Day 145. Koolijman (Cape Leveque)

A day of relaxation and play

The track leading down to the western beach

Another night of dead silence and bright starlight. We are finding the nights quite pleasant, as it’s not really cold and sleep is easy to come by. I woke up during the night to do a ‘bush wee’, and I was dumbfounded by the number of stars in the sky. We’ve bush camped before, but I’m not sure if its because we are closer to the equator or that it’s a different time of year in relation to the night sky, but the Milky Way was the biggest and brightest I have ever seen it. I honestly didn’t want to go back to sleep it was so beautiful I almost went and woke up Bec to come out and see it, but my manhood warned me against this, so I left her sleeping…



Bec and Scarlett beach combing...



Returning from our morning beach exploring

This morning we walked down to the western beach to explore and search for more exotic sea shells. I must admit we were a little disappointed to realise that nowhere can compare to 8O Mile Beach, but we did find a few interesting artefact's. One in particular was a sea turtle flipper – probably the leftovers of an encounter with a tiger shark. Scarlett (forever the scientist), decided to dissect the flipper, and remove a finger bone. She proudly showed all the other kids and adults in the park who gave her any interest. I had to tell myself it wasn’t morbid at all, it was just curiosity.

We returned to the tent and had a yummy breakfast of pancakes and honey, followed by a hot brew of tea. Bec then decided to start washing and cleaning all ‘her’ shells. Scarlett met another little girl named ‘Tahlia’ so with a branch, string, and a little imagination, they both created fishing rods. They caught all manner of sea life – fish, sharks and even mermaids.

Bec cleaning sea shells, with Scarlett and Tahlia fishing in the background

Scarlett and Tahlia fishing

After lunch we decided it was then off to the eastern beach, here we played in the rocks, and splashed in the open ocean. We didn’t actually go swimming though, the current was out and as the beach was so steep, the back drag of the water was very extreme. Scarlett did however manage to then cut her toe open on an oyster while playing in the rocks. I quick wash in the ocean and a bit of TLC soon had her back on her feet and running around again!

It was soon sandcastle time, so the girls (with the assistance of Bec and myself) soon built a canoe with oars, a butterfly, and a beautiful mermaid – complete with seaweed hair!

Scarlet, Scarlett and Tahlia enjoying fire toasted marsh mellows

We invited Martin, Nikki and Scarlet over to our campsite for drinks and canapes over sunset, it's great to share our experiences with other like minded people on the road. We built up a camp fire and the kids loved their toasted marsh-mellows, while at the same time us adults enjoyed another fiery sunset!

Magic!

posted by Shane