Keep River National Park - NT

It was a pretty short drive from Lake Argyle to our next destination; Keep River National Park, NT. It is located just 3km inside the NT border (from WA). We opted to camp at the Goorrandalg campground just 18km off the highway. This camp ground was so peaceful with incredible views towards the sandstone formations. Keep River is a small park but offers incredible and interesting geology and access to some ancient Aboriginal rock art. It is also serious croc country, so NO swimming allowed.

Goorrandalg is the local word for Brolga that plays an important part in the dreaming stories in this region.

 Driving in north-western Australia in the dry season is a smoky business. It can be a bit tricky with our digital map apps too - as they like to avoid any bushfire warnings and would sometimes have 15 hour detours which we obviously just ignore. The dry season burns affect air quality and visibility, giving an eerie yellowish glow.

We were so stoked to be back in a national park setting and this campground was amazing. It had fire pits - it feels like NT encourages fires with even wood collection being allowed inside the park, but away from the campground. We set up camp and promptly set off to find some firewood. We didn't need it for warmth, it was hot - high 30s, but we were excited to be able to cook on the fire.

 We had the best shady site overlooking the rock formations that made up the 2km Goorrandalg loop walk. Along with a fire pit that had a hotplate, there was this platform that we like to call a dive-deck. The kids decided it was far too hot to assist with any set up aside from making themselves comfortable on the dive deck.

 Mixing up the damper dough ready for the fire. Please note the colander-bowl conversion using foil. It really worked and I used this system for the remainder of the trip. The trick was to ensure the lining foil overlapped - which I neglected to pass on to my little helper once, which resulted in floury water all over the table. Normally this would not be a problem - but no tap water here. Once it's gone, it's gone. Luckily we didn't lose much and it was a good lesson learned. 

 The dive deck also provided a superb surface off the ground, away from all the prickly grass and biting bugs, to make a cubby. Jem spent hours across a few days collecting sticks, tying ropes and creating this cubby from sarongs and towels. 

 Those soft toys weren't much help.

 A good place for a snack - yes baked beans straight out of the can, and some little tubs of preserved fruits.

 I think pegs were also used. It was a great construction and she played in there for ages.

 Fire lighting is another thing Jemma is proficient at, making her Dad extremely proud. A second generation fire-bug!

 The results - we had damper and roast potatoes cooked in foil in the fire, chicken cooked on the hot plate and some steamed broccoli. No one is getting scurvy on my watch.

 Now, this is Uno Flip and there is an especially nasty card in there where you have to pick up cards until you get one of the colour the card-putter-downer has chosen. In this instance James, who has no filter when it comes to harsh board and card-game plays, played the card and Jemma picked up about 20 cards. He did kindly loan her his Card Holda. 

We had a couple of days in Keep River NP and there are several walks you can do. It was getting pretty warm so we tried to do them as early as possible.

 The Jenemoom walk takes you along the riverbed of Keep River to a site once used as a wet season shelter by the Miriwoong  people.

 Jarnem art site (Langgerrbi) walk - we started this one a bit late as we did a few hours of schoolwork with the kids in the morning. As a result it was pretty hot and Jemma and I found this a bit rough going. It is not a hard walk at all, it was just too hot to be out walking in the sun. The rock art includes pictures of the animals hunted and eaten by the local people - a kind of menu. There are many sacred places in Keep River NP, and  I was grateful to experience the beautiful and ancient sites made accessible by the custodians and rangers.

 Afternoon shadow selfie - James and I on the escarpment on the Goorrandalg walk late in the afternoon.

 James and I enjoying the late afternoon walk together.

 Jemma and I did the walk the next day ( see I have even changed my t-shirt). You can see the smoke in the background.

Keep River National Park is a stunning park and we loved our stay here. We were able to hang our hammocks and read in the shade in the afternoons. We had a fire-cooked dinner each night. The days were warm to hot, and the nights cool to warm. The bugs weren't even that bad. It was a real just-right stay.

It was a good start to our revised itinerary which will have us spending a lot more time in the NT than we had originally planned.

We have found that 3 nights is our sweet spot minimum for stay duration in a place. One night stops suck with our set up/pack down, but are sometimes necessary. A two night stop only gives you one full day (duh!) for exploring. Three nights or more is optimal.