Heading to Darwin

Aching Limbs and Replacement Van

The morning after yesterday's bump, Karen feels fine but I have a sore neck and back. We think might be a mix of the car hitting my side of the car more and as Karen was driving she may have absorbed some of the impact in her arms. Obviously, she's a tough northerner as well.

The guy arrived last night with the new van and we agreed to see him at 8am when he'd take it off the big loader. Next morning comes and unfortunately his loader wouldn't drop down so our van was stuck. Luckily he got the missing part and at 10am we set off.

Helpful Aussies

The bump was stressful but everyone we had contact with were great including all the emergency people. We have caught a couple of local reality TV shoes with the police roadside testing drivers and Karen was quite giddy being drink and drugs tested, all zeros. The lady at the car rental company was great she took complete ownership. Then the 2 ladies at the campsite were fantastic sorting a cabin for us when we realised we couldn't sleep in the van and being generally fantastic. Importantly, it was good that the other driver wasn't badly injured.

15 Minutes of Fame

Due to the noise of the crash and all the emergency people, everyone on the campsite knew the bump had happened and asked about it . We were campsite celebrities for a little while. We think our calmness gave a good impression for the UK.

One chap we spoke to also cleared up a mystery for us. Despite being in the middle of Australia with all the lakes dried up we had seen lots of people travelling with boats on trailers. The couple on the campsite who had a boat explained people have been fishing in the North and now travelling south to follow the sea fishing season.

NOBO

Today's journey was quite easy, definitely clear that we are heading into Darwin's tropical climate as everything is green and lots of water about and we now see palm trees. One strange bit of the journey, was at some roadworks. There were people with a go sign and the road became one lane. But just to ensure nothing went wrong there was a pilot car that took cars through in one direction then turned round and led cars from the other direction through. Not something we have seen before and not sure why.

I have been reading a blog about a girl walking the Appalachian Trail and seen the acronyms NOBO and SOBO. Our route means we are NOBO as north bound!

Too Much Information

The cabin last night made us decide to book a hotel in Darwin and enjoy a bit more space. We are now enjoying a bit more luxury. When I mentioned this plan to the ladies at the campsite office I finished up a lot detail about toilet habits and explaining I will be glad not to need to go to the toilet block for a number 2! No idea why I did this but they did both agree with the motorhome toilet rules.

The hotel is nice with a Rooftop bar looking over Darwin Harbour. We have 4 days to look round Darwin.