browser icon
You are using an insecure version of your web browser. Please update your browser!
Using an outdated browser makes your computer unsafe. For a safer, faster, more enjoyable user experience, please update your browser today or try a newer browser.

Little Duna

Posted by on April 6, 2014

Well it is official, we have camped on our new block, however I think this was also our most unprepared trip ever!!

With Fi and I working last week, we didn’t have a lot of time to prep the van for our trip. Also, knowing we had to come back Sunday for Amy’s Birthday, we didn’t stress to much as we knew we could pick up what we forgot… little did we know just how much we had forgotten!!

I raced home from work Friday night, threw the roof racks on the car and loaded the last few things in the van while Fi threw the food and clothes into the van. We had planned to leave as soon as we could, but it was almost 7pm by the time we rolled out the driveway! The van was packed to the brim and sitting very low to the road with the weight.

We hadn’t got far up the road when Fi suddenly exclaimed “I forgot to pack toilet paper!”

“Oh well” I said, “we can grab some at the servo when I stop for fuel.”

A few seconds later she said “I forgot my toothbrush!”

Again “Grab one at the servo” I said.

A few more seconds later “I didn’t pack my pillow” Fi exclaimed and I swung a U-turn and headed back home!! As we pulled up out the front, Fi ran inside while I turned the car and van around in the street thinking “Oops, forgot to grab the dogs leads”. Once the van was out the front I ran inside and of course forgot the moment I went in the door what I had come back for. I grabbed Fi’s pillow while she grabbed her toothbrush and the toilet paper and we were out the door and back on the road long before I remembered!!

“Oh well… too late now” I thought, but it wasn’t until we were pulling on the freeway that I realized that I had even forgotten to put the towing mirrors on!!!

Worst prepared ever!!!!!

We started a list of things to get when we returned Sunday (turned out to be a long list) and pointed up the Hume towards Violet Town. Was slow going with so much weight in the van, full water tanks, the generator, fuel, 100L of extra water on the roof and of course the dogs in the back of the car but we were finally underway, and arrived in the dark around 9:30pm that night.

Luckily I had already picked out a good spot for the van, and we managed to find our way to the back of the block to set up camp. Was tough reversing the van without mirrors in the dark. but we managed with Fi shining a torch on a stump so I wouldn’t reverse into it.

As we unhooked the van in the darkness, I noticed car lights out the back of the block. “Strange” I thought, “I don’t remember the road being so close.” As the car got closer, I noticed there was an extra light on the top of the car… Someone was out spot lighting in the farm behind us! I scrambled to make sure we had plenty of lights on, and they slowed down obviously confused by the lights on what is normally a vacant block before heading off into the distance. Wasn’t long before we heard the crack of a gun… “What was that?” Zac exclaimed, and Fiona quickly replied “Dunno? Must have just been a car on the freeway!”

No need to get the kids fearful given they were already a bit nervous being in the middle of nowhere in the dark! Their torches were flicking around and around to try to highlight every nook and cranny much to my frustration as I tried to setup in the dark.

Didn’t take too long and the van was setup so I grabbed my shovel and dug a quick fire pit. Using the ample twigs under the trees we soon had a fire crackling away. As Fi and the kids huddled around the fire for warmth I went for a short walk to check the quad bike was where I left it chained to the tree. Was all good so I jumped on and drove it over to the fire before venturing out, returning a short time later with a good stack of wood to keep us warm.

Was probably about 11:30pm by the time we got the kids to bed and they crashed in no time, exhausted by the start of our adventure. We were finally here 🙂

The dogs on the other hand couldn’t believe their luck with so much room to run. Ruby of course would venture out then come running back to check on us every few minutes. However our little black dog Kushi kept disappearing into the inky blackness attempting to “mark” every tree on the land! He eventually realized there were more trees than he had pee, but being so dark (black dog with black eyes) he would simply materialize beside you with no warning at all! The only way we knew he was out and about was when we heard a noise in the distance and searching with the torchlight managed to find a little blob making his way from tree to tree and scratching in the dirt!

Was almost a shame to chain the excited dogs to the back of the van overnight but eventually Fi and I had to extinguish the fir and turn in for our first night on the block.

I took a couple of pictures around the fire, but I don’t think they came out all that well.

20140406-221514.jpg

20140406-221533.jpg

20140406-221549.jpg

20140406-221603.jpg

20140406-221618.jpg

So Saturday morning I woke as the sun began to poke over the trees and went outside to find the dogs had tangled themselves in the chair around the van. I released them and they took off to explore the land.

As I was finishing my first cup of coffee and admiring the land, Tara was the second to appear. We decided that it was time to explore so took off (quietly) on the quad bike to have a look around. Ruby bounded along beside the bike (I was only doing 10kms), but most surprisingly was little Kushi who followed us around, just about 200 to 300 meters behind his little legs pumping away as fast as they could. As we arrived at the first dam, then headed over to the second, along came Kushi huffing and puffing but looking happier than I had ever seen him before.

Tara and I stopped in the sun at the second dam for a look around, and she discovered the remains of a dead sheep… well the wool and bones. She was very excited and couldn’t wait to be able to show Jess. Was also about here that we got a call from Mum and Dad who were ringing to let us know they were on their way. They were coming up for the day to have a look at out new acquisition.

Tara and I headed back to camp where we found Jess who had surfaced when she heard the quad bike. So of course we had to head off to explore again, this time with the two girls behind me on the bike. Tara proudly showed Jess the dead sheep before we did another lap of the block (dogs in tow again) and headed back to camp to see Fi and Zac.

After a quick bite to eat, the girls grabbed their bikes and took off for an explore by themselves. It is great to have so much land that they can safely explore and while we have good tree cover, you can pretty much see them where ever they are. Ruby again took off, running beside their bikes but poor Kushi had had enough and crashed out under the van for a rest.

Zac was looking a bit bored by now with no computer to play, so I gave him a lesson in driving the quad bike and it wasn’t long before he was putting around in second gear with a grin from ear to ear. He immediately loved it, and I could see that I had created a monster… going to be a few fights over just whose “toy” this is!!!

 

20140406-223050.jpg

20140406-223103.jpg

20140406-223139.jpg

Was just as I was starting to cook breakfast on the BBQ that I got the call, Mum and Dad were off the freeway and in Violet Town. I gave them quick instructions before jumping on the quad bike and shot down to the gate to greet them calling back to Fi “gotta go, can you watch the BBQ!!”

Our breakfast cook up turned into more of a brunch as we sat and had a cuppa with Mum and Dad and being midday already they had their lunch. Hey we were a little slow to get moving this day!

Was while were were eating “brunch” that Dad said they had come up with a name for the block! As a bit of a back story, it was my grandfather that had given me a love of the bush and the name of his farm back in WA (where Dad grew up) was called “Duna”.

So given the connection to Grandfather he thought that maybe we could call the block “Little Duna” After all the entire block is less than one paddock of the farm that was 100’s of hectares in size!!

Well, it is a name, and for the moment, the best anyone has come up with, so we thought we would try it on for size and see if it grows on us. I think Tara is already across the line saying “Bye Little Duna” as we drove out today!!

Anyway, after “brunch” we headed off on foot to give Mum and Dad the tour. We wandered mostly around the boundary zig zagging in and out as we saw interesting things. Dad and I were in our element checking out everything we could from up turned trees to animal droppings and scratching’s in the ground to try to determine what wildlife was around.

Mum and Fi followed behind rolling their eyes and laughing at us, Mum carrying a good sized stick just in case we came across any lions!!

The kids and dogs started off walking with us, but slowly they drifted back to camp. I think the Kids wanted to do other things, and the dogs were simply exhausted!!

20140406-224734.jpg

20140406-224746.jpg

Oh well, their loss as we found lots of cool stuff including a Ram’s skull complete with curly horn, and a decent pair of shearing shears still in good condition!

Jess has taken a liking to the rams skull and wanted to bring it home today as Fi and I stated in unison “NO!” She can play with it when she is up there I think.

While walking the block, Dad found a very impressive tree growing in the center, and I just had to take a picture to show just how impressive it was. Huge!

20140406-224803.jpg

Anyway, we had a lovely day with Mum and Dad and love that they took the time to drive up and see “Little Duna” (gets easier each time I say it and it is better than saying The Block!), but eventually they had to point south again and trek home.

Jess took off first racing everyone to the gate on her bike while Zac and I had an argument on who was driving the quaddie! In the end the big kid won and much to Mum’s disapproval, I slowly rode down to the gate with Zac on the front rack and Fi and Tara on the back behind me.

Was slow going, but even Ruby loped along beside us. Mum and Dad followed in the car while little Kushi trotted along a couple of hundred meters behind!! Was very funny to watch, but he made it to the gate in time to say goodbye and trot back to camp again.

We waved Mum and Dad good bye, then sent Tara and Zac back to camp on the quad bike, Jess and two dogs closely behind as Fi and I went for a walk around our land. It is so peaceful wandering around with such a feeling of serenity.

Back at camp, I wrestled the quad bike away from Zac so I could collect some wood, then it was action stations as we cooked tea in the failing light and ate around the fire. Was roasted marshmallows for desert this night which were thoroughly enjoyed by all. The dogs weren’t so restless this night choosing instead to rest their weary bodies by the warmth of the fire. A great first day.

Today though was action stations. I awoke early to the dogs having an argument, seems they had tangled themselves in the chairs again, but I leapt out of bed at 6:30am to investigate. Seeing as I was up and the dogs were so cold from sleeping outside, I took them for a run… well I rode the quad bike and they ran along behind me! It was so cold I had to ride with my hand in my pocket, and there was a mist sitting on the fields in the distance.

Tara and Jess surfaced about 8:30am already dressed and announcing they were going for a ride to the front gate and back. I suggested they should explore more of the block than just the gate, and so not long after they left, I rode the quad bike down to find them running around the front dam.

I sat on my quad bike soaking up the sun, and watched them playing around the banks. Ruby started to get a little braver around water, not quite swimming but starting to wade out to her shoulders occasionally ducking her head under the water and pawing in front as if she wants to swim!! Was great to watch.

Wasn’t long before I heard a cough behind me and saw Zac wandering over to join us.

He sat on the bike with me for a while before I took off driving through the shallows of the dam to give him a bit of a scare!! I had already seen Ruby run through this bit and knew it was really shallow, but Zac didn’t!!

We headed back to camp where Zac spent some time practicing being Robin Hood firing his arrows into some mattresses we had found on the rubbish pile. He loved that he could finally use his bow and arrows and the girls were happy to chase the ones that missed flying over the back!

Fi finally surfaced and it was actions stations again as we showered, ate breakfast and secured the van ready to head home. We didn’t do too badly and were all ready to go when I jumped into the car to start it and… had a flat battery!! Grr why does this always happen when you have places to go???

I quickly grabbed the generator and the charger, but we lost an hour as we waited for the battery to juice back up. Finally we got going and headed home for a quick clean up before heading to Nicola’s for afternoon tea to celebrate Amy (and Tara and Jess’s) Birthdays.

20140406-232423.jpg

20140406-232433.jpg

20140406-232445.jpg

We have had a great first couple of days and I feel like I have left so much of the adventure out, but truth be known I’m exhausted and simply can’t write anymore!! All that fresh air is very tiring and it will be nice to head back up to Little Duna tomorrow after sleeping in my own bed.

Will try to write some more over the next week as we continue to explore our new home away from home and continue to discover the land. Hopefully as we head back up there in the morning we don’t forget all the stuff we forgot the first time!!!

Hehe – write again soon 🙂

3 Responses to Little Duna

Leave a Reply