2800km later (by Tinks)
Sheesh! I'm exhausted! After my stint in hospital I was raring to go, so I packed the kids up 
and headed off out from Cairns up into the Atherton Tablelands. I'm not as young as I used to be, so the clunk halfway up the hill worried Pete and Faye a little, but in true mam-style I just shook it off and happily bowled along at 100km/h on the deserted highways. The Tablelands were lush and green with shady parking spots for me whilst P&F went to check out wonders such as the Curtain Fig (huge mad tree-thing). The Tablelands soon gave way to the famous Aussie outback... dusty roads, blazing sun, dead roos and scary road trains. Man, those things are huge! They nearly ran me off the road at one point! 
By the time we got to our camp on the first night I was ready for a rest. Pete and Faye set up camp and watched the stars (Faye kept eagerly pointing out satellites but Pete was unimpressed, for some reason). As it was a free camp (a roadside rest area to allow people to take a break from long journeys) there were no lights (or toilets) but that didn't worry our intrepid travellers - a flannel, a washing up bowl of water, a jug and a very cunning back awning for privacy facilitates a lovely refreshing wash for those stinky humans (although they didn't treat me to a rub down until day 5, selfish brats). The early morning light of day 2 was amazing. The colours in the outback are stunning. Reds and blues. 
A roo hopped over to say hello to Faye having a pee, which we thought was nice of him. Then we headed out again on the one-lane road (watch out for those road trains)... the termite mounds filled the land at either side, looking like strange sci-fi invaders. There were loads of HUGE eagles feeding on the squished roos. We didn't see other vehicles for ages. 
Camp again was free (although the guys were treated to toilets this time - luxury) but as we were further inland even my warm engine from the day's slog couldn't keep P&F warm. So the next night (after we'd finally passed from Queensland into the Northern Territory, along with its half hour time difference) they wrapped themselves in thermals, sleeping bags and duvet, bless 'em! Day 4 brought the junction at Three Ways, where a trip North to the sunshine of Darwin was agreed on.
After a sweltering drive, we stopped at a pay campsite (4 quid between them) so that F&P could cool down in the pool, have a shower and some toast! Aw. No need for the sleeping bags that night, things were certainly hotting up as we went north. Merrily we rolled along in the Oz sun, through the most remote "towns" you could ever imagine - how people live in those places God only knows, you can't even get proper milk and butter in the shops, never mind coconut milk and coriander, they'd die of choice in a Sainsbury's. P&F stopped off to swim in a thermal pool early morning (before it hotted up). That was lovely and blue surrounded by big trees. 
Then that afternoon we rolled into Katherine and headed up to the gorge... the intrepid travellers were so hot they ran down to the river and jumped right in to cool off. Northern girls can't stand the heat of Northern Territory. It makes them sticky. I enjoyed my relax at the national park camp that night, surrounded by trees with friendly wallabies coming to say hello. Faye washed all the red outback dust off me too, which was lovely. A gecko climbed into my laundry bag and was quite a nice pet... but Faye didn't realise until she hung the washing out to dry and found a very clean dead lizard in amongst her smalls... with his detached tail elsewhere in the washing. Boo. She wasn't to know, I suppose, but I miss the little fella now. Anyway, the kids left me to keep the milk cold and went for a canoe up the Katherine Gorge. 
Bless 'em, after all that walking in New Zealand they were fit as fiddles, but Oz has been a little more sedentary and they were knackered after their 4 hour paddle. On the way they came soooooo close to crocs it was unreal (harmless Freshies though, don't panic) and they went for a swim (away from the crocs, obviously). 
A little bit of paradise. After another free camp that night we finally reached our destination - Darwin, capital of the Northern Territory. Here we're meeting up with 2 other vehicles (one, a funky blue van called Ernie is a little older than me and is hot) and we all set off towards Kakadu before the end of the week. After that we head west, hopefully arriving in Broome so that Faye can celebrate her 30th in style. If not, it will be champagne and bloody Marys somewhere in a rest area on the highway, but hec, what's wrong with that?
and headed off out from Cairns up into the Atherton Tablelands. I'm not as young as I used to be, so the clunk halfway up the hill worried Pete and Faye a little, but in true mam-style I just shook it off and happily bowled along at 100km/h on the deserted highways. The Tablelands were lush and green with shady parking spots for me whilst P&F went to check out wonders such as the Curtain Fig (huge mad tree-thing). The Tablelands soon gave way to the famous Aussie outback... dusty roads, blazing sun, dead roos and scary road trains. Man, those things are huge! They nearly ran me off the road at one point! 
By the time we got to our camp on the first night I was ready for a rest. Pete and Faye set up camp and watched the stars (Faye kept eagerly pointing out satellites but Pete was unimpressed, for some reason). As it was a free camp (a roadside rest area to allow people to take a break from long journeys) there were no lights (or toilets) but that didn't worry our intrepid travellers - a flannel, a washing up bowl of water, a jug and a very cunning back awning for privacy facilitates a lovely refreshing wash for those stinky humans (although they didn't treat me to a rub down until day 5, selfish brats). The early morning light of day 2 was amazing. The colours in the outback are stunning. Reds and blues. 
A roo hopped over to say hello to Faye having a pee, which we thought was nice of him. Then we headed out again on the one-lane road (watch out for those road trains)... the termite mounds filled the land at either side, looking like strange sci-fi invaders. There were loads of HUGE eagles feeding on the squished roos. We didn't see other vehicles for ages. 
Camp again was free (although the guys were treated to toilets this time - luxury) but as we were further inland even my warm engine from the day's slog couldn't keep P&F warm. So the next night (after we'd finally passed from Queensland into the Northern Territory, along with its half hour time difference) they wrapped themselves in thermals, sleeping bags and duvet, bless 'em! Day 4 brought the junction at Three Ways, where a trip North to the sunshine of Darwin was agreed on.
After a sweltering drive, we stopped at a pay campsite (4 quid between them) so that F&P could cool down in the pool, have a shower and some toast! Aw. No need for the sleeping bags that night, things were certainly hotting up as we went north. Merrily we rolled along in the Oz sun, through the most remote "towns" you could ever imagine - how people live in those places God only knows, you can't even get proper milk and butter in the shops, never mind coconut milk and coriander, they'd die of choice in a Sainsbury's. P&F stopped off to swim in a thermal pool early morning (before it hotted up). That was lovely and blue surrounded by big trees. 
Then that afternoon we rolled into Katherine and headed up to the gorge... the intrepid travellers were so hot they ran down to the river and jumped right in to cool off. Northern girls can't stand the heat of Northern Territory. It makes them sticky. I enjoyed my relax at the national park camp that night, surrounded by trees with friendly wallabies coming to say hello. Faye washed all the red outback dust off me too, which was lovely. A gecko climbed into my laundry bag and was quite a nice pet... but Faye didn't realise until she hung the washing out to dry and found a very clean dead lizard in amongst her smalls... with his detached tail elsewhere in the washing. Boo. She wasn't to know, I suppose, but I miss the little fella now. Anyway, the kids left me to keep the milk cold and went for a canoe up the Katherine Gorge. 
Bless 'em, after all that walking in New Zealand they were fit as fiddles, but Oz has been a little more sedentary and they were knackered after their 4 hour paddle. On the way they came soooooo close to crocs it was unreal (harmless Freshies though, don't panic) and they went for a swim (away from the crocs, obviously). 
A little bit of paradise. After another free camp that night we finally reached our destination - Darwin, capital of the Northern Territory. Here we're meeting up with 2 other vehicles (one, a funky blue van called Ernie is a little older than me and is hot) and we all set off towards Kakadu before the end of the week. After that we head west, hopefully arriving in Broome so that Faye can celebrate her 30th in style. If not, it will be champagne and bloody Marys somewhere in a rest area on the highway, but hec, what's wrong with that?
posted by Faye @ 4:57 am
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