WRAP UP {EDITION 25}

 

 

HELLO + WELCOME to the Wrap Up of what’s been happening as we make our way from the Sydney Harbour Bridge to London, via the East Coast of Africa.

If you are new around here WELCOME! Here is all you need to know to catch up: After years of preparation we hit the road on 23rd March this year. We are 90 days deep into this expedition and about to hit the 13th week on the road.

Right now we are in the northern reaches of Australia, up in the Northern Territory. Life is completely different here and we feel very far from home.

The Wrap Up below was written a week or so ago. In Week 11. It’s Kirsty behind the keyboard for this Wrap Up.

Ready? OK! Let’s do this.

 

 

DRIVING ACROSS AUSTRALIA

^ Devil’s Marbles, Northern Territory, Australia

^ Devil’s Marbles, Northern Territory, Australia

^ Bitter Springs, Elsey National Park, Northern Territory, Australia

^ Bitter Springs, Elsey National Park, Northern Territory, Australia

^ Epic termite mounds, Northern Territory, Australia

Since the last Wrap Up (which you can find by clicking here) in Alice Springs – we have headed North.

In the Australian leg of this expedition we have been looking forward to the Northern and Western regions the most.

We got antsy in Alice and just wanted to get North – rather than spend weeks and diesel winding off-road slowly, like we have been. So, we did a 700km day on tarmac! Followed by a 300km day and 200km day in close succession. Fun, huh!? Actually it was. It felt great to give the Troopy a good gutsy run and ‘air out’ after heaps of dust.

Where have we been along the way? The Devil’s Marbles at sunrise and sunset. Passing through towns in the middle of bloody nowhere. Swimming in ahhhh-mazing natural springs. Shooting our way up to Darwin.

Darwin has been a surprise packet. THERE ARE HIGH-RISES. We haven’t seen high-rises since Melbourne and to be honest we weren’t expecting anything of the kind. There is Big Cash here. It shows up in the architecture, development and people.

There is an awesome social vibe that just makes us want more! We witnessed our first Australian sunset over water (it sets in the West in Australia and we have only ever been in Eastern Australia) at Darwin’s popular Mindil Beach Markets. The city has a harbour waterfront where beautiful people and fat tourists laze, dip in and out of the clear water. It’s sectioned off because there are loads of crocodiles up here. Actually about one croc is pulled from the harbour every day of the year.

Unfortunately Darwin didn’t have any close-by camping sites. Instead it requires campers to drive 30 minutes out of town and pay $40 for the privldege of an unpowered campsite.  Alternatively people seem to camp illegally in the city next to ‘no camping signs’. Neither options were for us so we ‘figured something else out’.

 

NORTHERN TERRITORY OASIS

 

^ Farmland camp near Litchfield

^ Farmland camp near Litchfield

^ Time to move that butt! Regardless of the heat.

^ We seem to find dogs affection wherever we go. We miss our son (Bossy) so much we just seem to attract them. On the farm we had the pleasure of meeting (throwing sticks for, hugging, hanging with) Woody!

Like an oasis stumbled upon in the desert heat we didn’t quite believe what we had found.

Somehow, after a god awful night we ended up meeting a local publican who kindly said we could bush camp on his land. On the provisor that we dropped a few coins at his pub/restaurant. Mutually beneficial; sweet!

So we have been bush camping and bathing in a beautiful croc-free dam for the past 4 or was it 5 nights? Days spent not moving blend into one. Especially here where we are perched on a beautiful slice of a 400 acre farm land property in the Northern Territory. No neighbours. Pub within 1km walk. Brahman cows. Termite mounds. And Gareth found some blokes to watch the Origin with!

Bliss fest +

 

THE COW WHISPERER*

 

^ Goodmorning Brahmans!

During our stay we noticed one cow was looking quite ill. Drooling from the mouth. Not eating. Not drinking. Very thin. And generally sad looking.

Gareth and Scott (the owner) lassoed him and then Scott put his hand down the heifer’s throat. Out came handfuls of masticated undigested grass and grot.

Another plunge of the hand came out with a passport! The poor cow had it wedged in his gullet and couldn’t eat or drink.

We’d like to think we all saved her, but truth is she saved herself. She came up to me one afternoon with her head bowed for a pat and wouldn’t leave my side. There is no doubt she was speaking to me in cow language saying ‘I am seriously messed up Kirst. Help me. Moooo’.

Stay tuned for the next Wrap Up as ‘Kirsty The Cow Whisperer*’ saga, continues.

*Whisperer? OK, more of a sporadic cheery yeller

 

BATTERY ISSUES

 

After a few days parked and not keeping the auxiliary battery charged up with solar – it sunk low. Too low. Our experience until now has told us it wouldn’t be an issue, however with the heat up here the fridge/freezer has been sucking the life out of the battery. We have since been vigilantly keeping an eye on it as we have been topping it back up with our RedArc solar panel.

 

GARRY GOOD GEAR: DRIFTA

 

Our DRIFTA kitchen and set-up is the best damn garry-good-gear we have on board. It’s part of our home. We use it every single day. Daily use and 13 000 kilometres later – it is still going strong.

It’s a struggle to find words to describe the kitchen set-up because it’s so much a part of our life right now. Practical and easy are the words that come to mind. The kitchen slide out drawer with cooker, extendable bench, pantry space, cookwear space PLUS the table above it.

Kitchen set-ups can be a real nightmare when you are living outdoors. Been there – done that (I drove from Cape Town to Rwanda using a kitchen plied across 3 boxes!). If it wasn’t set-up perfectly it would be driving us both mad. Instead the DRIFTA set-up is one of those things we give each other smart cheeky looks about. We are so stoked with it.

Keep your eye on the website as we have put together a video of how it sets up and what kitchen gear we are using.

Drifta are supporting this epic expedition (#legends!) – however this is a 100% authentic review. We consider our readers our mates and we would give this exact same review to our best mates. If you would like a closer look at their gear click here, here and here. The DRIFTA website can be found at www.drifta.com.au

 

LOVING + NOT-LOVING-SO-MUCH

 

 

NOT-LOVING-SO-MUCH: Mosquitos + looking at how much we are spending + humidity that feels like you are trying to breathe under water when out running (slowly getting use to it)

LOVING: Devil’s Marbles glowy specialness + healthy salad and wraps for lunch + long runs followed by crunches and push ups + the clarity of thinking that follows a workout + the shifting feeling that the Troopy really is our home right now + epiphanies + Renegade Collective magazine  + reading + waking up to cows out the window + feeding and meeting semi-albino, tame buffalos (yes you read that correctly) + moving on

 

 

That’s us right now.

While we have had more internet access than usual we’ve been instagramming regularly.

Do you have Instagram? If so, look us up on @aussieoverlanders

Thanks for your support and joining us along this journey in spirit. You rock and are making this journey so much richer for us.

 

See you soon with an up to date Wrap Up!

 

Cheers

 

 

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