5^th Leg

We set off from Kununura this morning at about 0645.

We had to face a long trip of 508kms and also had to change our clocks by 1&1/2 hours. Luckily the car ran really well but the weather again took its toll on we mere mortals. We stopped only when absolutely necessary and made pretty good time. The cruelest thing of all was seeing some of the most beautiful waterways you can imagine but not be able to swim in them for danger of crocodiles.

We are staying in the garden of one of the local car club members, in Katherine, who knew Tom 20 years ago when he was travelling in Egbert.

I am writing this from the far north city of Darwin, our first major achievement. Yesterday we traveled up from Katherine in what has got to be our hardest day ever. The previous day had been very long, over 500kms, and by the time we arrived in Katherine we were worn out. The night’s sleep whilst comfortable was very short and we set off very tired.

The heat was quickly overwhelming and the car seemed to drive backwards. About 80-90km into the trip Tom pulled over for a sleep. Problem was what looked like a nice spot to us had obviously appealed to the 628,000 flies, which lived there and gave us a resounding welcome. Five minutes and a few words later we gave up and pulled back onto the road. It was an endurance test. But we did eventually find a spot without too many flies in a bit of shade and managed a bit of a snooze. It did the trick and we finally pulled into my young cousin’s house and were able to have a shower and a cold drink.

After his shower Tom went to the bedroom to plug the camera in and then he never emerged. After half an hour or so I went to check up on him and found him sound asleep on the bed. He slept from about 4pm to 9:30pm got up and had some tea and then back to bed and slept until 6:30 this morning.

In the meantime I had a lovely time with my cousin Yvette and her three lovely girls.

This morning we were up at 6:30 and we went off to visit the Motor Vehicles Enthusiasts Club of the Northern Territory. They meet at Parap Hanger on the second Wednesday of each month and then get together for a busy bee one Sunday a month. They have a monthly run, usually for breakfast (which seems like an excellent idea in this heat). These breakfasts are legendary and enjoyed by up to fifty to sixty people each month. Each year the club does a major run, this year it was from Fannie Bay to Birdwood. They took water from Arafura Sea and tipped it into the St. Vincent Gulf and brought some back, which will be ceremoniously returned to the Arafura Sea next Sunday.

Yesterday after spending the time with the Darwin club, one of the members took me for a quick look around Darwin in his 1952 Riley (very nice) and Tom christened their new hoist. Now it appears to me that it is not safe to let Tom work on the car as every time he does ‘maintenance’ work something major goes wrong straight after. Now if you remember in Port Hedland he greased the car and almost immediately the king pin problem reared it’s ugly head and we had an enforced ‘rest’ of two full days in Broome. Yesterday Tom checked the diff oil (a bit low) and the gearbox oil (fine) for no apparent good reason. So we set off from Darwin in a very happy frame of mind.

However about 70-80kms out we were in all sorts of strife. Going up one of the many hills out of Darwin Tom noticed the car boiling her little head off. Oh no! Best case scenario was a head gasket; worst was a cracked head. He checked it out pulling plug leads off and putting them back on, revving the engine and watching the water bubble away. He was finally fairly confident that it was just the gasket. The hot gas was finding its way into the water and making it boil like a cappuccino machine boils milk Finally identified the point causing the problem, plug lead number 3, and took it out. The engine turned over just fine with just a drop in power to show she had a problem but at least we were mobile. To prevent damage to his magneto he put a spark plug on the end of the loose plug lead and let her spark away harmlessly on the engine block.

And so we slowly (top speed dropped to about 35-40kms/hr) limped into Katherine to the home of Noel and Kathy Neil. Noel and Kathy have made a lovely camping area, with toilet and shower, in their yard and often have the car club from Darwin come and stay the night. Noel over the years has had many vintage, veteran and classic cars and presently has a beautiful A model Ford truck, a 1956 Zephyr, a 1949 MGYA, a 1955 Consul, a 1957 Crysler Royal, a 1990 Catilac and an old jeep waiting for the touch of the master. In fact it is not just Noel who is fascinated with the cars because they told us of a story when Kathy who was in Melbourne went and brought a 1974 Rolls Royce just because she liked it.

And now it is morning and Tom is busily fixing said head gasket. We hope to be able to get away some time later today and so I am going to take the opportunity to catch 40 winks under one of these lovely trees.

We are in the little township of Daly Waters, the friendliest town in the territory.

We left Katherine yesterday after Tom had made a new gasket head. He was not at all happy with the one he made but decided to persevere with it. We cleaned the radiator out and put IronTight in it after being unable to get the ‘pill’ for radiators. So far so good and it’s running better than it ever has been. Tom is just adjusting the ‘tappets’ which he feels will get us better km/litre and more power.

When we left Katherine we headed for the grave of the Maluka, Anneas Gunn of We of the Never Never fame. Our interest in the grave stemmed from the fact that the original ‘Bubsie" was photographed in front of the grave. We eventually found it just south of Mataranka but to our sadness found it cordoned off to traffic. However we took photos of ourselves near the grave as a poor substitute.

We finally arrived after a very uneventful journey at Daly Waters just on 10pm. We went to the pub, which is the thing in town (three houses and d a couple of dongers) and met the locals. Had a great time and now parked in the camping area adjacent. The facilities are immaculate and the people friendly. An obvious must on any trip around our big country.

The publican has said we can use the Internet so I’ll be off to send this in a moment.

We are setting off when our ‘chores’ are completed for Booraloola so may be out of touch for a few days. Hope to be in Cairns before the weekend.

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