Marge, I think the rains are here...

I think we can safely say that the wet season has officially begun, which is great to see as we thought that we would miss the wet completely but managing the storms we've had is becoming a challenge.

To go back a little bit, we have continued to cross off places to visit before we leave with a visit to Thompson Springs which is down near Lake Argyle. Being so close, we also decided to drop in on the Argyle Homestead Museum. This is the original homestead that was home to the Durack family before they built the Lake Argyle Dam Wall. It was dismantled and rebuilt in a new location above the water line. It was really interesting to see how they would have lived. And lucky we visited when we did because a week later we saw the notification that it was closing for the wet season.

As we get ever closer to our departure from Kununurra things have begun to wind up. The kids have now finished up the term at school so have said goodbye to their new friends.

Scouts finished up with a glow ride where the kids all decorated their bikes with glow sticks and rode down the bike path. Things didn't quite go to plan for poor Charli who has had issues with the front tyre on her bike which culminated in it exploding on her just before the ride. Luckily one of the other families had access to a spare bike but it wasn't quite the same. It was still a great night and we got a lovely send off with some gifts and kind words of thanks. We were due to go on camp just before we leave but due to the change in weather it has been cancelled and we have a few hours at the local pool planned instead.

Elly also finished up her term of net, set, go. She enjoyed learning how to play netball and has decided that she likes WA as a position. She was very excited to receive a participation medal (and a free sausage).

As we returned home from netball we could see the clouds looming and there was a sudden smell of rain in the air. Not long later we felt the first drops of rain fall and we got our first rainfall. My boss Sal had been speculating (with everyone else in town) when the first rain would fall (there is actually a competition around this) and after the first bit of rain she was still quietly confident she hadn't missed the right date. However 15 mins later the heavens opened up and we got a definite soaking. This is the first rain we've seen since we left Melbourne so the kids we super excited to run around and dance in the rain.

The next day we saw the sky change again in the afternoon and the rain came down even heavier than the day before with water gushing down the roads. On the upside, when the rain comes in, the temperature drops and becomes much more pleasant. After 2 days of rain we decided it would be a good idea to shift ourselves to one of the permanent sites for some additional shelter and arrangements were made for Saturday. Everything is now on our new site for the last 2 weeks here.

The first weekend of school holidays was also a long weekend here and we took advantage of it as much as possible. Saturday night was our latest family online trivia night - Australian themed. While Sunday night we caught up with our new friends, making homemade pizzas for dinner, something we have missed since leaving home. The girls ended up having a sleepover after the kids built a box maze/house where everyone had their own rooms.

On Monday we booked ourselves in to do a tour on the Ord River with Triple J Tours. Working in the park has had its perks as we managed to get a fair discount making it a bit more affordable. Charli was a bit cranky during the first part of the tour but after closing her eyes for a few minutes she perked up. It was brilliant travelling the length of the Ord from the diversion dam in Kununurra all the way up the the dam wall at lake Argyle and most of this area is only accessible by boat. We saw some crocodiles and lots of birdlife as well as trees full of fruit bats. During afternoon tea, Charli fed some of the local catfish a bit of pumpkin scone and we laughed as they all piled up near the bank like a pack of expectant dogs. She was also overjoyed to see some little turtles in amongst the catfish. It was a great tour and we're really glad we had the opportunity to go before we leave.