A Chilli night…..

In more ways than one. Daly Waters does a great “Beef and Barra”- wonderful steak and barramundi, completed by a really good salad and hot bread. For $27 it was excellent value, and as we ate we had great entertainment also! Chilli is a local comedian who tells stories about the outback, taking the mickey about people who come from other states, including the United States, and playing his own songs accompanied by the guitar. What a great night! We are usually in bed by 8 or so, (often with a video nowadays), but we sat up til 10 listening to Chilli and enjoying the company of the many other campers who were with us. The place was packed, and considering it is literally miles from anywhere it was unexpected. What a great night.

However it got very cold, here we are in the middle of the continent in the middle of winter so the days are very warm and the nights are distinctly chilly. Not only did we have an extra blanket on and all the vents closed, but we broke out our thick pyjamas too!

Next morning we took off to the Never Never Station, which was made famous by Jeannie Gunn, who rote We Of The Never Never, stories of her life at the beginning of the last century on a cattle station, which we have both read. We must get hold of the film, because where we stayed has the farmhouse replica that the film crew used to make it.

On the station are hot springs, and we bathed in water that was 34 degrees, (94f), very comfortable. The story is that the forces that were stationed there in the second world war took the spring and made it into a swimming hole for officers, but after the war a lowly private bough the place and opened it to tourists. He must have made a bomb because it was packed. We took a walk down to a river pool, which was lovely, but the water was very cold.

Late afternoon we were roused by the sound of a tiny gyrocopter which flew over us several times before landing in the field behind us. We went out to see him take off again with a trainee, he buzzed the field before he finally departed for the lesson.

After another cold night we arose this morning to be greeted by four peahens and a wallaby, the latter was after our fruit. We are always reluctant to feed them for their own good, this one was very cheeky and stole something from our waste bag when we weren’t looking!

We are nearing the end now of this cycle, tonight we are camped at a place called Edith Falls, where we have been before, there are three lovely pools with waterfalls between, and a good walk to the top of the hill with a great view of the surrounding bush. Anne tells me we are eating up all the scraps this evening- before we go home to the UK, I’m sure it will be delicious…..