Yes! 5 days left of vacation and we finally saw kangaroos--22 of them! But first...
Last night we got to Carnarvon in the dark. As we were driving down the road (still paved at this point), we saw many eyes glowing in the headlights! There were a lot of cows in the road. There were signs saying to watch for stock crossing, but we’ve seen those before. So we drove slowly in bits, honking the horn and eventually got through. Well, we did this twice more! And once more for a wallaby. Halfway through, we came to a dirt road full of potholes. 40 kilometers took us 45 minutes to drive last night. Randy was driving then so he looked for potholes while I looked for critters in the road. No kangaroos, but that was probably OK.
This morning it was sprinkling, but we were hoping for the best. As I stepped out of the shower, Annie and Shelby were standing there and said “Guess what we saw?! A kangaroo--right behind our tent!” So I went, and the kangaroo had moved into the bush behind the cabin behind us (got that?). There were three of them! One of them--the one the children saw right behind our cabin--had a joey! Shelby got a good photo of the mom and joey. We saw more as we were driving to the park, and then a bunch more at the park! (16!) The park was rainforest and gorge--very beautiful! We hiked through the park for 6 hours (and “only” went 9 miles). It was a great trail, but we must have crossed the stream (on rocks) 15 times! I also lost my status as the only person who had not yet stepped into water. :( It also started to rain--a light rain--halfway through our hike. So we came back soaked. My turtleneck, sweatshirt, jeans, socks, shoes, and jacket are all soaked. And since it is raining, they will not dry any time soon. I have one other pair of jeans (that I will need to sleep in since it is so cold here at night), and a pair of dirty socks (I have no others clean), and a t-shirt. I am wrapped up in a blanket that we begged from reception.
As to our “cabin.” It is a canvas tent over metal poles with screen windows and plastic that can be zipped over them. It has a screen door with a flap of canvas that can be lowered. A tarp is over the canvas roof to keep out the rain. It has a plywood floor and two electric lights, a small dorm refrigerator, and four beds--one double and two of the singles bunked. I’m sure it’s fine during the warm season, but it was 7 degrees last night (around 45 degrees Farenheit). There are bedspreads on the beds and pillows, but no sheets or blankets! (The web site didn’t share that!) The “cooking” area is an outdoor pavilion with two barbecues (the Aussies love their BBQ), four burners, and a sink. And no utensils, cooking utensils, pots, dishes, etc. We knew that, so we appropriated some plastic cutlery when we stopped at McDonalds for lunch yesterday, bought paper plates at the grocery store, and bought food that could be barbecued and eaten easily (muffins for breakfast since we have no bowls, chicken kebabs and hamburgers for dinners, and sandwiches for lunches). We also bought an inexpensive cooler bag (like a big insulated lunch bag) to put our meat in to bring the extra couple of hours it took to get here after the last city with a grocery store (which, as an aside, happened to be Emerald--as in the Emerald City in the Land of Oz--Australia is nicknamed Oz!). Anyway, this morning we asked for blankets for tonight and they managed to dig out 4 for us. So, I am freezing right now. Thinking that I need to run to the bathroom building to brush my teeth (using a flashlight because of the possibility of snakes, large spiders, and scorpions and wearing wet shoes) and sleeping with fewer clothes on. Last night I slept in my socks, jeans, turtleneck, t-shirt, and hoodie--with the hood up to stay warm--and that’s with cuddling next to Randy. I have on now jeans and dirty socks that I will also need to wear tomorrow and a t-shirt. That’s it--oh, and Randy. And a blanket--but I have to share that with Randy. Hopefully I won’t need to use the toilet during the night--last night I talked myself out of it. Then a dash to the bathroom building tomorrow morning to take a shower. Brrrrrrrrr. And it’s still raining! This morning we woke to the jungle sounds of bird calls. They were so loud! Even the smallest birds have loud, freaky calls! They sounded like a whole jungle of animals--monkeys and all!). Not the comfiest stay we’ve had. Farm stay is next.
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