As we drove in we found a lovely shady spot on a 2 acre grassy area shared with only 4 other vans. Wendy, the station owner, came and greeted us with her dog Sam in tow. Her friendly and welcoming manner was greatly appreciated as she told us of the history of the farm, the 5000 head of cattle they farm,walks and areas we could explore, the other animals here on the station and her family.
After set up we went for a leisurely walk down to Christmas Creek, past the pet camel and donkey, both of which were rescued as babies and have lived together ever since. Zach, in his newly acquired leather akubra hat and blundstones (courtesy of an op shop in Broome) thought he was the perfect cowboy complete with his singlet and skinny jeans on. He talked incessantly about being a cowboy here and maybe he could tackle a croc or two in the river.
When we finally got to the river after going through a few paddocks, and having cattle meander across the path in front of us, we could only imagine the intensity and expanse of what the river would look like in the wet, but now in the dry there was only the odd small pool left.
Even though there was only a small amount of water it took no time at all before Abbey, Zach and Matt had stripped down and were playing and mucking about. Poor old Josh sat on the banks with his footy (which Grandad bought) in his hands moping. After a few moments of silence he announces to Nick and I "why couldn't you have made sporty kids like me not 3 imaginary ones." I think he meant 3 kids who played imaginative games with each other. The comment did make us laugh, and Josh the butt of jokes for a while. Like a dog with a stick Josh would drop a kick just I front of Nicks feet, sometimes getting the desired outcome.
Zach was keen to walk back to the station as Wendy had said the chickens would be put away at dusk and the kids could help. This along with playing with Sam the dog gave Matt, Zach and Abbey great enjoyment, as it was two things they all missed from home. Wendy was very patient them all letting them chatter away to her while she worked.
After some enquiry, Wendy shared with us the impact of the ban of live export on their livelihood, the medias' portrayal of uncaring farmers, which could not be further from the truth. Images shown of Indonesian slaughter houses were old footage, and for every head of cattle sent a levy is given to upgrade the abbottours . Clearly her view had the best interest of her stock at heart, but the knee jerk policies made certainly didn't explore the impact it has had on the beef trade and the families in outback Australia.
Nick came to a families rescue, lending them our 5 in one power pack, and some lanterns. The sites are all unpowered and Peter and Kate had pulled in at dusk after not being able to get a site at Fitzroy crossing. Their set up is similar to ours and they are "doing the trip" in 11 weeks, they rely power though as they don't have battery back up. After tea, and when the kids were in bed (which after our early morning and exciting drive, they put themselves to bed and were ALL - even Josh, asleep by 7:15pm), we enjoyed catching up with Peter and Kate, sharing stories of our trips, work and family.
As the sun rose we woke early, and set off not knowing today's destination. We would like to go to the Bungle Bungles but we will need check and see if we can access the road. If not we will drive on a further 4 hours to Kunnanurra. Farewell Larrawa Station we had a lovely stay here.
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