July/ August 2011

Time to move on and hit the wild Cape and the tip of Australia. This was very exciting for us as it is the fifth and final extremity for us to visit.

We headed for Cape Tribulation, crossed the Daintree River (on the cable ferry) and found a campground for the night. Then disaster struck, worse than anything you could imagine. Chris discovered that Alex had taken the bag of camera chargers out of the car and left them in the Priestleys caravan. Oh my god, the end of the world is nye.

A few phone calls to Ross and they were located. The next morning Ross drove up to the ferry and I met him there for the big hand over. Possibly one of the biggest disasters in modern time averted. (Back at Cape Trib.....) we were camped in a small muddy site and it absolutely poured all night and again while we were packing up. In all our years of travel that was the first wet pack up in the camper trailer, and boy it was wet!!! We were soaked, the canvas was soaked and most of our gear was also soaked. Some nice people in a van next to us sat and watched while they sipped on their cups of tea, quietly thinking I am sure, thank god, we bought a caravan. It was miserable, believe me. The weather forecast for the next few days was not a lot better - just great.

On our way out we visited the Cape Trib information centre as we wanted to travel the Bloomfield track, but thought due to the rain it may be closed. Luckily it was open, but they made us swear on the bible that we had a 4 wheel drive, that we would travel in low range and not go over 10 kms/ hr. It's a very dangerous road she told us 20 times, and make sure you are not towing anything.
Then you will have to contend with the Bloomfield River crossing. Not many make it across alive. Oh my god. She had us nervous wrecks. Should we, shouldn't we???????


                                              The Bloomfield Track

As I have said so many times before, don't listen to what other people say, it's like chinese whispers, the story just gets bigger and bigger. We hit the track and it was beautiful, even in the drizzling rain. The views from the lookouts, not so great but we could live with that. It is a beautiful road that could be transversed in a Datsun 120Y. As for the extremely steep low range hills, they must have washed away with all the rain. It is an easy trip that any caravan could handle. In saying that there were a number of water crossings, some wide but not very deep. The mighty Bloomfield River was a concrete causeway that was about 2'' deep. Very scary stuff, believe me.


                                                Wujai Wujai Falls

Just over the causeway you head (R) to Cooktown. If you head (L) about 1 km down the road is the Bloomfield Falls (or Wujai Wujai Falls). Due to the recent heavy rain the falls were almost the best we have ever seen. The amount of water was hard to imagine. See there are some benefits to traveling in the rain.

Next night we pulled into the Lion's Den Hotel. This is one of those iconic must stay at places. The campground is excellent as are the amenities. It is on the banks of the Little Annan River. By now the weather was on the improve and a chance to dry a few things out. We had dinner up at the hotel, great meal and a great atmosphere. The pub is very similar to the Daley Waters Pub, with all sorts of things covering the walls. There were a couple of rough looking bushies there who appeared not to have 5 cents between them. They had consumed  a few and were rather vocal, but funny. They decided they would have an arm wrestle contest betting $200, with the winnings going to the RFDS.


                                                The Lion's Den Hotel

They moved people off the tables and it started. Groaning, sweat and a few colourful words and we had a winner. The crowd cheered with the loser handing over the loot to the barman. He may have been a little intoxicated but he still remembered to ask for a tax receipt. He is most likely loaded. The great part about it all was the winner also put in 200 bucks. The Great Aussie spirit is alive and well.

Next stop Cooktown. Cooktown has always had me intrigued. Not sure why but it was a place I really wanted to see, and I was actually offered a job there at the end of 2010, but I had to decline as we decided to do Tasmania instead. There are many caravan parks to choose from, all bloody expensive. Not sure why as they are nothing flash. Must be the short tourist season, make the cash while you can. Cooktown is really nice, just as I had imagined it. Situated on the ocean and the Endeavour River, it has lovely parks and walkways with palm trees by the dozen providing shade for those that wanted to sit and take in the ambience of the area. It has a very small shopping area with an IGA and small shops scattered along the main road with the river as a backdrop.


 
                                         Cooktown - a really lovely spot.


                                          The Captain Cook Museum

We decided to buy a new tarp to cover the camper should it rain, knowing full well if we bought one, the rain would stop, which it did. We had a couple of nights in Cooktown and visited everything there was to see, including the Captain Cook Museum. Cooktown is still remote, but now has an all weather bitumen road into Cairns, only a few hours away. That's remote with facilities nice and close. I could definitely see Chris and I spending a few months there at some stage in the future.

We got away and started to make our way up the Peninsula Development Road North. If heading this way we would suggest buying the Ron and Viv Moon, Cape York book. It is a great resource and tells you pretty much everything you need to know and see. The Development Road goes pretty much straight up the guts, is around 700 kms long and generally well maintained, give or take a few million corrugations. There are side roads shooting off in all directions to any number of beaches and sights. You would need 3 months to see them all, and as we only had 1 month, we had to pick and choose.

We passed through a tiny little place called Laura and stopped to check out this little old Austin Chummy that actually made it all the way to the tip back in 1928. Just imagine what the roads would have been like back then. All of a sudden you don't feel so tough doing the trip in your big flashy four wheel drive. This thing was so small, I reckon the kids and I could have picked it up and walked off with it. We then set up camp for the night in one of the many Roadhouses along the way. These are cheap (usually $20-00 a night per family), have toilets and if you are lucky a shower, maybe warm, maybe not.



                         Hann River Roadhouse campground with Mr Emu


This one, Hann River Roadhouse was huge, plenty of room to spread out complete with a resident and very friendly emu. He was a funny chap and seemed to take a liking to us, as you would!!

The weather was definitely on the improve as we packed up and continued north. Next stop was Coen for a quick look around and an ice-cream. Not much here except for the rather well known Exchange Hotel that had a name change when someone climbed up on the roof and added an "S" making it the Sexchange Hotel. It was a bit too early to start drinking so we continued on our way, stopping at the Archer River Roadhouse for an 'Archer Burger'. Very nice and worth a try but still not in the same league as a Kimberley Beef Burger from Drysdale Station on the way to Kalumburu.

 
                    Chillie Beach. Shame about the wind and the rubbish.



                               Chillie Beach - hunting and gathering

The kids kept themselves busy collecting and opening coconuts. Harry used a tent peg while Alex beat them to death with a tomahawk. Lucky he didn't chop his foot off. We had a drive around to check out a small fishing village close by called Portlands Road, visited Lockhart River Community (that was just like every other community we have lived in), walked the beach and enjoyed the downtime. There were a lot of families doing the trip so we were hopeful of meeting up with some along the track. As everyone is either heading north or south, as long as they are going in the same direction as you are, you are bound to bump into them again. On our last morning there, we were packing up when we heard a car speeding out of the campground, followed by a big crash. Ha, ha, I thought. You have hit a tree. I ran down the track to find nothing except a tool box laying on the ground, tools spread everywhere. He must have left them on the back of the car and taken off, going so fast he didn't hear them hit the deck. Thank you dickhead. Next time slow down. There were some nice tools amongst them, including a Leatherman Supertool which is now mine.


          Weipa. The campground, footy night and the magnificent sunsets.

The trip back to the Development Rd took nearly 3 hours and then it was into Weipa. We had tried to book but they do not take bookings so it was first in, best dressed. It is a very large park, absolutely on the water. It is nicely maintained and it was busy, really busy. It is actually a campground, not a caravan park but they do have powered sites. After paying you drive around until you find an empty site. That is only half the battle. Then you have to see if there is power nearby and if there is a spare outlet. There were cords running in all directions, over roads and up trees. I seriously think they need a better system. We scored a nice site next to a couple Kev and Lorraine in a big Kedron. They were a great couple and we became pretty friendly with them. As luck would have it our chances of getting to do the Old Telegraph Line (OTL) were about to improve, dramatically.

There were two families with kids traveling together camped behind us. They were from Sydney and were absolutely doing the OTL, despite all the doom and gloom stories. They had planned this trip for many months and nothing was going to stop them. Over the next few days we chatted and had drinks. They asked if we were planning on doing the OTL and I am not sure if it was the sad tale about our friends pulling out at the last minute or me bursting into tears, but whatever it was they asked if we would like to join them on that part of the journey. Bloody oath. So Shad and Natasha and Barry and Kerry became our newest and bestest friends. Sunset drinks on the beach became the thing to do, as did the tour of the Rio Bauxite mine.


 
                                                  Weipa Bauxite Mine

We washed, shopped and explored the local area. It is very similar to Nhulunbuy, not just because they are both Bauxite mines. In many ways they were similar, same housing, same infrastructure and very similar terrain. If you had the time you could easily spend a week or more here, fishing and relaxing. I also booked the car into a local mechanics that looked like a front for a bikie gang. It was a pretty wild turn-out but they were nice blokes and did a good job, not only welding up the broken bracket but also adding two more very substantial brackets to brace the dump pipe and support the main exhaust. I am very sure the problem has now been fixed, and it didn't cost an arm and a leg. If you are in Weipa and need some work done see the lads at Rebel Auto Repairs.


                    Bramwell Station - about to set off on the big adventure

 On Friday 8th July it was time for the true purpose of the journey to commence. Stage one was for us all to meet at Bramwell Station campground before heading off bright and early the next day to tackle the OTL. We arrived there just after lunch, set up and then drove the few kms to the beginning of the OTL, to watch a few cars tackle Palm Creek before it was our turn the next morning. This was to turn out to be one of the more difficult decents and exits of the trip. When we pulled up for a look Chris went a little pale as the reality of what she may encounter over the next few days sank in. It was steep, long and very rutted. We watched a number of vehicles approach it with different lines, some coming to grief and some doing it rather easily. We spent a number of hours there watching the activity. This was like chicken rock at Uluru. If you can't do this one, time to turn around. Chris was starting to doubt my abilities, the car's abilities and her ability not to wet her pants in fear. It was then back to the campsite for dinner and an early night. I must say I did wake a few times wondering what laid ahead.

Saturday we were up bright and early as we wanted to get on the track before anyone else. The creek exits gets more slippery as more cars get through and you don't really want to be held up too much. We all refueled and then hit the OTL. How exciting. Palm Creek was not too bad. We picked a good line and got down with ease. Believe it or not the camper actually made all the decents very easy. The reason is that some are very steep. The car is unable to maintain traction and slips down, often with a big crunch at the bottom. What I did was not use the car brakes at all, low range, 1st gear and applied the trailer brakes using the electric brake controller. The reason this worked so well was because the trailer had not yet started its decent, so was still on level ground. With the trailer brakes locked up the car was pulling the trailer over the edge creating a sand or dirt mound in front of the trailer tyres acting like a chock. We had beautiful controlled decents. Then when the car got to the bottom, I let off the trailer brakes and the weight of the trailer still coming down the hill pushed the car through the often boggy bottom. It was so easy.


          The beginning - Palm Creek crossing. Much steeper than it looks.

Getting up the other side of Palm Creek was going to be a bit more challenging. Half way up and lost traction. Backed back a few metres and then straight up. The limited slip diffs on the Patrols are without a doubt the best on the market. This trip really brought home why the Patrol really is one of the most capable four wheel drives on the market.

We then crossed South and North Alice Creeks and Dulcie Creek which were nothing, and then the Dulhunty River. This looked really difficult but after we walked it and had a plan it was a piece of cake. The kids had a ball here playing in the white clay walls of the river, followed by a swim at the crossing.

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                                           Dulcie Creek -a shocking exit.

There are crocs a-plenty up this way but pick a good spot and it is as safe as houses. Clear rock pools with limited or no entry and exits are the way to go. We then crossed Bertie Creek before the most feared of them all, Gunshot.


                  Dulhunty River - great place to wash off the dust.
 
We had heard horror stories about this for weeks. You will never get through, it will be the end of you, blah, blah, blah. Again the entry was steep but the trailer held us back. Then  you dropped into a muddy river bed that had a solid bottom. That bit was easy. If you just had a car not towing anything, this would be a cinch.

                     Tackling the feared Gunshot - mud, mud and more mud.





                     The Beautiful Elliott Falls and us clowning around.

 
                  Twin Falls. This is the place to float around and relax.

 
     Elliott/Twin Falls campground. The kids danced while we enjoyed the fire.

Next stop for two nights was at Elliott Falls Campground. Elliott Falls and Twin Falls are an absolute must do. Sensational. We arrived before most of the people had left getting in around 10-00am. We had a choice of a number of good spots but if you got there after midday you would be struggling. At least two nights or longer is needed here. Both the swimming holes, Twin Falls and Elliott Falls are only a 10 minute walk from the camp ground and only a minute or two apart. Elliott Falls is great for jumping off while Twin Falls is great for laying around and soaking and after a few days in the dust a soak is great. It was a lazy few days with our only outing to Fruit Bat Falls. Again worth a visit.
The campground here is also worth a mention. Well laid out, private, good toilets and taps scattered around with plenty of water for showering and washing up.




                                        Canal Creek - a slippery sucker

 Next day up bright and early again and hit part 2 of the OTL. First crossing only a few kms from our campground was Canal Creek, which is also a nice spot to camp. We arrived behind a group of about six cars all with campers with the average age of the occupants being about 83 years. The bloke who thought he was in charge was a complete tosser so we worked out how we could get in front of them. There were two ways out of here. The easy and the hard. They took the easy while we took the hard, which was much more fun but they still managed, with all their stuffing around, to get in front of us. Luckily they all pulled over a few kms down the track for a cuppa tea, a pee and to take their medications. Next was Sams Creek then Mistake Creek. This again had a steep entry but a walk in the park for the Patrol and the very skilled operator!!

The next spot I was really looking forward to seeing. The famous log bridge across Cypress Creek. Whenever there are photos or footage of the OTL, the log bridge is in it. The Gall Bros spent hours stuck on it during their Kedron adventure up the OTL. I was so excited, and then so disappointed. It looks nothing like any photo I had seen. It had been almost completely filled with sand, didn't look at all scary nor was it very challenging. Don't you just hate the big build up, then the letdown.


                                  The Log Bridge over Cyprus Creek.

 Drum roll please. Nolan Brooke River Crossing. The most feared on the OTL. One bloke told us 40 cars had been written off this season (which has only been a few weeks), not to do it, don't even go there. As we pulled up there was a Landcruiser that had just been towed out with water running out of all the doors and the camper full of water. Food, clothes and gear all soaked. Chris went that same pale colour she went at Palm Creek. It will be OK, I said full of bravado and confidence. The crossing is not very wide and has two entries. They are close together and looked very similar. Everyone who was getting stuck was using the (R) hand entry. A few that had got through used the (L) hand entry and hugged the bank. We walked it 10 times and while deep, it was not even close to the bonnet. The problem was the soft silty bottom. Tyres down to 5 psi (true story) and the car bra on and off we went. First went Shad, no worries, Barry, too easy and then us. Are you on the edge of your seat yet?? Straight through, easy as, didn't even look like getting stuck. We all had our snatch straps on ready, someone in the water and a car on the other side for an instant pull if needed.


           Nolan's Crossing - this is how you do it. Didn't even look like stopping.

 
         Nolans Crossing - this is how 'not' to do it. Wet carpet for weeks.

We camped there the night and watched a few more come across. Every time we heard a car we walked down, gave them our worldly advice and watched. One guy chose  not to listen, took the other entry and, stuck solid. In fact he was so stuck even his winch was useless. His car was full of water as was his trailer. Not happy Jan. Should listen to your elders next time. So that was pretty much it for the OTL. It was without a doubt the highlight of the Cape Trip 2011. We are so glad we did it and would love to do it again. It really is one of the great four wheel driving tracks of Australia.

Next day we were back on the Development Road, a little sad to have the OTL behind us. We arrived at the Jardine ferry, should have fueled up as it was 20 cents a litre cheaper than on the other side, and made our way to Bamaga. Now the OTL, Elliott Falls  and many other beautiful spots are constantly talked about, but none as much as the Bamaga Bakery. We pulled up and filled up with pies, custard tarts and anything else that was bad for us. Yum, yum. We decided on Loyalty Beach Caravan Park as it was right on the beach. We ended up with a great ocean front site big enough for us all. The other caravan park that seems popular is Seisa which is a few kms out of town.We had a look at it and although the beach was much nicer, the park itself was a bit run down and grubby. We were very happy with our choice, so close to the action. We again bumped into another two families who were traveling together. Steve and Viv are from Broome and Terry and Debbie from Tweed Heads. I think we first met them in Weipa, saw them again on the OTL, Bamaga and up at the tip. They are a good bunch, good for a laugh and a beer.


           The famous Croc tent - this is a must visit souvenir shop.

The excitement was building as the next morning we planned to head to the tip, the very top of Australia and the last extremity for us to visit. I went to bed that night thinking, boy I hope I don't die in my sleep tonight, that would really crap me off. Luckily I didn't and we made our way up there, first dropping in at the famous Croc tent to part with nearly $300-00 in t-shirts, stubby coolers and all sorts of other stuff I am sure we don't want. Just got caught up in the moment I guess. The walk to the tip and the sign only takes about 10 minutes. You go up a hill and from the top you can look down and see the point and the sign, that beautiful sign. I did get a little teary (yes, I am getting softer as I get older) as getting to this final extremity has seen the end of a 5 year quest to get to them all. We spent well over an hour there looking, reflecting and of course taking a thousand photos of us and the sign, in every possible pose and from every possible angle. (And yes, those hunks of land in the background are only islands!!)



                          The very top of Australia and our last extremity.

 Australia has got some real characters. When we got out to the point there was a group of golfers, out on the end of a rock with a little carpet square happily belting a bucket full of golf balls out into the ocean. They were having the time of their life and celebrating their achievement doing what they love.

The photos below are us at all points of this continent. Byron Bay is by far the easiest, South Point (Wilsons Promontory, Vic) was the hardest by a country mile (with the overnight hike)
and with Steep Point (WA) and Cape York being the most remote. The most Southern Point of Australia, South East Cape in Tasmania was a breeze compared to this effort. Next year we will visit Canberra to do a drive up to Mt. Kosciuszko and do the highest point and then at some stage actually get to Lake Eyre and officially be at the lowest. Then of course there is Lambert's Centre  blah, blah, blah,  blah. When will it end? Hopefully never would be my answer.


 
                                     All five extremities of Australia
Steep Point WA, Cape Byron NSW, South Point Vic, South East Cape Tasmania, Cape York QLD
 

Next day was a quiet one with a few domestic chores and a look around the town area, including a trip back to the bakery.

Next morning bright and early it was down to the marina for a day trip over to Thursday Island and Horn Island. The weather was not perfect but it did not rain. The trip over does not take that long (approx 70 minutes) and before long we had arrived on the very pretty but small Thursday Island with a land mass of only 3.4 sq kms. It is smaller than I expected with the main part of town settled on the edge of a large protected bay. The hospital has a magnificent 250 degree ocean view. It is perched on the end of a point and looks rather mod. It would not be the place to be if a tsunami was to occur. There are a lot of Govt. offices on the island and a lot of money has been spent on infrastructure. We did a bus tour which showed us all over town including the Green Hill Fort Museum. Thursday Island played an important role in protecting our northern waters during WWII.




                                        Thursday Island and the boat trip.

  Green Hill was first manned in 1893 after 30 men took two years to excavate and build it. There are three six inch breech loading guns that were only shot once during WW1 when a ship steaming through the Torres Straight failed to identify itself. After a shot was fired over its bow it quickly identified itself as friendly. The guns had a massive firing range of 22 kms with the six inch shell weighing 45 kg. It is a great museum with plenty to see and read but as with all these cattle tours you are herded on and off with little time to actually see anything. It was then back to the marina and onto a small shuttle ferry that runs back and forth to Palm Island. We were picked up by a bus and taken to a local motel for lunch and to have a look through another museum which is part of the motel. Following lunch it was back on the bus for a tour of some WW2 plane wrecks and a history lesson about this island. Horn Island is huge compared to Thursday Island but only has a very small population. All the rubbish and sewerage from Thursday Island is transported to Horn for disposal. It does make you wonder why Thursday Island was chosen as the major centre of this region over the large Horn Island, especially as they are only about 500 metres apart.

That's Governments for you. It was then back on the boat and back to the mainland. It certainly was a whirl wind tour (and expensive) but we certainly got to have a good look around, and am not sure what else we would have seen if we had done an overnighter there.

Next morning we packed up and started our trip South. Unfortunately our time up in the Cape was drawing to a close. We had to be back in Cairns by Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest as the car and camper had to be delivered to the transport companies, and we had only just discovered that the Friday was Cairns Show Day public holiday. Great, that meant they had to be delivered Thursday pm, giving us even less time to get organised. The plan was for the camper to get put on a truck and sent back to Bundaberg with the car going on another truck to Darwin and then containered and barged across to Nhulunbuy. All sounds simple enough.


                  The wooden bridge on the way to Vrilya Point and us bogged.

 
                        Vrilya Point is really beautiful and worthy of a few nights

We planned to go to Vrilya Point for a night on the trip south as it is a pretty spot. It is only 29 kms off the main drag and other than one log bridge that was narrow and a bit rickety, it was an easy run. It is very pretty in fact with many kms of beach along which you can camp. (Ed - it was quite ironic that we managed to tackle the OTL without a hitch, only to get bogged at a beach down the track - Barry was most amused!! As we were only there for one night we chose to camp at the end of the road before you get on the beach, the only reason being that if you camp along the beach you have to wait for low tide to get out again and we had a few kms to tackle the next day so wanted an early getaway. We set up under a few shady trees and then set off along the beach to see the old ship wreck (not much left now). We also bumped into Terry and Deb and Steve and Viv who were camped miles down the beach. They had a nice spot so we spent an hour or so chatting to them before heading back to camp for dinner and an early night. Was not looking forward to the long dusty drive ahead of us back to Cairns.

Next morning off at a reasonable time and made it as far as Archer River roadhouse around 3pm. Set up camp and then down to the Archer River for a swim and a soak. It is a really nice camp ground and an even nicer spot for a cool-off after being on a long dusty road for 7 hours. If we hoped to make it to Cairns the next day, a total of 620 kms (approx half on dirt) we had to put in a big effort which we did. The trip was uneventful and rather boring but it had to be done. We arrived in Cairns just on dark, sore backsides and tired. Back to Derryn and Carla's, backed the trailer down the driveway, unpacked a few essentials and enjoyed a few beers and a great meal before hitting the sack in a real bed. In the next couple of days we had a tight time line as we needed to get the car and camper on trucks, and Friday was a public holiday so we only had two days to get the trailer unpacked and the car emptied (the transport company insisted it was totally empty, like not a thing in it). We had to decide what to take up with us to Nhulunbuy and what to send back in the camper. Luckily the camper could be as full as we wanted. It was costing $660-00 for us to get the camper transported from Cairns to Bundaberg which saved me a three day drive and extra airfares back up. This was a great decision as we were all able to fly home together, and to be honest, I had had enough of driving for a while. Then we had to wash and vacuum the car (another requirement of the transport company) and at 3-00pm on Wednesday while washing the car I discovered the tailgate door window was smashed and being held together by the window tinting. I really wanted to get it fixed prior to coming up here but was running out of time. I made a number of calls but no one had one in stock and it was too late to get one up overnight. After a few more calls I found a place who could get one out of Perth at short notice. Cost $1,000-00 for a bit of glass 500mm x 500mm. Luckily my insurance company covers all glass, not just windscreens. When I got there the next morning they had actually found a second-hand one for $600-00 fitted. Then I had to get to a tyre shop to get some new tyres fitted before the car got on the truck. Talk about hectic.

Chris had lots of last minute shopping to do, which wasn't helped by the public holiday, then packing, packing and more packing. QANTAS has this new rule about baggage. You can only have one piece of luggage each to the weight of 23 kg. Then each person can buy at $20-00 each (online) two more pieces at 23 kg each. So we had our one bag each, two extra pieces of luggage each, a bck each, a guitar, Chris's handbag and a laptop. That is nineteen pieces of luggage for the four of us. We had the Evakool esky, furniture removal boxes and bags piled to the roof. It was insane.  A month earlier that excess luggage (weighing 184 kg+) would have cost us $1840-00 ($10-00 per kilo).  Instead it cost $160-00. Go figure. When do things ever improve that much? It is crazy. Thank you QANTAS. It seems to be about the only thing you have done right lately.

By Thursday the camper was gone as was the car. We then went and hired a brand new Commodore station wagon so we had wheels for the next few days.

 

                                    A day out in Cairns with Derryn, Carla and the kids

Friday morning Derryn organised an outing for us all. A push bike ride into the city, down to the marina to have breakfast at a lovely restaurant. This was followed by a ride home that was  all uphill. I thought the ride in was easy. Now I knew why. We then got in the car and went for a drive to a lookout that gives a great overview of Cairns and up to a large lake for a look around. Saturday afternoon, the commodore was fully loaded and we were off to the airport. We had to do two trips to get all the gear there, then three trolleys to get it all into the terminal. What a sight we must have been. All the boxes were a bit overweight but they let us through. Finally, we could rest. The flight home was uneventful and then all our boxes started coming around on the carousel. We were grabbing them and piling them up. It was quite a sight in Nhulunbuy and certainly had people talking. We then tried to get on the shuttle bus into town and the cranky bus driver was giving us grief about the amount of gear we had. He was trying to charge us extra, but was distracted by an altercation with a woman and her not being allowed on the bus. It certainly got very heated, so while he was yelling, Alex and I were frantically putting boxes in the trailer. He was so hot under the collar he completely forgot about all our stuff. Finally back home.

It was a sensational trip, more than we expected, but it was good to be back. Nhulunbuy is still new and exciting and we were all pleased to be back. Nhulunbuy and our little house feels like home, and we haven't had the feeling for many years.

1) One of the few standing telegraph poles on the OTL. 2+3) Chris called these the 'Penis Plants'. 4) Harry just being cute. 5) The rose (Patrol) between the two thorns (Hilux's)