Weipa

We debated heavily, over and over, whether to spend a few more days hanging out at Bertie, or to make the trip down to Weipa.  It was a beautiful spot, and the girls loved the swimming.  It was definitely the sort of place we’d been looking for the whole trip.  The problem was that we had Savannah’s birthday in two days, and we were sitting in a location with no phone reception, therefore if we stayed, grandparents, etc, couldn’t talk to her.  It would also mean we would be there for another couple of days given we didn’t want to travel on Savannah’s birthday.  We decided that it was too important for Savannah to be able to talk to the ‘outside’ world, so leaving ‘Camp Interuptus’ was the call.

That morning, we were greeted with a little more than the drizzle we’d seen over the last few days.  It actually had developed into rain, just for our pack up!  We stretched the packing out until there was a break in the rain, and rolled out of camp. 

We did our final crossing of Bertie, all without problems, and headed back to the Development Road.  A quick run down the Development Road saw and we were at Bramwell Junction for lunch, the starting point of the OTL.  From there, it was a reasonably long, but easy day drive across to Weipa.

As per most days, the girls did a sensational job travelling in the car.  They have developed the ability to do some pretty big days, even with long stretches of 3-4 hours without stopping.  The day usually starts with a round of ‘Old Man Emu’ on the stereo, all singing and clapping.  Morning tea can come pretty quickly afterwards, with various snacks been thrown over to the back seats.  The girls’ IPOD will often be requested after that, with their headphones.  Lots of Wiggles, Justine Clarke, Hi-5 all gets belted out.  Our best hope is that some sleeping occurs, but that’s not always guaranteed.

Mid afternoon saw us roll into Weipa, which is essentially a bauxite mining town.  It began as an aboriginal mission in 1898, but the town itself was established in 1961 due to the enormous bauxite deposits along the coast. 

We found the only caravan park that exists in Weipa, and as we parked, spotted a couple of MySwag people we’d just been travelling with up the Cape.  Ian and Kylie and the kids were in the pool, and had been there for a couple of days.  To our surprise, when we checked with the office, they told us that they had NO campsites available, at all!!! It was the last day of school holidays, and Weipa isn’t exactly on the way to other places, so this blew us away a little.  We did have the option of a cabin at $130 / night.... nice!!  Otherwise, it was go and drive back down the road and try to find a bush camp.

In talking this through with Ian, he mentioned the neighbours right near him were all packed up and were going to leave early the next morning.  After a little negotiating, we ended up sharing their site given they only had a packed up car on it.  They were leaving at 3am to get away, and were happy for us to inundate.  Very nice, and very lucky for us.

The next morning was Savannah’s birthday.  We managed to bring along and collect a whole heap of pressies, including glam jewellery items, a pink fishing rod, a fire truck and a sticker book.  Savannah loved ripping into these, with newspaper wrapping flying everywhere (no expense spared).

After breakfast, we attempted our first camp-oven cake.  It all looked good going in, but what was suppose to take 40 minutes was abandoned after 3 hours!!!!.  Glenn learnt a lot, and reckons he’d know what to do to cook it next time.. hmm.. we’ll see!!  Anyway, we salvaged what we could from the cake, and our saving grace was to smother it in lollies.  Savannah LOVED it, and was very happy to pick all the lollies off after blowing out the candles.

Birthday girl and her lollie cake

Dressed for the Party

Savannah was running around with a new fairy wand and tiara, declaring that she was the ‘Birthday Princess”!!!!  We enjoyed a swim, and generally hanging out in the great weather. 

That night, we went for a treat, a night out at the local bowls club.  Pretty swish place in Weipa, with a great outdoor playground for the kids.  It was all a bit luxurious, but we really enjoyed it.  During dinner, Jess looked a little off, which we put down to her being tired.

When we got back to camp, she had a temperature of 40 degree’s, which she’s never had before.  We started the 4 hourly cycle of panadol, and made it through the night. 

We then spent the next few days trying to figure out what was wrong, including a visit to the GP, and then to the hospital the next day.  We eventually found out it was a urinary tract infection, and thankfully we were there to get it diagnosed and antibiotics. 

This all meant that we stayed in Weipa an extra couple of extra days than intended, which was ok, and gave the girls a chance to really enjoy the park's pool!!

Savannah painting at Weipa Caravan Park

Our camp at Weipa

Weipa Beach just off the Caravan Park

Weipa Sunset