2023 Trip

Leaving Pakenham hopefully warmer weather.

Free Camp at Culgoa Vic 

Chooks keeping us company

Having a drink at the FREE camp.

Another free camp at Monash SA

 Coffee break at Burra SA 

Darwin Trip 2021

 Left home on the 19th May with the first stop to be Tocumwal NSW ...

First border crossing 

Big Cod at Tocumwal

Tocumwal Big 4 

Old School Caravan Park at Merriwagga ... used to be an old school ... closed in 2001

Local flora

Downtown Merriwagga

Black Stump Hotel ... Has the highest bar and bar stools in Australia

                               

Rest stop by the Lachlan River

Lachlan River 

At a rest stop between Merriwagga and Cobar 

Free camp in Cobar ... balmy low 20's

The free camp at 4:30 ... fills up fast

Knocked off a bottle of Chivas tonight

Queue to get into Mitchell Caravan Park Bourke

Sunset at Mitchell caravan Park

At Cunnamulla at the Warrego Riverside Tourist Park

Warrego River

View from our van window

At the Werrego Pub to celebrate my 70th  

Renovators delight ???

Local wildlife

Cunnamulla Fella

Water tower in Cunnamulla

Warrego Pub where Shorty won $307.87 on the pokies

Proof of the winnings

Weir at Cunnamulla

Thunder Box at the weir 

Bluff Lookout at Yowah

Road down from Bluff Lookout Yowah

Artesian Bore Pool 41 degrees

This pool was a mild 34 degrees

Toompine 

Toompine Hotel being renovated

Quilpie

The Lake at Quilpie

Red Moon at The Lake

Happy Hour at The Lake ... Beer was $5.00 and a glass of wine $5.00

Public phone box at Adavale 

Adavale Pub .... another pub off the list 

Coffee break on the road to Windorah

Single lane bitumen road ... big trucks always win 

RFDS landing strip on the road between Quilpie and Windorah

Single lane bridge across Cooper Creek near Windorah

Windorah

Colourful toilet seat in Jundah 

Jundah Hotel ... the bloke behind the bar was a hoot ... very dry sense of humour

 

Sunset at Stonehenge 

Caravan Park at Stonehenge

Visitors and Health centre at Stonehenge

Caravan park at Stonehenge ... $18.00 a night ... great little park

Stonehenge Hotel 

Free camp west of Longreach

The free camp was not that busy ... quiet night

The road trains always win on who has right of way

Our caravan park in Winton

You know you are in the outback ... Winton QLD

Tattersalls Pub in Winton ... bowl of chips and a drink.

Always roadwork's when travelling. 

Spectacular scenery 

Wayside stop between Winton and Kynuna ... Time for a coffee

Shorty really loves her little JUG and inverter ... nothing like boiling the kettle for a hot cup of coffee

when you want it 

Blue Heeler Hotel Kynuna

Brolgas at Kynuna 

Banished out the back of the caravan park ... $10 unpowered

The sunsets are always amazing ... you never get sick at looking at them

Went to bed after watching the idiot box ... next morning no TV ... I found the problem 

bit windy during the night

Rained overnight at Kynuna and the weather was a bit ordinary all the way to Cloncurry

The Walkabout Creek Hotel in Mckinlay. 

The road to the Mary Kathleen Mine ...it was a bit rough

Mary Kathleen township was dismantled from 1984 when the mine closed 

Shorty really didn't like the washout ... Shorty bolted from the car 

The open cut mine ... amazing colours

Mary Kathleen Town Square  

Plenty of slabs around the abandoned to park a caravan on 

The old mine site at Mary Kathleen

At the billabong at Camooweal

Vans as far as the eye can see 

Billabong at Camooweal ... plenty of water

Lilies on the billabong

Brilliant sunset 

Typical road in QLD/NT

Cheap way to travel .... Zero emissions

Setup at Banka Banka

Banka Banka was full ... see if you can spot the two Van Cruisers

Poor old Jeep given a quick wash at Banka Banka

Elliott Pub in Elliott .... closed ... sad to see

Coffee stop at Larrimah

See the bikes have been ridden

Pink Pub at Larrimah

Was thinking of going for a dip at Dunmarra ... thought better of it

The vanilla slice was to die for 10/10 ... the chunky meat pies weren't bad either

Homestead at Mataranka

Beer o'clock at Mataranka

The way in to the warm springs ... water temp 34 degrees

Never saw any ... but I am sure they were around

34.5 million litres a day come out of this spring

Having a soak ... water temp 34 degrees

Local peacock wandering thru the park

Our site at Mataranka

Running repairs to the van ... no water pressure ... fixed and all good

Shorty having another wine

Watching the show at Mataranka

Rail bridge over the Katherine River

Edith Falls

Having scones and coffee at Edith Falls

We found a passenger in the back door of the Jeep ... Linda was pleased

The old mine site at Pine Creek ... now supplies Pine Creek with plenty of water

Pine Creek ... Stayed at the Lazy Lizard Caravan Park ... 10 out of 10

Railway display at Pine Creek

We parked under this tree ... it was full of BATS

An old Humber Snipe ... Classic old car

Train museum at Pine Creek

Our site at The Lazy Lizard Caravan Park in Pine Creek .... great little park

Running repairs to the caravan awning

Wash basins at The Lazy Lizard.

Urinals at the Lazy Lizard 

Good use of old beer kegs

Having a beer at the tavern at Lazy Lizard

Local transport

Galah's at the Adelaide River Showground's 

Our site at Adelaide Showground's

The Adelaide River Camp Draft was on ... created a fair amount of dust ... sure felt out of place dress wise ... plenty of white Toyota utes and Akubra hats on display 

Main street at Adelaide River .... Caravan City

Dust at the Showground

Another drink at ARSS (Adelaide River Show Society)

Who is the beautiful one!!!!

Our site at Berry Springs

Shorty's idea of going for a dip

Race cars on show for the Darwin race 

Shorty with Paul Morris

Having a drink in Mitchell Street Darwin

Shorty with Todd Kelly

Transporters in Darwin 

The trucks look pretty cool at night

Even the Police got into the act

Race day ... damn hot

Shorty waiting for the driver

The Stadium trucks doing their stuff 

Our Vantage point at the track ...

Damn Cheeseburger won ... not happy

On the way out to do a spot of fishing

Fishing was OK ... fish not that big

Mindil Beach

Always having a drink

Our site for the 18 .. 33 days in Darwin .. Oasis Caravan Park

Molly with Nan

Covid dress up 

Molly running thru the park sprinklers

Jumping Crocs at Adelaide River

Two Crocs having a squabble over territory rights

Sunset  on the back of the van

Molly helping with the washing up .. so cute

Safe Croc    

Monty and Sarah on their Helicopter Pub Crawl 

Amazing video from the helicopter taken by Sarah 

Sarah and Monty had the best time .. hats off to Jimmy Barnes the pilot 

Water running off the van's roof ... very humid

Slumming in Darwin ... life is tuff

No waterway is a safe place in Darwin

Fishing trip with Monty ... Great day 

Monty with his Coral Trout .... Went well on the BBQ

On the big wheel at Stokes Wharf

Shorty missed all the sights ... got off after one loop

Lunch at Humpty Doo Pub

Molly having a ball with Mum and dad

Molly and Monty in the Park Pool

The old crew together 5000 Klm from home

Catch up with Michael and Brigitte in Darwin

Molly with Sammie at Berry Springs Tavern

Berry Springs Tavern with John and Wilma 

Molly Sarah and Monty at Berry Springs having a ball

Oil tunnels in Darwin

Sunset view from the Casino 

Infinity pool at the Casino ... pretty cool

Road in to Crab Claw Island ... Bloody rough and very smoky

Having a drink at Crab Claw Island 

Hire boats at Crab Claw ... not cheap to hire.

Helicopters on the beach at Crab Claw Island 

Dundee Beach NT

Gave the car a good wash after the Crab Claw Island trip ... it sure needed a scrub.

Day trip around Litchfield National Park

Coffee and scones at the Zebra Caravan Park 

Not sure what happened here 

Termite mound.

135 steps down and 135 steps up ... we were both buggered.

Florence falls ... from the viewing platform

The bottom of Florence Falls

The bottom of Florence Falls 

Getting ready for the 135 steps to the top

Tolmer Falls.

Wangi Falls

No swimming ... suspected Croc in the falls

The water is crystal clear 

Local insect at Wangi Falls ... lot of bugs here in the Top End

14 July ... Amine's 9th birthday ...  

Having a light lunch at Stokes Wharf.

RFDS display on Stokes Wharf

One of the pedal radio's used by the RFDS

An example of a RFDS medical chest which are scattered around  the outback

Inside one of the RFDS plane ... not much room inside.

 

One of the many weapons storage bunkers around Charles Darwin National Park

View of Darwin from Charles Darwin National Park

Caught up with Keith and Marion ... First met them in 2012

Entrance to East Point Darwin

Having a meal at the Darwin Waterfront

Typical car yard in Darwin of new cars .... 99% are white

Left Darwin on the 20th July ... first stop was Pussy Cat Flats at Pine Creek.

Pussy Cat Flats was the Pine Creek golf course and horse racing track. 

Typical signs in the NT

Gave Daly Waters the flick this trip ... decided to stay at the Hi-Way Inn ... the food was pretty good 

In Tennant Creek we stayed at Spinifex Farm Stay ... these kids delivered fire wood to the campers 

They are 3 and 6 years old ... incredible 

This pig followed the kids delivering wood ... pet

Great sunsets 

Disused gold mine 

Tennant Creek mine museum. 

Tennant Creek Telegraph Station

Sunset at Tennant Creek

Bonney Wells roadside stop 

Devils Marbles

Interesting rock formation

Our site at Barrow Creek

Telegraph Station at Barrow Creek

Helen and Les ... Barrow Creek Pub

Lucky you cannot see the Letter C and T

Aileron Roadhouse

Entering Alice Springs

This is the site that we got at Big4 Alice Springs ... no sullage ... we moved to a better site the next day 

at $58 a night ... sullage is a must  

Little friend at the Big 4 caravan park at Alice Springs

Day trip to the East MacDonnell Ranges

See photo below ... all about the White Gum tree

Very loving birds ... X rated

Swarm of budgies

One of the many Roadhouses on the Stuart Hwy

Tropic of Capricorn

SA/NT border

Site at Agnes Creek

Campfire at Agnes Creek

Sunrise at Agnes Creek

Entering Coober Pedy 

Underground bar at Coober Pedy

Sunset at Coober Pedy

Italian Club in Coober Pedy

Strange objects around Coober Pedy

Leaving Coober Pedy ... Everyone takes this photo here

Road leaving Coober Pedy

Lake Hart just before Pimba

Sunrise at Pimba SA

Our site at Pimba Rest Stop

Two Van Cruisers at Pimba

Entering Port Augusta

Change of scenery after leaving Port Augusta

Train display at Peterborough SA

Our dirty fan ... It's been cleaned once 

Day of leaving for our trip ... Tree still had leaves ... Blue sky

Home at last   ... Tree with no leaves ... Grey sky.

Details of the 2021 trip

•          Left 19^th May 2021
•          Returned 4^th August 2021
•          Total time away was 77 days
•          Total distance travelled 11983 Klm’s
•          Distance travelled towing the van 8848 Klm’s
•          Distance travelled without the van 3135 Klm’s
•          Diesel used on the trip 1675.65 litres
•         Cheapest fuel was in Darwin $1.379 a litre
•          Dearest fuel was in Ti Tree NT $1.90 a litre
•          We averaged 13.98 litres/100 Klm
•          Worst fuel consumption was 18.23 litres/100 Klm
•          Best fuel consumption was 8.2 litres/100 Klm
•          Total fuel cost was $2607.88
•          Total accommodation cost was $2324.00
•          Cost per day (accommodation and fuel) $64.05