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!