The little bit of trouble becomes BIG trouble.

Our problem with the electric handbrake has become more complicated as parts are not available in Australia! So what we thought would be just a reset, is now a long drawn out waiting exercise. Port Germein is a lovely spot, but after 10 days we’ve sort of run out of things to do. We’ve walked the long jetty a few times and there’s been some unsuccessful fishing!

We even played a bit of bowls at the greens  next door - maybe a little differently as we seemed to take up a lot of space!

Dennis found an island he loves at nearby Weeroona  Island. It’s not a conventional island in that it only becomes detached from the  mainland with high tides.  Most times the causeway is just surrounded by mangrove swamps, but the elevated views on the western side are beautiful. We also saw the wreck of The York.

We had a great day Saturday when we enjoyed the Pichi Richi steam train. It was very well patronised on this sunny day, and it was lovely chugging along the narrow gauge between the hewn rocks. 

Dennis and Tops have left us now to travel home - there was no point in both of us sitting around waiting waiting waiting! We try to be positive as things could  be a lot worse - we have our health, our van is a comfy home with water & power supplied and we do have a loan car. We’ve haven’t been using that car much, but the chap has told us we are  welcome to do day trips and use it sensibly - maybe not a trip to Murrabit!  So we hope that by the next blog, we’re underway with our car and van and are able to complete the last part of our travels. ❌❌ from Marg & Darryl. 

A little bit more trouble …..

We’ll it hasn't been our week vehicle wise as now our car is in Port Augusta with problems with the electric handbrake. It’s been playing up all along a bit but Wednesday it decided to drive us nuts by non stop dinging!!  We couldn’t stop it so had to drive the 60odd kms to Port Augusta with the dinging ringing in our ears! Not pleasant. We were fortunate that the Ford service department were able to fit us in and it was determined that we need new callipers and actuator - which of course need to be sourced from Melbourne & Adelaide. They kindly gave us a loan car so now Darryl is a Toyota man!! They hope ours will be ready today but we’re not real hopeful and seeing it’s a holiday Monday, we might have to wait till next week. We certainly can’t go anywhere as the loan car doesn’t have a Towbar! Luckily we still have Dennis’s car and yesterday we enjoyed a lovely scenic circuit drive over the hills to Gladstone, Laura and Wirrabara and back through the very pretty Germein Gorge.

We firstly had a look at the ships in at Port Pirie and were impressed with the lovely waterfront areas (not depicted in these shots) 

Our morning tea stop was at a little place on the Highway called Warnertown - where the boys enjoyed talking to the very knowledgeable ARB chap set up next door. From there we drove through the picturesque rolling hills to Gladstone and had a good look around there - the town is much bigger than we thought as usually we drive straight through. We went onto lovely Laura where the statues celebrate CJ Dennis who spent much of his young years here. 
We browsed through an antique shop then drove onto Wirrabara where we enjoyed a delicious pasty from the bakery. We admired the silo art - how clever are these artists?

 We visited the nearby forest where the first plant nursery was established in the 1870’s to determine which trees would be best for plantations. The Radiata Pine was the winner and I guess from these experiments, the pine plantations developed. The king tree was an attraction and it certainly was huge - although not all that healthy.

This wood carving was very good - as was this lizard carved by a local bloke. 

Like most people, we had a spectacular thunderstorm the other night and recorded over an inch  - at home we had a good soaking and we heard the mountains had huge amounts. It’s cooler now but not freezing - although the fishermen on the jetty may think otherwise! Their catch to date is 3 yellowfin whiting which we’ll enjoy as entree tonight. The long weekend is upon us and we’ll be thinking of the activities going on at home and hope everyone has a great time. We are going on the Pichi  Richi steam train tomorrow so are looking forward to that - although we are a little disappointed it is only running from Quorn to Woolshed Flat. Happy long weekend everyone  ❌❌❌

A little bit of trouble

We loved our stay at Roxby Downs and sadly headed off along the Borefield track, which was surprisingly very good. We cut some wood along the way and hit the Oodnadatta track with plans to have lunch at Marree.

The track however had different ideas as 15kms out of Marree we had not one, not two, not three but four punctures between us! The track was in very good condition except it was stony, which we have learned is bad news for our tyres! As you could guess, we’re pretty disappointed to have new vehicles,  purpose built for off road driving, not meeting that criteria. As well as it being expensive - we’ve had to buy 2 new tyres, it was rather stressful and disappointing to be too scared to go off road. 

After 6 punctures all up, Darryl & Dennis are becoming experts at tyre changing - it’s always on the dirt, giving Tops and I more washing, and getting the tyre up and down is not that simple in these modern cars. 

However, things turned out ok as the people at Marree were just wonderful and even though it was a Saturday afternoon, we got 2 tyres repaired to get us both mobile again - albeit it with no spares. We set up our vans behind the pub and enjoyed a great night - live music, good company and an excellent meal.  

We enjoyed morning tea at Farina as the bakery was open and the hardest decision was which delicacy to choose! Copley was our next destination - this little place has been our fix it place quite a few times and we’re very happy to stay there. The local chap found our tyre was not able to be repaired so a new tyre for each of us it was! It rained in the night and overnight we went from dust to mud!! The creeks towards Hawker were flowing and the road was closed for a while - we saw the bus being recovered from being stuck earlier in the day. 

The magnificent Flinders Ranges were veiled in low cloud and it looked like it would rain all day.

So we decided to come over to Spencer Gulf and have set up at this lovely park at Port Germein. Then we realised a long weekend is coming up, so rather than try and find another location, we extended our stay for another 6 nights. We did have to move sites but the owners were very considerate and accommodating. It’s a lovely spot here and we will be able to visit Port Pirie, Port Augusta,  and inland to places like Melrose and have even booked a trip on the iconic Pitchie Richie train at Quorn. The long jetty also means there could be some fishing! 

We are sure we’ll be happy here and next blog will tell our adventures in this neck of the woods. Happy long weekend to everyone ❌❌❌❌❌from the travellers. 

Andamooka and Roxby Downs

We are so pleased we decided to visit these towns - no more are they just dots on a map to us! You could never find two towns so different - Andamooka’s town planning was non existent as the houses and streets are all randomly placed among mullock heaps. Roxby Downs however, is very organised and set out to a plan - maybe a bit too much as Darryl and I got lost this morning on our morning walk! 

Andamooka is such an interesting place and the people are so friendly and happy. We were amazed at the early houses and how simple they were - often built with whatever materials were available. We imagine in the heat of summer and cold of winter, life would have been tough. 

I was pretty keen to see Lake Torrens, so we took a fairly rugged 17km trek to the edge and really couldn’t see much. The joke was, back in town, we had a much better view of the lake - which is a huge salt lake that fills very rarely. 

We have never before taken a beer as an entry fee to anything, but that’s what we did to see Cal the Stoner!

His work is amazing - that tiger was made from all different small pieces of stone - the stripes are natural tonings in the rock and the claws and tail are made of opal. It took him 8000 hours to complete it - and now he is working on a full sized lady - she is coming along beautifully. In between, he showed us other projects which are incredibly intricate.  It was well worth giving up a beer!

Talking to locals, we learned such a lot about the opal business and the ebbs and flows of success. The community is very strong and we enjoyed a coffee in their community hub and every Sunday, they cook up a big breakfast - pity we will miss that. 

We came onto Roxby Downs and two things surprise us. One, it’s so clean tidy and organised and two, there are many empty shops in the shopping centre. That is the result of the centre management in far off Melbourne, setting rentals far too high, and possibly Covid, which encouraged online shopping. 

We watched a video on the Olympic dam mining which was very informative, and we did try to visit the mine today, but it’s all a prohibited site so we saw nothing. It’s unbelievable that there is 400kms of roads up to 4 kms under ground and that the uranium deposit is the largest known in the world - plus is has the 4th largest copper deposit. Gold and silver are minor by- products. It certainly is a huge mine and judging by the number of accommodation places - both here at Roxby Downs and at Olympic Dam, must employ hundreds of people. 

The caravan park here is excellent - we have the use of free washing facilities, can walk into town (probably taking a map would help) and are able to have our camp fire. The staff are very obliging and friendly - seems a common theme in these remote places. Tomorrow we will head off up the Borefield track to the Oodnadatta track and onto Marree and Farina. The weather has been mild and we’ve yet to pack away all summer gear - though we do believe some rain could be coming. After last years wet trip, this year we haven’t struck any rains. Good for camping - maybe not for farmers. We trust all is well with our readers, and send our love. ❌❌❌❌

Hello South Australia

We’ve left tropical NT and endured a few days travelling south down the Stuart Highway and are now in outback SA. We had a few roadside overnighters until we arrived here at Andamooka and will be here for a couple of days. We stopped just out of Tennant Creek to visit the old telegraph station - which is in really good condition.

We stayed at a campsite at the Tropic of Capricorn marker - when we initially arrived there was only one other person, but by the end of the night the area was quite full. We were comfortable with the use of the picnic shelter, but it was very cold and had to use our heaters in the vans for the first time!

We fuelled up and had a quick pie at Kulgera - the last pub in NT - and were amused by the shoe clothes line!

We detoured along the old Stuart Highway and spent a night at Kingoonya. It was a relief to be away from the endless stream of caravans heading north - and from some of the heavy machinery being transported.

We enjoyed our time at this little place - it used to be quite busy when it was on the Highway, but the new road was built, Kingoonya was bypassed and things moved to Glendambo. The caravan park was quaint with horses spying on us - but the amenities were clean and tidy and owner was very friendly. 

The old school house is being renovated by Leesa with the intention of setting up a cafe. She gave us a tour of the building and it’s quite amazing to see the blackboard writing and pictures so clear - after being hidden by cladding for many years. The aim is to preserve these with a perspex frame. It’s a huge project that’s being undertaken, and we wish her all the best, 

We enjoyed a meal at the pub and a chat around the campfire - we find we learn so much talking to locals and people passing by. 

Driving to Andamooka the scenery was quite barren and here it’s a typical Opal mining town - untidy, dry, not pretty- but we suspect it has quite a charm like other Opal towns. 

I’ll leave off now as we will begin a tour of the town. We trust everyone is well and enjoying life as much as we are! Till the next update, love from the travellers. ❌❌❌❌

Katherine & Bitter Springs

This time in Katherine we stayed at a new camp called ‘Buffalo Hill’ which was really just a cleared paddock with a nice amenity block. It suited us perfectly - especially as we could have our camp fire for warmth and cooking. 

We made use of our time in Katherine - Dennis’s brakes were fixed and 3 of us had haircuts plus we restocked our cupboards and fridges! We also went to the Outback Experience which was great! Tom Curtain’s management of horses and dogs is amazing - it’s not an orchestrated perfect show, but has real experiences showing how they can break a wild brumby to be able to ride it - albeit with a bucking off initially. He was also able to control 13 dogs in an arena just by voice commands - even though some of them were a little exuberant and needed constant reminders of what they were supposed to be doing. I guess getting the dogs to round up 3 goats and have them jump on the horses backs was a fitting conclusion to the show.

This show travels around in the wet season and we believe Swan Hill is one of the venues. Before we left, we popped out to the gorge at Katherine as we were staying near by - we noticed the bats were still there in their hundreds, and the centre has some very impressive displays. 

From Katherine we travelled just down the road to Bitter Springs. 

If you’ve never floated down the springs here with a noodle, then put it on your bucket list! There could be nothing more relaxing and beautiful than drifting amongst the palms, pandanas and gums in beautiful warm clear water. A noodle really makes it better so we’re really glad we lashed out $3 and purchased them - even though we probably will just be carrying them around from now on as we can’t see much swimming on the horizon from here on. We enjoyed it so much, we decided to stay another night and enjoy another afternoon floating down the springs. This park is lovely too - even though it’s big, the sites are huge with lots of trees so we feel we’re out bush. We’ve caught up on washing again, ready for the next leg southwards.

Our decision has been made and we’re going to head into South Australia which means a few days of many kms down the Stuart Highway! Seeing we’ve visited the places along this road, we won’t be sightseeing, just getting to our next destination Andamooka  - which is 2,200kms away from here. I doubt there’ll be a blog for a while. We’re hoping everyone is keeping well - we continually reflect on how fortunate we are to be enjoying good health and to have the opportunity to travel in comfort as we do. We are very lucky. 😊😊❌❌

Douglas Daly region

After leaving Megan & Craig, we travelled a whole 90km to Adelaide River. We stopped for morning tea at the Manton Dam and watched fisheries folk restock barramundi into the dam. The fish were 18 months old and quite a good size. The dam was very pretty with water lillies - it was built during the war to serve Darwin but now Darwin’s supply is from the nearby Darwin river dam. Our time at Adelaide River was peaceful and we enjoyed a beautiful sunset whilst chatting to a couple who holidayed at Boort and were friendly with an ex Murrabit couple we know. We continually find it’s a small world!

From there we came to this Douglas Daly park which is very relaxed and best of all, we can use our fire pit. It’s a very popular spot for campers in tents, swags and camper trailers as there are lots of secluded spots along the Daly

river. You do need to watch where you are walking however,  as Darryl, wearing thongs, nearly trod on what we believe to be a venomous black whip snake! That gave us quite a scare and we watched the path very carefully after that! 

We walked up to a lovely spot called The Arches, and a deep pool but neither are recommended as safe swimming spots - such a shame!

It is fortunate that there’s a beautiful swimming pool that’s very croc safe. 

We took what we believed to be a quick jaunt to nearby Crystal Falls - we didn’t reckon on a very rough dirt narrow track - which gave the Ranger a bit of a 4 WD workout! Of course driver and vehicle performed very well. 

The falls were very pretty and worth the trip. 

Along the way we were interested to see farm land with huge hay paddocks and a crop of young watermelons. We haven’t seen much cropping or agriculture in NT as it seems to be mainly cattle grazing. 

The weather has decidedly changed with cooler mornings and nights and we’re wearing jackets and have our doonas on the bed again. The days however are still beautiful and warm with temperatures about 30. As we head further south, no doubt it will get cooler - we can’t stay up here forever! 

Today we head back to Katherine - it seems we know that town quite well. Dennis has his van booked in to have the brakes looked at - then we’ll be faced with the decision of heading east or south. 

We hope all our readers are well and keeping warm. Until the next blog, love from the happy travellers. ❌❌❌

Darwin and surrounds

We have found the best camp site ever!! We have a beautiful setting which is quiet & secluded, we have wonderful owners who have gone out of their way to be kind and helpful, we have 3 lovely children to remind us of the ones we are missing - plus we even have 2 friendly dogs who seem to have adopted us - until the family come home! We are at Girraween at the property of Craig & Megan and we are so grateful for their hospitality, their friendship and their tourism tips of what to see and do. 

Using this as a base, we’ve toured around and feel we have a good grasp of this area. On our way here we stopped at Berry Springs for morning tea in their beautiful gardens. The pool is still not open for swimming after the wet season but I have fond memories of enjoying this area on previous visits. 

Along the Stuart Highway we stopped to read the information about the WW2 airstrips - both Darryls and Tops’s Dads worked on these strips during the war so it’s nice this bit of history is being recognised. 

We enjoyed a day in Darwin and we were very impressed with the city. Dennis encouraged us to go into Parliament House and watch from the gallery and it was pleasing to see orderly behaviour and no yelling or rudeness.

The waterfront area is lovely and we should have come prepared for a dip in the lagoon. We visited Cullen Bay and ended up enjoying a delicious lunch at the boat club in Fannie Bay. Our day finished with a tour of the new military museum which was very well done and we could have spent hours there. 

Dundee beach is a very popular destination for fishing folk and we had contemplated staying out there but the common theme was it’s mosquito and midgie heaven so we decided a day trip was better seeing we didn’t want to face itchy lumps again! The beach there is lovely and it was very pleasant sitting under the trees watching the fishing boats - but of course no swimming due to crocs! 

We also popped into Crab Claw and were impressed with the facilities there and having a drink on the deck, overlooking the sea, was very peaceful. 

Our final day of touring was out to The Bark Hut Inn. Along the way we stopped at Fogg Dam where there was an abundance of bird life which Darryl enjoyed. The Bark Hut proved to be an excellent spot for a lovely relaxing lunch and we were especially intrigued by this crocodile - which we initially believed to be fake, but when we looked again he had disappeared, only to pop up briefly. Then we knew he was real! 

This is the turn around point of our trip so a little sadly we pack up tomorrow and start meandering south. Our plans are still very lose and when we reach 3 ways roadhouse, we’ll have to either turn east into Queensland or south into SA. We’ve enjoyed this part of Australia - their life style is relaxed and friendly and we’ve been made feel welcome wherever we’ve been. I’m not sure where we’ll be for the next episode of our travels - but we will no doubt be enjoying another spot. So on signing off, we can’t thank Craig & Megan enough for their kindness. ❌❌❌❌from the Brays & Greenwoods.

Litchfield National Park

The birthday celebrations continued for Tops when we were entertained at the Banyon Park restaurant with excellent live music by Steve and some extra songs by Johnno the owner. We also enjoyed a meal and good company to make the occasion a  memorable one.

We are very happy in this park - it’s quiet, spacious, picturesque and friendly with the added bonus of a bar and entertainment. The nights have been a bit cooler so we’ve fished out a rug - probably a bit premature as no doubt it will be warmer as we get nearer Darwin. 

Unfortunately here in Litchfield, there are some places closed or not open for swimming - but what is open is just lovely. 

We visited the magnificent waterfalls and enjoyed the swims in these lovely spots. We also visited the termite mounds - how incredible these little guys are to build these structures for maximum protection from the elements.

The popular swimming spots are Florence Falls & Buley Rockhole - both excellent and so refreshing.

We couldn’t swim at Tolmer Falls but the lookouts gave a great view of these lovely falls. 

Even the walks to the falls were lovely, going through rainforest then ascending to Savannah woodlands. 

One highlight was the legless lizard the Ranger showed us - he was a beauty and we never would have seen him - or picked him up! We also saw this croc trap at Wangi Falls which ensures no one risks going in (there’s a fence as well) 

We feel now that we have a good grasp of Litchfield and can see why it’s so popular. From here we are going to be spoilt and are staying at Craig & Megan’s at property at Girraween. We thank them for their generous offer and look forward to catching up. 

Once again we can send Mother’s Day love and best wishes to all the lovely Mums - we hope your day is special. 

Till next time, love from the happy travellers ❌❌❌❌

Birthday celebrations and Robin Falls

Today is a special day as we welcome Tops to the 70’s club! The day was celebrated in the morning with the opening of cards and gifts - the lovely words the family wrote made Tops feel as if they were here in spirit. The few balloons left over from Evie’s birthday gave a little festive feel to the morning. 

We left Katherine once we had done our housework, fixed all the tyre problems and had a coffee at the Information Centre. The night before we were once again spoiled by a family camped near us when they delivered freshly cooked barramundi bites to us to enjoy as an entree. They were delicious and were coated with crushed salt and vinegar chips. We’re not sure why get spoilt - whether we are friendly and chat to people, or whether we look like everyone’s grandparents, or whether we look hungry! Either way, we are very appreciative of everyone’s kindness - even though, when we were thanking the family, the little girl remarked that they had to get rid of them anyway! 

Our first stop northwards was at Pine Creek which is an old gold mining town but now mostly known as the gateway to Kakadu. 

We had planned to visit Kakadu but decided not to as not much is open and passes and permits make it rather complicated.  We’ve all previously been there too. So instead we were told of this free camp site just south of Adelaide River and how delighted we were to stay there. We all think it’s the best camp site this trip so far, even though we had no facilities or phone service. We set up by a little running creek in a secluded spot, enjoyed our first campfire and trekked up to see the waterfalls which were very spectacular. We weren’t attacked by midgies,  there were no crocodile signs and the bird life was prolific so it was the perfect spot. 

We even enjoyed toasties cooked over the fire - we know some people who would be very envious of that.  

The weather has improved too as it’s not as hot and humid and nights cool down to enable comfortable sleeping.

We left this spot and drove a few kms to Adelaide River where we visited the Australian War Cemetery which was very sobering and quite sad to see so many young men interred there. The whole place is set in beautiful grounds which are well cared for. To watch the video amazed us how little we knew about the extent of Japan’s invasion with bombs. 

We are now set up in this lovely caravan park in Litchfield National Park. This will be our base to explore this lovely area. 

Tonight the birthday celebrations will continue as there’s a bar and restaurant here - with live music! So if it’s like Ravenshoe, Dennis may get up and sing along! I think there will be another blog before Sunday so I’ll be able to wish all mums a happy Mother’s Day again. We trust all is well for everyone at home and we send our love from this beautiful part of our big country. ❌❌❌❌ from the travellers. 

Central Arnhem Road again.

Nhulunbuy will be forever etched in our memories by the wonderful people we met. People from all walks of life shared their stories to widen our knowledge and give us an understanding of how this outback town survives. We thank all theses people for being so friendly and interesting. Despite all the crocodile warnings, we only came across this guy - a resident at the Walkabout Lodge.

Also etched in our memories is the road!! Our exit trip took just as long - day one was damp and we struck heavy rain so there was no dust. The grader had made a start by Nhulumbuy but boy, has he one mammoth job ahead of him! We didn’t see as many animals this time, except for a couple of buffalo. 

When we arrived at our first free campsite, it showered on and off so we sat with our umbrellas, which must have looked so funny. The showers made the ground rather muddy and tricky trying to keep our feet clean. Just as well we have a shower.

Day two the road was more corrugated than we imagined but there had been some grading completed which made things easier.  The road became very dusty and we found that red dust seeps in everywhere. Our cars and vans became very reddish! First point of call at Katherine was the car wash! Some cars didn’t even make it! 

One of our neighbours at Gove Boat Club was leaving a day after us and we’d arranged to catch up at the lovely oasis as Mainoru  Store. I’d imagined we’d be set up, enjoying a drink when we’d see him arrive, tired and worn out. However, he passed us before the store - and he was set up waiting for us! So he did in one day, what we did in 2! But he wasn’t towing a van, didn’t stop for morning tea and lunch, isn’t in his 70’s and didn’t have to change a tyre!! We were only 15km from the store when our tyre alarm went berserk and yes, we had a puncture in the rear car tyre. Changing a tyre on a dusty road isn’t a two minute job but the 2 D’s did well and we arrived at the campground in time for a catch up over a meal and drink. We were confident that between our two cars, we still had a spare so didn’t worry about having it looked at before Katherine. What we didn’t dream would happen was that on day 3, a few kms before the end of the dirt road, Dennis had a puncture! 

So a repeat of the tyre changing process - and now in Katherine we have to wait for a new tyre to come in from Darwin as ours in ruined! Luckily Dennis’s tyre is repairable.  Just as well we aren’t in a hurry and like it here at the farm stay. We are actually set up in exactly the same spot, under the shady trees. Tops and I have done the washing, cleaned our vans and this afternoon will face Woolies to restock our depleted food supply! Dennis is taking his van in to have a wheel alignment as one tyre is scrubbing - let’s say we are a bit over tyres!!  Our next task is to determine where we are going. As our bites are finally settling down, we are reluctant to go anywhere where sandflies abound - but here in NT that may be an impossible wish. We hope everything is fine down south and send our love to all our readers - especially Ruby celebrating her birthday today. Until our next blog, love from Marg & Darryl, Dennis & Tops. 

Nhulunbuy

The town of Nhulunbuy is a remote mining town - a long way from anywhere and only accessed by the one very rough road . No wonder the airport is busy and the miners fly in fly out! 

The future of the town is a little uncertain at present. Bauxite is mined here and used to be smelted here too, but that has since closed down and ore is shipped to Gladstone - or you guessed it, exported to China. The mining operation is closing down in 2026 and speculation is whether BHP will come in, or the government step in to make it a tourist spot. They’d have to improve the road if that were to happen! This photo shows the slow demolition of the smelters. 

The large storage tanks have been bought by the Navy so that’s a positive.The residents here love the lifestyle which is very laid back and relaxed, but there is a worrying trend of increased crime rates. 

The park we are in is small, quiet and has ocean frontage and the boat club attached serves lovely meals most days, so it’s an ideal spot. We’ve met some lovely people - especially a young couple travelling for a year, and the brother. We’ve had a lot of fun with them but they’ve gone out to a bush camp for a few days so unless we meet up further down the track, we won’t see them again. 

The beaches here are spectacular, however they are off limits so this is as much ocean swimming as we’ve done!!

Our swimming spot of choice has become the town pool, which is really lovely and we’ve not had to compete with many other people.The town has a central lagoon with a nature walk which we were looking forward to doing - however the recent heavy rains see it still closed. It’s a very pretty spot and supposedly hides crocodiles, snakes and birds.

We found a WW2 memorial with remnants of a plane which crashed, and at another location a memorial for a boat which attacked by enemies and sunk during the war. 

We have realised now why we love to outback so much - there are no annoying sandflies!!Once again three of us are a mess with itchy welts - somehow Dennis doesn’t seem to be affected as much as us. So we have a whole heap of remedies, lotions and sprays but none really seem to work - except the anti histamine tablets do relieve the itching somewhat. 

We have looked at the weather forecast and with rain expected to arrive on the weekend, have decided to leave a day early. We certainly don’t want to be on that road with rain. It’s comforting to know that three vans have arrived today - albeit a little dirty and tired just like we were - so the road is passable! So tomorrow will be a pack up day and we’ll head off early Friday morning, spend another two nights on the road and arrive in Katherine on Sunday. We send love to all the mothers for a very happy Mothers Day on Sunday  and hope you are all made to feel special. I don’t know if Tops & my Mother’s Day celebration will be envied by many as we bump along peering out for holes and bumps. But we do realise how fortunate we are really to be enjoying these memorable experiences together. So we sign off from Nhulunbuy and will reconnect in Katherine. ❌❌❌❌

The Central Arnhem Land road

It’s all about the journey - not the destination! That was some of the advice we were given in Katherine before we began this trip. Other advice was that the road was flood damaged and rough so take it slowly & one flippant remark was that we were grey nomads about to write our vans off!! All of the advice was certainly  correct, except for the last one! That was due to the excellent patient and careful driving skills displayed by Dennis and Darryl. 

The journey was really amazing with so much to see. We had a narrow strip of bitumen to begin with but that quickly gave way to dirt!

Our first morning tea was at this lookout over the valley -other stops were just on the side of the road.

We were excited to see donkeys, buffalo, dingo and cattle along the road.

It was lovely to see all creeks and streams flowing - there have been big rainfalls (Nhulumbuy has had 636mm for April) so things are still lush green and wet! Our first night was at this wonderful oasis, the Mainoru store where we set up on a beautiful grassed area and even enjoyed a few drinks at the bar there.

Some cars didn’t make it - dotted along the way are wrecks - usually stripped of parts. We did meet the most popular man along the road and Darryl gave him some advice! He has an enormous amount of work ahead of him! 

The road on the second day was relieved by a strip of bitumen and a freshly graded road but that soon was replaced by an even rougher road so it was with relief we set up at a free camp by a running creek.

By the third day we were actually a bit over the roughness as conditions require such concentration and the shadows make it so difficult to see the holes and ruts so it was quite tiring.  The road on day 3 was wetter and impossible to avoid holes and ruts so we had to crawl through them - reducing our average speed to 23kmh. We took 10 hours to travel 212km. Much of the road was flood damaged and lots of creek and water crossings.

The scenery was so pretty and changed from Savannah woodland to more tropical and if we had less time focussed on the road, we would have appreciated it more! When we finally arrived here, we set up quickly in this caravan park with a view over the sea, then we were advised to dine at the club before meals went off so we dined out feeling tired and grubby but enjoyed a lovely meal and drinks. We were most fortunate to meet at the Mainoru store and again here at the camp a lovely couple from New Zealand, and tonight we’ll dine on their generously donated fish. Thank you James and Kathryn 👏. 

It’s hot and humid here and no pool in the camp so later we’ll be checking out a swimming spot - seeing the beach is croc friendly! What a shame this beach isn’t a swimming one. We’ve got lots to check out here so next blog will be about here. Cheers from the happy travellers ❌❌❌

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