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Kenny’s Aussie Adventures 2022
  • Lauren and Brett Kenny
Jan – Dec 2022

Kenny’s Aussie Adventures 2022

Another Year
Another Adventure
One year was not enough, so we are off again. We can’t get enough of this beautiful country and spending time together as a family.
This year the boys turned 9 and 11 and are in grades 3 and 5. Read more
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  • Lauren and Brett KennyKenny’s Aussie Adventures 2022Traveler
    Army convoy that come in our first night in AliceBeautiful sunsets and more dinner on the fireBrett's adventure up the mountain face2Spinch, cheese and garlic beer bread2Got to the bottom to find a gate 😩, don't worry, we fit through!1Last Sunrise

    Alice Spring

    June 9, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    We arrived in Alice Springs in preparation for the Finkie Desert Race.

    We got a spot at the showground no worries, but getting a parking spot in town to do the shopping, now that was a different story. There was people everywhere, the shops were just chockers. On the positive side, we found a sushi train 🤗😂.

    It has been freezing (1 to 2 degrees in the mornings) and our first night here the diesel heater decided to stop working! I thought I was going to freeze to death! Luckily, Brett is very handy and spent the day fixing it and had it going again that afternoon.

    Lucky mum and dad got their diesel heater installed by Brett while we were here too. Now they can stop using their oven to heat their van 😂.

    After the Finke, we came back the the show ground, a few very busy days. Brett got sick and then it was time to fix and install a few things in the van. The boys got chargers in their beds and iPad holders ( now we will never see them!)The exhausts fans in the bathrooms got fixed and cleaned ( no more smelling Lachlan’s poos), water bladder got installed, car tyre fixed, changed the fuel filters, fixed stabilisers, put new struts on mum and dad’s bed, Brett cleaned his bedroom and I got the shopping done. So then Brett he wanted to do something fun, it was time for a Brett’s adventure!

    There was a mountain across from the Showground that he wanted to climb so off we went ( the kids bailed). We made it up the side easy, with beautiful views of Alice Springs. Then we found a gravel road, we followed this down as it was getting dark, it was very steep and was about 3km long. Half way down it became fenced in, Brett then said he thinks there will be a gate at the bottom 😩. I did not want to walk back up the steep hill and it was getting dark! I was being hopeful. We got to the bottom and sure enough we were stuck, a gate and a tall fence with barb wire. I said “I can fit!” And I squeezed through, then I made Brett squeeze through, I was not going back up that mountain and down the other side! Brett and his adventures 😒😂😂.    Read more

  • Lauren and Brett KennyKenny’s Aussie Adventures 2022Traveler
    Toby Price's Red Bull TruckDavid Walsh number 1

    Finke - Night markets

    June 9, 2022 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    Our first experience with the Finke Desert Race was attending the night markets.

    They had race bikes, buggies and trucks there for you to get up close and personal too. The kids were excited as they also got to meet some of the riders especially David Walsh who came 1st last year. They were able to meet him, the rest of the KTM riders and have their poster signed.

    After making our way though massive crowds to explore the markets, we made our way back for the main show, freestyle motorbike riding in the Main Street. The kids were pumped, they have never seen riders perform tricks in real life before. They got to see motor bike and quads do multiple tricks including backflips.

    The next day, we drove out and found a spot next to the track to camp for the weekend, then headed out to scrutineering.

    All the buggies and bikes that were racing over the weekend were all lined up. I was so tempted to push one of the motorbikes and see if it tipped all 700 motorbikes lined up alongside it over also, like you see in the movies, but Brett wouldn’t let me 🙄.

    It was a great opportunity to get up close to all of the race bikes.

    Again it was freezing, so it was great to get back to the van and get warm.    Read more

  • Lauren and Brett KennyKenny’s Aussie Adventures 2022Traveler

    Finke Desert Race

    June 11, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Two days of dirt bikes and trophy trucks right outside the door of our caravan, trackside camping at its best! Finke Desert Race!

  • Lauren and Brett KennyKenny’s Aussie Adventures 2022Traveler
    A sparkly zircon Lachlan foundBrett's stashThe wash and sorting station2No these are not raisins, they are Garnets we collected1Garnets1

    Fossicking for Zircons and Garnets

    June 18, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Three big days of getting down and dirty!

    After watching numerous YouTube videos on fossicking for Zircons, I thought I had this down pack! Then we got out to the zircon field and reality hit, I had no idea. We had been sieving and collecting these pretty sparkly stones, so I thought we were doing really well, but just to be sure we were all on the right track, I decided to hit up a guy in a hole who looked like he knew what he was doing. He informed us that what we were collecting was actually ‘appetite’, a very pretty green stone, but not actually a Zircon. He gave us a lesson and one of his zircons to help guide us and off we went.

    The kids loved digging and using the pick axe, but when it got down to washing and sorting the stones they were no where to be seen. That afternoon we sorted through our dirt and were excited to find a few zircons ( we thought!). The next day we took them back to Collin for confirmation. We had found some! The best on was one Brett had found on the ground at another camp site just going for a walk, apparently is what they call a ‘cutter’ which means it could be faceted into a stone for a piece of jewellery.

    With this knowledge and confirmation of what we were looking for, we went on our way fossicking for more zircons.

    Unfortunately, I was not quite satisfied, knowing the garnet fossicking fields were only 30kms up the road, I really wanted to go.

    So, we got up early on Monday morning and off we went, this time in search of garnets. I had heard these were easier to find. We were a bit more optimistic when we found red specks of garnet all over the ground. So, the digging begun again. The garnet fossicking was a lot more successful than the Zircon fossicking.

    Now all we need to do is get some of our gems cut and polished so they look pretty.    Read more

  • Lauren and Brett KennyKenny’s Aussie Adventures 2022Traveler
    There is always one shaped like a dick 😝

    Devils Marbels - sunset

    June 24, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    After having to head back to Alice Springs and spend some more time getting the car sorted ( battery replaced under warranty), we are finally on the road again and have booked a night at the Devils Marbles campground.

    Sunset, sunrise, some relaxing walks through the gigantic, round, balancing boulders what more could you want? Apparently a migraine 😩!

    Brett was on camera duty for this one, I was not feeling it!

    The campground is fantastic, you get to camp right in the marbles, so Brett set up the fire pit so we could sit and look at them all afternoon and while the sun set we went for a wonder through watching the colours change.

    Luckily, I woke up feeling much better, so I got to enjoy sunrise and a lovely 4km walk around the Marbles.    Read more

  • Lauren and Brett KennyKenny’s Aussie Adventures 2022Traveler
    1

    Devils Marbels - sunrise and walk

    June 25, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Feeling much better in the morning, so up for sunrise and a lovely walk.

  • Lauren and Brett KennyKenny’s Aussie Adventures 2022Traveler
    Check out the urinalIs Brax pulling a beer? No he is washing his hands 😂Lunch time at the pub1Finally warm enough to swim again!2Lots of funny signs in townLots if funny signs in townKevin the salt water crocWW11 airstrip free camp

    Daly Waters Pub

    June 26, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    You can’t drive past and not stop at the iconic Daly Waters Pub! We drove in to the township and were instantly overwhelmed with the amount of people and caravans, we knew it would be busy, but wow!

    We found a spot to park, then a nice quite table inside and then instantly felt much more relaxed.

    We stayed for lunch and drinks, while the kids swam in the pool. Then we checked out the town. The kids loved the playground, with cool helicopters scattered around the town to play in, while Brett loved the ‘junk yard’ filled with restored old cars and motorbikes.

    We found Kevin the saltwater croc and the local Buffelo before deciding to head out of town to camp for the night.

    Mum stumbled across an old WW11 airstrip that is now a free camp, you camp right on the runway. The runway was lined with cool dead trees, it was a great place to camp, very interesting.    Read more

  • Lauren and Brett KennyKenny’s Aussie Adventures 2022Traveler
    So many peacocks here 😍A mummy and her chick1

    Mataranka Thermal Springs

    June 27, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    We have all been hanging to get to this spot! It feels so good to be finally swimming again, and in pristine, clear, warm water, just perfection.

    To say we have soaked the red dust off would be a lie, as the minute you get out of the pools, it is back between your toes 😂😂, but we sure are feeling clean from spending hours upon hours soaking in the thermal pools each day.

    Lachlan said he never wants to leave, he is enjoying the swimming so much and we are finally at a place where there are some other kids to play with, so the boys are having a ball and lots of late nights.

    And, after a long year of waiting the boys ( and grown ups) got to meet and watch the Nathan “Whippy” Griggs show. It was fantastic, he had us laughing at his joke and our jaws dropping at the way he could use his whips. The boys were hooked, they bought themselves a whip with money they had saved from their birthdays and have not stopped cracking them. They have blisters on their hands. Unfortunately, the weather turned rainy,
    so we didn’t make it to the show again the next night.

    We spent some time reminiscing about the time mum and dad spent 4 months working here when they travelled 40 years ago. They had signs up in the park saying ‘work available’ and their old jobs were free, but they were not keen this time around to work, I don’t know why 🤷‍♀️😂.    Read more

  • Lauren and Brett KennyKenny’s Aussie Adventures 2022Traveler
    2
    1Back on fish cooking duty

    Brett, the Barra catcha

    June 29, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Brett has named himself the ‘Barra King’, 2nd morning out fishing and he is feeding the tribe barramundi.

    Everyone was keen to get into the hot springs, but Brett was keen to scope out his Barra fishing spots, he was straight down checking out the river and preping his rods for his morning fishing adventures and it paid off! A big delicious Barra for dinner.Read more

  • Lauren and Brett KennyKenny’s Aussie Adventures 2022Traveler

    Bitter Springs

    June 29, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Wow, another magical place! Bitter Springs was a lot more natural than Mataranka Hot Springs, it had not been barricaded off or made into a pool. It was beautiful long river, you got in in the middle and the current carried you down to the end. We brought our goggles, so we could explore the underwater world of Bitter Springs with its masses of fallen trees. Everyone had a great time swimming underneath all the different logs.

    After one drift we got back in and swam right up the opposite end, we had the place to ourselves. The water up this end was especially clear as there was no one kicking up the silt. We spent hours swimming around and exploring. Brett and I went as far as we could go right up into the reeds finding really hot spots, it did get a little bit creepy, I kept wondering if a crocodile would be hiding up there!    Read more

  • Lauren and Brett KennyKenny’s Aussie Adventures 2022Traveler
    First ones to buy their fireworks from Tackleworld today 💥🤗
    Could not wait to get that box openGoing through the lootThe aftermath

    Cracker of a Night

    July 1, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    What a night, definitely a first and most likely a last.

    Territory Day in the NT meant FIREWORKS 💥.

    The excitement had been building from the time everyone woke up, we could not wait to get to the shop and get our hands on some fireworks. When I woke up Brett was already on his phone researching again. We headed out in the hunt for fireworks, which was not hard they were for sale everywhere.

    We left the shop not long later with 2 massive boxes ( the mother load and pro class container load) and $1000 poorer 😂😂.

    Lachlan was in a mood because he had to wait until 6pm to let them off!

    Brett and the kids came back to the van and went through their loot. The boys (all of them ) could not wipe the smiles of excitement of their faces!

    It finally hit 6pm, we were legally allowed to let the fire works off. We waited until it got a bit darker and then we went for it. It was a great experience we were driving out to find a field and there were people just standing on the side walks letting off fireworks, people with seats set up along the streets watching, car parks were being lit up with beautiful displays of colour. The kids could not wait to start.

    We started off with some small ones to get the feel and then let some of our big rippers go.

    One of our bigger ones feel over, shooting Brett in the ass. It was hysterical. Watching Brett run across the field holding his ass, yelling “it shot me in the ass, it shot me in the ass”. We all could not stop laughing, this just hyped the kids up even more.

    We all had turns lighting the fireworks, eager to see what each little parcel was going to bring.

    It was a night none of us will forget.    Read more

  • Lauren and Brett KennyKenny’s Aussie Adventures 2022Traveler
    1
    1Cullen Bay2

    Exploring Darwin Day 1

    July 2, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    It’s is school holidays so the caravan park we got into is a little bit out of town, but that’s ok it is right across the road from a Kmart 🤗.

    It has been a bit cloudy and windy, not the hot weather I had been hoping for.

    We decided to go for a drive into Darwin to check it out! All the kids had on their minds were the water parks 😂.

    First stop was Cullen Bay, we had a hot tip about shell collecting on this beach, but I did not have a good feeling about it. It was a beautiful little spot, not a lot a of shells, but stunning rocks. It felt good to have my toes back in the water and be hunting for shells again though!

    Next up, the water front! And yes the water park. The first water park we did was not even the free one, we did the Aqua Splash Zone in the Marina. The kids had a ball. They checked up the wave pool but they thought it was a bit lame. I think Lachlan was expecting something you could take a surf board into like he had seen on TV, so he was a bit disappointed.

    Then as always when in town, a touch of shopping.    Read more

  • Lauren and Brett KennyKenny’s Aussie Adventures 2022Traveler
    1So many people2

    Mindil Beach Markets and Sunset

    July 3, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    We headed out to Mindil Beach for the sunset markets with everyone else in Darwin 😂😂.

    There was so many people you could barley move. We made our way out onto the beach, where we could finally breath. We decide to hang here. Brett went and got the picnic rug and I went and got some food. Apparently, according to Joel my dumplings and hot chips were a poor choice, but at least I didn’t have to line up for an hour to get them. They were pretty average though!

    After the sun set it got a bit quieter, so I had a wonder around the stalls before we headed home.    Read more

  • Lauren and Brett KennyKenny’s Aussie Adventures 2022Traveler

    Doctors Gully Fish Feeding

    July 5, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    This was the one thing Brett remembered from his time in Darwin when he was 10, so we were all very excited to do the fish feeding.

    The kids were straight into it, feeding and patting the fish, by the time the tide had come in there were hundreds of fish. Unfortunately the angel fish that you can hand feed did not come in and have not been seen for a week, they think it is because of the cooler temperatures.

    We saw mullet, huge milk fish, mud crabs and barramundi.    Read more

  • Lauren and Brett KennyKenny’s Aussie Adventures 2022Traveler
    Big snake at the Botanical Gardens
    Rock findingWave poolTrampoline

    Botanical Gardens and Darwin Water Front

    July 5, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Mel took us on a lovely tour, we made it to the Botanical Gardens and the water front, we didn’t make it to any of the other planned destinations.

    It was so exciting at the gardens, we found a massive diamond python in the trees.

    At the water front the kids decided that they did want to go in that ‘lame’ wave pool! It was actually a very stressful experience which sent me stripping down to my swimmers and jumping the glass fence to having to nearly rescue Lachlan! The life guard was all over me for jumping the fence, but was very apologetic when he realised he was to busy talking and missed a near drowning. The kids loved it though, catching the waves on their boogie boards, it was the first set of waves they had seen in a while.

    After all the wave pool excitement, Mel treated the kids to trampoline, which was some very yummy ice cream.

    Another big day, so we finished the night with a movie.    Read more

  • Lauren and Brett KennyKenny’s Aussie Adventures 2022Traveler

    Mudcrabbing Adventures

    July 5, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Brett ditched the family, while Joel ditched his and the boys had a romantic nights get away together, mud crabbing in a secret spot, know as spot X.

    They came back with huge grins on their faces, let’s hope it was from all the crabs they caught and not from the night they spent huddled up in the tent together keeping warm, but from what I hear, what happens mud crabbing, stays mud crabbing 😂.Read more

  • Lauren and Brett KennyKenny’s Aussie Adventures 2022Traveler

    Jumping Crocs Darwin

    July 7, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Spectacular Jumping Crocs, not so spectacular 😩!

    Unfortunately, the crocs are not really feeling like getting up and out of the water at the moment, which we were all really quite disappointed about.

    We did get to see some newly hatched baby crocs which were really cute.    Read more

  • Lauren and Brett KennyKenny’s Aussie Adventures 2022Traveler

    Berry Springs - Darwin

    July 7, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Lunch at the pub before a relaxing swim at Berry Springs.

    The water was a lovely temp making swimming from the waterfall down all the pools very enjoyable.

    Poor Braxy was unwell, so he relaxed on the picnic rug in the shade.

    A very pretty spot, I just chose to block out Mel’s stories of how many times the springs were shut down to have a croc removed in the time she lived in Darwin😳😂.    Read more

  • Lauren and Brett KennyKenny’s Aussie Adventures 2022Traveler
    Cactus Beach Abalone
    Baird Bay Shells

    Shell Restoration

    July 8, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Whilst in Darwin I had some time to work on my shell restoration project 🤗.

    I acid dipped some shells and polished them up, they are looking much prettier now!

  • Lauren and Brett KennyKenny’s Aussie Adventures 2022Traveler
    Jabiru
    1My shellsBeett and Loz's combined fossilsBrax's shell collectingBrax's best fossilLachie's shell collectingLachie's best fossil

    Shells and fossils, fossils and shells

    July 9, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    I was researching somewhere to go shell collecting in Darwin when I came across Gunn Point, it looked promising.

    Brett said it was going to be another Lauren’s adventure, which are always unsuccessful 😕.

    It looked like we were going to run out of time any way, so I stopped thinking about it. After a trip to the prospecting shop I was keen to head out there. The man in the shop had said you can collect 500 year old fossils off the beach! I started researching again.

    Unfortunately for Brett and the kids the go cart place was shut, but luckily for me this opened up a spot in our calendar to go to Gun Point 🤗🤗🤗.

    We headed to the exact location the man in the shop told us, and I was in shell heaven! It was not long before Brett found the first fossil! (I was distracted by all the shells, it had been a while). It then became a competition to see who could find the best one fossil, we were all finding pretty good ones. There were even a few shells there we had not seen and collected before!

    Oh and we saw our first Jabiru.

    I have to say, it was finally a successful ‘Lauren’s Adventure’ 🤗🤗    Read more

  • Lauren and Brett KennyKenny’s Aussie Adventures 2022Traveler
    1Florance Falls

    Litchfield - Buley Rockholes

    July 11, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Hot tip from Mel, Buley rock holes, what a beauty.

    We walked to the main pool and it was nice, but crowded, so we thought we would do the walk Mel suggested to Florence Falls. Well, along the way there are stunning Little Rock pools and water falls and there is no one swimming in them! We were straight in.

    We eventually made it to Florence Falls, and in Shaun’s words it was ‘An American Pool Party!’ We didn’t even go in, we were straight back to our private pools, we could not believe no one was swimming in them!

    A BBQ lunch and more swimming in our private pools, a great start to Litchfield.    Read more

  • Lauren and Brett KennyKenny’s Aussie Adventures 2022Traveler

    Litchfield - Cascades

    July 12, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Upon reading this one we though we were up for two 3km walks ( one to upper falls and one to lower falls), but luckily for us, we walked straight up the waterfall cutting off one of the tracks completely making the day much shorter.

    The boys loved this one there was lots of little rock pools along the way which all had little water falls in them, they used leaves to make surf board and surfed the waves formed in the waterfalls.

    A lovely spot, but it was a bit harder to swim at a when we arrived it was busy and lots of the pools were already taken. When we left we were almost on our own so had the pic of the spots again, but the water here was freezing 🥶.

    Lower Cascades was very pretty with some deeper pools, I think next time I would stay in the lower pools, which we did not discover until we were leaving and were cold and didn’t feel like getting in ( it was a windy day today also, not helping the chill factor).    Read more

  • Lauren and Brett KennyKenny’s Aussie Adventures 2022Traveler
    1

    Litchfield- Greenant Falls

    July 12, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Great way to finish the day, a steep walk up to an infinity pool.

    When we got there there was only one other couple up there, so we pretty much had the place to ourselves it was bliss. There was three different pools to explore and we had each one to ourselves. The top one was even nice and warm.Read more

  • Lauren and Brett KennyKenny’s Aussie Adventures 2022Traveler
    13

    Litchfield- Magnetic Termites

    July 12, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    There was a viewing platform for the Magnetic Termite mounds, but you know Brett and you just could not get up close and personal, so we found a sneaky track in. We got up nice and close and could feel the heat coming off them. The termite mounds face north to south, so they can regulate their internal temperature. The field was a bit creepy as the termite mounds looked like tomb stones.Read more

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