It's now a week since we left Gunnedah, so we decided we needed some excitement! We pulled into the Daly Waters Pub for the night. We've been there before but it's a bit of fun. The pub's full of bras, hats, badges, all sorts of memorabilia. There's a set of traffic lights out the front, everything you look at is funny.
 

They have entertainment every night; last time it was the 'chook man', this time it was a guy called "Chilli" who played the guitar, recited original poems & sang some great songs. He's a bushman from remote regions who has some great stories to tell & a unique way of looking at the world. One of the couples who we'd met along the road the other day was there too so we had happy hour & went over to the show with them. It was a good night.

We went to another place we've been to before today too; Bitter Springs in the Elsey National Park at Mataranka. They're beautiful. The spring fed water is  32 degrees; so warm & so incredibly clear. You can see right to the bottom. There's a slight current so you just drift from the first pool along the waterway for about 200 meters down to the next pool.  All the way you're surrounded by palms, green mossy edges, birds & gorgeous bushland. There's no way I'd ever just drive past; it's a little slice of heaven!

When we got into Katherine we went straight to the Information Centre. The plan was to go to Katherine Gorge tonight & spend a couple of days there, then on to Litchfield & Kakadu before going on to Darwin but the girl told us they're not all open yet. During the wet season the rivers overflow which means the crocs get into the waterways. So before they can open each year, they have to survey all of the pools, waterfalls & rivers etc to make sure there aren't any salties in them. That was enough information for both of us to decide we'll head for Darwin first:)

 

So tonight we're at the Springvale Homestead in Katherine. It's the oldest original homestead in the Northern Territory that's still standing. It was built in 1878 by a drover who took 18 months to drive his cattle & sheep all the way from South Australia. When I hear what the pioneers of this country did, it just baffles me.  Just imagine what it would have been like. They built them tough in those days.

The property is alongside the Katherine River & the bird life is incredible; there's a spring fed swimming pool, barbecues, cafe & four of the most incredible trees I've ever seen. They're South American Raintrees; they planted one for each of  their children. Their canopies are now each over 30 meters wide, just beautiful.

So tomorrow it's off to Darwin!

The long & winding road? If only. The extra long & straight road. That's what the last few days have been like - pretty mundane. We crossed into the Northern Territory this morning & tonight we're at the Three Ways Roadhouse, pub & van park. It's called three ways because you can turn towards South Australia, Darwin or Townsville from here. As we've already driven these roads before, there's not much point in taking our time & stopping so we're having pretty big days. We usually stop at rest areas so we don't often have phone or internet service at night. After Mitchell, we drove through to Blackall. We only stopped long enough to post a birthday card to Ben & have a shower at the amenities in the main street which, was really handy. The water at Blackall is from the Artesian Bore & it's really hot. You don't need a hot tap; a lot of the houses have water coolers instead of hot water systems. The only thing is that it can really smell & Blackall is one of those places where it does.  It's got a really strong sulphur smell.
 

We found a lovely rest area just out of town; I don't know why anyone would pay for a caravan park when there are places like this. From there we headed through Barcaldine, Longreach & Winton & on to a lovely little town that we know you love Chris M!  Kynuna. Bring back some good memories? It's not very popular with anyone going by this sign but I know you wouldn't be surprised by that!

This would be the third time we've driven that highway but we've never noticed Kynuna. I think there's a very good reason for that! It consists of a pub with a van park at the back & a roadhouse with a van park beside it. That's it. It was getting late & there were no decent rest areas around so we didn't have much choice. We found the roadhouse was cheaper so we went there. BIG mistake. There were road trains pulling in all night long & one even left his motor running ALL night long. He ended up pulling out at 6am & we finally got to sleep. Consequently, the next day was a bit of a late start. Not a good night.

The highlight of Kynuna was the two friendly brolgas. They came to say hello so I gave them some weetbix. I was a bit scared that they might bite my fingers though!

The next town was McKinlay which is where the Walkabout Hotel is; the one in Crocodile Dundee. Last time we went through there we were with the Southern Cross Association doing a Poker Run. There were over 100 bikes in the group & we stopped at the pub to take some photos & get some donations but somehow Phill must have been in a world of his own & he rode right by all of us! How he missed over 100 bikes sitting on the side of a road  as long & boring as this is beyond me! So, we stopped for him to have a look this time. It was pouring rain & there was no one around so the atmosphere was a bit ordinary; not like last time but at least he's seen it now.

Talk about 'the one that got away'. I could have had the photo of the century! We were driving through the ranges towards Mt Isa & there were two eagles on the road in front of us. I got a photo of them from a distance & when we got closer they were trying to take off; one with a snake in it's claws. They were right there; hovering right in front of the car; I think he was afraid to take off in case he dropped it. For some reason the damn camera wouldn't work. It would have been fantastic!

We stopped for the night just out of Mt Isa & met up with three other couples for happy hour. Two of them are heading in the same direction as us & we met up again along the road today. They stopped further back than us, it's nice to have company but we decided to keep going & get to Three Ways because we wanted to watch the footy; Broncos & Titans. It was $30 for a site for the night but they assured Phill that they'd have the footy on in the bar so we thought we'd splurge. We went over & would you believe it? They couldn't get it. Not happy! We came back to the van & tried our TV but it wouldn't work. We got the internet up & running (pretty patchy) & could listen to the Sydney game but not the Brisbane one. Rebecca was sending us texts with the score now & then so that helped.

Tomorrow we'll start on our way up the Stuart Highway towards Darwin. Our days should get more interesting soon!

WE'RE ON OUR WAY!

We left home a bit later than planned (it wouldn't be us if we didn't) . Phill put the car in for a computer analysis & tune up cos he had to make sure it wasn't going to break down on us. He's now told me 'she'll be right' so of course I'm feeling very reassured!

We spent a very pleasant first night at Katrina & Chris's in Groomsville to get us on our way, cos we left too late to head through the city then we headed to Phill's Mum's in Gunnedah for a few nights. She's an amazing woman, she's 91 & she tells stories of when she was a girl as if it were yesterday; her memory is incredible. She has a 1/4 acre block full of award winning gardens which she mows & tends all by herself. She puts many younger people to shame - including us. We had a lovely few days with her.

Anyway, we're finally on our way back up north. We left Gunnedah yesterday & spent last night outside Lightning Ridge. We headed into town this morning & went straight to the Tourist Info centre to find out what we should see while we were there. I was amazed when the girl said they recommend people stay 3 or 4 days. I couldn't see how anyone could spend that long in Lightning Ridge so I told her we're only passing through on our way north so what could we see in 1 day? She suggested the 'Car Door Tours'; there are 4 of them; red, blue, yellow & green (almost like the Wiggles!) We paid for our information sheet & set off to see the incredible sights of Lightning Ridge!

As you can probably imagine, the red car door tour starts on a corner where there's a red car door & there are red car doors at each attraction along the way. Same goes for the yellow one etc. etc.  Pretty easy to follow. So Phill was the driver & I was the navigator, telling him where to turn & reading out the information about each attraction. We began with the red car door tour & immediately missed a turnoff!  It was an awful, slippery dirt road (it was raining) & if you got out to see anything, your feet got caked in sticky mud. There was an Astronomers Monument; a very curious concrete structure &  somebody's home which is called 'Amigo's Castle'; the only decent structure in the whole town.

The shanties people live in are awful, they reminded me of Rubyvale out near Emerald. You can come out here, pay $200 to stake a claim & put down a shaft & look for opals & that's what 90% of the town look like they've done.  They live in crappy tin sheds & some may have the luxury of an old caravan. Apparently you used to be able to come out & find opals in the old mullock heaps but they reckon there's nothing left anymore so no good looking.

Next we started on the yellow tour; I started giving instructions & reading the info, then about 1 1/2 kms up the road we realised none of it was lining up, I'd started too soon. Durrr.  It was probably worse than the red tour, not much to see but old mullock heaps & shanties, a few old tools & an old open cut mine hole.  Like the toilet? The seat would be a bit sharp on the bum!

                                             
This church was built up there for a movie  'Goddess of 1967'; a weird art house film which wasn't very successful apparently. After the excitement of the yellow & red tours, we didn't think we could handle anymore so we didn't find out what was 'behind the green door', or the blue one for that matter! We were going to go to the Artesian Baths but they were closed for cleaning so we headed off. Three or four days in this town might be a bit much! Time to get a bit further north.

We were going to head out through Quilpie, Windorah but with the rain & how bad the roads were after the floods last summer we thought it safer to head up through St. George. The roads are pretty cut up & there's still a bit of a mess in the town, mud over streets & that. It's a pretty big river, the Balonne.  I hate to imagine it overflowing!  They reckon flood level starts at 4 meters & it went to 13!

So, tonight we're in Mitchell; only about a day's drive from home. But, we've seen Phill's Mum & we've seen some sights we wouldn't have otherwise so it was worth it. We're camped at the weir just outside of town, a lovely camp spot. Tomorrow we'll head further north towards Longreach.