We had a week back in Darwin after the Cruise and Singapore. It was time to recuperate after such a fantastic holiday, get on top of washing and getting a new solar panel and other electronic gadgets fitting to DABUS.

As we say goodbye to Darwin & the NT we leave behind great friends, that make us feel so welcome, awesome constant warm weather, blue sky's, some of our favourite watering holes (pubs and hot springs) termite mounds, burnt out plains and vibrant red soil and dust.

We left Darwin at 12.15pm and travelled southward bound, stopping for lunch at Adelaide River Pub, sharing one of their delicious pizzas. Stopping for fuel at Katherine before stopping the night at King River Rest Area.

Our travelling companion on this leg of our journey is Amanda Lindhout. Amanda read us her memoirs 'A House in the Sky'. It is about an Australian photographer, Nigel Brennan and herself when they were kidnapped by Islamist insurgents in Somalia back in 2008 and held captive for over 15 months. A great audio book; that we both thoroughly enjoyed and it certainly pass's the time when driving long distances, a total of over 13 hours listening.

An early start the next morning saw us having a float down one of our favourite place, Bitters Springs. It was the quietest we have seen it, with only 6 vehicles in the carpark and the water was the clearest we have ever experienced. At Mataranka we stopped only to purchase cough lozenges, as we have both caught Keith's bug, that he picked up on the cruise and we want to get on top of it. We enjoyed lunch at Daly Waters Pub and stopped the night below Newcastle Waters at Lake Woods Conservatory. Just on dusk a couple arrive on their tandem bike and set up camp.

During the following day we passed three tandem bikes along with three solo bike riders, they certainly must have the stamina and endurance to do the Sturt Highway. Today was a big day driving, stopping at a radio tower just 150km short of Camooweal.

The following morning we crossed the border back into Queensland and then stopped at Camooweal and had a relaxing day here, overlooking the water, watching the pelicans and enjoying both an afternoon and morning walk. On the morning walk we were joined by 10 horses that wandered down for a drink from the billabong.

After a relaxing time at Camooweal we stopped at Mount Isa to conduct some shopping before stopping at Mary Kathleen, an abandoned Uranium Mining Town. We have previously stopped here, two years ago and spent two nights here just relaxing.

Today we have driven through golden open plains and reached Julia Creek at lunchtime. After getting a prime waterfront campsite, we walked into town to investigate the visitor's centre, where we learnt about the local Julia Creek Dunnart. The Dunnart is a small nocturnal marsupial similar to a mouse and is listed as a near threatened species. The weather is cooling down with a top of 28 degrees and cooler nights. Our jumpers are back on at night time if when we are sitting outside.