Great Central Road Day 18

Day 18

100% Humidity is not my idea of fun.

I have had two cold showers while packing up this morning.

I drive down to the end of the bitumen just to have a look at the “Safari Camp”, a strange place which is a mixture of permanent tent on raised floors and other odd scattered tents around the place and a couple of converted containers for an office and a shop. It really does somehow remind me of those big safari camps you see in movies. Hatari or something??

Here I have to decide whether to complete the loop back into Darwin via 50km of gravel or turn around and go out the way I came in via Batchelor. I can’t see the point in looping back to Darwin and I quite like the road through the park so it’s back the way I came. Only a quick look at the attractions which are on the main road none of the 20-30 km side tracks this time and before you know it I am back out on the main highway. This time I am filling in the bit I missed by going through Kakadu and get to see Adelaide River on the way. Railway Museum or War Memorial ?? Should have gone to the War Memorial. Nuff said!

This way is much shorter to Katherine, where I have to go to turn off to Kununurra. I really need to do a load of washing but I cannot find a laundomat that is not in a caravan park, and I refuse to pay $25 so I can pay $8 to do a load of washing. It will have to wait, I still have clean clothes and the old ones can go in a sealed bin for a day or two.

Today I am determined to stop before it gets too late but 3-30pm is just too early and all the rest stops are grotty. About 4-30 I spot one with toilets and tanks and shelters and BBQ’s etc and just one little Toyota van parked up the far end. I pull into the near end about 60metres or so from the van because I intend using the generator to keep the air conditioning going for a while tonight. I decide to go and say “Hello”, as there appears to be somebody sitting in a deck chair in the shade near the van, and to explain why I pulled up so far away, and I think it is less scary for other people when you say hello in day light rather than just wandering around at various times. It’s a lady about 50+ something who has spent the last 5 months getting from somewhere in Qld to here and thinks it will take several more months to get to Perth. She is giving herself a year to see how she likes it . . . well that’s the story. Must have nerves of steel I think to just be out in the boonies by herself. I know that’s a bit sexist but I do think it’s different for guys.

So we’re both settled in at opposite ends of the park for about ¾ of an hour and someone else with a motorhome arrives and pulls up about 10metres away from this lady right alongside her and proceeds to set up camp. What is wrong with these people?? Eventually over the next hour or so there are another 6 vans and cars etc. and then for some reason the dickheads with the motorhome decide to move it another 10 metres away. At least now it’s not right in her face.

I start the generator up about 6pm and go for a walk. It’s funny but the sound of the air conditioner is louder away from the truck than the generator. I deliberately have the generator side away from the camp and that seems to be working. For some reason however it all then goes haywire. The charging system keeps tripping over the air conditioning or vice versa and keeps overloading the generator so it shuts down. It takes the next two hours of reprogramming re-routing cables etc. to make sure what is working and what is not. It appears the air conditioning start up is confusing the charging system so I reprogram the charger to less than it’s rated capacity then start up the air conditioner and then gradually increase the charge load to what it should be. It’s been running now for an hour so it’s time to turn it all off and open up the windows and let the heat in . . .

I hope there is a breeze out there tonight.