Our final week in Darwin passed quickly as we made
preparations to hit the road once again. We stocked up our fruit and veg at the
weekend markets and prepared some meals, which could be frozen and reheated later. On
Monday, Vic finished her stint with the NT Government, Tuesday we completed
packing the van after doing some laundry and grabbed last minute groceries. On
the return trip to Brisbane we intended to free camp as much as possible and
new we would be there in a couple of weeks, so didn’t need to load the freezer
too much.
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| Flash chilling down the highway |
The news from home was suggesting that our grandson
was going to arrive before we did so the decision was made to leave earlier
than originally planned. I moved the caravan out of the yard on Wednesday
morning and mowed the lawn while Vic did some housework. Once we were sure the house was ready for the family to come home, we gave Flash ‘the Wonder Dog’ a final bath and she was so excited she jumped up into the Jeep. She sat there until we were ready to go - there was no way she wasn’t going ‘somewhere’. Off we went and down the highway we booked her into the pet resort. It was sad to say goodbye L
At 3pm we turned onto the Stuart Highway and started our trip south. We had a good run down the highway and pulled into the Bridge Creek Rest Area (#143 in Camps 5), about 140 kms from Darwin. This area was closed when we came through in April, due to road works and even though it’s quite dusty, it’s not a bad spot. There are toilets, picnic tables, water and bins, a bit of shade and plenty of space. It’s close to the road so there is a bit of noise from the traffic. By the time happy hour was over and the sun was setting, there were 16 camps set up.
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| Bridge Creek Rest Area |
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| Katherine |
After filling the fuel tanks (145.9c/litre) we
resumed travelling south and stopped off at Mataranka for a swim in Bitter
Springs. There were quite a few more people here than last time, but it was
still refreshing and enjoyable.
We had lunch here and topped the tanks
(173.9c/litre), then continued on toward the Daly Waters Roadhouse where we
topped up the tanks again (167.9c/litre) before turning east along the
Capricorn Highway. I was going by the theory that the more I kept the tanks
topped up, the less I would have to buy at Cape Crawford or Barkly Roadhouse
where I expected the price would be close to $2.00/litre.
From here, the road became a single lane and
while it was in fairly good condition, the trip was slowed by oncoming traffic,
when I would pull off the road and stop. The truckies were happy to stay on the
road and maintain their speed but not too many others got the idea and still
left the road on their side and threw stones everywhere in the process.
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| East toward Cape Crawford along the Capricorn Highway |
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| Bullwaddy Rest Area |
90 kms from the turn off, we pulled into Bullwaddy
Rest Area (#17 in Camps 5) and set camp for the night. There were only 3 other
camps here so plenty of room was available. There are covered picnic tables,
water and bins here and it’s a peaceful spot because there is very little
traffic and the area is back from the road.
We arrived here at 6pm and since leaving Bridge
Creek we’d travelled 533 kms, making the day very long by our standards. We’d
had a problem with the water pump (in the van) all that day so were thankful for the water
available here. (More on that later.)
Until next week…. Happy travels.
