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 19th May 2021
- Returned 4th 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
