Day 11 Nhulunbuy in our 'Taking the scenic route to the beach!'

 Feeling like we are on holidays, and were able to have a sleep in today. We had a late breakfast of 'bubble and squeak' with the leftover roast veggies, with some tomato, mushrooms and chicken mixed into a scrambled egg. You can be rest assured that although it's holidays, Matt still eats well. (im twice the man i used to be) We decided to do more exploring while the Baker's were on a fishing adventure. We headed to the Town Lagoon, and discovered a 3km nature walk. So we followed the trail, that went alongside the lagoon, with the odd warning sign erected beside the path saying there had been recent sightings of crocodiles. Whilst on the look out for crocs, I was on the lookout for snakes as well, and just as I was thinking that I should look for snakes, I saw one, a tiny, golden tree snake, sunning itself on a pile of sticks, and interwoven into the golden and green weeds that had grown over the sticks. I stopped and tried to call out to Matt quietly, so I didn't scare it away, though Matt will no doubt tell you that I was scared,  but yes I was scared to disturb the snake, not scared of it as such. Matt came back as he had already walked passed it and hadn't seen it, and by the time he was able to get the camera out, it had rapidly retreated back into the leaf litter under the nearby bushes. So you will just have to trust me on that, that it was real! It was real. i saw it too. but the little beggar would've been quick on his feet if he had any, im still amazed how fast something without legs can move. heres one we saw last trip so you dont miss out.

 The walk took us to a wetland and we enjoyed some bird watching and Matt did some photography, but also on the lookout for floating logs. No crocs were spotted, and we continued on the path and back to the bus, where a couple of indigenous girls and their non-indigenous carer, were admiring 'Bridget' and taking selfies. We had a lovely chat with them and they gave us some sight-seeing tips and recommendations too. 

town Lagoon Nhulunbuy 

Our next stop was at Middle Beach. where we took a stroll down the beach to the rocks at the headland, and again always trying to be on croc watch. The tide was out and we were able to walk around the rocks and to the end of Town Beach, where the wind immediately hit us and the sand was blowing towards us. The sand was softer and less coarse, and we sat here for a while and watched the sea. I spied a couple of crocs at different times, coming up for air and then disappearing beneath the green waters. There was also crabs of various sizes and types, busy running and hiding and digging holes. When you walked along the sand, you would see the little shells moving, and then come to a stop when you got close to them. As the tide started to come in, we went back around the rocks, and sat under some in the shade, and continued to watch the crabs, and there was this one particular crab that would keep reappearing come towards us, then run back and disappear down its hole, or not quite entirely disappear, and all you could see were the two little eyes on short stalks, poking up out of the hole!

 

We headed back to 'Bridget' and drove to the other end of Middle Beach and sat on a high spot, under the shade of some she-oak trees. The wind would whisper through the trees, as we ate our lunch, and watched the seagulls dive into the Arafura Sea and catch fish and re-emerge. There was a lagoon at this end of the beach, and a couple of men were fishing there. After lunch, I was suddenly feeling very exhausted in the humidity and connected up to my IV nutrition and fluids, and we headed back to the Walkabout lodge for a rest.

We enjoyed a quite afternoon, and I started to read a book, and Matt was sorting out photos.The Bakers kindly shared some of the fish they had caught at sea, some silver sea bream, which we had wrapped in foil and cooked on the BBQ with options of butter, garlic, spring onions and lemon to accompany it. I had some fish, which was delicious, but unfortunately, did not agree with my stomach later. I just need to remind myself, how good it was to taste and enjoy it momentarily. I headed into the bus to clean up and wash up, and then a few other guests from the lodge came over to ask questions about the Clippers, and had wanted a look inside, and I was relieved that Matt hadn't been open to letting them in, it was 8pm and I was about to go and have a shower. i didnt really want to have people thru when we are trying to pack up for the night. pick your times people. We know it comes with the territory with having the Clipper, but sometimes, you just have to say no, putting up some boundaries is quite ok. But otherwise it was a great day.

oh and the clutch is working nicely again, thanks for asking. 

 

Day 10 Nhulunbuy on our 'Taking the scenic route to the beach!'

 It was nice to have a slower start to the day and hear the waves crashing in the distance. We cleaned our buses inside and out, and then took a rough tour around Nhulunbuy in convoy looking all shiny again. and we top soiled the campground grass, which is now red. We got plenty of smiles, waves, photos taken, as we drove around some local streets. the best wave i got so far is a commodore full of indigenous blokes, and as the approached there was an arm extended with thumbs up, out of every window in the car. it was like it spontaneously grew limbs. i couldnt get a photo, so i got chat GPT (the enemy) to draw me the scenario, just to see how badly it could stuff it up. and well the results were pretty impressive at first glance, until you zoom in on the driver and front passenger, each who have 3 arms. oh well looks like we are still safe in the art department. 

 

 We headed to the Gove yacht club and wharf and got blown away on the stroll down the floating jetty, and went to Melville Bay past the mines to check it out too. There is a large solar farm here. The Gove mine mines bauxite, and will close in 2029. Locals have told us that 1,000 jobs are to be shed in the coming year, which the community is worried about the impact on them all.

 

After lunch, I had a rest while Matt worked on Bridget's clutch.  

Bridget decided not to want to go into gear anymore from a standing start, couldnt get forward or reverse and if i got it into reverse i couldnt get it out without turning the engine off. ended up having to adjust the clutch. 

 We took a stroll to the Town beach with Simon, Elise, Brenda and David, but didn't spot any crocs, just little crabs being busy scurrying around and going in and out of their homes beneath the sand. We watched the waves roll in, and clouds moving in the sky, and the rain fall in the distance over Bremer island. It was a relaxing way to spend the afternoon.

 
We headed home to prepare dinner, as Ian roasted a lamb on his Weber BBQ, while I roasted veggies, and Brenda cooked the greens and gravy. We watched the bats take to the sky at dusk, and took photos of the Clippers parked up together with their lights on for effect. We sat under the cloudy night sky and ate dinner together, and chatted. Another great evening and day. 

 oh and heres a photo of yesterdays python, it doesnt look as big from this angle, and it may be an olive python i think, but im not an Ophiologist...

Day 9 Mainoru Store to Nhulunbuy in our 'Taking the scenic route to the beach!'

 This morning we had an early start and hit the dirt, with us leading the way. Matt gave road warnings on the CB to help the others steer clear of the damaged parts of the road and only after we learned  about them the hard way! (i got better at avoiding then telling about the holes, instead of hitting them, then alerting everyone) There were sections that were washed out or very corrugated, but some sections were really quite smooth and near the bigger creek crossings, there was often bitumen. 'Bridget' still filled with red dirt and Matt regained his red beard and face. The green scenery was constantly changing, with grasses, intermingled with orange flowering gums, and pandanus palm trees, and ferns of various kinds. In some sections, there were the magnetic termite mounds, like we had seen last year at Litchfield National Park. The occasional buffalo dead and alive were seen too, but the snakes were the feature of the day, though somehow I missed spotting all of them and I'm quite grateful for that, I had had enough reptilian close encounters!! i saw a couple of 1-2 metre long snakes on the road, an then at one point i saw what i thought was a tree on the road, but it was a snake that was at least 3 metres maybe 4m. ive looked it up and it may have been an Oenpelli python, which are usually found in west arnhem land, maybe it was on holidays too. i'll get a photo off one of the others tomorrow and put it up, as they stopped to get a photo after i had told them about it. i couldnt stop at the time as i saw it and was past it before i knew it. 

one of the 17 or so landcruisers burnt out by the side of the road on the way up today. this one went in hard though

 There were some pretty amazing looking collections of large rocks and hills made of rocks as well. A great and diverse landscape for sure.

It was a long day staying alert for the drivers, with all sorts of challenges, low gear hill descents, blind corners, flooded causeways, oncoming traffic that didn't slow down to pass you, and then in the afternoon it rained, just enough to reduce the dust and highlight all the low spots, as they filled with water. The downside was that all the Clippers have had a red dirt spray paint job to clean up! As we got closer, we drove past all the Rio Tinto Gove mine activities and vehicles. But we finally arrived at Nhulunbuy around 4.30pm. We checked in to the Walkabout Lodge, where we will be parked up the whole time we are here, but then 'Bridget' refused to start. no power. After creating a quick bypass, as in jumper leads from the battery to the body to get it into the caravan park.  we were able to get parked up and Matt found the main earth strap had relocated itself on the bumpy drive.

Meanwhile, I started the cleaning process with sweeping up the red dirt and then scrubbing the surfaces and floors, so we could walk around inside and not get red feet or eat dinner with red dirt condiments! After Matt had a shower and removed his red beard and Trump tan, we took an evening stroll down to Town Beach, where the grass seemed alive... with cane toads! So it may have been too dark to really appreciate the beach,  but we have the satisfaction that we made it!!!

 

 

Day 8 Katherine to Mainou Store on our 'Taking the scenic route to the beach!'

 Today we opted for a slower start to the day and headed out from Katherine, with Brenda and David's daughter Elise and her partner Simon now joining us for this leg of the trip in their car. Simon and Elise joined us last year to do the Gibb River Road. We took the turn off to Nhulunbuy, some 50km south of Katherine, and took the opportunity for some photos in front of the distance road signs. 

The road for the first 60km was a single lane bitumen strip with well graded dirt on either side, with a speed limit of 110km/hr. Although we didn't drive that fast, a lot of the oncoming traffic did, (clearly they were locals). We stopped in Beswick for morning tea and an explore, but the Indigenous arts gallery was unfortunately closed. and pretty much all that was left to explore was the wrecked cars in front yards and a lot of bats in the trees. just as we left, a current model toyota hilux passed us, it was the roughest hilux id seen in a while. no front on it at all, no windows, and not a straight panel on it. it looked like it had been crashed 7 times, but it was cruising around town like there was nothing wrong.

From there, the bitumen disappeared and the dirt road became quite rough with corrugations, very quickly. Early on, Matt pulled over to reduce the tyre pressure, (cause i was bouncing all over the place. while we were doing this Sal noticed some buffalo walking through the bush nearby and found the orange flowering gum that i liked) 

the lower tyre pressure made the corrugations more tolerable, and he also dropped his speed. We both had noise cancelling earbuds in to reduce the rattle as everything inside 'Bridget' would shake and bounce and get covered in red dirt. The others had gone on ahead, and as we rounded a corner, we noticed the 2 Clippers and car had pulled over and we noticed their hazard lights were on, and Ian was in his overalls. The unscheduled roadside stop was because the tailshaft in Brenda and David's 'Discovery' had broken. For those not in the know, normally this would be a catastrophic breakdown, but with the 'A Team' fellas in their overalls, were soon lying underneath 'Discovery' and pulling out the tailshaft, and it was deemed doable. I went for a walk to place the emergency triangles out to warn the oncoming traffic. Not long after they had removed the tailshaft, they were seated around a table, with parts spread out and they were busily repairing the said tailshaft. They pulled it apart, cut off the shredded metal sleeve, cleaned up and repaired the damaged splines, and put it all back together, and in the bus and we were on the move two hours later. Meanwhile, the rest of us had sat in 'Discovery' and played cards and made lunch. A few passerbys slowed down to enquire if we needed help or to admire the buses. We were amused by a few comments between some truckies over the radio, that in one breath were admiring the buses and the next expletive filled comment was about how crazy we were to be driving them out on this road. If only they knew these buses had been made and used for these kinds of roads in the years of service in the 1950's and 60's, and that we had taken them on the Gibb River Road and Tanami desert and they survived them. After the incident, Ian and David also decided to lower the pressure in their tyres as well. And as David always likes to say "its all part of the adventure!"

I think this is the fourth amendment. the technical description for the failure is that the slip yoke in the tailshaft slipped beyond its capabilities. when the differential goes up and down with bumps in the road, it gets further away from the gearbox. the tailshaft connects the two, and needs to get longer as the diff gets further away when it drops. thats what the slip yoke or splines are for.  its telescopic. but it has a limit and in this case the bump was too deep and the tailshaft came too far apart, and separated, then the two ends argued over who's fault it was that they were now seperate entities, and they smashed each other to pieces. so once out on the table we had to remove all the scars from the punchup, and see if we could get the two ends to talk to each other again , cause they really wouldn't go back together at first, they were very mangled. preliminary dress up with an angle grinder to remove the large chunks, then about an hour of filing, me on one piece and david on the other. till the two became one again and we could reinstall it. i could hear machinists crying as we filed away on our Arnhem land workbench. when failure isn't an option, you do what gets you home. 

my safety triangles case has a motivational sticker of my own design on it...

We continued on, and enjoyed a brief scenic lookout across the 'Jurassic Park', and took a few photos, before we continued along passing some wetlands, water buffalo, I spotted a 'black-necked stork (Jabiru), donkeys, road trains with a full load of cattle, going very slowly and some extensive roadworks. 

The temporary road was better than the rest of the road we had been driving on. Finally we reached our destination, Mainoru Store, on a station, where there was a campground. Everyone already camped there were popping over for a chat and were friendly. We headed off for a walk by the river, and Brenda and Simon spotted a water monitor (big lizard), that was sunning itself by the river. Again there was debris from the floods earlier in the year, and the area was quite rough and torn up too. Matt was still red from being covered in red dust and sand from working on the tailshaft and from having his driver's window open as we drove along. He was grateful for having a warm shower before dinner.

We had dinner under the stars again and a lovely chat, before retiring to have an early night after a wearying day and knowing we only drove 170km of this road and we have another 480km to drive tomorrow to reach our final destination...the beach!

 

 

Day 7 Mataranka (aka Crocodile Rock) to Katherine in our 'Taking the scenic route to the beach!'

 This morning we decided to have one last dip in the Bitter Springs warm, thermal waters, and on our stroll to the springs from the caravan park, we met an international tourist. The fella was keen to tell us about the crocodile swimming near the pool entry stairs. Undeterred, we continued to head to the pools. Near the viewing platform by the waters, a young Mum with her toddler in a pram, was keen to tell us about and showed us videos of said crocodile. It wasn't clear if it was a saltwater or freshwater croc. A team of water scientists then arrived to study the waters, and they also couldn't determine from the videos what type of croc it was. The young Mum also mentioned that the croc had been hissing and growling at them, which sounded like quite territorial behaviours. It was seen swimming away from the area where people would float and swim, though they weren't sure if the croc they had seen climbing up the bank further up was the same one, or a different one, due to the timing of the sightings.

Undeterred, Matt, Ian and David were seemingly still keen for a float down the spring, and proceeded to start climbing in the water, where a young couple were erring on whether they should continue filming their swim or not. there was no sign of any crocs at this point, Meanwhile, Brenda was taking videos and saying that this might be the last footage of our fellas alive! I had been hesitating, then decided, no the croc wasn't nearby, and so I climbed into my inflated tyre inner tube, and slipped into the warm waters. I hadn't got very far, when another young couple that had been filming there and saw the croc earlier, started calling out that the croc was coming back, the guys didn't seem worried and kept going, and I thought they were just teasing us, until they called out again more urgently, and I turned around to see the croc swimming at a rapid pace towards us. At that point, I had just passed the second set of entry stairs, and madly paddled myself against the current to reach them and get out as fast as I could! Matt wasn't far behind me either. (We estimated the croc was about 5-8 metres away from us by the time it caught up to us.) Still undeterred, Ian and David kept on floating on their pool noodles downstream with the water flow. I'm pretty sure ian and david were banking on the popping tyre inner tube creating enough of a diversion to scare the croc once it had chomped on Sal. they were gone around the first corner by the time we had completed our self preservation maneuvers.

it is a little unsettling to see a croc moving in your direction at a steady pace , and swimming 8 metres from a croc moving in your direction is a first for me, and it makes you think "im not in my natural environment, floating in this water that i cant move swiftly in. 

my sister's words of wisdom slipped through my mind , "nope" 

The croc seemed to settle across the other side of the water to the stairs, and it was around 2 metres long, probably just a large fresh water croc, but still not clear if it was. The water scientists arrived and jokingly were going to send the student in to the water for the samples they had come from Brisbane, to collect. When one also jokingly commented about OHS and assessing the safety of the situation. The young couple also decided not to keep swimming and filming themselves. although the bloke i think really wanted to. At least we knew David and Ian were safe, as we watched the croc. More tourists were coming down for a swim and watched the croc with us, and deciding against their swim. After David and Ian had returned from their float, David commented how the look on my face as I quickly turned to paddle and get out was hilarious and worth the risk of getting into the water to see my face of complete terror!! Thanks David!! they also declared the rest of the creek 400m downstream to be clear of crocs. 

We headed back to the caravan park and word was soon getting out about the croc, and by the time we had packed up and left, the gates to the thermal springs were shut (and would be for apparently around 2 weeks, so we were glad we got to enjoy the springs yesterday, albeit unknowingly sharing it with a croc, or possibly 2!) Rumour was that the croc was most likely to be the same one that comes to the springs this time of year and gets removed and moved elsewhere every year. So how do they know where to come back?!! Matt and I agree that that was maybe a bit too close to a croc as we are comfortable with! 

we think there was two chompy logs, as the filming couple had seen one climb up the bank 5mins before we got in about 300m upstream , which seemed a bit quick for it to get back to where we were by the time we got in. either way. swam with a croc. 

After we left, we drove the 100 odd kilometres to Katherine and while Meredith and I caught up on some washing at the laundromat, the fellas booked into a caravan park and filled up on some less than $2.00/litre diesel and then we headed to find a new (non bursting) gas bottle for our Clipper and then did some groceries, before heading to the caravan park to enjoy a quiet afternoon and evening, except for the screaming Curlews, now we are in Curlew zone (Curlews are birds that are known to sound like a woman screaming and tend to call at night time, and it reminds me of our time in Katherine Gorge/Nitmiluk last year, where the birds woke a camp of school kids and scared them to scream during the night.) 

The early start and adrenaline rush was exhausting!! Tomorrow we hit dirt, and start the remote road out to Nhulunbuy.

 

Day 6 Daly Waters to Mataranka on our 'Taking the scenic route to the beach!'

 We opted for a slower start to the day, heading out from Daly Waters, a little later, as we were aiming for Mataranka, a mere 165km drive, compared to the 6-700 plus kilometres that we have done on previous days. After checking in at the caravan park, we were quick to get ready and stroll down to Bitter Springs for the warm thermal waters. Since being here last year, the floods have been through, and the damage with the debris from the surrounding trees still everywhere. There was more water in the springs and even the floor of the creek was different. I enjoyed the float down in the tyre inner tube, keeping my chest safely out of the water. Matt wore the snorkel on our first float downstream, and I used it on the second run. Although neither of us spotted any turtles, you could see little fish and the greenery and sandy bottom through the clear waters. There was also evidence by the edges of the water, that wild pigs had been through too. The temperature of the water was around 30 degrees. Only a little chilly when you hopped out.

 After lunch, I had a nap and chilled in the bus reading a book, while Matt made a few running repairs as did Ian and David on their Clippers. They all went for another float in the Bitter Springs, but as I was connected up to my IV nutrition, I opted to continue to enjoy the book I was stuck into. We enjoyed dinner under the stars and all in all a great day.

running repairs were basically checking everything that was previously bolted to the underside of the bus, was still bolted to the underside of the bus. like tightening up the leaf spring mounts that i have recently repaired and they have now settled into their spot, so they tightened up a bit, greased a few suspension parts, and fixed a leak on the water tank, not really an amendment. i did weld up a broken mount on trailways, the red and cream bus, and fixed up a wiring issue that had as well . 

 then we had to go for the afternoon swim to wash off the red dirt we were now coated in. 

last nights entertainment at Daly waters  prior to watching the state of origin.

Day 5 Barkly Homestead to Daly Waters in our 'Taking the scenic route to the beach!'

 Another early start this morning, knowing our end destination was usually very popular and you can't book it. But many others thought the same thing, and there was a queue to leave the Barkly Homestead campgrounds and get fuel. You had to leave your keys at the counter, before they would turn on the bowser, and you could collect the keys once you paid. 

This was to help deal with fuel theft. Once we were back on the road, we spent the first 50km overtaking all the slower caravans. It was just under 200km before we reached the Stuart Highway and stopped for morning tea. Unfortunately, many of those same caravans then got passed us as we stopped, and once we started off again, we then had to overtake them again!

Heading north, we enjoyed the drive, as we wound through some small hills, that gave you great views from the top, overlooking the valleys and grasslands. It was looking so healthy and green. We stopped at Elliott for lunch, and had a flock of Peahens walk past. They looked like they were off on a girls day out, as no fellas were around trying to impress them!

We arrived early afternoon at Daly Waters, and the campground was already mostly full. We did our celebrity drive through the very short main street, with people lining the street filming or taking photos of the 3 Clippers. We managed to get a spot in the campground and parked up for the afternoon.

they forgot to empty the old lockup before abandoning it...

 A quiet afternoon, and stroll around the small town, and back to reserve a table for dinner, at this very popular tourist location, famous for the beef and barra dinner. We had to wait until 7pm to get ours. But it was worth the wait. Being state of origin, the evening music entertainer, who was actually really good, had to finish early. They had an outdoor screen and projector set up for the game, with plenty of Queensland supporters in the crowd. I watched for a bit but came back to the Clipper to write this up. I can hear the cheers from where we are parked up. The casualty for the day was the pipe leading to our gas pipes from the gas bottle. It blew off the end when Matt went to open the gas bottle. Luckily, our mate Ian had a spare and we will get a new one when we make it to Katherine. The weather is very warm and it is Summer clothes attire now. yes 3rd amendment is the gas hose. stole ian's spare for the moment. i opened the gas tank and the hose was hot due to the hot engine bay, and the fitting blew off the end of the hose. glad it didn't do it during the night.