park owners recommended we try a night time swim as there was a full moon.... but my fear just wouldn't let me do that. I am such a wuss. We stayed in walking distance to Bitter Springs so we went there three days in a row.
We also visited Mataranka Hot Springs. This is an amazing place, and reminds me of an ancient Greek hot bath surrounded by palms. It too is an incredible oasis in the middle of a very dry, dusty and inhospitable place. These hot springs are 34 degrees C and an incredible 30.2 million litres of water flows through them every day! These hot springs are more modified to include stone pathways, seats around the edges both in and out of the water and concrete/rock/retained walls. It is half natural waterway, half pool, but still beautiful nonetheless. These hot springs are much more popular, so more crowded, which is one of the reasons we stayed at Bitter Springs. There is a shallow end which was good for the kids, but we mostly stayed in the deeper part as Rory had discovered he can "swim" in his life jacket.
The township of Mataranka pretty much peeved me because everything is so ridiculously overpriced and we had pretty much run out of food and water so we needed to buy stuff. I understand the whole argument about distances groceries are transported adding to the cost due to fuel costs, but given that towns further south (and therefore requiring much more transport) don't charge anything like they were at Mataranka, it is apparent that they are absolutely price gouging based on the distance between big townships and the likelihood of people running out of groceries and needing to replace them You could pretty much add $2 or more to the price of every. single. item. in the shop. It cost us $36 for 3 tomatoes, 4 tiny over ripe bananas, 1 loaf of frozen bread (but pretty much all bread in the outback is frozen), 4L of milk, 250g of cheese and a box of chocolate paddle pops. There was no water to buy unless we wanted to pay around $5-$6 for a 1L bottle of spring water. So this experience absolutely soured me on the township of Mataranka.
But the hot springs are an entirely different matter. They are free, which is amazing considering how stunning they are, and both such a wonderful experience. The water simply comes out of the limestone at the temperature of the ground there and flows downstream. They truly are an oasis and it is hard to imagine these beautiful bodies of water in the midst of all the dry, hot, dusty, scrubby land. I can imagine how surprised and elated the first explorers to discover them must have felt.
Bitter Springs runs at about 32 degrees C and is very natural. The only man made bits are 4 sets of steps (2 at the beginning, 1 in the middle and 1 at the end) and a path around part of the Springs. The edges are completely natural, just like any other river, lined with cabbage palms and forest. The water flows along and you get in at the first set of stairs and then float with the current down to the last set of stairs. Pool noodles, or another floatation device, are very handy to have, as the freshwater is nowhere near as bouyant as salt water. I float OK without but Greg struggled. We had Rory in his life jacket and once he learned to relax and float either vertically or on his back, he had an absolute blast. The water is crystal clear and you float along over gravel, rocks, logs, weed and algae. We saw turtles and other people saw some small fish as well. It is so hard to find the words to describe just how incredible an experience it is. I hope the photos do some justice. Despite how calm and crystal clear the water was, and how popular it was, I had a constant level of anxiety about crocodiles. It is the type of place where they could be (and it is inspected daily to be sure there aren't any). As I floated down the river I could see a croc calmly and slowly sliding into the water to hunt one of us. Despite that anxiety, it was a wonderful, amazing, incredible experience that I would pay for without any hesitation. The caravan park owners recommended we try a night time swim as there was a full moon.... but my fear just wouldn't let me do that. I am such a wuss. We stayed in walking distance to Bitter Springs so we went there three days in a row.
We also visited Mataranka Hot Springs. This is an amazing place, and reminds me of an ancient Greek hot bath surrounded by palms. It too is an incredible oasis in the middle of a very dry, dusty and inhospitable place. These hot springs are 34 degrees C and an incredible 30.2 million litres of water flows through them every day! These hot springs are more modified to include stone pathways, seats around the edges both in and out of the water and concrete/rock/retained walls. It is half natural waterway, half pool, but still beautiful nonetheless. These hot springs are much more popular, so more crowded, which is one of the reasons we stayed at Bitter Springs. There is a shallow end which was good for the kids, but we mostly stayed in the deeper part as Rory had discovered he can "swim" in his life jacket.
This is the sign saying they only manage crocodiles in some parts of the area now
This is Rainbow Spring, which is where the hot springs start flowing from. You can see the water bubbling up
I can see why people set up for a week or more to enjoy the hot springs every day. We had pretty much run out of fresh food by the end of our second day, and we had to drink the caravan park water which was quite minerally, so we were ready to move on. We had a good 1 1/2 hour swim at Bitter Springs again on the morning we left. There is room for caravans to park there so it worked well for us to check out of the caravan park, spend time in the water, before the hour long trip to Katherine.
Longreach Waterhole, Elliot
We had a wonderful three days at Longreach Waterhole at Elliot. It is a free camp around the edge of the water. There were quite a lot of vans there but the body of water is so large you can spread out and not be settled on top of your neighbours. We found a wonderful spot; nice and shady, secluded and overlooking the water about 15m from the water. It was possible to get closer to the water at some sites but the land was quite sloping so it would have been impossible to get the van level. That didn't seem to bother some people but it sure does bother Greg.
The water is a milky white-grey due to clay particles suspended in the water. It is a bird paradise so I am guessing the water is full of bird poo too. We didn't swim but we did canoe and the kids played in the edge of the water in the lovey grey mud. When the wind stopped (and it really wasn't very windy at all) the water was glassy and canoeing on it was just beautiful.
It is the type of place where you sit and do nothing but watch the birds and time passes and it is so relaxing you lose track of time and days. We left, partly to get on the road again and partly because we were running out of water. It is taking us some time to get used to how hot it is now and how much water we need to keep up with our needs. Prior to our trip home, we had had a lot of cooler weather so we didn't go through as much water as we now need to.
We saw about 20 water birds and around 5-10 other birds. One of our best investments has been a Field Guide to Australian Birds that we bought for Tilda. She (and us) spent quite a bit of time watching the birds and trying to identify them.
We saw Whistling Kite (lots of these), Pelicans (probably 50 or more), hundreds of Little Black Cormorants and Pied Black Cormorants (in the hundreds), Caspian Terns, Magpie Geese, unidentified ducks, Strawnecked Ibis, Australian White Ibis, a Stilt of some type, Egret (we were never quite sure if it was an Intermediate Egret or an Eastern Great), plus others I have now forgotten. On land there were Galahs, Rainbow Beecatchers, a little bird that never stopped moving long enough to identify and more.
My favourite was the Rainbow Beecatcher. It is so beautifully coloured and as it flies overhead you see it's jewel coloured green body with coppery-bronze wings. It is amazing just how colourful and beautiful it is.
I found three days there just the perfect length of time but I could imagine staying longer. Finding a water oasis in the middle of such a dry space was wonderful and it is hard to imagine it there in the middle of all the dry scrub.
View from our campsite
We saw about 20 water birds and around 5-10 other birds. One of our best investments has been a Field Guide to Australian Birds that we bought for Tilda. She (and us) spent quite a bit of time watching the birds and trying to identify them.
We saw Whistling Kite (lots of these), Pelicans (probably 50 or more), hundreds of Little Black Cormorants and Pied Black Cormorants (in the hundreds), Caspian Terns, Magpie Geese, unidentified ducks, Strawnecked Ibis, Australian White Ibis, a Stilt of some type, Egret (we were never quite sure if it was an Intermediate Egret or an Eastern Great), plus others I have now forgotten. On land there were Galahs, Rainbow Beecatchers, a little bird that never stopped moving long enough to identify and more.
My favourite was the Rainbow Beecatcher. It is so beautifully coloured and as it flies overhead you see it's jewel coloured green body with coppery-bronze wings. It is amazing just how colourful and beautiful it is.
(photo found on pinterest as I couldn't download mine)
Tennant Creek
We spent two nights at Tennant Creek, which is all we needed and more than some people think is necessary. It is an incredibly dry and dusty town. It was hot but it was a dry heat I used to love humidity but I'm not sure I do any more. We stayed at the Tennant Creek Caravan Park, which I definitely recommend. The sites are predominantly dirt or gravel, which is understandable as there isn't enough water to spare to keep grass growing, but the owners were nice and the sites are big enough for our van.
We visited the Info Centre but it really seemed like the staff couldn't be bothered making the effort to help anyone, which was disappointing as I would have liked to get some more information about the area and the places we were heading to. It's amazing how different staff can be in these places. Some of them are so helpful and wonderful to talk to and others are simply ticking the box, or barely even doing that. We did get photos near a big termite mound though, so that was something, and there was all sorts of old mining equipment scattered around the Info Centre as it is based at the old Battery Hill mine.
The owner of the caravan park recommended we go to the Mary Ann Dam which is 5km north of town. I'm glad we did as it was a very pretty place with lots of nice shaded grass to sit on. There is all sorts of bird life there, including peacocks, guinea fowl, hawks/kites and chickens and domestic ducks. We watched a Kite glide in and land on it's massive nest in a tree overhead, while staring down at us. It was a very majestic sight. We had a lovely couple of hours walking, the kids playing on the (very basic) playground and exploring downstream from the dam wall.
We visited the Info Centre but it really seemed like the staff couldn't be bothered making the effort to help anyone, which was disappointing as I would have liked to get some more information about the area and the places we were heading to. It's amazing how different staff can be in these places. Some of them are so helpful and wonderful to talk to and others are simply ticking the box, or barely even doing that. We did get photos near a big termite mound though, so that was something, and there was all sorts of old mining equipment scattered around the Info Centre as it is based at the old Battery Hill mine.
The owner of the caravan park recommended we go to the Mary Ann Dam which is 5km north of town. I'm glad we did as it was a very pretty place with lots of nice shaded grass to sit on. There is all sorts of bird life there, including peacocks, guinea fowl, hawks/kites and chickens and domestic ducks. We watched a Kite glide in and land on it's massive nest in a tree overhead, while staring down at us. It was a very majestic sight. We had a lovely couple of hours walking, the kids playing on the (very basic) playground and exploring downstream from the dam wall.
Monday 15 August 2016
On the road again....
It was really weird to get back to our caravan in Alice Springs after being in a real house, although probably too small for 2 grandparents and the four of us, especially as our kids are b.u.s.y. and n.o.i.s.y. I think everyone had mixed feelings, although we were all happy to be back in the van and get ready to hit the road north again. Tilda and I had both enjoyed our time with friends so much it reminded us how much we miss them while on the road, but I know all of the adventures that await and I am really excited at the opportunity to see Kakadu, Katherine, Darwin and WA. Tilda not so much, although she is learning to look for the fun in things even if she is sad to be away from home and friends again.
The weather has been wonderful since we got back... blue skies, sun and shorts and t-shirt weather. It is actually taking a bit of adjusting to being so hot! Sorry my friends back home....
We had a great overnight free camp on our first night out of Alice Springs. It's at a WWII memorial site north of Barrow Creek. It's a large area, 1km off the highway and there were only 3 other vans there so it was quiet and peaceful and beautiful. It's the first free camp we've done since March where it didn't rain (yippee!!) so that was a pleasant experience for us.
We also stopped at the Devils Marbles. These are a really amazing geological formation. I can't believe how round so many of the rocks are, or how they just perch atop each other, although they obviously fall over as there are quite a lot lying on the ground. I always thought it was just a couple of lots of one or two round rocks balanced on top of each other so I was quite surprised at how extensive the rock field extends. You can camp there for a small fee and I can see why people would, as they would look incredible at sunset when the rocks became a much deeper red, but it wasn't that far from our overnighter and we didn't want to stay.
One of the things that has surprised me is how little wildlife we have seen since we hit the NT. Today we saw quite a bit of cow roadkill but we really haven't seen native animals, as road kill or in the wild, except for a dingo on our way to Uluru, a mangy dingo crossbreed at Kings Canyon caravan park and a wallaby in Kings Canyon. There may have been one other roo siting but that would be it. There are a lot of wedgetail eagles and other birds of prey circling near the roads. I honestly thought we would have seen more.
The weather has been wonderful since we got back... blue skies, sun and shorts and t-shirt weather. It is actually taking a bit of adjusting to being so hot! Sorry my friends back home....
We had a great overnight free camp on our first night out of Alice Springs. It's at a WWII memorial site north of Barrow Creek. It's a large area, 1km off the highway and there were only 3 other vans there so it was quiet and peaceful and beautiful. It's the first free camp we've done since March where it didn't rain (yippee!!) so that was a pleasant experience for us.
Our view from our caravan
The creek near our van. This is what most creeks look like between Alice and Tennant Creek
An artistic attempt to capture the red soil and the blue sky, complete with moon
Sunset (the red was much deeper than this photo shows)
We stopped at Wycliffe Wells because 1 - it has the cheapest fuel in this neck of the woods and 2 - they've set themselves up as the UFO Centre of Australia. There is all sorts of UFO paraphernalia, complete with a drain in the floor with an alien looking up through it, newspaper articles of UFO and alien sitings and of course, UFO souveniers. I figure good luck to them for having a go at making a good tourist attraction (other than cheap fuel) so of course we had to stop and buy some things. The kids loved it, especially Rory, although at bed time he didn't want to wear his astronaut PJs because he doesn't want to be an astronaut and see and alien, funny boy!
We also stopped at the Devils Marbles. These are a really amazing geological formation. I can't believe how round so many of the rocks are, or how they just perch atop each other, although they obviously fall over as there are quite a lot lying on the ground. I always thought it was just a couple of lots of one or two round rocks balanced on top of each other so I was quite surprised at how extensive the rock field extends. You can camp there for a small fee and I can see why people would, as they would look incredible at sunset when the rocks became a much deeper red, but it wasn't that far from our overnighter and we didn't want to stay.
One of the things that has surprised me is how little wildlife we have seen since we hit the NT. Today we saw quite a bit of cow roadkill but we really haven't seen native animals, as road kill or in the wild, except for a dingo on our way to Uluru, a mangy dingo crossbreed at Kings Canyon caravan park and a wallaby in Kings Canyon. There may have been one other roo siting but that would be it. There are a lot of wedgetail eagles and other birds of prey circling near the roads. I honestly thought we would have seen more.
North Haven and Port Macquarie
We had a five week interlude to Sydney, Port Macquarie and surrounds from early July to mid August due to family reasons. It was weird to fly in to the chaos that is Sydney and navigate those roads (fortunately towards the end of peak hour) to the F3 northbound after being on the Stuart Highway. There is a HUGE difference in the amount of people and vehicles crammed into, or onto, these two roads. Gone are the three trailer road trains, replaced by small sedans and Prius'. Gone is the slow pace, friendly smiles and relaxed atmosphere, replaced by people grumpy and frantic and just wanting to get home after a long day (I understand that having grown up in Sydney and also working 9-5, or 8-5 or 7 -6 or whatever was necessary). It was hard to get out of the habit of waving at other travellers and I couldn't help but wonder what people in Sydney would think if we waved as we went passed.
Of course there was an obligatory visit to the Big Axe at Kew. OK, not really, as we haven't been going out of our way to visit any "big" icons of Australia. But we did go to the Big Axe at Kew so we could catch up with our great friends Michael, Melissa, Willow and Sakari on their way back north. As always, it was wonderful to see them and time flew way too fast and it wasn't long before they had to hit the road again.
We also made the most of the sunny days and Poppy's recovery and took his boat out for some family fun.
We had a lovely catch up with friends in Newcastle and then a couple of days in Sydney while Pop was having surgery. Sydney put on a beautiful sunny winters day for us on the one day the kids and I took a break from the hospital and we got to enjoy beautiful Dee Why. I thoroughly recommend The Beach Shed at Dee Why. I had the yummiest ever strawberry milkshake I think I've ever had and their chocolate fudge brownies are delicious too.
We stayed in the Camden Haven region while Poppy was recuperating and while some of the time was spent catching up on school work and visiting him in hospital, once he was home again we also got to play tourists. Most of the days were warm (jeans and 2 layer) and quite pleasant to be outdoors, despite being mid-winter.
I recommend The Pancake Place in Port Macquarie. You can get pancakes with sweet and savoury toppings and at lunch time they also serve crepes. Tilda's best friend and her family were visiting Port Macquarie on the last weekend of the school holidays and so we had lunch at the Pancake Place and enjoyed a nice couple of hours with our wonderful friends. It made Tilda's day, although she was sad to see Gracie go.
There are many wonderful beaches to visit and the river at North Haven is often the place to see dolphins. One day we saw 12 dolphins in two different pods. The kids loved it and the dolphins hung around fishing and playing for so long that we moved on before they did!
A mum and bub dolphin
North Haven Beach
Grants Beach
Two perfectly circular holes eroded in the rocks with little vignettes inside them
Sunset beginning at Grants Beach
Of course there was an obligatory visit to the Big Axe at Kew. OK, not really, as we haven't been going out of our way to visit any "big" icons of Australia. But we did go to the Big Axe at Kew so we could catch up with our great friends Michael, Melissa, Willow and Sakari on their way back north. As always, it was wonderful to see them and time flew way too fast and it wasn't long before they had to hit the road again.
We also made the most of the sunny days and Poppy's recovery and took his boat out for some family fun.
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