This morning we got up early and it was a race between the Clippers to get to the washing bay at the caravan park. Ian won, with Matt a close second! The Clippers then left the park a lot cleaner than when they arrived yesterday. We drove into Mataranka and parked in the truck parking area by the park, and went to get a few things from the shops. David had driven behind us and noticed but Matt already could feel and tell that the diff was not in correct alignment, so that it was going to be best to attend to sooner than later.
we tried to line up the diff as best we could but once the new spring had settled a bit the diff was too far backward on one side and the bus was crabbing a bit, travelling at a slight angle down the road like the back was drifting out a bit. Then we were informed via the CB that a road train had jack-knifed and collided with another truck, that then rolled and seriously injured the driver and completely blocked the Stuart highway 5 km south from us and there was no way around it, and it was unlikely to be reopened for many hours. sounds like the road train's 3rd trailer got a bit out of hand and clipped the oncoming rigid truck , which in turn caused both trucks to roll . So they parked the Clippers in the shade, Matt and David donned their work clothes and promptly got under 'Bridget' and a few hours later, the diff was aligned up correctly. we figured we may as well get it done now as we weren't able to go past this location until further notice. we just had to get one side of the diff 10mm further forward to straighten things up, and we were able to. so we are happy with the result. The girls meanwhile, got into deep cleaning of the red dirt and got the Clippers much cleaner (though after today's drive, more has emerged from under the drawers and walls and will forevermore!) We also handled the paparazzi and inquiries of all the other fellow travellers waiting for the road to open. seemingly 100's of questions. We all had the CB radios turned on and listened to the gossip, police messages and all the stuff that gets discussed, waiting for the truth the to prevail and for us to then race to the road to get past the accident. We sat in the shade under the trees in the park, watched an Indigenous mob start a fire, and hear all sorts of loud bangs and explosions going off, and it wasn't leftover fireworks from territory day. Finally at lunch, we heard discussion that they had a grader create a bypass for traffic, with both directions taking turns to get past the accident. So we collected David and Brenda who had gone to the local campdraft event nearby, they like to investigate what ever is going on in towns, to watch, and then we drove off, only to then sit in the traffic queue for the next hour, until we got our turn to go down the bypass and could get going.
We knew with the time lost, (about 5 hours) we wouldn't make our planned destination of Devil's Marbles today, so we just hightailed it, to see where we would get by sunset. We stopped briefly at Dunmarra for afternoon tea, but then David couldn't start his Clipper again. An investigation revealed the main battery cabling was no longer connected to the bus and was no longer charging it. So some creative hunting for the right parts to repair it, and we were back on the road about 40 minutes later. We pushed on and watched the sun beginning to set, and reached the overnight roadside stop near Newcastle Waters. It was already very full, but we did manage to find 3 places to squeeze in. As usual, no sooner had we stopped the engines and people were taking photos, coming over to give us the Spanish inquisition and I even had someone looking into our bedroom windows, while I was in there trying to get my meds for the night. People!!
We cooked dinner and ate together, and had a few good laughs about the days misgivings, but feeling grateful that we were together and able to help each other. We had to rethink our plans for tomorrow, due to the lost time. We retreated to our respective buses and out of the evening air and being fodder to the bitey insects. But the starry night was spectacular, and I did stand there in awe momentarily to enjoy the sight and know that God, our awesome creator is with us. we might have about 800km to get to Alice springs but we will see how we go.
No comments:
Post a Comment