Well, in our last blog I had let you all know that Ethan and Steve had headed off into the wild blue yonder to pit their survival skills against nature. Of course they were supremely confident that since it was the “dry” season that sleeping under the stars, or under a makeshift shelter wouldn’t be sooooo tough. Well, true to form that ONE night they were out…… it teemed, bucketed down, a torrential ‘heavens opening’ downpour that had them drenched to the skin, and Steve tells me that more than once Ethan would softly ask “please, can we sleep in the car now”. But no – they ‘slept’ in the rain. They had platted some pandanas leaves for a small makeshift shelter (but had only half finished it), and had made a fire using a flint (but it of course had gone out in the rain). The next day they were lucky to get out of the gorge they were camped in due to the road conditions, and on their return both they and the car were covered from top to toe with thick thick mud! Apparently they tell me it was “great fun” and they are planning another one with Paul (s) , Adrian, Ziggy, Oliver, & Asher when we get back. There is no accounting for taste! (Girls maybe a 5 star spa resort at the same time might be in order!!)
Since our last update we have hiked to Edith Falls, climbed through the Cutta Cutta caves (and Ethan was very interested in the left over bird leg and ½ bird head that a ghost bat had left once it had eaten enough of this recent meal at the entrance to the caves. )
We have had lots of fun at the local markets and have been to see the Baseball grand final game (which was the Tindall team vs a local aboriginal side). It was so much fun to watch a baseball game after so long. It certainly reminded me of lots of wonderful times watching Daniel pitching amazing fast balls, and hitting the ball out of the park. Have to say Dan – your pitching was so much faster than anyone in this game!!
We had dropped off the truck into the garage to have the handbrake adjusted before we head off again at the end of the week – but it has been returned with something seriously amiss with the back end. So looks like the car will be back at the garage again on Monday (hopefully an easy fix so that it won’t hold up our plans).
At the end of this week we will be heading off for our return journey to QLD. We had originally intended to head down to Alice Springs, Uluru, Kings Canyon and the Olgas, and then head back up to Daly Waters and across and into QLD. But, we have realized we j have run out of time to do everything we would like to on this trip (Oh well, excuse to start planning the next one!) – So instead we intend to head along the Roper Hwy from Mataranka to Urapunga, and then along the Savannah Way to Borroloola hugging the Gulf of Carpentaria to Burketown, Normanton, Georgetown to Cairns – then down the Coast to home!
Given that this trip has been full of natural elements that have meant a need to be flexible and change plans at the drop of a hat – it will be interesting to see where we end up!
Stay tuned!
Hugs to all
