The Mary River

A couple of weeks ago, we went camping. There's so many beautiful spots within one hour's travel from home.

One of the reasons we went is that at school, Ruby is learning all about the unique life forms that live in our Mary River habitat. She asked us if we could go check it out, so she could draw it accurately for her project. 

Seemed like a good excuse to extend it into an overnighter.

Some years ago, this region, including a lot of the smaller townships in and around, were under threat of being sunk under a huge water catchment. Luckily, at the eleventh hour, this plan came to nought, and so these beautiful places have remained intact. The Mary Valley people, unfortunately, didn't escape unscarred. A lot of people were bought out and moved on; it's caused permanent emotional scarring and change. That's another (long) story though, for another time.

Back to camping...

I'd actually booked at a place we'd not been to before. When we got there, none of us liked the look of it! We drove around and quickly exited before we were committed. Maybe not exactly the right thing to do, but we'd driven past some gorgeous camping grounds, including this one at Kenilworth. We didn't actually stay here this time but it's on our to-do list for a long weekend. Next time!

We set up on the bend of the Mary River, at a place called Little Yabba. 

The girls put up their own tent now. Such independence! They may or may not spend the full night in it, but it's their spot to read and hide away from us. They squirrel away the lamp and some snacks; it's delightful.

Late afternoon, the fire was lit; darkness fell quickly and so did the thermostat...

In the morning there was frost and mist; it was quiet and still and just absolutely mesmerising. 

As the sun rose and we warmed up, layers were shed and a meander up the river was in order.

It was chilly, but not too cold for a dip. The water was cool and clean and green and there was no-one else in sight. At all. 

We checked out the rocks and the pools, all in the name of research. 

Best school project ever.

Looking forward to our next camping adventure, in just a couple of weeks.

Have a lovely week, everyone xx