LORELLA SPRINGS

On Thursday the 29th we arrived in a place that I have been looking forward to for a while now, it is called Lorella Springs. When we arrived we checked in then set off to find a camp. We set up, had lunch then went for a swim in the springs.
The springs were very nice. They were called Magical Springs. There were lots of fish in the springs.
After the springs we had a shower and went up to Happy Hour.
They have 2 little Freshies and they were supposed to be fed every 3 days but when they fed them they realised that it was only the 2nd day and they weren't vey hungry.
The next morning we went to the reception to talk about what day trip we would do. It was a "cold" day so we decided we would go to Nudie Hot Springs (Nudie is just a name.)
After a drive on a 4Wd track (all the tracks are 4Wd) that included getting bogged we arrived.
It was about lunchtime when we arrived, so we had lunch before we went down to the Springs. When at the Springs we swam. After a good swim we followed the creek to the source. We also climbed the escarpment. There were good views from on top of the escarpment.
The next day we went to reception again to plan another day trip. We decided we would go to The Arch, Musters Caves and The Waterslide.
The first thing we did was The Arch. At The Arch we walked in and climbed up on top of it. The Arch was formed by erosion.
The next thing we did was Musters Caves. To get to the first cave we had to crawl through a small hole. There was lots of bats and dragon flies. The next two caves had rock art. I went back into the first cave and saw three baby bats.
The last thing we did was The Waterslide. To get to The Waterslide Ben had to find the pink markers follow and got us lost. We eventually found The Waterslide, which was a slippery rock that you slid down. There was two small pools at the top, one was about 3 metres deep.
That day was Territory Day so they had fireworks that evening.
The next day we chose to just hang round camp for the day. A family that we met in Tassie that we invited to stay at our house were camping near us we were so surprised. We spent most of the day in the springs and having water fights.
The next day we packed up, we had decided to go and explore the coastal end of the property. When we arrived at Rosie River we setup it was hot and there wasn't much shade so we set up the awning as well. After we set up we went fishing. We were catching queenfish. I caught three fish in about an hour.
The next morning we spent fishing and caught lots of fish. We fished to lunch time. After lunch we played cards then went to the barramundi pool, no luck.
When we got up the next day we went out in the boat for about half the day. When we came back we spent the rest of the day relaxing.
Today we packed up. We were going right out to the coast to camp at Secret Fishing Spot. On the way we stopped at Alaska Pool, a warmish pool that the mining company had dug out and Rhett had put a pump in. When we were almost there we dove past River Camping where there was a few spots. We drove for about 5 more minutes until we got to the coast. The camp spots there weren't nice and weren't shaded, so we went back to one of the camp sites on the river. It was called the Wauraliwuntya River (or Willy Wonka River as they called it.) We set up, did some washing and relaxed for the rest of the day.
This morning we decided to fry eggs on the fire and cook damper on a stick for breakfast. After breakfast the boys went out fishing and mum and I stayed behind at camp. I decided to try out my water colours and pad that Granny gave me for my birthday. I drew a Paperbark Tree and a Rufus Whistler. I decided to give the Rufus Whistler drawing to Granny for her birthday. We restarted the fire and cooked bread, it was delicious smothered in butter and jam with the burnt crust cut off. The boys went back out in the boat and we did some washing, schoolwork and painting.
Today we decided to go up to the coast for a day. When we got there the tide was right out and Dad went out onto the sand bar to fish. Ben and I went to sit in the shade and then decided to build an alien sandcastle. When we had modelled it, we decorated it with shells. The tide came in very high and fast. It was going to be a full moon that night so the tide came up very high, higher than usual. Because the tide was so high Ben and I were allowed to splash round in the little pools and we also made an island and a river system. ( normally you can't swim because of crocs.)
Today is packup day. We are leaving the coast and heading back to the Homestead. On the way we stopped at Alaska Pool and had a quick dip.
We got back to the Homestead and had lunch before setting up. After setting up Dad, Ben and I went to the hot springs for a swim. In the pool we met the Hearn family. Michelle, Ben, Molly and Bronte. Molly is 12 and Bronte is 8. We talked with them for a while then went in to happy hour with them. They live in the Snowy Mountains in NSW. At happy hour Molly, Bronte, Ben, me and some other kids played multiple running games. We had a 7:00 tea of sausages and bread.
Today (10th of July) is dad's birthday. The other day we had made him cards and we had bought him a reptile book. Dad had decided that we would go to Fern Gully and Nannys Retreat. The first thing we did was Fern Gully it was a short walk into a lovely cool deep pool surrounded by lovely lush ferns. We stayed there for a while then walked out. We drove back to the main road and continued onto Nannys Retreat. It was a longer walk in and the gorge was amazing, the water was crystal clear and there were so many fish! When I was exploring under water I found a little archway that you could swim through. It was more of a hole that you swam down and came up on the other side. We swam round and had lunch. Then we went looking for the entrance to a little cave they talk about. We found the entrance and some bats greeted us as we entered. We explored the cave then waded up a little stream that lead us up the escarpment. We went back to the gorge and had a bit more of a swim. We walked out and drove back to the Homestead.
We went up to happy hour and went out for tea with the choice of chicken or steak. I got steak. We had also got the cook, Maxine, to cook a gluten free chocolate brownie for cake. It was delicious. We went back to camp and had a game of Yahtzee.
Today we spent most of the morning doing school work. After lunch dad and I went out to Rosie Rapids and Flying Fox Swamp. We went to Rosie Rapids first. There were two branches of the river and both were beautiful to explore. After a paddle we had a quick swim. When we got to the swamp there was a boat waiting for us. Dad brought his fishing rod and when I got sick of getting the paddle caught in the lilies I just let us drift. There were heaps of birds, ruffed whistling ducks, wandering whistling ducks, herons, spoonbills, egrets, ibises etc. We got back to camp and Ben had cooked us a delicious chilli con carne for tea.
Today we are going to do the Crocodile Springs Loop. We drove a little way then stopped so Dad could put the yabby pot in. We marked the spot and continued on. We had decided to do Fossil Fern first. To find the ferns you had to walk 10 metres next to a pool then turn around to look back on a flat rock. Ben and I couldn't resist jumping in so we did it a couple of times then drove to Wildfire Gorge. It was about a 500 meter walk in. When we got there we were the only ones there. There was two ledges to jump off. Dad and Mum told us we had to jump off the bottom ledge first then if we wanted to we could go off the top ledge. The bottom ledge was only 1 metre high and the top ledge was 7 metres high. I was the first one to jump off the high ledge and it was awesome. It took some time to get used to jumping off the high ledge, but it was great fun. We drove back to the yabby pot and pulled it in. We had one last thing to do, and that was paddle up Crocodile Springs. Some people were already in the boat so we had lunch first, we also put the yabby pot back in. The people came back and we went out. We took fishing rods and I was the only one who got any hits. We came back and pulled the yabby pot in. We had two turtles and three fish this time. I was very excited about the turtles. Back at the Homestead they have a crocodile pond and they like it if people bring back little fish and turtles. We brought back the turtles and the fish.Read more