Kununurra to Wilgena Station part 2

Next stop Mt Isa, Queensland.
When trying to sort out the registration for the van I discovered that I had only to the end of the week to get it sorted where previously I understood that I had two weeks after it finished to get it renewed, this was about midday on Wednesday! We jumped in the van and left Darwin to shoot down 1650km to Mt Isa in Queensland! With only a day and a half to do it if we were to get a safety certificate done and get the rego transferred into my name on Friday we wanted to do the 650km in the first half day and the other 1000km on Thursday.

This meant driving in the dark, you have to be very careful driving in the dark in the remote parts of Oz as this is when the kangaroos come out and jump in front of the car. With only about 60kms to go this is what happened to me, just when I couldn’t see from the lights of a road train coming towards me two big roos jumped across the road. I just missed the first one and hit the 2nd one smack in the middle of the roo bar. It’s a good thing I have the bar as I only have a couple of dents in the front panel, without it would have been much worse.

Not stopping at Maratanka hot springs would have meant we’d have got there sooner but it was well worth it. The water was lovely and refreshing and apparently very healthy with good minerals and salts and so on. Thanks for the tip Victoria!
We got there at sunset which is when the flying foxes wake up, we were treated to the spectacular display of the sky full of bats, similar to the thousands of bats that crossed our campsite every night in Kununurra on their way to town for the night. Must be more insects for food around the lights during the night.

Friday in Mt Isa and I made over 50 phone calls but couldn’t get a roadworthy test for that day anywhere. The registration didn’t run out till Saturday night so we decided to make a run for Townsville as we didn’t want to be stuck in Mt Isa for long. Only 895kms away, just down the road…

Kununurra to Wilgena Station part 1

I am finally updating this from the last couple of months as I have been much too lax with the blog. I will tell you what has happened since we left out jobs at the Sandalwood plantation in Kununurra in Western Australia to the present where we have just started jobs on a sheep farm on Wilgena Station in South Australia.

We decided to pack up and leave Kununurra on the spur of the moment, just decided one day and told work we would not be back tomorrow and went. That’s the beauty of having a casual job doing farmwork here with no responsibility. We didn’t even feel guilty as they had too many staff at that time anyway.
It felt great to be on the road again although it was a shame to say goodbye to our friends who were a little surprised to hear of our imminent departure.
The plan was to surprise our friend Veronica who was leaving Australia soon and we wouldn’t have seen her had we stayed a few more days in Kununurra.
The highlight of the 850 kilometres was Lynchfield National Park not too far from Darwin. The stunning waterfalls and swimming holes in the gorges were fantastic after a month on the farming plains fed by Lake Argyle. Lovely and cool in the hot humid weather also!
We arrived in Darwin after only a day and a half of driving (including the time spent at Lynchfield) and met our friends Gary and Naz whom I knew from Perth and had travelled with to Exmouth. Veronica was surprised by out arrival when we finally found her, although I had given here a inkling by not realising how well connected the Estonian community was when I wrote that I was leaving on Facebook, thinking that as Veronica didn’t have me as a friend on the site she wouldn’t know about it.
Darwin is a nice city, being more cultured that I had otherwise experienced so far in Australia, the major downside being the humidity which wasn’t even bad when we were there but plenty hot and sticky for us. The best part was the Mindil Beach sunset market. It had plenty of hippie clothes, loads of food from lots of different countries (we went to the Australian stand to try crocodile and possum!) and good music.

Off to work again

Iris and I are starting work tomorrow on a sheep farm in the outback. Its waay out in the middle of nowhere and we will be there for 2 months. When I finish I will get a good update on what we have been up to.
You may be able to contact me on this number 043.9.8.0.1.7.0.1 if it has reception! my vodafone number certainly wont!

Inland again.

We are heading inland again after much too short a time at the sea.
There is a week long course we are starting today where a company will see if we can drive tractors, motorbikes, rise horses and muster cattle etc. They guarantee us a job after the week doing some farm hand somewhere. Should be a good week and good fun, haven't been on a horse for a while...

Surfing....

Im on the East coast and back in the surf again, it is great.
Just left Agnes Water and 1770 today on the road to Noosa.
I will put some pics up soon, i will i will i will.