Dawn broke peacefully over the Morehead River…..the Wells enjoying another pre-dawn tea while we all slept on…

Packing up was at a leisurely pace – mostly – with a break for coffee and breakfast.

Free camping with no facilities at all brings us all back to basics and enjoying the wild bush life with all its uniqueness is second to none.

During an ablutions break last night Rosie was surprised by a rogue cane toad which caused some consternation….

This morning Trev revelled in getting back to nature and the freedom of it all….. while Rose and Dave opted for a quick exit to the Hann River Roadhouse 20ks down the road after a quick pack up…we agreed to meet them at the roadhouse… or back at Lakeland if they decided to continue on after the stop at the roadhouse.

Trev put the drone up and followed the river both ways – and found a billabong full of lilies not too far away so Gordie, Kerry, Trev and I opted to go for a walk after packing up to see if we could find it on foot.

The riverbed was incredible – full of soft river sand and lots of sparkling minerals – lined with melaleucas, gums and other native trees and shrubs. The water level must rise incredibly during the wet as we could see evidence high in the trees of debris left by the rushing torrents.

We did not reach the lagoon – we could see in the distance the green of the water foliage but there was a fence and bush to negotiate so we decided to turn back and head on our way to Lakeland.

A stop at Hann River Roadhouse for coffee and the best sausage rolls on the Cape was a must. We caught up with Rick and Ann-Maree a couple Gordie had spoken to at Punsand Bay – we seem to bump in to the same people at many different places!

The roadhouse also had a resident emu amongst other birds and animals – the emu was very domesticated having been raised from a chick by the roadhouse owners – it was about 17 years old!

The last leg of our journey along the Peninsula Development Road via Laura to Lakeland was a mix of sealed and unsealed road.

At Laura we stopped to put air in the tyres as we were back on bitumen finally….and Branch detected a bulge in the sidewall of the front tyre of the Titan – a blessing to find before a blowout – so a tyre change was in order….

Eventually we arrived at Lakeland, unpacked and the guys took the opportunity to wash the cars…..although an outdoor shower proved more popular in the heat!!!