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Parental Leave Trip
  • Matthew Chapman
  • Laura Chapman
  • Matthew Chapman
  • Laura Chapman

Parental Leave Trip

A 187-day adventure by Matthew & Laura Read more
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  • Parental Leave Trip

    Broome

    July 15, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    After saying our goodbyes and a big thank you to Alan, Wendy, Jacky and Graham, we got our flight to Broome, feeling very lucky to have such lovely and generous family the other side of the world.
    We arrived just after lunch and caught a taxi to our holiday camp.
    We'd arranged to meet Alan and Wendy's daughter Rebecca, her husband Mitch and their little girl Sadie that afternoon for an ice cream and a play in the water park.
    The next day Rosie rode her bike and we walked to the library for their toddler music session that Rebecca and Sadie were going to. Rosie and Poppy were very happy to see Sadie again and have a play. Although it was only 30mins away we broke up the ride with a cafe one way and the museum on the way back as it was pretty hot! Had a swim in the afternoon to cool down.
    We picked up the 4x4 the next day. All of us were pretty excited to get it back to the campsite and set it all up. Rosie helped with almost everything! It looked great, and once we'd decanted our stuff into different bits of storage, thankfully it did all fit! Got paella from the campsite for dinner and all had an early night. Poppy has been very sleepy all day and had a temperature overnight, but I'm glad to say she woke up feeling much better in the morning.
    Rosie slept in the roof tent with Matt and Poppy and I cuddled up in the ground tent. Not the most comfortable night's sleep ever, but I'm sure we'll get used to it. And it was worth it to watch the bats and stars before bed.    Read more

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    Smithy's

    Jul 17–18, 2024 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 26 °C

    We drove the long straight sealed road towards Cape Leveque and saw some wild horses, huge termite mounds and wild donkeys.
    Exciting to be at the start of our adventure on the Gibb River Road.
    We had our first night in the jeep (roof tent and ground tent). Rosie and Matt on the roof and Poppy and in in the ground tent. Poppy had a temperature so fed lots but it was nice to be next to her to look after her.
    Stocked up at the supermarket this morning and got food for a couple of days. Will restock at Derby, that's where the Gibb River Road starts.
    We're at a beautiful campsite tonight called Smithy's (very appropriate). We drove 43km up a dirt road with lots of corrugations and some deep sand to get here. Luckily not many rocks! Matt said it felt fine to drive and the girls liked going ahhhhh over the bumps.
    We had walks on the beach in the afternoon and Rosie enjoyed setting up the jeep for bedtime and getting a pile of sticks ready for a fire.
    Beautiful sunset :)    Read more

  • Parental Leave Trip

    Willie's Creek

    July 18, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    We had to leave Smithy's quite promptly this morning to get to Willie's Creek Pearl Farm for the tour we booked.
    Whilst en route we were simultaneously trying to work out if we had enough fuel to get there and if we had enough time to get fuel as Sat Nav said it would take way longer than we anticipated!
    Luckily the Sat Nav was overly cautious and we had plenty of fuel, so made it to the tour ok.
    The tour was great and included an informative talk about how pearls are formed (and the meticulous and surgical procedure they do) and a tour on the boat to see some oysters growing in the creek (as well as say hi to a resident croc sunbathing) and then a demo of how to open an oyster and extract a pearl carefully so they can reseed them. We also learnt about the new product Pearl Bone they're making alongside researchers to patch up people's bones!
    Had a lovely lunch there before driving down the road to a campsite they pointed out from the boat. I was a bit nervous about snakes and the crocs but it was a stunning spot, right by the sandy beaches and bright blue creek.
    Matt tried some fishing there (keeping well back from the edge) but no luck.
    Another pretty sunset. So nice to eat dinner outside. Although I think Poppy gets confused by it getting dark and wants to go to bed just after sunset, which is about 6pm!    Read more

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    The start of the Gibb

    July 19, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Walked up the creek in the morning and Poppy had a sleep whilst Rosie and I made a sandcastle of our house in Downderry :) Stopped to let the girls cool off in a rockpool on the way back. Didn't spot any crocs but Matt found some awesome shells!
    Stayed at Derby for the night after picking up some camping supplies from the shop next door. At reception we were warned to lock everything away at night and "you'll be fine"... Bit disconcerting.
    Nothing got nicked thankfully!
    The next morning we did our big food shop as we need to have enough for 8 days on the Gibb. There are a couple of Roadstations but it sounds like fresh produce will be very limited.
    Soon after getting on to the Gibb River Road, we saw lots of birds of prey. Some were definitely eagles of some sort. Huge with big feathery legs and sharp hooked beak. First stop on the Gibb? Windjana Gorge.    Read more

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    Windjana Gorge

    July 20, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Wow. I thought Windjana Gorge would be beautiful but I couldn't have imagined just how beautiful.
    We arrived at Windjana Gorge in time to have some lunch, before our walk through the gorge. In front of the huge vertical side of the gorge we're pretty grasses and trees, including baob. Once inside the gorge we were greeted by the huge red rock on both sides, with water birds and white cockatoos in the trees. Fossils, caves and holes could be found in the rock face. And at the end of the walk was a beachy area where a little freshwater crocodile was sat partly submerged and soaking up the last of the day's sun.
    We sat and had a snack whilst watching the croc and saw a tiny wallaby of some sort on the opposite bank.
    On the walk home both the girls fell asleep (Rosie in the rucksack carrier).
    Chicken curry for dinner, although burnt rice meant noodles went in instead.
    Couldn't have asked for a better start to our trip on the Gibb.    Read more

  • Parental Leave Trip

    Bell Gorge

    July 21, 2024 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 25 °C

    Travelled to Bell Gorge in the morning. Stopped to feed Poppy on the way, so Rosie hopped in the front and did some tracing of letter and traced her name. She was so pleased with herself 😀
    Had lunch in the car park when we arrived, sat in the shade of our jeep. A few other families arrived at the same time. Went for a swim in the gorge. The water was quite chilly but also very refreshing on a hot day.
    Rosie enjoyed playing with some older kids making a "dam". Poppy had a dip in the water too and didn't seem bothered at all by the temperature. Poppy and I had a lovely play, she was giggling so much on the beach whilst I pretended to eat up her fingers.
    Spot Rosie and Matt at the top of the waterfall in one of the photos.
    Drove back down the rocky road to our campsite.
    Chose a pitch with a fire pit and had chocolate bananas on the fire for pudding.    Read more

  • Parental Leave Trip

    Adcock and Galvans Gorges

    July 22, 2024 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    Woke up to lots of birds singing at our campsite at Bell Gorge. We drove back down the bumpy track and through some smallish (but some steep and quite deep) river crossings to rejoin the Gibb River Road. Stopped at Imintji Community where there's a store and toilets, they didn't have any of the veg we needed, but I was quite impressed they had some fresh produce. Bought a coffee and cake instead before heading on our way to Adcock Gorge.
    It was quite a challenging walk to the gorge, with rocks to scramble over and bits of river to walk through. Rosie did great though and seemed to really enjoy it.
    The pool at the gorge was idyllic. Steep rocky sides and a deep round pool where you could swim across to some trickling waterfalls. The water was a bit chilly for the girls but Matt and I took it in turns to have a swim. When I got out there was a small yellow snake in the water at the edge. We also saw some really pretty butterflies.
    I've really loved seeing so many butterflies and dragonflies as well as interesting birds at the gorges.    Read more

  • Parental Leave Trip

    Manning Gorge and Ellenbrae Station

    July 23, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Stayed overnight at Manning Gorge and in the morning we went down to the river for a swim. Such a beautiful spot. There's a sandy beach with pretty trees around providing dappled shade, so perfect for us and the girls.
    There's a hike to Manning Gorge which starts with a walk and swim across the river, but we decided to have a play with the girls on the beach there instead. Rosie still had a go in the blue container 'boat' and we had a swim across the river and back.
    So nice to have a hot shower and wash our clothes in the campsite's washing machine.
    We headed on to Ellenbrae Station in the morning. The Gibb River Road is getting rockier now with worse corrugations. We saw the graders come along and they made the road much smoother for us though! Others at Manning Gorge had been stuck trying to do repairs. And we saw a caravan get towed away from My Barnett Station at lunchtime.
    Ellenbrae Station was such a welcome surprise. We thought it would just be a handy place to stop, we were greeted by a tropical oasis.
    We played by the river with the girls for a bit before dinner. Rosie made friends with an Aussie boy who's 3 and also liked collecting sticks for the fire!
    They had lots of play time together in the morning too. It was very sweet listening to their conversations.
    Overnight we were kept awake for a while by dogs howling (maybe Dingos?) and cows mooing. Both sounded very close, I'm sure they were in the campsite.    Read more

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    Home Valley Station

    July 24, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    We'd heard the next 100km from Ellenbrae to Home Valley station would be very rough and rocky. Some fellow campers in a caravan said it took them 3hrs!
    Luckily it wasn't too bad in the jeep. Matt had to keep an eye out for big ruts in the road, but we made it to Home Valley in time for a play in the play park, lunch and even a swim in the pool!
    Our campsite was away from the main facilities, but it meant we had an amazing view of the mountains. The sunset and sunrise were spectacular.
    It's getting trickier to put Poppy down now whilst we cook etc. as she's got good at commando crawling and can go fast if she wants! Her favourite thing to do it pick up sticks, gravel and leaves and try and eat them before we take them away.
    Our campsite was above the imposing Pentecost River (which we will cross tomorrow) so we did some croc spotting before dinner. We saw a couple of crocs that looked like they were hunting the birds.
    We also spotted some toads and frogs by the showers. Rosie found them fascinating and was really pleased to have saved a frog from getting stuck in the toilet! (It was sat on the rim and we used a stick to scare it down).
    And I saw a shooting star which was cool. I think Home Valley had the best star gazing so far!
    After we'd put the girls to bed, we heard a huge splash and a distinctive growl. Us and other campers ran over to see what had happened. We couldn't spot the croc, but I'm pretty glad it wasn't on the bank next to the campsite!    Read more

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    Pentecost River and El Questro

    July 25, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    This morning we crossed the Pentecost River, the widest river crossing on the Gibb. It was a pretty low tide when we woke up, so we packed up as quickly as we could.
    It felt like we were the first ones there. We got out to have a look as it was hard to see how deep it would be at the other side. Luckily someone else turned up and came across, so we knew it was ok.
    Once across we turned to drive alongside the river and drove across the sandy banks to find a spot for Matt to go fishing. He'd heard this was the spot to catch Barramundi. Didn't have any luck and instead he got covered in flies. Rosie enjoyed hitting Matt with a stick to scare them off. We did find a snakeskin though which was pretty cool.
    Drove on to El Questro, one of the largest stations / campsites on the Gibb, and it seems like the most commercial one. We arrived in time to do Zebedee springs, where small waterfalls drop into warm pools, surrounded by palms. Rosie enjoyed clambering up the little falls with Matt and Poppy had a great time splashing and waving at people.
    We grabbed some sandwiches at the main campsite then headed off to do the El Questro gorge walk. It was tricky like people had said, with rocks to walk over nearly the whole way, apart from when you had to walk through the river. Rosie did well, but was pretty tired by the end. We stopped at a pool just before the halfway pool, had a snack and watched the fish before heading back. It was a stunning walk. The green of the palm trees contrasted with the red rock of the gorge walls which towered next to us. Just beautiful :)
    We decided as we'd done the main things we wanted to do at El Questro, we would head back to the banks of the Pentecost River to camp there for the night. More natural setting, but it did mean putting up with more flies!    Read more

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    Bungle Bungles - Catherine Gorge

    July 27, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    We spent a day driving to the Bungle Bungles. It's about 2hrs from the turning onto the unsealed road, with lots of creeks and some rocky sections. It's a beautiful drive though as it winds towards the range and you start to see the orange and black banded rocks.
    We camped at the southern end first and were all happy to have a stretch and a play! Rosie and I explored the campsite on her bike and came across a bird of prey in its nest. And after the girls went to bed, Matt and I heard rustling in the grass next to our tent and jumped up to investigate. Eventually we spotted the culprit, a cane toad.
    There's lots of wildlife here which is lovely to see.
    In the morning we headed over to do the walk to Cathedral Gorge and see the famous beehive shaped domes. They were spectacular, much more impressive than any of our photos can do justice. The gorge opening was absolutely massive, it was hard to get our heads around the size of it and how old the layers of rock are!
    After lunch at the car parks shady picnic benches we drove to our next campsite, located at the northern end of the park.
    We stopped at a lookout on the way which had beautiful 360 views of the range. And had time that afternoon for a walk up the limestone ridge, through the spinifex grasses. It was cool to see another side to the Bungle Bungles.    Read more

  • Parental Leave Trip
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    Bungle Bungles - Echidna Chasm

    July 28, 2024 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 21 °C

    Tried to get out to Echidna Chasm early as we're driving to Kunanurra today which is going to take most of the day.
    Echidna Chasm was a really cool walk, I loved the palm trees growing high up on the rock face, wedged in the cracks. The rocks are either side of you and get closer and closer as you walk further into the Chasm. Until eventually hardly any sunlight comes in through the narrow space above.
    Took us about an hour and a half to get out of the Bungle Bungles and on to the main road. We stopped at Warmun Road station for lunch and fuel, before driving on to Kununurra. Felt like a long day of driving and so when we got there we were keen to get Rosie out on her bike. We went down to the lake and saw some stunning red finches in the reeds and the bower bird, making finishing touches to its flashy nest.
    We had dinner out (an unusual treat!), which meant we had to put the tent up in the dark. It was worth it to be able to have a beer and celebrate the end of the Gibb.    Read more

  • Parental Leave Trip

    Katherine Gorge

    July 30, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    We did the 3 hr drive from Victoria River to Katherine and arrived at lunchtime. Booked for the 2pm tour of Katherine Gorge which was really cool. We saw lots of freshwater crocodiles and the sandy banks where they lay their eggs.
    The boat ride was beautiful as we went further into Katherine Gorge and winded down the river with big red cliffs either side, and palm trees growing between the cracks. The guide was really good and told us all about the fish, crocodiles and other animals living in the gorge, as well as aboriginal dreamtime stories of how the gorge was formed. We had a short walk between the two gorge boat rides where we got to see some aboriginal art high up on the cliff. It was incredible to see where the water was now in the dry season and how high it gets in the wet season (about 10m up the cliff!).
    After the tour we headed to our campsite nearby and went for a swim in the pool. It was so nice to cool off and splash about with the girls. We had lots of fun :)
    Rosie had a ride around the trees on her bike before our dinner from the campsite's restaurant (NT barramundi and chips). Rosie and Matt found a free Bumbo seat for Poppy which has been so good for her to eat from - much easier for us and her! And they found a big A-Z / Numbers floor puzzle which Rosie has enjoyed doing.    Read more

  • Parental Leave Trip
    2

    Around Katherine

    July 31, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Went to Katherine Hot Springs in the morning which was lovely. Just the perfect temperature to hang out with the girls. Poppy was very happy splashing and waving at people. And Rosie went down the river a bit with us, until we saw spiders in the plants above getting closer so turned back! She did really well to get over the rocks and go against the current.
    We had a picnic in the park which would have been much nicer without flies constantly landing on us/our food!
    Afterwards Rosie climbed all the way to the top of a rounded climbing frame, but got scared by a little spider at the top so needed rescuing! 🙈
    Poppy was very sleepy after her swim and lunch, so we went for a drive so she could have a good sleep before the Outback show in the afternoon.
    The show was at Katherine Outback Experience. Tom who runs it was really likeable and told us how he worked on cattle ranches and that the show up didn't have anyone coming along at first. Now they are busy doing 3 shows a day and then touring in the south in the wet season. He showed us how they take a wild horse and get it used to people, a bridle and saddle. It was really interesting to see how the horse responded to him.
    They also showed us how they train and command the working dogs. And the kids all got to feed some animals and at the end cuddle lots of puppies - Rosie didn't want to leave!
    We stayed at a lodge that night as it was late and we fancied a break from camping. It was strange to be inside to be honest, although nice to be clean from dirt for more than half an hour!    Read more

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    Kakadu

    July 31, 2024 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 27 °C

    After Katherine we drove to Kakadu National Park where we stayed in Cooinda Lodge. Kakadu is an incredible place with endless wetlands, loads of ancient rock art and amazing geology. On our first morning we did a sunrise cruise up the yellow water billabong. This had by far the most varied bird life of anywhere we've been, plus a lot of crocodiles! Well worth getting up for. We then drove to Cahills crossing and the Ubir rock art. Cahills is somewhere I've wanted to go for a long time and it didn't disappoint! There were more than 30 crocodiles in a 100m stretch of river all feeding on huge baramundi. An amazing thing to watch, especially when vehicles drove across.
    The rock art at Ubir was the really impressive and had an awesome view across the wetlands.
    We then camped by the river which was nice but a lot of mosquitos!    Read more

  • Parental Leave Trip

    Kakadu to Litchfield

    August 2, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    The next morning we woke early to do a walk along the river to some rock formations, there were lots of bee eaters which are really pretty birds. After one last look at the crocs at Cahills we headed to Litchfield national park with a few interesting stops on the way. Driving through wild fires still freaks me out a bit but the locals seem used to it!Read more

  • Parental Leave Trip

    Litchfield

    August 4, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Litchfield National park feels a lot smaller and busier than Kakadu but was still well worth visiting. Our first stop was the magnetic termite mounds which are all aligned I'm the same direction to stop them overheating in the sun. Quite a surreal thing to see...
    We then went to Florence falls which were spectacular but busy, we swam in the upper river to avoid the crowds. Later we found out it was a bank Holiday weekend which is why if was busy. That night we stayed in a campsite built around a Banyan Tree which was lovely.    Read more

  • Parental Leave Trip
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    Litchfield pt 2

    August 5, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    We met some people at the campsite who recommended Territory Wildlife Park, so we headed there the next morning. It was really well done with interesting shows and very natural feeling surroundings. The Archer fish shooting water to get their food was my favourite!
    After this, we stayed at a nearby campsite, I had a fright when I was putting the tent up and found a huge spider on it! Luckily, some nearby Australians came over and removed it for us! We stayed right next to a freshwater crocodile reserve, which was cool.
    The next morning we went to Berry Springs, which were my favourite springs of the trip. The temperature was perfect and they went out for ages through tropical monsoon forest with pools, Waterfalls and river sections. Rosie loved swimming here 😍
    This was our last day with the jeep as we had to drop it off in Darwin in the afternoon. Having the jeep and doing the Gibb was better than any of us expected, and we didn't even get a puncture! We were sad to hand it back but also pleased to check into our unsuited hotel room in Darwin to wash the dust off and sleep in a proper bed.    Read more

  • Parental Leave Trip
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    Darwin

    August 6, 2024 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 27 °C

    We had a lovely few days in Darwin, which mostly involved eating and swimming in the hotel pool! We were lucky to get there during the Darwin festival, so there were lots of music and events going on too. Rosie and Poppy particularly enjoyed the fish feeding, we ended up doing that two days in a row 😁 The park was great too and had a pop-up kiddies event one morning, which the girls loved as well. It's really nice seeing how much they both love meeting and playing with other children.Read more

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    Singapore

    August 11, 2024 in Singapore ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Singapore was a bit of a shock to the system after three weeks in the Wilderness! The number of ships was mind-boggling as was the scale of all the buildings. Everything was really clean and seemed to run so efficiently though. It was the 59th anniversary of Singapore when we were there, so we were treated to a massive buffer dinner on our last night there. I've never seen Rosie eat so much lobster! We also visited the Gardens by the Bay, which were really impressive. Rosie loved all the amazing flowers, although one of the domes was chilled and had plants that could mostly be found in Cornwall! Another highlight was going up to the Skypark on the 59th storey to see the amazing views. It really puts the scale of Singapore into perspective. When we got to the airport to fly home, we dropped off our bags and ran down to see the amazing indoor waterfall in the Jewel. It was incredible, Singapore Airport is a tourist attraction in its own right. Spending time in Singapore definitely inspired us to explore more of Asia, could be where we go on our next big holiday 😀Read more

    Trip end
    August 12, 2024
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