Covered a lot of territory today - about 820km. We are holed up at Katherine tonight. We are not seeing any signs of winter right now - it's about 30 deg at 6:30pm. Hope it cools a bit tonight. Even this morning was only about 15 deg when we started out.
Not much to talk about today other than that we saw a lot of white lines and straight roads. Some dramatic changes in landscape along the way.
There are a lot of WWII historical sites up this way which I guess is to be expected.
Also can't get over the number of vans, campers and motorhomes in the NT. I'd hazard a guess that only about 25% of the vehicles that we have encountered have been single vehicles.
We've had the privilege of having our own defence force escort since Camooweal yesterday. A convoy of Army trucks has been keeping pace with us for two days. I think we've overtaken them at least six times. Then they get to overtake us when we're having a break and so it goes around. We noticed them at Katherine again this afternoon when we got here. However, we'll part ways tomorrow as we head west - I expect they'll go North.
We stopped into Mataranka to have a dip in the Thermal Pools. It was very nice but probably would have been more welcoming if the temperature was in the teens rather than the 30's.
While we were enjoying our dip, some grub nicked the cover off our van's hot water vent.
Ha! Funny thing happened tonight...
Judy was catching up with some washing and was digging in the peg bag. We have a plastic bag to carry clothes pegs in. It turns out that Les thought it was a rubbish bag and had been throwing his empty beer cans in it. Our pegs and washing will probably smell like a brewery now - Thanks Les.
See more photos at... https://picasaweb.google.com/106361511620108780730/Day0309072012
Today, we got off to a later start at 0730. Stopped off in Mt Isa for a few supplies. Les needed to find a replacement part for his camper tailgate. Being Sunday, the chances were slim. He went to Supercheap and found the doors closed with a sign showing opening hours from 0830. At this stage it was around 0840. Not waiting any longer, we all went to Bunnings. The lady at Bunnings informed Barb that it was pretty normal around these parts. Sometimes they might not open at all if they don't feel like it. That's Mt Isa time!!!
Anyway, we headed west.
We topped up our fuel tanks at Camooweal because we expected that it might be much dearer as we go further west. As it turned out, the fuel at Barkley Homestead was the same price as Camooweal - so we didn't gain anything there. We couldn't apply my 'drive by' theory as there were no second choices.
Just as we were leaving. Les got roped into help a couple of 'damsels in distress', with a tyre with a separated tread.
Les bein' a good samaritan.
As you can see here, the horizon in NT is not horizontal - strange phenomenon I know but that's what happens when you get a stranger to take the photo...
We pulled up for the day at a large rest area called T & W Bore Rest Area - 140km east of the Three Ways junction. Found a nice little patch of dirt a fair way off the highway. Witnessed a pretty decent sunset and a relaxing evening led into a beautiful starry night that makes living in the bush a unique experience.
See more images at....https://picasaweb.google.com/106361511620108780730/Day0208072012#
