The Kowsas' Big Lap: We made it to Darwin!

And so another week has gone.

When I last wrote, we were leaving Mataranka the next day. The universe had other plans though! We drove out of the caravan park at the usual time of 10am, after meeting some lovely families and ventured north. About 20kms down the highway we decide to pull over and check, as the van wasn't feeling right and thought we saw some smoke. Yep...we had a flat tyre. Or so we thought. As time progressed and a few vaners stopped to see if we needed help (amazing how many stopped), we realised it wasn't as simple as a flat.

Unfortunately we had broken the U bolt thingy, that holds the thingy of the wheels onto "that" part of the axle thingy. I think! Anyway, Paddy and Tom (not my dad) engineered up a device to get us back to Mataranka and we drove back at around 20kms per hour, with our newly made friends as the pilot vehicle behind with lights flashing. We had met Tom and Maureen briefly the night before, at the van park in Mataranka when we popped over to listen to Tom play the mandolin and the girls sang You Are My Sunshine. These lovely people passed us when we were stopped and turned around, van and all, to see if they could help. The girls thought it was fantastic to be heading back to Mataranka, as they wanted to see all the kids they had just met again.

We spent another two nights in Mataranka, whilst Paddy sorted the van. Bar the hard work that Paddy had to do, the few extra days there were wonderful. We managed quite a few more swims in the hot springs, a trip to the barra feeding, a fish in the Roper River and some very enjoyable evenings with our neighbours.

Second attempt to leave Matarank went well, bar the jockey wheel clamp getting stuck and then breaking and us girls having to give Daddy a wide berth for a while! We made it to Katherine safely and ventured off for a restock of food and to fix the jockey wheel. As we were heading to find some lunch Grandad and Shan rang to see where we were and it turned out they were just around the corner. We enjoyed a quick lunch together and then left them in Katherine, while we ventured onto Edith Falls for a one night stop at the National Park.

It was then on to Litchfield National Park. We spent the first night at an interesting little park 4kms from Wangi Falls, but dropped into the falls for a swim before heading to the park for the night. The girls and Paddy ventured straight into the cold water (well cold after being in the beautiful Bitter Hot Springs) and before I could blink, had made it all the way across to the falls. After a while of inching my way into the water, I made it half way and onto a sand bank and Paddy came across to coaxes me the rest of the way. And how fantastic it was! My three had climbed up the rock face and were bathing in a little warm pool. It was a magic afternoon and we finished the night with a BBQ and even some damper rolls (well they resembled damper!)

The next day we had an early departure and set up camp in the National Park camping ground. By 11am we were on the road and ready for a big day out. First stop was the Lost City. Interesting place, although I think the car trip in was the highlight. Next we stopped off quickly at the Magnetic Termite Mounds, but we were all hot and hungry so there wasn't too much interest. The next destination covered both bases, with a quick picnic in the car park and then a refreshing swim in the beautiful Buley Rock Pools. Much fun was had with Daddy and his girls...skipping from pool to pool, trying to swim against the currents and then (much to my horror), jumping in off the rocks. After peeling ourselves away, we moved on to Florence Falls which was our final place to see for the day. It too was beautiful and Paddy, Lib and Immy all enjoyed another swim for the day. Our night at the national park was lovely as usual. They are normally sociable, but peaceful places with wildlife a good possibility.

Friday we headed off to the "big smoke"! We checked into Freespirit Caravan Park, which is about 15mins from Darwin and got set up for a longer than usual stay. Grandad and Shan arrived a few hours later, much to the girls delight and while Paddy and I headed into Darwin post office, the girls stayed back and swindled a swim. Yesterday two of the families from Mataranka arrived also, so the girls have full time entertainment on both sides of the van.

We look forward to exploring Darwin further and also catching up on some things whilst in one spot for nearly a week. This afternoon we all (including the relatives and neighbours) headed in to Mindil Beach Markets and soaked up the atmosphere. After a few purchases and lots of strolling around, we parked ourselves on the grass and enjoyed some drinks, a yummy dinner and even an ice cream!