Well this blog is a bit delayed.

Thursday the van was picked up by another tilt truck and taken to the repairers, we were given a lift to town where we did a little bit of shopping. Then we got a taxi back to the caravan park where we had booked a cabin for the night, and had a lazy day doing nothing.

Friday morning the van was ready at 10am, so I walked around to get it (about 4kms) in the morning heat. Courtesy of the park management we then watered up and did a bit of washing before officially departing the Boab Caravan Park. Back to the shops and stocked up for the next couple of weeks which we planned to spend in Kakadu and other places south of Darwin. We drove 90kms to Pine Creek, the waypoint for Kakadu, (turn right here it says) and booked in for the night at Pussy Cat Flats. This is/was the local racecourse until red tape made it too expensive to maintain as such. So it has new life as a low cost caravan park, complete with wet bar, meals if required and a bush style 9 hole golf course.

Then comes this morning and our friend Tom is back in hospital in Darwin! So we pack up and head up here to Darwin to give whatever support is needed. Having checked on Tom, who was by then discharged, we headed into town to visit the kids. Acacia & Zimmy were both very pleased to see us and the van, probably more so the van, but we were made most welcome. At this stage Zimmy is sleeping with us in the van.

Depending on Tom we May head off tomorrow.

Well we have now been in Katherine for a week! 

Our friends Laureen & Tom stayed here with us for  3 days and were good enough to take us sightseeing with them. We went out to Katherine gorge in the Nitmiluk National Park. This is quite something with an interpretive display and a great walk that Elaine managed to complete, albeit at a slow pace. The gorge is very spectacular, but the numbers of bats that were there was almost unbelievable. Trees, lots of them, were completely black with the bats. We also visited a museum and saw lots of info on the Katherine region. 

They took off last Monday for Darwin and we have spent the time since then doing bits & pieces on the van and simply relaxing by the pool. This caravan park, the Boab Caravan Park, is very nice small, well kept and friendly staff. Anyway our parts arrived yesterday and the van is, at this moment, being repaired. 

I don't know how it happened, but the last 2 blogs have been published back to front. 

Today was fairly simple, we are at the same caravan park in Katherine, the parts for our van are hopefully on order and we are trying to relax. I have just found out that we are unlikely to get parts before next Wednesday. I guess that is just part of the game!!

Our friends Tom & Laureen are here in the same park and today they took us out to the local hot springs. This is a very pretty spot, the water was very refreshing and we spent a bit of time there. Following that we we visited the 'low level nature park' beside the river, also rather nice, and had lunch overlooking the park and river.  Then to town to have a quick look around and to get a couple of things needed to repair some very minor damage from the tilt tray trip here. 

Are you ready for a big surprise! You got it this is an extra to last nights blog. Firstly for the next week if my normal phone number is unavailable try 0456 160 889. 

Just to fill you in a bit we are at the Georgina River which is one of the many rivers and creeks in this part of the world that feed into the Diamentina which eventually flows into Lake Eyre. That is how  I understand it but I will do some more research and let you know if that is correct. The camping spots are along the river bank starting almost at the road next to the bridge and continuing for some distance. We were absolutely gob smacked at the number of vans in the first section, so we drove along the dirt road for a bit and spent the first night with 2 other vans about 2 kms from the road. This river is lined with large numbers of white and pink lilies and is home to large numbers of birds. We saw black swans, pelicans and lots of other birds that we didn't recognise. However at night the noise was huge, mainly we think the white corellas. So yesterday we decamped drove further along the river and found a new spot, also with 2 other vans (one of whom we had met earlier) and it was quiet. 

Today we crossed the border into the Northern Territory, quite without fuss, you know border guards etc - ha ha! We naturally took photos and left our mark! We travelled on a bit and are now at a camp spot called Wonara Bore. Tomorrow we will drive on to Barkley Homestead and turn right heading up towards Cape Crawford where we will turn left to rejoin the Stuart Hwy at Daly Waters. 

Moving forward 3 days and the situation changes a little bit, but to take in order of it happening........

Monday we depart the river with some misgivings, partly because we haven't caught up with Tom & Laureen. At camooweal we fuel & water up and head off along the Barkley highway towards threeways. Quite an interesting journey we pass lots & lots of motorbikes, some very fancy, some with trailers attached and some 3 wheelers. At lunchtime we park in a rest area and meet some of the bikers, it appears that the Ulyssees club had an gam at Alice springs and these are part of the 3000 strong membership heading home. We park for the night at the Wonara Bore rest area with 3 other vans. During the day we have decided to take a different route up to Daly Waters and to go via Cape Crawfrord. The road looks good and it will be some new territory and we intend to do the Stuart Highway north to south next year. 

So Tuesday dawns and we eventually get up and head off. First stop will be Barkley Homestead for fuel. On the way we pass lots more motorbikes and when we get to the homestead there are maybe 100 of them queued up for fuel. As none of them took diesel we were able to jump the queue and get our fuel. Yippee! Then we turned right onto the new road and headed north stopping for lunch at a rest point 150km up the road. Then Murphy stepped in to keep us on our toes, the clutch pedal wasn't resetting properly. This continued to be an issue all day, culminating in complete failure just 50km short of our destination, Heartbreak Hotel at Cape Crawford. I should add in at this stage that there was nothing special to see on this road. So we arrive fuel up, ascertain that the clutch fluid has all decamped and that the shop does not have any to fill up again. So we book in for the night and begin the process of claiming under our warranty. 

Jump forward to Wednesday and I spend most of the day on the phone, as there is no mobile coverage this means using a phone card in a dirty, hot phone box and getting messages sent to the hotel! In the end I arranged for the RAC WA to tow ( read on a tilt tray truck) the van to Katherine, a recommended repairer in Katherine to have a look when we arrived and to organise repairs. The warranty provider had found an out, so that will be an ongoing conversation. Then we relaxed for a short while and went to bed.

Now to today Thursday May 22. We were picked up at 6am, loaded onto the tilt tray, that is the van on the back and us in the cab with the driver, and headed off. It was a 530km drive to Katherine after which the driver had to take his truck back plus 100km in the opposite direction. It was an up eventful drive, not much to see unless you stop and spend time at the towns on the Stuart hwy, which we will do next year. In Katherine the repairer confirmed the diagnosis, ordered the parts and collected a deposit. As the parts won't arrive until next Monday or Tuesday we had the van towed to a caravan where we will await his call!

Hi everybody, guess what 3 days in a row!

Today we stayed still, more or less, we just shifted further along the Georgina River. Last night the birds were very noisy, but in this spot we can hardly hear them. So the day was filled with doing a few jobs and relaxing. We got a lovely picture of Lyla & Poppy playing together and soon we will be in Darwin to see Acacia and Zimmy, so life is good. Dinner tonight was another Elaine fire cookout success. Then we enjoyed a baileys on the patio overlooking the river.