OH! MY! GOD! When we were in a campervan in New Zealand, all Nikki did was complain about how cold she was! Well, now we're in one in Australia - it's the exact opposite - apparently, this is the HOTTEST she has ever been! I do agree that it is very hot (I don't tell her that) - but it's not that bad... yet!
We woke up at 6.30am this morning so that we could get an early start, but by the time we'd farted-about and got going it was about 7.45am. As we didn't manage to do our planned 500km yesterday, we thought we'd do a few extra today and hit the road.
Not far out of Townsville, we hit the 'Northern Outback' - and this place has to be seen to be believed! At first, everything was a lush green colour and quite busy, but after a while all the traffic disappeared and the landscape suddenly became a very dry looking green colour and was flat for as far as the eye could see!
The first place we stopped today, was a place called Charters Towers, which was only small - but it had a garage so we stopped and filled the van up with diesel. There wasn't much else about, so we moved on - to a place called Hughenden, where we had some lunch in the back of the camper and sent some postcards home. Next we stopped in a place called Richmond. We got out to stretch our legs and bought some ice creams, which we ate whilst looking around the small town. Judging by the things we read, at some point or another, every building that has stood in the spot of the current pub - has been destroyed by fire. It was safe to say - we didn't stop for a drink!
We moved on a made our final stop of the day in a place called Julia Creek. We found a small campsite and then went out for a walk. This place in tiny - there is one main street and all the buildings look like they been stolen from the set of a western. It was so hot walking around, we went back to the campsite and jumped into the small (cool) hot tub they had - that had a view out over the outback. It was the perfect way to wind down after a hard days driving.
This evening, we cooked some pasta on our small gas stove and then sat chatting to a couple who have been on the road... for over 8 years! Thankfully, by now, the millions of flies had finally gone. We'd spent most of the afternoon running away from them - they were everywhere - and even tried flying into our eyes and ears! Going to brush our teeth before bed was a bit of an adventure... it was pitch black, and so we took our torch and I went into the ladies to keep Nikki company. When we'd finished and were about to leave, when we saw the BIGGEST frog I have ever seen guarding the door - it was about the size of my head. I told Nikki not to panic, that the toilets were a great place to sleep the night, but then the frog moved, so we could go back to the van... happy days!
Boy is it hot - i'm never gonna complain about being cold again!
Distance travelled today: 634km Distance travelled in total: 981km
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