Arriving in the afternoon we set up camp in a great spot on the beach front. Instantly the girls noticed a large table full of shells people had collected! So for the next 3 days we spent a lot of time collecting large shells off the beach when the tide was low.
At night we cooked our dinner on the beach over a cooktop Gary made for us out of a old helium gas bottle! Fantastic! We now can cook dinner only using a handful of small sticks! It's great!!!
Going for a drive one day we discovered some decent sized oysters on some rocks! That night we had a platter of fresh squid, oysters and other yummy nibbles!! Delicious!
One night we went out for a drive to check out the mangroves at night and came across some rather large hermit crabs
After 3 days of shell collecting and exploring the coast we set off for our next destination, Port Smith!!!
Port Smith
After being told by numerous people that this place was a "must see" we decided to make the journey down the dusty dirt road to this little haven.. and WOW.. It was well worth the trip! The only downfall we found was that the only place to stay is the caravan park.. (We avoid staying in caravan parks when we can because it's just too expensive!) If we could have free or camped cheaply I'm not sure we would have ever left!
With beautiful lagoons and white sandy beaches with stunning white cliffs, 4wd tracks to explore and Mangroves with mud crab to catch! There was so much for us to do! 
The first night we arrived the park even had a Fish and chip night under the stars with a local aboriginal band playing around a campfire till late in the night!
The next day we set up the boat and explored the lagoons and river ways. We found secluded beaches and saw lots of local wildlife!
I was determined to catch a mudcrab and to my delight, after wading through mud and poking my stick into many a hole I found one!!! SUCCESS!!! YES!!!!
Hunting mudcrab...
Gary and I
Exploring a exposed reef on low tide one day I even managed to catch some octopus also!
Once the tide goes out thousands of crabs appear on the beach. Tori just loved playing with them!
Ella with the crab we caught
That night we had a delicious dinner of crab! I can't wait to catch more of them!!! Yum yum and yum!!
After 3 amazing days it was time to move on..
Barn Hill
After yet another drive down a long dusty corrugated road (with speed bumps kindly added by the owners to match :-/ )
We arrived at Barn Hill. A nice location, but unfortunately the midges decided to make an appearance on our first nights stay.. for someone who rarely gets bitten by insects, well.. I got eaten alive!!!
The next night we again was lucky enough to be in the "right place at the right time.." ROAST NIGHT!
For $15 for adults and $10 for the kids we had an amazing 3 course dinner under the stars with live entertainment!
We brought our own chairs and tables over to a large grassy patch over looking the Cliff tops and ocean and spent the night filling our bellies with homemade vegetable soup, roast beef and veggies and fruit salad and icecream for dessert! Combined with some great country music by a local artist it was a fantastic night! The girls and I danced with other campers till we were exhausted and couldn't dance no more! FANTASTIC!
Waking up after 2 nights at Barn Hill we packed up to start our next adventure...
THE GIBB RIVER RD....
What a huge adventure that has turned out to be!! Defiantly our best adventure yet!!!
Im currently in the process of writing all about it and hopefully will have it published in the next couple of days...
Xx
Once again, great blog! Pitty about the midgies, there none when we were there!
ReplyDeleteI think I just got unlucky Lyn... Ella got a few bites, but I didn't talk to anyone else who got bitten like i did! My feet especially got covered!!! Argh!!!
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