Day 26 Litchfield National Park - day of things not going so well

 Last night was another hot and humid one, with no breeze and the bus was an oven. As we were camping at the National Park, generators weren’t allowed. So we had no way to cool ourselves down, other than wet wipes, and keeping hydrated. The fridges have been running constantly and the batteries simply couldn’t keep up with that demand, and the solar panels have not been working well. So we ran out of power again, before we had even gone to bed. Matt used the engine batteries to run them every few hours overnight, knowing how important keeping my IV nutrition chilled is. The young family camped next to us also had a rough night, and little sleep and the 4 little ones, that reminded us very much of our own brood, were up with the sun. So even though it had finally cooled a bit and we had just really got to sleep, we were awake again. Matt had given the eldest boy a magnet, as he had been fascinated with the iron in the rocks and gravel, and this made his day. So we got chatting with the family and they were reassured to know we had survived bringing up 4 kiddies and were still together!

After they had left, Matt tried to get the Clipper started but alas, the fridges had taken too much power out of the engine batteries, and she wouldn’t start. So we had to sit around as the day began to warm up again, and wait for the solar panels to produce some power. Fortunately, we saw a car about to leave the campsite and Matt flagged it and they happily stopped and gave us a jump start. This couple had been running into us on and off on this trip and were more than happy to help us out. After they left, Matt started the generator, so we could get the air con running and cool the bus a bit. So we found a stop to sit there in the sun, to charge the batteries and cool the bus down and look at options to solve this chronic problem, of not producing enough power for the fridges. One of the battery shops in Darwin said that unfortunately due to the climate up north, you use 50% more power than you would normally, so this explained why we keep running out. So we had to work out a solution to be able to do the rest of the trip, as we won’t always be able to have power or the generator running. Unfortunately, the solution is to upgrade our aging solar panels and get another battery into the system. So Matt researched and found a few companies that will ship these items to Darwin. So for those who are praying for us, if you can please pray that these items reach us by June 6, that would be huge.

We headed into Batchelor again to get more petrol for the generator, which ran out. But then it wouldn’t start again, and on closer examination, the starter motor has died in the generator.😔. So now we don’t have the generator to fall back on. We went and filled up on water, and Matt found a very cute little critter in the very hot boot of the bus, sitting on a piece of bubble wrap that he had out on the campsite the night before. We think it was a Roth’s tree frog or a laughing tree frog. So I took the piece of bubble wrap with the frog on it, with the intention to take it to a tree for it to be rehomed. But as I was leaning down to a branch, it hopped off the bubble wrap and into my hair and down my neck and shirt. Naturally, being a girl, I screamed like one; 😂 and Matt came to my rescue and removed it from my neck and placed it on a leaf on the tree. 

he was a friendly froggy, and was climbing over my hand before i gave it to Sal to release, i returned to filling up the water tank, then the screaming started, i turned around to see a frog crawling around  on the back of sals neck and trying to disappear down her shirt... it now has hearing damage.

Roths tree frog, now known to us as a 'screaming neck frog'

 

We headed to a caravan park, as we decided a third night of no sleep and hot humid baking in the bus was not going to be fun, especially as I had become unwell and was feeling pretty awful. We booked in, and plugged into power and was able to get the air conditioning on and cool us both down. I was able to get some washing done, while Matt tried to see what was happening with the generator. (stripped starter gear or ring gear) Unfortunately, whilst under the bus, Matt noticed the front left shock absorber mount had broken. (second time this trip)  So another thing for him to repair, so he then had to rummage through his collection of nuts and bolts and make something fit. ( i grew up watching macguyver. ). He then came inside the bus and as we were doing my sterile hand wash, our foot pedal that we use to control the tap broke, so something else Matt repaired today. At least we didn’t have anything booked or planned for today, so we could do all these repairs and organise the new parts. And this is what comes with driving an old vehicle and all this equipment on board that we use. 

But at least we finished the day with a shower, dinner and a phone call with our daughter Juliet, who has a birthday tomorrow.