Elsey National Park was our first stop north of the Tropic of Capricorn. It is a picturesque camping area – not visually spectacular like some of our earlier locations – and somewhere you can relax, read and enjoy the male bowerbirds display the contrasting nick knacks they have acquired: red plastic wire; small clusters of Acacia seed pods and our discarded soap nuts. The latter had been deemed, by Rick, to be unproductive as clothes washing detergent but were beaked-up quick smart by the bowerbird and added to his collection at the base of a tree. He would pick up each delight in turn and display it to his prospective mate: wings half opened, neck craned upwards to point the object skyward and all the time flashing an iridescent lilac-pink crest on the back of his neck. This crest remains hidden most of the time but is flashed for display purposes and was far more visually astounding than anything else he had collected. Shining lilac-pink crest versus dull brown soap nuts? There’s no accounting for taste. However, the main reason for stopping at Elsey was to get Kermit out of the van and onto the water. After more than 4000 kilometres in the back of the camper, he was beginning to wonder if his sole task was to exercise our muscles dragging him in and out of the van each night. The stretch of river running through the park had a few interesting sights: crocodile cages to potentially catch ‘salties’ and which were fortunately empty; a palm tree trunk ‘skin’ high up in a tree showing the flood levels and shady side channels with cool swimming pools. The other reason to stop at Elsey was so Rick could have a go at catching Barramundi. With the day’s catch being 6cm short of the minimum limit that meant Plan B for dinner.