After a great nights sleep at our free camp at Point Howard Lookout we continued heading west and our first stop was Ellery Creek Big Hole. There is 2km of unsealed road to get to the carpark and from there it’s only a short walk to Ellery Creek Big Hole and a big hole is exactly what is there. A huge waterhole in between towering cliffs. It is a popular swimming spot when the weather is warmer.

The kids had fun crossing over the creek on a fallen log testing their balancing skills. We just hoped none of them would fall off into the very cold water. Luckily no one fell.

Our second stop was Serpentine Gorge. I had thought surely the gorges couldn’t get better each time but I was wrong. Serpentine Gorge is beautiful. There is an unsealed road that leads to the carpark. Serpentine Gorge is the Trail Head for sections 7 & 8 of the Larapinta Trail. There are toilets and picnic benches but no camping is allowed.

The rocks on either side of the gorge just lent themselves for climbing and the children really tested their skills. I couldn’t watch! They had a great time climbing up and down like goats. That is until Ben fell. Oh no! Not another broken arm I thought. Thankfully he was Ok just had a bit of a bruised knee. Luckily he only fell about a metre but his knee collected a rock on the way down. After a few minutes he was able to get up and walked back to the vehicles. No more rock climbing!

We continued westwards and found a camp spot at Neil Hargrave Lookout. There was one van set up there already and we found a spot to set up our RV’s not far away. This spot was a bit more exposed than our previous camp and the cold wind was blowing. We set up the motorhome and van so they blocked most of the wind.

We’d only just parked up and the fellow from the other van came over for a chat. They are a family with two boys, Hugo and Archie.

Hugo and Archie have a set of Battle Blocks and invited our kids to play a game. Lots of fun was had by all the kids playing that.

One of the things I enjoy most about this RV lifestyle is meeting people. We’ve met the most amazing people since we started meandering around our beautiful country. Archie & Hugo and their parents Luke & Liz have been added to our list. What a lovely family.

We invited them over to share our fire after we’d had our dinner and they came. Best thing is, they brought some wood so our campfire was even bigger!

We had a lovely evening watching the sun set and getting to know each other. The kids had a lot of fun toasting marshmallows (yuk) and playing hide and seek in the dark.

We also had some tiny mice visit camp. They were similar to the Spinifex Hopping Mouse that we’d seen earlier on our trip.

Maddie had a turn sleeping in the motorhome and she happily snuggled up in the Luton bed (the bed above the cab) with the safety net up.