Call the A A !

Sun 5 April……Got an early start but without a particular plan, just to drive north. There are 1 or 2 places on the way that look interesting that we can stop at but they are all a good distance away. The obvious place is Elliot, about 250K but talking to our neighbour, Waren “The Travelling Tradie” ( that’s what it says on the side of his truck) put us of a bit. When we get there we find a small town with an Aboriginal encampment at either end of town and the camp site is in the middle. The only things in town were the Servo (filling station), a shop, closed, and a pub closed and boarded up. We drive on. Not a lot to see, though we are moving from arid dessert to greener, eventually tropical countryside. We spot several large lizards some trying to cross the road and others that didn’t make it, a very large snake that didn’t look both ways and we avoid a couple of juvenile emus However we did not avoid a very big nail which resulted in a rear wheel puncture and a shredded tyre! Changing the wheel by the side of the road in these temperatures with the odd road train shuddering by is not ideal. Luckily a fellow traveller pulled up and gave us a hand. It brought it home to us how much we are travelling on the edge. We had to deflate the spare tyre to get the spare wheel under the wheel arch but our seasoned traveller, Bob had a compressor that ran off his engine, so we were able to re-inflate. A puncture wouldn’t be too much of a problem at home but it’s a whole different ball game in the Outback. We make our way to a very primitive campsite with Bob and Anne following. It’s way off the main road and called Daly Waters but in the guide book it says it is behind a pub and they do Barramundi and chips ! The amenities are 3 tin sheds with a loo and shower in each. Photos to follow!
Mon 6 April….. The Barra and chips were delicious and the pub is very quirky. Every bit of wall space is filled with memorabilia , from vehicle number plates to aussie rules football shirts. The worlds currencies and a very nice selection of bra’s and pants! We shared a table with Bob and Anne as we owe them a few beers. They sowed a few seeds of ideas as to where we should go after we have been to Katherine and Darwin. We may yet get to see some of the Kimberley’s and the Bungle Bungles. It will take a bit of planning.
Left Daly Waters with half a vow to return, we didn’t quite believe it the first time. We have decided to go directly to Katherine as it’s a biggish town and has a tyre depot. It’s a worry not having a spare tyre. We pulled off the highway to visit Larrimah pop 15 home of the Pink Panther photos to prove it! We had a quick look round the village shed which doubled as a WW11 museum. E also met the town Mayor who’s lived there all his life, but he remembers when the population was 25! Then onto Katherine. The countryside is very green now, with lots of wildlife, most of it dead! Wallabies have taken the place of Kangaroos as road kill and we are seeing Wedge tailed Eagles for fun. We have seen several large frogs hopping across the road and we think they may be Cane Toads. We go straight to the tyre garage half an hour and 300 bucks later we are feeling happier but poorer. All we need to do now is get the electrics sorted! The campsite is huge, nice grassed areas and the usual Olympic sized swimming pool. This one really is big 20 metres.