Bird Family - Kennedy Range

Our inaugural camping trip with our three little girls (agede 2,4 and 6) was a two-week trip up north. First stop, The Kennedy Ranges. After a day and a half on the road; we at last arrived close by at Gascoyne Junction. We stopped for some supplies so the girls jumped out and quickly got barefoot to play in a red muddy pool, they were taking to life in the bush like good little Aussie’s.

On the way into the national park, we crossed a dried-up tributary of the Gascoyne River. We were welcomed by a big herd of cattle lazing in the red dirt shaded by bent river gums. This place felt good. With only one other two-man tent to share the entire grounds with, we chose our site at Temple Gorge with a tree by which to hang our shower and a stone circled fire pit. Our view from camp was spectacular and we were mesmorised by the colours of the range at sunrise. Close to camp, the girls wandered through some trees and discovered a dried up creek bed littered with big river stones. They were far enough from us that they felt they’d ventured out and found their own secret spot, but close enough that I wasn’t (too) worried.

They created various fairy castles and cities with the stones giving them hours of enjoyment over our stay. We of course explored the dramatic range dotted with steep gorges and canyons, evidently fossils are common, though we had no luck.

One afternoon my husband and our eldest daughter went for a two-hour walk and climb to a spectacular lookout over our camp below. We also drove to the nearby Honeycomb Gorge and made a short walk to find this fascinating rock formation. It’s interesting that although we only had three nights camping amongst the sandstone cliffs of the Temple Gorge campground, it is a place my girls have asked many times to return to. I hope we will one day.