Life in a Humpback

Readers Questions

A few questions from Olivia's school classmates...

Do you ever get car sick? That's a lot of driving each day! Are you looking forward to coming back to school?

Sometimes if I am in the car for to long I don't feel very good. I am definitely exited to go back to school!

How cold was it when you where riding the camels? What has been the minimum and maximum temperatures you've experienced so far? Also, are you interested in watching a dance a few of us made when you come back?

We did the sunset camel ride so it was warm enough to not even bring a jumper! The minimum temperature so far was 4°C in Halls Gap and the max was 36°C in Darwin. Yes, I would love to watch a dance!

What has been your favorite part of the trip so far?

My favourite part of the trip so far has been the camel rides and making new friends, but I also enjoyed the manta ray tour even if it was really cold. Also we went to a space museum yesterday and that was pretty cool.

What parts would you recommend people visit and what parts would you not recommend?

I would recommend Uluru because it is cool that it kinda changes colours and Exmouth/Cape Range because of all the fish, turtles and other sea creatures. I wouldn't not recommend anything!

Have you made lots of friends and have you made any money with the bracelets you are selling?

I have made a bit more money and have started selling ones made out of Clay Beads but no one has bought any yet and I have made lots of new friends!

Do you have to do any school work?

I don't have to do any work other than keep a journal and do some blog posts 😀.

Does walking on the sand in the desert feel like walking on the beach?

It depends if the beach sand is wet or not. But I haven't walked on desert sand with bare feet so I don't know for sure.

Have you seen any whales jump out of the water?

Yes some in Pender Bay!

Are you starting to get sick of the caravan?

Sort of but we spend a lot of time outside.

Day 79: Coral Bay (Olivia)

Today we went on a manta ray snorkeling tour. We saw lots of animals including turtles, fish, coral and manta rays. They provided wetsuits which is good because I get cold in the ocean easily. We met some other kids from... Germany! and did lots of snorkeling. Afterwards we got hot chips.

Day 73: Karijini National Park to Nanutarra Roadhouse

Today we packed up and drove to Nanutarra Roadhouse. On the way we stopped in Tom Price and had lunch at a bakery. There were cockatoos everywhere! There was a man and his dog as our back neighbours at the campsite. Sadly I didn't get to meet the dog.

Day 71: Karijini National Park (Day 2)

Today we went to Kalamina Gorge (Nhamurrunha) to go for a walk, Theo and I walked really fast to catch up to some friends at the end. Later we walked into Joffre (Jijingunha) Gorge to go swimming - sadly the water was too stagnant to get in. Along the way to the gorge we went to Joffre View to look at the gorge from above. Then we went to Knox Gorge for ANOTHER walk in ANOTHER gorge. We listened to Odyssey by Steven Fry in the car.

On the way home we saw a car that had backed off the road. It was stuck in a ditch and couldn't get back on. There were some people helping to try to get it back on the road. So we turned around to help. Sadly Theo and I had to stay in the car. In the end a guy who we called "MAN WHO KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING" managed to tow the car out of the hole it was in! (This was a much more exiting end to the day than eating burritos for dinner).

Day 47: Katherine (Day 2: Olivia)

Today we went on a cave tour at Cutta Cutta Caves and we saw a brown tree snake. The caves were really big but it gets too warm so we couldn't go all the way in.

We also went on a walk to Katherine Gorge in Nitmiluk National Park. It wasn't very long and afterwards we went back and got an ice cream.

When we got back to camp we played cricket. All the boys weren't playing properly so I decided to sell my bracelets instead. Some other girls helped me and I made lots of money. We were really busy and there were still people there when I had to stop for dinner.

Day 42: Kakadu National Park (Day 1)

Today I woke up to loud banging on the roof. Cockatoos were going crazy in the trees and dropping leaves and branches onto the caravan. In the morning we went to Cahills Crossing to look at crocodiles. There were so many. We even saw people drive through the water that was covering the road with crocs in the water next to the cars. Then we went to lunch. First we went to a grocery store, then the resort, and than another place I don't know the name of. We finally just got food and drinks at the grocery store. I got a strawberry milk and a croissant. Then we went for a walk to look at rock art at Ubirr (including one of a Tasmanian Tiger) and watched the sunset. Dad and Theo played chess at the lookout.

Day 38: Darwin (Day 2)

Today was Water Park Day.

Today we went to two different water parks. These are the good and bad things about them.

Palmerston Water Park

• There were 6 slides but only 2 were open.
• You had to go head first and you had to go on a mat but there wasn't many mats so only like 10 people could use them at a time.

Leanyer Recreations Park

• There were 3 really long water slides and they were twisty but they were all closed.
• There was a pool that we played in

Both places had a splash park.

Day 32: Mataranka

Today we got up early to look for turtles at Bitter Springs, it was warm. I saw two but they scared me, but Theo might might have only seen one. Then we went to have breakfast and then went to the Springs again. Then we had lunch and I got to video chat with Hattie. Then we went to the Springs with Dad again. Then we went back to camp and had toasties for dinner.

Then we went to the whipping show again and it was better. I got picked to learn how to use a whip and I managed to get the whip to crack both ways. The first was around over my head and the other was up and down by my side. Theo caught a stubbie holder and got it signed after we both danced to "Cotton Eye Joe" on stage. We helped move the mats for the fire tricks and Pink Pony Club was one of the songs he whipped too.

Day 31: Larrimah to Mataranka

Today we drove from Gorrie Airfield to Mataranka. We went to the Bitter Springs and me and Theo were afraid of the crocs but luckily there were none there. We used pool noodles to float down the hot spring river then we got out walked to the top and floated down again multiple times. Then we had lunch and went again. This time with Dad. We also went to a whip show (Nathan "Whippy" Griggs). It was cool. He used lots of different whips even neon ones. I wanted a whip but we didn't get one 🙁.

Day 28: Ormiston Gorge to Alice Springs

Today we drove to Alice Springs. Then we played at the pool and playground. Only 1/4 of the pools were warm and the water slide pool was cold. We went shopping and Dad bought me a chocolate. We also went out 4 dinner and got pizza. We also had sushi 4 lunch.