Thursday 20^th July Gemtree

While last night was not one of our best – the website page took far too long, Alison was showered before I finished and in bed when I returned from my shower; and the caravan next door had its ?aircon turning on and off every ten minutes during the night (though the night was neither too hot nor too cold) so it was ages before I slept. Or until Alison did either.

But we woke to a new day. We slept in, had a long hot shower and washed our hair, and yes, I did wear shorts only. We got everything shipshape before driving back into Alice Springs, parking in our usual spot, buying some rolls, vegies, and fruit; then filling up with fuel (<10l/100km for the last lot!) and changing over our empty gas bottle. Then time to go. To where? We started at the cafe at the Telegraph Station, which was nice; then drove north and stopped for lunch at the Tropic of Capricorn Rest Area.

We had wondered about going out to Gemtree, 70km east along the Plenty Highway. Alison rang and found they had a tour in the morning; and as we are in no great hurry, off there we went. Highway it may be, but a large part of it was a single central bitumen strip with very rough edges; and we had a surprising amount of oncoming traffic meaning Alison had to drive off, and back onto, the rough edges. But eventually we got there, and booked in to the Caravan Park here. We haven't seen many alternatives on the way here.

After last night, we are in an unpowered site well away from everyone else. It is a nice spot. The tour tomorrow is a “tag along” one; I'm not going – it's Alison's thing really – and we found another couple going, who have room for her in their car. So that's all set. (I plan to go for an exercise ride on my bike, instead.)

We read in the sun outside for a while, then went on their 3.5km Nature Trail just before sunset; it was a good walk with a brochure detailing various plants along the way. It's a good sign when a caravan park has something like this.

Now its dinnertime, with nothing too much to do this evening. It should be better.

Friday 21^st July

It was. Dinner, an episode of “Wellington Paranormal”, long hot shower, early bedtime, playtime, good sleep.

We woke at dawn, as usual; no shower for either of us – Alison went off to her gemstone tour, I got on my bike and rode 15km east along the Plenty Highway before deciding that it was far enough, and turning around. I got back feeling exercised but not exhausted, so I had made the right decision about just when to turn around.

Another long hot shower, and I made a bit of the next webpage. And over to the shop for a coffee. And read my book. Very relaxing.

It was nearly 2pm before Alison got home. We'd had over five hours apart – a lot longer than the five minutes it's been since we left home. We ate lunch. Yummy. And then went over to the shop for a bought coffee and to have her stones looked at by someone who knows about them.

And also to book in for another night; we both decided that it was silly to rush off, when it's already 3pm and we're in a very pleasant campsite; and we are in no rush in general. Especially when someone had told us that the weather was consistently warmer once you passed the Tropic of Capricorn, which we did yesterday. Mind you, while I remain wearing shorts I did put a jumper on this afternoon.

I had to take both jumper and shirt off for Alison to give me a haircut, but the sun was warmer by then. We had a short walk around the park, and came home for dinner. It has been a nice relaxing day and it is good to be slowing down, in general, now.

Saturday 22^nd July Barrow Creek WW2 Site

After watching one of our DVD's last night – a fairly awful American thriller – we had another quiet night and sleep in. Washed our hair, and tasted the water here; not as good as Alice Springs', so we won't top our water up. I climbed the mandarin tree here and picked another six good mandarins to take with us; and then back down the mostly single-lane road, 70km back to the Stuart Highway.

Perhaps it was luck, perhaps it was just being fresher in the morning, but it was an easier drive than the one into Gemtree was. We headed north on the highway, stopped at the first roadside stop for morning coffee, and then outside the big roadhouse at Ti Tree for lunch. Ti Tree was very busy with caravans everywhere and a 3-trailer road train coming in as well.

We continued. Up the road, past Barrow Creek and, just after 3pm, into the historic WW2 Staging Area, 14km beyond the “town”. This is a large free camping area next to the (dry) Barrow Creek, and we found ourselves a reasonably secluded place to stop. Earlier than often, but that's not a bad thing. We went for a walk down the creek and around the area.

Quite a few vehicles have come in after us, but it is a large area and none are close.

Sunday 23^rd July Attack Creek Rest Area

We were in no hurry to leave but, remarkably, ended up being among the earlier vehicles heading back out to the highway. It was 2½ hours drive north to Tennant Creek; we stopped at the Devil's Marbles, about halfway along, to swap driving. There were lots of people walking among the boulders, but there was a very strong, very cold (almost icy!) southerly wind. I have persisted in wearing shorts, as we're in the tropics now; but I wonder..... So does Alison, even more. Going for a walk was not very appealing, so we just carried on.

We drove into Tennant Creek just before midday, and turned on our phones. There is reception here, the first since Alice Springs. It is the largest town between Alice Springs and Katherine, with a big IGA supermarket and two petrol stations. We went to the (very well stocked) supermarket, then walked down the main road to the Bay Leaf cafe. It was after midday; we had large coffees and shared a vanilla slice. Not ideal as it was already lunch time, and we'd just bought good lunch supplies at the supermarket. So we returned to the van, drove around the corner, and looked at emails and made phone calls before eating lunch.

The tourist info here is 1½ km off the highway, at Battery Hill, an old gold mine. They used to have underground tours, but none since the mine was flooded by heavy rain some months ago. But there was a very helpful lady in the tourist info; we were looking at the intricacies of NT national parks passes, and campsite bookings, and the difficulty posed by these all being done on the internet, despite the lack of internet reception in almost all of the national parks. She told us that the system had only begun three months ago; that to use it you needed to make an account, and needed to make an 18 character (!) password; and that there was no legislation allowing them to fine anyone for not having a pass. She thought the system was idiotic, and so do we. So now we're not going to worry about it too much.

Interesting. Despite the town seeming quite a nice one, it was time to go on again. After topping up with fuel (so we now have enough to get to Katherine) we drove north for another hour and stopped at Attack Creek Rest Area. The are very few alternative options on this stretch. There were some others here, and it's quite close to the highway, but we have a reasonable spot towards the back. And next to another Windsor Daintree, the only other one we've seen. We chatted to our neighbours here, walked down the the creek....

and than used the oven for the first time, heating up lasagna for dinner. It was very nice.

Monday 24^th July Gorrie WW2 airstrip, north of Larrimah

We were near the highway but the noise of it was not too intrusive. We were neither first or last to leave.

I knew that today was going to be a big driving day; we planned to go as far as Daly Waters – but ended up going a bit further still. A turn each of driving brought us to Elliot, where we stopped at the roadhouse and bought a coffee. The prices in the shop there were very high and I felt for the local community who had no easy alternative to them. I also felt for the line of caravans waiting for their turn at the fuel bowser – fuel was expensive too. I suppose they are “ordinary” cars towing big caravans, so they don't have the range that we do. And if they're heading south, they get our very strong tail wind in reverse, which wouldn't be helping their fuel economy either.

There was nothing to keep us in Elliot, so on we went. We stopped for lunch at the Sir Charles Todd memorial rest area, and went off again. All the way to Daly Waters, five km off the highway, where we'd vaguely planned to stay in the pub's caravan park and have dinner at the pub. But.... we found wall-to-wall caravans, people everywhere; the pub is obviously very well known, but it appealed to us not one iota. So after a little walk around it we did a U-turn and returned to the highway.

On to the north, looking for somewhere for the night. We stopped and walked down to the site of a WW2 hospital, but it didn't have suitable site. So at 5pm we drove in, through a gate, to the Gorrie airstrip from WW2; and it is ideal. You can drive all the way up the airstrip, perhaps 1½ km long, and camp wherever you like. There are some 15 other vehicles here but we are well away from anyone else, and from the highway. It is really nice. We sat and read in the last of the sun before time to come inside and cook dinner.

And it is substantially warmer here than the last few days have been. My wearing of shorts has been vindicated.

Tuesday 25^th July Mararanka

gorrie airstrip was a great spot for the night. Before leaving, I got my bike down and rode to the far end of the airstrip and back – it was longer than I had thought. Then I walked down to join Alison, who had walked down, and chatted to some of the other morning airstrip walkers.

It was oly an hour on into Mataranka. This town was smaller than I remembered; a couple of roadhouses and a smattering of other places. We went to the Tourist info / library / museum, but without getting much information, really. Nowhere attracted us for a coffee, so we went down and booked in to Bitter Springs Caravan Park – joining a line of caravans doing the same thing. But it seems a reasonable place, and we're in an unpowered site which is reasonably private. We had a shower and put on a load of washing.

We tried walking to the springs but went the wrong way initially; in the end the correct way was further down the road we came on. The water was clear and warm, with lots swimming in it; but it didn't tempt me. We've been fortunate enough to swim in much nicer and less crowded places.

We walked home for lunch. We were not in tune with each other. Then got both bikes down and rode down to, and around, the springs; it didn't take long. We came home, with the conclusion that Mataranka really holds little attraction for us. But the washing and ironing's all done and we'll be ready to leave all tidy tomorrow.

The day improved with everything done, and we cooked and ate over in the camp kitchen – something remarkably few other people did.

At 8pm, it was time to drive out to see Nathan “Whippy” Griggs' performance at the Homestead Resort, some 12km away. He was recommended by the tourist info lady; his performance is a 8.45pm; which is very late for us (and for most of the caravan park). Despite the late hour, and the cold (it was 11º when we drove home) there were a lot of children there and it was an impressive performance. Nathan currently holds three Guiness Book of Records records for whip-cracking.

We drove home. It is very different driving the van in pitch darkness on unfamiliar roads.

Wednesday 26^th July Edith River

Last night, we wondered what to do next. We had thought of going down to Elsey National Park, 30km away; but we've been there before; so we decided to head up further, to Katherine, 110km away. Fuel was getting low, but I'd calculated we had enough for 160km. And we did, but the fuel light came on with still ~70km to go and it was a little unnerving. (We filled up with 101 litres, and fuel economy since Alice Springs was 9.2l/100km!)

In Katherine, it was nice and warm. The BOM says it has been particularly cold here but it's about to get much warmer. We parked among the huge herd of caravans outside tourist info, talked to them in there; had a coffee outside; walked around town to their op shops, then to the supermarket, looking for... whatever. We have enough food but it's the biggest supermarket, by a long shot, since Alice Springs.

Lunchtime was already late. We drove down to look at the hot springs (crowded, but much more attractive than Mataranka) and then to the Low Level Nature Park for lunch, and to work out where to go next. We decided to go towards Edith Falls with a view to walking up the Sweetwater Pool there tomorrow; but with no idea about where to stay – though the tourist info lady in Tennant Creek had said there was a good spot at Edith River. Though we weren't sure where on the Edith River.

So we drove up, looking carefully down side roads checking out our options. But just after the turnoff we found what she was talking about – a large area, with perhaps 10 other vehicles, just above a couple of waterholes. It's a nice spot. So, that problem was solved.

We went and sat by the water, looking at the birds (mostly galahs) till the sun was low in the sky.

And the big news. Alice rang while we were driving up to Katherine; awaiting her pregnancy test result, and needing to talk to take her mind off it. The results were being phoned to Siddarth. We talked for maybe ½ hour, till she had to hang up because Siddarth was calling. Then.... nothing. Late in the afternoon Alison texted her, and she rang back to tell us she is pregnant! And it's early days, but.... I hope it all goes ahead without major problems.

Thursday 27^th July Edith River

It was a good spot to overnight in, despite a bit of road noise. In the morning we drove the 15km to Edith Falls (Leliyn) National Park; and set off on the 4.5km track up to Sweetwater Pool – the last campsite on the Jatbula Track, and of which we have fond memories. The walk up was much greener than usual. We met a few others on the track, but when we got to the pool, we were the only ones there. So I stripped off and went for a swim. While I was lying on the rocks afterwards drying off, with nothing on, the situation changed; about 12 people arrived who were walking the Jatbula, along with another few who'd walked up our way. It was suddenly quite crowded, and I had to put on my bathers.

Sweetwater Pool is a beautiful spot; we stayed for a while, and more people arrived. About midday we headed back down, and had a coffee (iced with ice from our fridge) in the kiosk there; walked around and checked out the camping ground; read for a bit; had lunch in the van; went for a swim in the bottom pool before driving back out at 4-ish. And stopping for the night in exactly the same spot as we were last night.

It is quite humid; unlike the past few days there is a lot more cloud building up in the sky. We had a cup of tea before walking down to see the Edith River, just north of the camping area. We returned along the railway line, Alison with a big collection of rocks.

It is the first really warm evening we've had. So much so that we heated up the curried vegies for dinner on the portable stove, outside; and ate dinner outside.