DARWIN.....again!
Ok, so we have had an eventful few days, to put it nicely. Off we headed last Tuesday to Kakadu NP. It was a stinking hot day, temperature pushing 40 degrees. We sweltered on the way there, wanting nothing more than a swim and a cold drink. Problem was, the car decided to start sweltering too. We had just made it into Kakadu when the Beast started simmering and boiling...great, just a few days after we had it serviced! Smiley and I made the decision to turn back towards Darwin and get the mechanics to have another look at the car, annoying but the options of getting help in Jabiru would have been very limited.
Anyway, we made it back to Darwin and booked the mechanics for the next day, then returned to Freespirit Resort to set up camp. At least the pool was cool and the beer was cold!
The kids and I spent the next day relaxing by the pool, while Smiley got the car fixed. Not too bad an option really, I read a book and swam and generally enjoyed doing nothing at all.
The car returned with not too much damage to the wallet and we packed, ready to head off the next morning. We made the decision to forget about Kakadu, as the temperature was still hovering around high 30's, which would have made it very uncomfortable for bushwalking or seeing anything much. We will return sometime in the future, preferably after the wet season when the waterfalls are flowing and everything is lush, not dried up like it is at the moment. We will chalk that one up for when we do our Grey Nomad trips!
So the idea was set to head south. We travelled as far as Mataranka the first day and stayed at Bitter Springs. Car still had issues with losing a bit of water but nothing too major, so after setting up camp we walked to Bitter Springs for a swim. The water was really warm like a bath, but we all stayed in too long and ended up a bit dehydrated and were all in bed by 8pm!
The next morning we set off towards Daly Waters Pub. We were planning on staying there the night but arrived there at lunchtime and it was hot so made the decision to move on. While there, we had a bit of a chat with Chilli the resident musician/comedian, great guy with lots of stories to tell. He also proved to be very useful when our Jess got too hot and fainted! Poor kid. We got her back on her feet, pumped her full of water and icy poles and got back on the road. We stopped at Banka Banka Station that night which is managed by the most hospitable couple ever, they gave us a discount and fed the kids icy poles as well...nice! Had an early night there as well, as we had travelled about 500 km's that day and were all done in!
Got up nice and early the next morning and set off towards Barkly Homestead. Arrived there at lunchtime, it was lovely but the lure of doing a couple of hundred extra km's was too strong so we kept going. Our camp that night was a free one at Avon Downs, only 60 km's from the Qld border. It was a really nice campsite but the drop dunny was feral!
So, this morning was another early start and we stopped for a quick look at Mount Isa, weren't that impressed with the place so hit the road again. All getting pretty tired and grumpy as we have travelled 1900 km's in 4 days...far out! Very glad to pull into Julia Creek for the night, a really nice caravan park with a brilliant camp kitchen which has the biggest plasma TV in it that we have ever seen! Wish there was a game of footy on to watch!
Tomorrow we head for a free camp near Charters Towers, then we head for Townsville. I can't wait to hit the beach!