August 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 Sorry this is so long guys but we have had no service since we left Darwin so I was just tapping away in a word doc. and then have had a very worrying time with Greg as you will read so was in no mood for updates yesterday. Monday started off with doing some of the packing up ready for a quick getaway on Tuesday morning. We then went into the city as we needed the barcode from Camera House to claim our Nikon rebate and we were meeting Ken and Lou Hearn for lunch. Had lunch at the Sailing Club and a good old catch up with the Hearns. We had a cute little lizard join us for lunch which Ian got a photo of. It is beautiful at the Sailing Club watching over the yachts etc. moored there and the food is yummy!! When we got back Ian washed the annexe and once that was dry – which was no time at all in Darwin’s heat – we packed as much as we could and we were able to chill out and chat with Annie Weldon when she called in on her way home from work. After dinner 2 lots of neighbours from the Park came over for drinks which was great and gave us a chance to say goodbye. Pam manages the Cafe in the Park over the dry season and Alex is a Diesel Mechanic with a very large crane company. They are on the road and then stay for a while in places where they can get work – there are so many who combine working with their travels – it has really given us food for thought!!!!! Kim and Jenny also do the same and Kim works with the ground staff at Hidden Valley. They are from Tasmania and they have a Vegetable growing business there which Jenny runs but manages to get up to Darwin every few weeks to have some time with Kim. Kim has also worked in Parks on the Sunshine Coast and he has got to know a lot of people from Cohuna who stay up there for the winter!!! Sadly said farewells and thank you to the office staff on our way out Tuesday, got one last traveller coffee from Pam and we were on our way. We had a really good run and had lunch at Mataranka and Ian was feeling fine so went on to Daly Waters. No where near as crowded as it was in the peak season on the way up and managed to get a site where we could leave the car & van hooked up for an easy departure in the morning. This Pub is so unreal everytime you look you see something you hadn’t seen on the last visit!!! Met 2 girls from Ballarat during Happy Hour, had a nice meal and off to bed as we had done over 500 kms yesterday and that is about as much as my back can take in a day !!! Today – Wednesday – is the day our cabin is due on site so am hoping our Cohuna building supervisors -Bruce and Denise!!! can get a photo of it sometime this week and send it to us. We were going to ring last night but there is no service out here!! We hope to get to 3 Ways today and we can stay behind the roadhouse there. It is nice being back in the outback again but we did enjoy the little luxuries Darwin offered such as green grass under your feet - here it is red dirt!!!! As usual plans change – we stayed at Banka Banka Station on Wednesday night. We have had no phone or wifi since leaving Darwin so this will be a bible by the time you get it!!!! It was lovely and green at Banka Banka and had a big campfire in the evening at the back of the bar which is in the old homestead. At Daly Waters we had power but no water/at Banka Banka we had water but no power – luckily the caravan is very self sufficient!!! Thursday we got to Tennant Creek – not a nice place unfortunately – every window in town has bars on it and most shops have steel doors!!!!! The busiest part of town was the Courthouse!!! They have a very high crime rate in Tennant Creek. We did visit the Museum which is a few kms out of town and also the Original Telegraph Station also out of town. Both were beautifully presented so hope they don’t get vandalised. Ian managed to get a couple of bars on his phone in Tennant Creek township and we were very upset to have 2 messages from Di to say Greg (Ian’s youngest brother who lives in The Philippines) has taken a turn for the worse with the typhoid over in Cebu Hospital. We rang Di and she and Jess were flying there last night so will be very anxious until we get to Alice Springs today – Friday – to be able to get service and ring Di over there. It is a pain not having service at a time like this. Also rang Julie as apparently Di sent an email to everyone but of course we didn’t know anything . We are both very worried and concerned and praying Greg will be okay. We stayed at Wycliffe last night – the most sightings of UFOs anywhere in Australia have been here apparently. On the way in we stopped at the Devil’s Marbles which is groups of massive round boulders perched on top of each other and some of them look like they have been sliced in half – quite an amazing spectacle. Neither of us have slept very well so will be leaving here at day break. We should be in Alice Springs by late morning today and we are staying at the foot of the MacDonnell Ranges at the Big Four so will see what is happening with Greg and make the rest of our plans after that. We were both very tired and very flat when we got to Alice Springs so have not even had a look around yet – will do something today (Saturday) – we do know they have blood donors on standby for Greg as he has a rare blood type and also an airlift to Singapore if that is needed so hope we hear better news today. Much love, Jan and Ian xxxx
Posted on: Fri, 30 Aug 2013 23:19:21 +0000