8th October 2009

Still at Annaburroo billabong just outside of Kakadu. We had planned to leave there today, but it's charms convinced us to stay another day before heading to Darwin.

9th October -13th October 2009

The drive to Darwin was uneventful. Once there we managed a bit of provisions gathering, before camping for the night at Howard Springs CP. Quite a friendly little park, 30 odd kms from the CBD & coast. The following day we moved onto the  paddock belonging to some good people we had been put in touch with, in Virginia, not far from Howard Springs.  Although the caravan park had been friendly & reasonably priced (now into 'wet season' pricing) we felt far more comfortable out in the paddock, without immediate neighbours to consider. We made this our base for the few days we were in Darwin. Thanks Rob, Carol. & Scott. MrsTea was very excited about seeing her first ever (& only) Frill necked Lizard run across the paddock, I was disappointed not to see it.

We used the bikes to get around. Some of the time sight seeing, some of the time getting repairs done to the trailer. Strange tyre wear alerted me to a problem - examination revealed that the spring mounts had 'pushed' through the chassis. It was amazing the trailer had not collapsed. Urgent welding repairs were needed & sourced. Both front spring hanger mounting positions were 'beefed up' with 8mm plating, onto the inadequate (for long term travel/corrugated roads) 1.5mm walled box section chassis. We ate fish & chips on Stokes Hill wharf, feeding our leftovers to the large well fed but greedy fish in the water alongside our table. On the Sunday evening we visited Mindil market. Mindil Markets are colourful & alive with the smells of foods from around the world & the sounds of buskers & performers. Being near to the end of the market season, we were told the market was smaller than usual, but we still managed several hours there eating, watching & tapping our toes.  Alongside the markets is Mindil Beach where we watched the sun set along with hundreds of others. It seems the market & sunset are a bit of an institution among locals. Many bring there chairs with them, eat at one of the myriad of food stalls, whilst enjoying good company & watching the sun go down. Darwin, we had been told, has expanded greatly since my first visit there 10 years ago.  It's true that it has expanded, mainly outwards, but really the city centre & waterfront areas have remained largely unchanged (except for the high rise developments near the wharf). It still had the feel of a town rather than a city for us, if we ignored the 30 odd kms of ribbon development leading into the city, along the Stuart highway.  A visit to the museum was worthwhile too. Once the repairs to our trailer had been completed however, the bush dweller spirit in us told us it was time to get away from the hustle & bustle once more.

14th - 15th October 2009

Yay, back on the road again. Not far though - just down the road a bit from Darwin to Litchfield National Park. Having turned off the highway we came to the small but lush town of Batchelor - 'Gateway to Litchfield'. It has a very green & tropical feel to it. Driving from the highway to Batchelor we were stuck behind a huge 4wd MAN truck with a motorhome body on it. Max speed was 60kph. Upon arrival at Batchelor I approached the driver of the monster & jovially congratulated him on being the first vehicle anywhere that has been slower than us! Thankfully he appreciated the intended humour despite being French! He had driven the left hand drive behemoth from Paris, overland, over the past 3 years. At a max of 60kph I'd guess!  We left Batchelor ahead of him to avoid being held up again. Having stopped at the magnetic termite mounds for the obligatory photos in front of a large mound, we continued on to Florence Falls where we climbed down to the water to swim, before waking to Buley Rock holes to swim again. Pretty places but very popular. Swimming alongside a bunch of alcohol fuelled, loud young backpackers just isn't the same as having such places 'to yourself'. Buley rock holes were also full of people. Later we reached our camp at Wangi Falls. A good NP campground despite it's lack of drive through sites. Swimming at Wangi was the best. I put on my canoe lifejacket & floated for hours in the warm water. As evening fell just a few campers remained, the huge tour buses having long since departed to return their charges to their luxury accommodations back in the city.

The following day we took the bikes out to the 'Lost City', an area of boulders that conjure images of a fallen city. The narrow sandy, but firm track into the Lost City, through heavily wooded country was a heap of fun, with berms (banked corners) at almost every turn. I had to frequently remind myself that I was not wearing moto-X  protective gear & to settle down. Still had a ball though. Stopped at Tolmer Falls, Tabletop swamp & Greenant Creek on the way back to camp. Heat & deep sand put us off from visiting the old Blyth homestead & Tjaynera Falls, instead we had another long float at Wangi.

16th October 2009

Left Litchfield NP, back through Batchelor to the Stuart Highway & southward. Mainly uphill. Having reached Pine Creek (for the third time) we sought the Copperfield Dam camping area, recommended to us by several folks, only to find that the local council has recently banned camping there any longer. Instead we continued a further 60kms southward to one of our favourite spots, Edith Falls again, for the night. Monitoring of our oil loss shows a fairly consistent 500mls lost per 500kms. A mechanic we'd consulted in Darwin, put the bus over his pit & looked at the leaks, pronouncing that he considered them not to be 'too bad' & just keep topping up the oil until we get home, & that is what we are doing. The loss is not enough to leave drips on the ground, & after 500kms (ish) the level has dropped just 1/4" on the dipstick (leaving approx 1 1/4" before it reaches the low oil level). Other than the oil loss the bus is running well.

17th October 2009

Continued Southward down the Stuart, to Mataranka, stopping en route in Katherine to do some shopping. It felt so familiar to be back in Katherine again, but we had no wish to stay there any longer than possible. Years ago I stopped overnight at Mataranka & found it's delightful thermal pools set amongst tropical palms & lush undergrowth. Small fish & turtles shared the crystal clear blue tinted water with swimmers. This time around though, the place was exceptionally smelly, resulting from the thousands of flying foxes that now live in the surrounding trees & crap over the paths to the pool. The pool has been fitted out with ugly chequer plate seats right around it's edges, & floods a couple of years ago took out all of the lush undergrowth. It really is no longer the aesthetically pleasing place it once was. There were also no longer any fish or turtles in the water. However all was not lost. A visit to nearby Bitter Springs took us to a place like Mataranka Thermal pool would once have been. A section of creek, again with warm, crystal clear blue water, where you can lazily float down the river amongst the pandannus for several hundred metres, before jumping out & walking back to do it again. We should have stayed at the Bitter Springs CP, but didn't, instead staying at the Mataranka Homestead with the smelly bats. We reasoned that the campground there was closer to the swimming spot, & thought we might like a late night soak in the warm water. As it was we had an early night! Heaps of Lorikeets, & wallabies that came right up to the doorway of the bus.

18th October 2009

Again back on the Stuart highway. stopped at Larrimah (population 7 or 8) to have a coffee at Frans 'teahouse'. Fran is a real rough & ready outback character who has been running her version of a teahouse for many years. All home made food, some good, some not so good, all expensive, but worth the price to spend a little time with this lady. 2 coffees & two scones + jam was $18. Wouldn't dare complain though. A prominent sign there says "Don't fuck with me, I fuck back". I believed it! Amongst her many signs, complete with her interesting spelling, were directions to the dunny. When Mrstea asked about using them, the response (in a loud drawl) was Nah 'can't use'em darlin', septic's full'. Enquiries about alternative bushes etc saw MrsTea advised to wait 'til she was 'outta town'. "Plenny of bushes out there darlin', don't want ya pissin' on mine". (Since then we have heard several tales of Fran disallowing the use of her toilet, despite the signs, so suggest to anyone visiting in the future to be aware of this fact).

We continued on to Daly Waters where we stopped the night at the pub owned caravan park for a very reasonable $10. The rest was made up through the meal prices in the pub where two lots of fish & chips cost a whopping $50. The pub is a real outback icon though, & is a must see for all passing this way. I spent ages looking for the id card I pinned to the wall there , amongst 1000's of others, 10 years ago, but couldn't locate it.

19th October 2009

Stopped at the Dunmarra Wayside Inn (roadhouse) for fuel & found some real outback rudeness. Having lifted the pump handle from the diesel bowser, I noticed the bowser was showing me pumping fuel before I had started to do so. It reached several litres & dollars worth before I replaced the pump & went in to tell the attendant. He explained it was because a previous user had emptied the hoseful of fuel into their tank after switching off the bowser. He reset the pump to zero. I tried again, but got the same result, several dollars worth showing had been pumped (& slowly increasing), when I had pumped nothing. When I told the attendant a second time, he said , in a loud voice, "I told you what the problem was", totally unwilling to hear me. It seemed i had the choice of accepting I would pay for several litres of fuel I wouldn't get or not get any fuel. The latter was not an option if we wanted to avoid being stranded by the roadside somewhere, so I reluctantly 'bit my tongue' & accepted what seemed to be a blatant rip off.

Driving was hard. Very windy, lots of hills & heat saw us making slower than usual progress. The scenery took our attention though with its blues yellows greens & reds. We had intended to stop at Banka Banka Station overnight but upon our arrival there saw that we would be the only guests. The chap there was pleasant enough, but made it clear that he wasn't really that keen on opening up just for us. He didn't say he wouldn't, just comments like "Well you know we won't be able to offer you any shade" & "Attack Creek rest area down the road a bit has some shade". We stopped at Attack creek for a lunch break & a snooze, but it was 'just' a rest area, not somewhere to spend all afternoon & night. So we carried on further, stopping briefly at Threeways Roadhouse (on the turn off to the Barkly Highway) for a little dance in celebration of our 'circumnavigation of the country. Reaching Tennant Creek, we refuelled, before heading back out of town to Kunjarra (The 'Pebbles') campground 12kms north of town & 6kms off the highway over a particularly nasty stretch of corrugations, much taken at walking pace. Great place to camp, all alone with the stars & the dingoes & the rocks. A few years ago this area almost got mined, but local aboriginal people united & saved what for them is a sacred womens place, which they now share with us.

20th October 2009

Having bumped & lurched our way back to the highway, leaving as dawn broke to beat the heat, we took off across the Barkly highway for Queensland. This stretch of highway takes us through what is the dried bed of an ancient huge shallow inland sea. It appears mainly flat, but believe me, it's not. Just try driving across it in a Nissan Civilian & you'll discover it is nearly all uphill! At least that how it seemed with the now familiar wind constantly buffeting us again. Driving was restricted to 4th gear. 5th gear (Overdrive) was a waste of time. Trying to maintain 80kph simply resulted in the temp gauge rising higher than I liked (middle of the gauge or just over), so we settled for a 60kph to 70kph trip for the 450 kilometres to Camooweal, just into Queensland. This kept the temp needle where I liked it, & the motor hummed along nicely, feeling 'in the zone'.  Lots of burned out country, but also much more vegetation than when we passed this way (in the opposite direction) about a year ago. We wanted to get across the Barkly in one hit if we could, 450kms in a day is a big day for us, but none of the rest areas along this stretch are anything special. We stopped for lunch at the Soudan Rest area, & found large flocks of tiny Zebra finches on a fence around a tap coming from a water tank. Zebra finches are a reliable means of locating water in the outback, aboriginal stories tell of how Zebra finches can never live far from water. It's always great to see any wildlife in such numbers. A short distance after Avon Downs we were lucky enough to see cowboys mustering cattle on horseback & with motorcycles. We waved as we passed, & found it especially gratifying when all the cowboys, without exception, stopped what they were doing to wave back. We reached Camooweal as we'd hoped, spending the night in the small caravan park behind the servo.

21st October 2009

Another early start. Still all uphill! *Very* gusty winds. Some quite strange winds too. Standing outside it can fee completely still one moment & in the next you're almost being blown off your feet. On one occasion we stood in still air, watching spinifex bushes 'floating' in the air above us like balloons! Multiple flocks of budgies whirled around the sky - boy they look like they really enjoy themselves. Stopped at Mt Isa to stock up with provisions & water, before taking the road south out of town toward Boulia. What a great decision that was, the scenery is different to any we have previously seen, & quite stunning. Even for people only passing through Isa going east or west I would really recommend a side trip down the Boulia road, even if only for 20 or 30kms. You won't regret it. We stopped the night at the friendly little town of Dajarra, predominantly aboriginal, but with half a dozen or so white folk. At $5 per night per vehicle, with hot showers , toilets & rubbish bins, the camping is very good value, right on the edge of town. We spent a while in the pub, talking to the two local schoolteachers, who were 'holding the fort' for the landlord in his absence. They told us about their experiences recently in seeing the mysterious Min Min light, a strange unexplained phenomena around these parts. A 'light' that appears & follows people. We'll find out more about this when we get to Boulia.

22nd October 2009

Oil leaks remain stable. A 'short' day today. Just driving 150kms to Boulia where we'll stay a couple of nights to catch up with this blog & a few other things. No need to rise early, so we had a luxurious lay in until 8am!  Brief excitement as we drove into a cloud of large grasshoppers, followed by brief panic as we slammed windows shut, whilst trying to brush the hoppers from our necks & hair! They make quite a lot of noise as they hit the front of the bus. A short time later we are intrigued by the carcase of a cow beside the road. It's skin is dry & intact, but everything else, including most of it's skeleton has gone. Just the hide, skull, & legs left!  It's hard to understand how this happens.Took a photo for posterity! Stopped at the Peak Hill rest area for a cuppa. Here in the middle of nowhere are public toilets. Unfortunately covered with the usual toilet graffiti - racist & sexual. MrsTea, obviously a frustrated Graffiti-ist, took delight in altering one particularly large piece of gutter grafitti - from "Eat more Dick" to "Eat more pickle", which I must admit I found most amusing. :-) Reaching Boulia we were disappointed to find that the caravan Park has closed for the season (much to the disgust of a number of locals), but were directed to the showgrounds where we were able to stop for free, as they have yet to work out the rates for campers. I've spent the afternoon blogging. Tomorrow we will visit the Min Min encounter to learn about Boulia's main tourist drawcard.

regards

Cuppa

Please click HERE for more photos.

A note to all about my Google Map. Recently Google decided to split my map into two pages. Only the first page is linked to my website. I believe it is possible to get all onto one page again, but it will involve a fair amount of stuffing around, something I'd rather wait until I have plenty of time for, once back home. So please accept my apologies, but for the time being the map will not show us having progressed past Kakadu.