Thierings on Tour

The morning brought more fighting, tantrums and feelings of desperation for adults and kids alike. It really can be so hard when you are constantly in each other’s space and there are limited options for time away from each other and space to breathe. Definitely something to work on for all of us!

We tried to reset and went for a drive to explore the surrounding area – the many beaches and lakes we saw in the guides look picture perfect!

The girls loved finding some new playgrounds and just generally burning energy after a few big driving days…. A strong coffee also helped the adults!

We headed over the bridge to find Red beach. Along the way we saw one of the mine trains coming across carrying a small load of raw materials. There were fishermen at every crevice of the bay trying their luck. Even though there is no public holiday in QLD, I was told that Weipa had designated its own many years ago to coincide with the fishing competition – ha ha, I love that someone just created this self proclaimed Weipa day.

We found some “scarred trees” at Prunung, which is not something I had ever heard about. They were used for a multitude of things by Aboriginal communities in the area including bark for making shelter, the wood for making canoes and spears and the hollowed out tree for sugarbag (honey). How cool!

At the beach there were loads of shells and also large clam shells near a fire, so looked like someone had recently enjoyed a big local seafood feast.

Then we headed back to the caravan park and Chris went off to enjoy a fish and some time to recharge while I grabbed the girls and we went to cool off in the pool. It has been seriously hot and sweaty! The pool was also a good place to catch up on all the travel gossip from those that had been to the tip already and knew all about road conditions and best places to stay and visit. Love a good insider tip!

We had booked a sunset cruise for the evening and enjoyed sailing around the river systems with a drink and some nibbles. Scarly also enjoyed a nice nap as she had battled the daytime sleep for hours before… 

We heard a bit more about the mining operations and all the fishing news from the weekend. It seems that most of the Weipa lifestyle is based around both unless you are one of the original traditional owners of the lands. 

We didn’t see any crocodiles in the water ways, but some of the mangrove inlets would definitely make for prime territory.

It was a lovely evening on the water and the girls loved their first sunset cruise and having ALL the snacks. Making beautiful memories like this makes all the hard times much easier to forget and makes us appreciate what this trip is all about – quality time together exploring the many wonderful places around Australia. To many more sunsets over the water soon, they really are beautiful!!

Kms travelled – 35