LUCY'S 5TH BIRTHDAY

We celebrated Lucy's 5th birthday in Winton - QLD. I decorated the van with balloons and streamers to make it extra special. Lucy had a great day!!

I am 5 today!!!!! Yay!!

All three girls were so excited!! Who doesn't love a birthday party??

Lucy's rainbow cake. I knew we would be on the road and travelling for Lucy's birthday and I couldn't stand the thought of her missing out on a cake. So I planned ahead and while we were in Katherine I used an oven there to bake it, then iced it and turned our engel fridge into a freezer so the cake would last. Then I just pulled it out on the day and decorated it!!

We stayed in a caravan in Winton for the night and the girls started playing with these boys in the afternoon. Bridget invited them to Lucy's party!!! HaHa

Winton-QLD

The musical fence in Winton. This was amazing. It is set up so that you can play the fence like a guitar!! It sounds so cool!!

Lucy and Chris playing the 'drums'. All these musical instruments were made from junk and scrap metal. Lots of fun!!

Having a photo with the Jolly Swagman in the Waltzing Matilda Centre-Winton. It was good for the girls to learn more about Banjo Patterson (since he spent some of his childhood in Yeoval).

Can you find the girls?? We spent hours looking through the Waltzing Matilda Centre. There was so much to see.

QUEENSLAND!!!

We've crossed over into another state. Goodbye for now NT (we'll be back next year) and hello Queensland!!!

On the Road!!!

This part of our trip meant long days in the car as we had many kms to cover. We decided we needed some exercise when we stopped so got out the skipping ropes and had some fun!!

We stopped in at a roadhouse for the night and the girls were so excited to find all these peacocks strutting around. They wonder why God made the male peacock to be the beautiful one???

Bitter Springs

At Mataranka we had been told to stop in at Bitter Springs. We were hot and more than keen to jump in for a swim. There was a fairly strong current which helped us float down the Spring where you'd get out and walk back up again.

This country of ours keeps blowing us away. There are so many gorgeus spots!

We found a Lucy St in Katherine!!!

We stopped in at Katherine to see 'The Parkers'. It was Al's 40th birthday and we wanted to be there to celebrate with her. We had a great few days of catching up.

It was great seeing all the kids together again. They really do get on well and had a fun few days. We'll miss you Parkers!!

Claire and Amy were like two peas in a pod for our couple of days we spent with them. They loved their time together.

While in Katherine we visit the Springs for the afternoon. It's a narrow stretch of water to cool off and relax in.

Edith Falls

On our way from Darwin to Katherine we stop in at Edith Falls. Another lovely spot to have a dip and just enjoy the scenery.

Bridget and Lucy enjoying a swim at Edith Falls. We didn't paddle out too far as there was noone else around and we were a bit 'chicken' that there may have been crocs around!

Bye Darwin!!!

Here's the lovely House Family (minus Nathaniel). They are the Mobile Mission Maintenance managers for the NT. They made us feel so welcome in Darwin and really looked after us. The girls and us have loved our time with them and our time in Darwin. Again it's hard to say good bye but it has to come to an end and it's time to move on. We leave now and drive to Katherine.

While in the Top End we decide to be game and try some game meat. We're eating kangaroo kebabs and crocodile. It was pretty nice! The girls tried it but it came to mind over matter and mind won!

While Chris and I go out for dinner, Glenys and Darrel put on a party for the girls. They were so excited and had so much fun! Here they are playing the chocolate game.

They even had a birthday cake and candles to blow out! What a fun night!

LITCHFIELD NATIONAL PARK

Yay!! We got to go to Litchfield. We'd heard so many wonderful things about this place and were really looking forward to seeing it. Some people say you either like Kakadu or Litchfield. We found them totally different and would say you couldn't compare them. We loved them both, for different reasons. We liked Litchfield for the beautiful waterfalls and swimming places. It was also so green and lush with rainforest areas spotted throughout. Gorgeous.

Our first stop in Litchfield was the magnetic termite mounds. The girls are standing in front of a cathedral termite mound.

Florence Falls

View from the top of Florence Falls. Litchfield is a beautiful and lush place and what a treat to have waterfalls still running at this time of year.

It was hot and time for a swim at Florence falls. This is Chris and the girls swimming out to the waterfall. It was beautiful to just sit and relax and listen to the waterfall. The walk down here and back up was pretty impressive too!

Buley Rockholes

We loved Buley Rockholes. For a lot of our time here we had the whole place to ourselves. We layed around in the rockholes, went exploring and jumped off rocks. Fun, fun fun!!!!

Bridget and Claire tried sliding down all the little waterfalls. It was not as smooth as they thought and I'm sure they had sore bottoms, but it was just too much fun to stop!

We find a deep spot perfect to jump into. We all had so much fun jumping in, then climbing out and doing it again, and again and again......

Chris had to join in the fun. WooHoo!!!!

While in Litchfield we visited the Brays. I worked with them at Wellington Christian school and they now work and live at Woolaning Homeland Christian college. It was great to see where our friends 'The Blatchs' lived when they were here in 2008.

Wangi Falls. Another beautiful spot to swim in Litchfield.

We visited Berry Springs on our way back to Darwin. Unfortunately it has been closed for the season as crocs move in once they get a bit of rain.

Out and About in Darwin....

Here's a few snapshots of some things we've been up to in Darwin.

Claire's bike has had a makeover and is now her favourite colour, green. Chris found a bike for Lucy at the tip (amazing what people throw out). It's a much better size for her now that she's off training wheels. We often ride to the parks which are nearby.

We are loving being in the Top End for mango season. Yum Yum!! It's such a treat to enjoy them everyday.

The Wave Lagoon in Darwin. It was a stinking hot day and we were glad to be here to cool off (not that the water was very refreshing). This is the lagoon while it's calm. Lookout once the waves start!! It's a croc and stinger free place to swim in Darwin.

The girls are into it straight away! The waves have started and they enjoy floating about on these tubes. The also catch some waves with the bodyboards they have there. It was a huge afternoon....I haven't seen them so exhausted!! But they had fun while they were there. Chris and I kept feeling sea sick when we went out into the waves!

The girls enjoying a mango smoothie at the Parap Markets. Everything we'd taught them about sharing went out the window as they fought to get as much as they could. It WAS very delicious!

At Parap markets I had been recommended to try the Paw Paw salad.

This lady makes them fresh as you order. It has green paw paw, peanuts, chilli (not sure what else?? )I can't describe just how yummy it was!!!

We spent the day in Darwin city with Glenys and Jacinta. We even visited Chris and Darryl while they were hard at work.

On the wharf fishing......but not for long. That storm blew straight over and we had to pack up and head home without a catch!

Nearly every afternoon in Darwin the sky looks like this. I 'm getting used to the humidity and enjoy the storms, particularly as they cool everything down (if only for a little while).

A family photo on Nightcliff Jetty.

Nightcliff jetty. After church we came here for a picnic with Darryl, Glenys and Jacinta.

We spent the afternoon looking around the George Brown Botanic Gardens. It was very hot and noone was particularly in the mood, but we were glad we did. It was lovely to stroll through and the girls enjoyed the children's playground.

Bridget was in charge of the map and led us around the Botanic Gardens.

They had a family fun afternoon at Palmerston leisure centre. Bridget and Claire had a great time on this blow up 'thing' which was in the swimming pool.

Back to Darwin

After 2 weeks of non stop catching up with friends and family, it's back to just us. We had such a great time. We are exhausted, but happy for every moment we could spend with people we love! We are back in Darwin continuing on work with Mobile Mission Maintenance.