Lower Glenelg NP

We took quite a while to pack up from Hamilton yesterday morning (it seems to be getting longer rather than shorter), partly because Nick was doing some work on the car, and we forgot we needed to fill up the water tank etc etc. We knew we weren’t going far at least, and we arrived at Lower Glenelg National Park in time for a late lunch. It was also the first day we felt like we went a bit ‘off road’ as we had our first creek crossing – you would be proud Vic, we immediately jumped out, found a stick and tested how soft the bottom was even though we could see it most of the way across, then reread the section in your course manual. It was hardly much of a creek crossing in the scheme of things, but good to start with an easy one! It is also the first campground where we’ve had a fire so that also made it feel more authentic. It’s an absolutely beautiful place (Pritchards Campground), right next to the river with lots of birds around and we think we might have heard koalas in the trees last night, although haven’t actually seen any yet (lots of wallabies and possums). There’s also not many people here, what with school starting again in Victoria today, and the weather couldn’t be better. One thing that we really haven’t worked out yet though is boiling water – still getting used to not having the kettle, as it takes FOREVER to boil water either on the stove or the fire. It’s always holding us up, as we need to boil water for tea, water for pasta, water for washing up, water for hot water bottles etc etc. It meant that although we arrived here in plenty of time yesterday, the kids were screaming for dinner by the time it finally arrived at 7pm (boiling water for pasta). We are determined to start the fire earlier tonight to get it to the right temperature earlier! This morning we went for a really nice walk along a trail which is part of the Great Southern Walk and which goes pretty much through the campsite. It meanders alongside the river in some spots or through the bush and was really nice. No mobile coverage unfortunately so I will have to load this up tomorrow when we go through Nelson. Aine you will be pleased to hear that we remembered the What’s the Story Rory cubes this afternoon and Conor is now hooked. It was hard to stop him interrupting other people’s turns because, as he said, ‘I’ve got so many things in my head mum, it’s my imagination’.