I managed to get a reasonable night's sleep AND make it outside for a sunrise pic! Today is already a good day.... well to start with at least.
For some reason it seemed no-one was in a hurry to leave this morning. Sure there were one or two who headed off before sunrise, but on the whole, it seemed that everyone was content with their morning coffee and a chat and the majority didn't look like they were heading anywhere anytime soon as we pulled out at around 9.30am.
I love the signposts. I love that when you look at where you've come from and it seems like even that place is such a long way from home, but the excitement too of the places you are headed and the promise of new adventure. Sign posts are cool!
The roads are mostly awesome as well. Though the signs warning about the dangers of fatigue are real and warranted - breaks are imperative. I'm always conscious of the massive weight I'm towing and the need to remain vigilant all the time especially with the massive road trains going both ways along this road, however the long stretches of road coupled with that beautiful warmth from the sun can be mesmerising and it's not hard to lose your concentration. It is one of the main reasons I prefer (if possible) to reach our planned destination by lunch time. You are still fresh for driving the entire leg of the journey and it gives you a bit of time to have a look around or relax before heading off to the next spot.
Our next milestone was crossing the Northern Territory border. Since our trip 3 years ago, I guess it has held an enormous amount of significance. We had had such a rough lead up to our trip back then that there was a time, even in the last week before we were due to leave, where I thought we just wouldn't be able to go. Back then, reaching the border made it so very real and it was a very emotional moment of the trip. Reaching this milestone again now was also quite emotional as we've had another pretty rough year, but we've talked about that last trip, reaching the border, stopping for a cuppa and a piece of fruit cake and so it seemed an appropriate way to celebrate it yet again. The funny thing was that the last time we hit the border it was pouring rain and so a quick photo of the landmark and back to the van was about all we did. It occurred to me as I photographed the "Welcome to the NT" that there just might be another side to this story - ahhh yes - farewell South Australia!
Just under 100km from the border is the Erldunda Roadhouse where we stopped to fill up with fuel. This was our dearest so far at 205.9c/l and the wait for fuel had eased a bit compared to our last experience. We waited about 35 minutes in the queue which was a vast improvement on the 50 minutes from 3 years ago - but wow what a gold mine this place has to be especially at the peak holiday times. We grabbed a pie for a quick lunch and then it was on to the Lasseter Highway and another 100km or so to our freecamp spot for the night.
About another 100km down the road was our stop for the night - a freecamp at which we had stopped for a break on our last trip. It's a gorgeous spot and we were joined throughout the afternoon/evening by another 5 or 6 campers in tents or swags. Unfortunately that was where the bliss ended and the stress started. Unable to light the gas component of the fridge or the hot water service we became concerned that there was an issue with the battery power to provide ignition. Having a massive freezer that relies on the battery as its source of power when we aren't connected to 240v and the fear of not being able to keep everything frozen wasn't a nice thought.
Given I had pre-cooked many dishes to help keep our costs down and make long travel days a bit easier, the thought of losing the contents of the freezer weighed heavily - all night long. The fridge was working on 12v so long as we kept the car running and so for the next 5 hours we periodically turned on the car to provide power for the fridge and freezer in an effort to keep the food edible. We had intended to just use torch light until we went to bed, and that was when I remembered a nifty little trick for camping - shining a torch into a bottle of water which intensified the light. I can tell you - that's one Pinterest post you can rely on. It worked a treat. In the meantime Mother Nature did her best to keep us distracted from our difficulties and provide a pretty sunset, some fabulous stars and thanks to the campers who lit a fire - I managed to snap some nice photos before heading off to bed.
355 km
Total - 2,556 km
Top today 24°c - expecting overnight 2°c
Top today 24°c - expecting overnight 2°c
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