Camping down at Deep Creek with kids and kangaroos

in nature •  6 years ago 

@amandaclarke and I aren't avid campers, but we each have a brother with all the good gear; and they're always looking for an excuse to get out of the city for a while.

This time we ended up in Deep Creek Conservation Park, exactly here.
https://map.what3words.com/oven.intervene.mythic
(Fantastic website. If you're not across the concept, take a look.)

It may look like I'm feeding the kangaroo here, but that's illegal, so I'm definitely not.
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After the kids finally got the tent up,

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my brother, @danclarke

salvaged his old rescue sling as a swing.


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Crashing into Daddy was very popular.

I'm not usually a bushwalker, but the waterfall walk looked manageable, and only 3.5km round trip (2.2 miles) so Evelyn and I struck out on what turned out to be a 2.5 hr expedition.





Well worth it, and I fared better than I thought, which is always a pleasant surprise.

The next day, after a bit of geocaching

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Evelyn, @henryclarke and I took a different track. There must have been a bushfire come through a few years ago, as there were old, dead, burnt trunks everywhere, and a heap of new growth all around the same height.

Its easy to just let the days and weeks roll by; but the kids are only young for a little while and nobody has fond memories of Autumn afternoons on the couch.

Thanks for joining us in Deep Creek, have a fantastic day :)

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Nothing like brothers with all the good gear!
Lovely pics of the Aussie bush - best thing about Australia.

Its a magnificent continent. Just a pity so many people hallucinate a country on top.

Looks like Evelyn, Dan and Amanda were having fun and such a beautiful place to enjoy. The Kangaroos are small. Does anyone there adopt them as pets? Thanks my friend @mattclarke

They're not ideal as pets, since they're hard to feed well and aren't readily house trained.
Most people who keep roos tend to have a lot of native animals on larger blocks, and do it as a hobby. Locals know them as the person to take orphaned natives.
(Kangaroos are often hit by cars and killed, with a surviving joey in the pouch).

That looks like an awesome time! Such cool geology. With all that bedrock and waterfalls, you should try panning for some gold. I can't wait to start camping this year.

Haven't looked up gold mining here in South Australia. I know there was a rush out East a long time ago. We're known for opals and uranium. I know which one I'd rather stumble on :)

Sounds like you need a geiger counter instead of a metal detector. :) Now that you mention the Opals, I remember watching some episodes of Outback Opal Hunters. That would be really cool to find in the wild.

We have an opalised plesiosaur in the SA museum. That would have been fun to find.

It's a good spot for sure. Camped there a few times myself. Can be bloody cold and windy but still good. Pictures look great Matt and the kids, including yourself, looked like they had a good time.

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Too early for fires, which was a bit of a downer. Still, not having to wash the wood smoke smell off all our clothes was a bonus. I was really taken with that walk from the car-park. We were a little late to explore too far, also my legs were sore from the previous day; but what we saw was magnificent, out over the Southern Ocean. Hard to do it justice in photos.

Yeah, it's the sort of place one has to see to appreciate.

A great place to go is Melrose if you get a chance. Nice walk up a mountain (Mt Remarkable) if you're energetic and a good bush camp attached to the caravan park with WC/shower facilities if you need. Fires are permitted when in season (From mid May this year) and picturesque. Not too far from Alligator Gorge. Only about 3 hours out of Adelaide. Mambray Creek is on the Gulf side of My Remarkable too, another decent spot but Melrose is better.

Good post Matt.

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Good to see you and the family enjoying the outdoors.
More time outdoors with Nature is the answer to happiness I reckon :)

-some amazing photos there (love the colours and the scenery at deep creek)

Oh wow, this was such a beautiful family post. Unexpected. ❤️

Great pictorial on the importance of family time. Best selfie at the end too! 😂

Thanks. I was originally planning an article on all the ridiculous rules in a National Park; my typical anti-government think piece; but I kept taking nice photos and decided to keep it fluffy :)

It's always good to get out of the city for a while. I wish my camera didn't pick up the wind so much otherwise I'd do a lot more videos outside.
That an DTube not exactly being uploader friendly. But I need to make more of an effort if I want to make dolphin before Christmas.

This looks like a great location and it looks like you had a bit of fun there.
I will reluctantly admit to letting a bit of a laugh slip out at the "Crashing into Daddy" picture and caption. I'm sure it eventually got less amusing over time.

I usually dodge at the last second, so she's always delighted to hit the target :)

I'd love to wander aimlessly out there for a few weeks.

Me too. Heaps of rules, unfortunately. Happily I didn't see any sign of enforcement; and its a huge country :)

Good boy Matt, restraining yourself from feeding those roos! Always the rule follower, leading no-one astray. ;D

Some years ago now, we went to Kangaroo Island and they'd had a bushfire, the previous year I think, so the vegetation in the national park looked very similar to that in your photographs. Blackened trees is not an uncommon sight around SA, I'm finding. I've started playing, guess the bushfire whenever we pass them now.

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If it wasn't for all the rules, we'd have anarchy. Sweet anarchy.
It must have flashed across quick, without burning through all the existing trees.
I would've loved to go a little further and see what it looked like lower down, but time got away from us.

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Nice job! Some great photos there. Is that new growth plant-life normally that colour, or is it an autumn / drought thing?

Hope you got some clear skies too and could enjoy the stars.

No luck on the stars, overcast every night, and we took a little telescope too. Can't be helped I guess.
Not sure how they usually look, I've never been there before. Heaps of different colours, though, and the contrast makes for really striking photos.

Well that just means you'll have to go again! Maybe in the Spring you can get those clear skies and see what the colours are like.

It certainly looks very autumn-ish. Reckon that photo could be turned into a pretty awesome oil painting.

Yay good on yous! Looks like you had a great time and the trek out to the waterfall was worth every step. 👌

I'm not much of a camper myself but just might get into it when bub is older.

You're in a lovely spot for it. I thought I'd struggle a lot more than I did, so it was a bit of a self-esteem boost too, which was nice.

You did great. 3.5k is a fair trek!! Tried to do the Wentworth Falls walk a while back and that was about 2km. I almost died and there was no waterfall at the end of it.

I'll have to find a spot where theres some roos. They were very cute.

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Looks like a lovely spot to pitch a tent and have a wander.

How did the geocaching go? I gave up too easily on my one attempt in Valencia, and there is not much to go on around here.

The kids are passingly fond, but Amanda got hooked. Normally a 40 min drive home, but we stopped 6 or 7 times coming back along the coast road.
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Ahh cool, you found stuff! I think it's a cool idea and adds to the walk (or drive) :)

Nice one. And I always thought kangaroo are always dangerous so we should avoid coming close to them. So I was surprised when you said you are feeding them

The big males can be vicious, particularly the Western Red species.

These little guys were harmless, though. If they're near a campsite, you know they like people.

Are kangaroos aggressive?:P
Ever since I saw that video I just don't see them the same way anymore😂🙉

I think he was looking at his reflection, thought it was another big male in his territory.
They're not an issue unless you pick a fight with them.

I want to see a kangaroo sometime. That is awesome. Enjoy that family time.

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Plenty here whenever you're ready :)
These ones will come into camp and nick any unattended food.
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A great experience in the company of a wonderful family, you can not ask for something better. Regards!!!

What a spot!
Those Grass Trees are epic 😍

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They seem to only achieve a certain size before they just rot away and collapse. Heaps of dead, broken ones around, and holes where they'd been. Some of the bigger ones had clearly been burnt pretty bad, but were still doing well.

Yes they love fire!!
The soil must be too compact for them to throw a decent root system down...

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Looks like a lot of fun for the whole family!

oh beautiful photos
you really had some fun there.

A trip to nature is always very nice.
You can recover well.
When the children get to know nature, it's good for their development.
Thanks for the beautiful article.
Thank you for sharing.

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