Birthday Time at Quandong Point

We woke up early on 1 July at Quandong Point to help Brig blow up balloons to celebrate Maus's 40th birthday. The boys were very excited and we had cake & chocolate damper with coffee by the fire. 

We had brought in a whole watermelon - only able to be eaten all at once...what a shame!

Incredible view from where we were.  Spoilt once again.  The rocks were beautiful and old with magnificent rockpools and red sand above.

Our home

Pete's 7th Birthday!  What excitement!  We filled the tent up the night before (with Brig's help - they stayed an extra day to celebrate) with balloons and streamers.   Pete and John got us all up very early o'clock to see what was on offer for presents.  Happiness abounded when there was lego to be found!

This guy Bill gave this fish to Pete for his birthday as it was his birthday 3 days later.  Pete is still making friends everywhere.  We farewelled Maus and Brig as they set off for the Gibb River Rd,  and Damien (from the reptile house at Melbourne Zoo) and Tara gave us a slide show of reptiles in the evening!  It was a great distraction from the little girl who went missing that evening from Quandong Point.  The boys (and everyone) were all very shaken and worried.  She was found by the police first thing in the morning all well.

Then the weather turned.

We were waiting to pick up my mum from Broome to bring her out to camp and the weather really turned.

wet monday

We had about 80 odd ml (unfortunately I left the rain gauge at home) on the day before she was due to come, but we "zoomed" down to Broome to try to get a few things done before she came.  No zooming.  Nothing done.  Got there, had lunch and turned around so that we wouldn't be trapped out of our campsite.  We knew that the water would subside within a few hours, but we don't travel in the dark out here (animals, dangerous roads, mud...hour long drive in difficult circumstances..). Anyway, we tried again on the day of her arrival (6 July) and the puddles had gone down, we showered at the airport (good tip for any other savvy traveller - free showers there), and greeted her with much excitement.

The boys played games with Gran, just like back at home

Read their journals to her and showed her places on the map where we have been and where we are going to go.

They wandered around the bush and the beach with her, enjoying the nature, just as she does.

Did I say that it did continue to rain?  Well, it did, on and off whilst we were there at Quandong with mum until the 9th of July.  It was a brightish morning when we packed up that day to head to Cape Leveque. We spoke to them up there and they said that they hadn't really had any rain...  So, we bade farewell to Quandong and all that we had done there and left for Cape Leveque.