Half-lap Day 38: Katherine -> Batchelor

Tony and I were up early again, setting things up for another potential day without the car. I drove into town to test it out, and get milk and a couple of other supplies. At first it didn’t overheat, but when I cranked the AC up the temperature started going up. I dropped off the milk and fridge and other necessities and took it around to the mechanic, this time with the temp still hot so that he could see it. He jumped in to the drivers seat and we took it for a drive, he could get it to cool down but then it did heat up again when driving around town.

He decided to change the thermostat – the one he’d ordered hadn’t come so he’d put in an after-market one, he thought maybe putting in the genuine part might fix it. He dropped me back at the caravan park and said he’d call me when it was done.

We spent the morning hanging around again, playing with the puppies and kittens, doing puzzles, I read Brisingr for a while. Tony went for a bike ride on Caitlin’s bike, to get a new puncture kit for his tyre which was flat again. He had discovered a big thorn through his tyre which may have been repuncturing the tube. Being near the RAAF base, we’d heard fighter planes several times during our stay but hadn’t seen them, today they came right overhead which was a bit exciting.

I talked to the mechanic after lunch and changing the thermostat hadn’t helped. They’d tried a few other little things with no luck, and the next step was to take out the water pump and check it. I asked if it would be fine to drive to Darwin, and he talked about how to manage things if the temperature started to rise, so we decided to pack up and head north and try to get the car fixed when we got to Darwin.

Tony rode over to get the car around 2pm, and we had everything packed up and ready to go by just after 4, one of our quickest pack ups (from scratch) yet. We rang a caravan park in Batchelor and booked in for the night so we weren’t worried about having to try to find somewhere when we arrived. The old billy goat came over while were packing and it took Tony quite a while to get rid of him – he just wanted to stick around and wouldn’t be pushed or dragged or scared away – he even went up on his hind legs a couple of times like he wanted to fight - which was scary to watch but didn’t bother Tony. We said goodbye to the owners and to the puppies (kids were a bit sad at that) and finally left.

Heading out of town and for the first half an hour or so we were a bit worried about how the car would manage, especially with the load of the trailer on. Whenever it heated up Tony popped it into neutral and revved the engine and it cooled back down, and after a while the temperature stopped going up. Tony found that driving a bit faster than usual helped keep it cooler too.(we normally sit around 80 or 90km/hr with the trailer on, 100km/hr seemed to work better today). After an hour or so we tried putting the air conditioner on and the temperature stayed stable – so it was a much more comfortable drive than we had anticipated, and we made it to Batchelor by 6.50pm. Reception at the caravan park closed at 7, and the guy was happy to see us as he thought perhaps our car hadn’t made it. He said it would have stayed open a little longer for us seeing as we’d rung – he was so friendly and helpful and it was a great welcome after a hot and frustrating day.

It was practically dark by the time we started setting up, in a great bush site at the back of the caravan park. There were a lot of mosquitoes but we sprayed ourselves and things settled down a bit. We are fairly well practiced at setting up now so the dark didn’t slow us down too much – and it was so great to see the stars again! Our campsite in Katherine had a light on a big pole right next to our tent, so we were under artificial light the whole evening and night, and it was so refreshing to just be outside and feel part of the night and the surrounds again. We hadn’t realised how much our campground was getting us down, as well as the worry about the car it was hot and dry and dusty and there was no view, it was too far to walk to anything in the heat so we had felt quite stuck – it’s different having a rest day because we choose to as opposed to having a rest day because we can’t get anywhere. The kids explored the park while Tony and I settled back into a happy holiday routine and both felt like we were enjoying our trip again and could look forward to the rest of it.

We had a conglomeration of left overs for dinner and then tried to set up our new tent fans to cool the tent down a bit. This is definitely the most humid place we’ve been, we were still sweating profusely as we went to bed and there was little relief from the heat.

Half-lap Day 37: Katherine

Tony and I were up early, getting things out of the car and figuring out what we’d need for the day without the car there. He put his bike on the back of the car and drove it to the mechanic’s. The kids and I played with the puppies and played on iPads and did some puzzles, had some breakfast and hung around the tent. Tony rode his bike back to camp after dropping the car off.

Later in the morning the girls came over to play so all the kids wandered around chatting and looking for animals and looking at the fish.  The girls left in the late morning and everyone was sad to see them go. Tony and I started packing up so that we could leave as soon as the car was fixed, he’d said it would only take a couple of hours. Tony rode his bike back over to the mechanics but it wasn’t ready yet so we hung around the tent some more, played games and chatted, talked to a few friends on the phone. We were reluctant to pack everything up in case the car wasn’t ready in time, so it was a long, slow, hot, uncertain afternoon.

At 3pm we decided it was too late to pack up and go now even if we did get the car back, and it did feel better to know what we were doing. I paid for another night and throughout the afternoon we got the beds back out and set things up again. Tony rang and they said the car was ready, he rode into town to something and got another puncture so walked out to the mechanic, who said the car was all fixed. Tony drove back in to town to get his bike and buy food for dinner, then back to camp, and the engine was overheating again. I rang the mechanic and he said to bring it straight back – by the time Tony got there it had cooled down and they couldn’t reproduce the problem – he drove back to the tent and it was heating up again.

We were both feeling extremely frustrated and everyone was hot. Caitlin had been really keen to go to the hot springs, so I said I’d take her and see how the car went. We drove for a while with no problem, then I turned the air con up and the heat started to rise. I turned it off and it didn’t go back down! We drove to the hot springs and had a really quick dip – basically just in and out. There were other people swimming, not very many, and the signs were still saying do not enter the water because of crocodile sightings. The water was very clear and we checked it carefully before we went in, and we’d been told that the sulphur in the springs usually keeps them away, but any more than a minute in the water felt too risky and scary. A quick dip was enough to feel refreshed anyway. We walked along the springs, they are quite pretty, then back to the car. I drove home via the low-level bridge, and the temperature kept going up. I stopped a few times, let it cool down a bit, then kept going. I drove past the mechanic and the shed was still open with lights on so went in and called out but no one answered so we went back home.

Puppy cuddles

We had dinner, everyone a bit subdued, and played with puppies and kittens and read our books and did puzzles and hunted for geckos. The kids and I went over for a shower – took ages to get all of us organised – then in to bed as quickly as we could, Millie was really tired. Tony had a chat to his dad about what the car problem might be, still no ideas, and he took the car for another drive after we’d gone to bed – still getting hot. Town driving seems to make it worse, but it’s all a bit mystery.

Half-lap Day 33: Mataranka -> Katherine

When I woke up it was dark and the bush was silent so I thought it was still a while until dawn – suddenly all the birds burst into song at once. Some of the birds made a hissing sound and one sounded like it was throwing up, but most of the birdsong was quite pretty. I thought I saw an animal move into the shadows and then heard donkeys running around, saw some hooves running on a path a little bit away from us, so I went for a walk to see if I could see any donkeys properly. I didn’t see any donkeys but enjoyed exploring the campsite a bit, then walked down to the river to see it just before sunrise. Tony went for a bike ride when I got back so he could see the river as well.

Those rocks really look like crocodiles

Packing up was easier than usual because I’d put most of the stuff into the car the night before, and we were pleased it wasn’t a big job because as soon as the sun came over the top of the trees it was burning. The girls had a quick shower before we left and we were on the road by about 9.15.

We listened to Harry Potter and had the windows down again and the trip went quickly, it was only just over 100km to Katherine. Tony had been given the name of an auto electrician by the mechanic in Elliott, so we called in there to see if he could look at our air con problem. The guy said to ring him at 2pm and see if he could fit us in.

We had heard about a cheap caravan park on the north bank of the river, but had heard mixed reviews – some said it was a great community, others said it was somewhere to avoid. It was only $20 a night and when we rang around the cheapest alternative we could find was $54. We had a look at it and chatted to the owner and decided to give it a try. He gave us a grassy spot with a clothesline, and we set up in the middle of the day heat, all feeling a bit hot and cranky. Some lunch helped, as did discovering a cage of puppies at the house across from us. The park has several permanent residents, in cabins and houses of various types. Some are only half built, some are campervans or caravans set up with awnings and fridges and little yards, some are permanent cabins that are like small houses. The kids went over to look at the puppies and were overwhelmed by cuteness. On the way back to our site the mummy dog came around from the other side of the house and ran over to the kids – we all froze as we didn’t know if she’d like people being near her puppies. Tony walked over to her and she came up for a pat and all was fine. There are also 4 male goats wandering around. Caitlin patted one and it tolerated it for a while then butted her in the leg. It scared us then by pawing the ground, we thought it was going to charge at us – but then it sat down and settled into the depression it had made and went to sleep.

As soon as we’d eaten we headed to the local council swimming pool. It was only $12 for family entry, so even if we come every day it’s cheaper staying at North Bank Park and swimming here, than staying at a caravan park with a pool. The pool was 50m long, and shallow at both ends, deep in the middle. It was 1.2m at the shallow ends though so Millie couldn’t stand up, she played on the steps and swam out and back to me or Caitlin and had a great time anyway. Tony had dropped us off and taken the car to the auto electrician, and planned to come back to swim once the guy had looked at the car. We got to the pool at 2.30 and loved being in the water, especially with one end of the pool under shade cloth. Caitlin practiced all her swimming strokes, even butterfly, and probably swam 10 or more full laps of the pool. We played with noodles and balls and had races and spent some time in the toddler pool. Tony was gone for about 3 hours, by which time the kids were ready to get out – even Caitlin said she was ready to go – but we stayed so that Tony could have a swim as well, and the kids got back in the pool with him and had fun while I read my book for a while. It was a great way to cool off and get past the heat of the day.

The auto electrician couldn’t find anything wrong with the electrical system in the car, so recommended a mechanic to Tony, we’ll ring him in the morning. We stopped at Woolworths on the way back to camp to get something for dinner – we were hoping for a hot chicken but there weren’t any left, and there was no bread, so we had rissoles and bread rolls again. While we were cooking dinner the mummy dog came over to our tent, and she stayed for the rest of the evening, watching us eat, asking for pats, sleeping on our carpet. We finished setting up the beds and I collapsed into bed as soon as I could, and everyone else came soon after.

Half-lap Day 29: Devils Marbles -> Elliott

It got a bit windy overnight, and with the windows open it felt different, and none of us slept very well. It meant that we were easily all up before sunrise which was great because we really wanted to see the sun come up over the rocks. There was a rainbow to the west, and some nasty looking storm clouds (heading south) – the rainbow was there for hours and added to the magnificence of the changing colours on the rocks as the sun rose.

We packed up but didn’t rush – it’s quicker after a 1 night stop because we don’t get so much stuff out. I had trouble with the zip on the main door of the tent – Tony managed to get it to a point where it can be closed all the way, but we can only use one of the zips, not two. As we were packing Caitlin’s iPad mini slid out of the car and the screen cracked. When Tony went to put his bike on the trailer he discovered he had a flat tyre. When Millie sat down to have her breakfast I noticed a spider on her seat – a redback! I was feeling a bit jangly after all of that but the rest of the pack up went ok, the kids played with their stuffed animals in the tent and had a great morning. It was pretty cool packing up with these huge boulders looming right above us. Oh and it only cost $7.70 for the night – a great place to camp. We had a long chat to our neighbours as we finished getting ready, a very friendly couple with a gorgeous little maltese terrier who the kids adored.

We drove to Tennant Creek and got petrol, decided not to do anything else there. We had hoped to go out to see The Pebbles, but it was 6km of dirt road each way and we chose not to risk taking the trailer out there. The drive north was quite similar to the day before, and we were hoping to do another 450km and make it to Daly Waters. Tony noticed the engine temperature rising alarmingly – we stopped, checked the engine and the coolant and everything else seemed ok. We kept going – the temp went up again. We turned the air conditioner off and the temperature went back to normal. We tried it a few time – air con on, the engine temperature rose, when we turned it off, it dropped back down. So we continued driving, with windows down and Harry Potter as loud as we could make it. It wasn’t too bad for a while but as the outside temperature reached 35 degrees it became more uncomfortable in the car.

The next town we reached was Elliott. We thought perhaps we should stay here for the night and continue on in the cooler part of the day the next day. I jumped out of the car to go and check out the caravan park, and could only find one of my Teva sandals. I looked everywhere and the other one didn’t turn up – I must have left it on the ground when I went to get out of the car to help Tony check the engine. I was inconsolable – those shoes were my birthday present for this trip and they were starting to get really comfortable. Caitlin lent me her sandals and she wore her thongs.

Tony went to see about the caravan park but they weren’t there. We had seen that there was a mechanic in town so we drove to see him and the kids and I walked back up to the BP to get ice blocks. The kids got a slushie each and I got a zooper dooper – they did help us cool down a little. The mechanic said he thought that maybe the compressor on the air con wasn’t working, and gave Tony the number of an auto electrician in Katherine. I asked at the BP about camping (wiki camps had listed it as an option) and he said only at the caravan park. We headed back down there as we figured we couldn’t drive any further in this heat without air con. A local indigenous man offered us a painting for $30 – I wasn’t prepared to pay that much at this stage.

The caravan park cost $30 for the night and it was very very basic. There was one other lady camped there in a campervan and no one else. The grass was long and unkempt in places, the fittings were all old and broken in places. We’d been given a key for the ladies toilets but the men’s weren’t locked – that makes it seem like it was a safety issue which made me a little nervous. It didn’t feel like a nice place to stay but we were all too tired and hot and a little stressed to keep going in the car. The girls were feeling so hot they went and had a cold shower in their clothes, which cooled them off a little.

There were a lot of peacocks and peahens around the park which was pretty cool. We got set up and sat around for a while, the kids played their ipads, I hung the washing out, Tony fixed his bike tyre, then another family arrived in their caravan and set up next to us – things felt a bit safer then. They had a 5 year old girl and a 3 year old boy and had driven all the way from Mt Isa that day – 880km!! The kids all played together – Millie and the other girl got all their stuffed toys out and played a Frozen game, LiAM and the boy wandered around and looked at peacocks and sticks. One peacock kept attacking its reflection in our neighbour’s car, it was pretty funny. More people arrived as the afternoon progressed and we relaxed a bit.

Tony and Caitlin went for a bike ride around the park, and found the swimming pool – wiki camps had said there was a pool and we hadn’t seen it so thought it was old information. The pool looked very inviting and not old and run down like the rest of the place. We went for a twilight swim which was beautiful. There were bats flying overhead and birds in the trees and a swim made all of us feel much better. Tony left first to go and heat up left overs for dinner – when I went to leave I couldn’t reach around to open the latch to get out of pool enclosure. The manager came out to feed his dogs and I asked him to help us – the dogs came with him and started fighting with each other right in front of the gate where we were standing  - it was quite scary. The guy called them off and we made it out of the pool yard and back to the tent with no further problems.

The town’s little supermarket was the store at the front of the caravan park, so I was able to buy myself some thongs so that I had shoes to wear. I haven’t worn thongs in probably 20 years or more so it’s going to take me a while to get used to them – they are pretty comfortable though.

In our visits to the toilets and showers through the afternoon and evening we saw several frogs (on the soap dish, on the window, on the floor) and geckos on the ceiling. After we ate leftovers and potatoes for tea we headed for bed as we were all exhausted, but it was still in the mid 20s so it took us a while to settle down enough to fall asleep.