On the road: Darwin to Melbourne

We left Darwin belatedly on Monday 30th June. We'd had a late night previously watching the GAA into the wee hours. We were the only 2 watching the Armagh Down game in the bar and although it wasn't a great game the result was excellent. We also went to see Lars and the real girl in the deckchair cinema earlier in the evening. If you get a chance to see this we'd highly recommend it. Oh and on the saturday I went out on a fishing charter and a halfdays fishing. It was good craic I caught a few Red Snapper, some Spanish Flag and a Rock Cod. There were 10 of us on the boat and we just went about 6kms out from the harbour. I was fishing next to a guy from Queensland called Rusty. he has worked on loads of fishing charters and has caught Marlin that weighed over a tonne. I told him about the time I caught a 12lb pike in the Newry Canal a few years ago. I think he was impressed.

So we had to get a couple of new tyres for the front of the van before we left and this delayed our departure until after midday. Alice Springs was the next "big" place we'd pass through but it's 1500kms from Darwin. We generally have tried to do about 500kms a day when travelling. Just after we left Darwin the radio packed up. This was a sign of things to come with the van. Our first stop was Mataranka. We arrived just before sunset and got down for a dip in the hot springs before dark. Previously we had to get to places before dark so we wouldn't have to cook with head torches on. That was a bit stressful. We eventually bought ourselves a tradesmans light that clips onto the side of the van and we hire a powered site so it didn't matter what time we got in at. Our first night out of Darwin was a cold one. The temperature only 500kms south was 10 degrees colder. When we left Darwin it was 30-32 during the day and 15-18 at night so we just had a sheet round us. As we moved further south the duvet was re-introduced, Emma had bed socks and big heavy PJ's and a hot water bottle and I slept in a track suit. I came out of the showers at the camp site and a wild pig confronted me. We've seen a lot of wild animals on this trip but I wasn't expecting this. Rather than try and go past it I just took a short cut through the caravans.

The next morning the van wouldn't start either. Its always been a problem staring her on cold mornings. We hadn't really had a problem because it had been so warm since we left Perth and travelled North but as soon as we started heading south the problems began. I got one of the site groundsmen to give me a tow and I managed to jump start her in second. Once she starts there will be no problems, the problem is getting her started. So we were off and running and we headed for Tennant Creek, another 500kms down the road. We got there late because of the delay getting the van started and it was dark when we were driving round looking for the camp site. There were a lot of aboriginals hanging about the town but this was nothing compared to what we would experience in Alice Springs.

Tennant Creek was even colder at night that Mataranka. We couldn't even sit outside after dinner so were in bed about 7.30pm. The next morning we got up and made breakfast, showered, checked the van for oil and water and we were on our way........to reception to ask if someone could give us a tow so we could jump start the van. Eventually someone arrived and we we got going again around 11 or so. We only got 60kms down the road when i noticed the temperature gauge was very high and suddenly there was a bang from the engine (located under the passsenger bench seat) and the battery light came on. I pulled over and had a look at the engine. The steam was rising out of it and the radiator over flow bottle was gone. I headed back up the road to look for the bottle and found it about half a km away. It was still very warm during the day and the sun was beating down. I stuck the bottle back in and put some water in it and we decided to head back to Tennant Creek to have it checked out as we were still 500kms from Alice Springs. On the way back it conked out again and the bottle flew off. Now, I know absolutely nothing about cars, at least I knew nothing until we bought this one. I asked the mechanic in Perth when we got her serviced before we left what I need to check. He told me to check the oil and top up the water in the overflow bottle and I done this religiously everyday before we travelled anywhere. Emma thought that we might need to actually put water in the radiator itself but i was like "no, the mechanic told me just to do this and thats what i've been doing, it's obviously some other problem". We had signed up to the RAC road assitance before we left and this turned out to be the best purchase we made for this trip. Even better that the stove top toaster. We went to phone the RAC but we had no signal so we discussed what we would do. Would one of us go into town and one of us stay with the van? It's at times like this you start to think about films like Wolf Creek and what happened to Peter Falconio. Luckily there was some traffic on the road and in the back of the RAC book there is a relay form on which you fill out your details, location where you've broken down and you give it to a passing motorist and then when they get within range of a signal or they get to a roadhouse then they can contact the RAC on your behalf. I stopped a car with a caravan and this German couple said they would do it of course, they offered us water but we had plenty. They took off up the road and we hoped they would deliver the message. We sat for an hour in the van in the hot sun. we couldn't get out of the van because of all the flies. we kept drinking water and eventually Emma very reluctantly had to go to the toilet in the bush. We started to doubt whether the Germans, renowned for their efficiency would actually deliver the message when a tow truck drove past us turned around and pulled up in front of the van. it was nearly 3.30pm at this stage. The tow truck guy had a look at the engine, i told him about the bottle and he said "have you put any water in the radiator?" I hung my head in shame. The radiator was completely empty it took about 5 litres to fill it, even water from the hot water bottle was used. We drove back to Tennant Creek and started out again the next day.

I think the van actually started itself that day and we drove to Alice Springs via the Devils Marbles. When we got to Alice Springs we were almost out of petrol. They have this unleaded stuff called opal unleaded. It was developed because the aboriginals were sniffing the petrol and it was killing their brain cells. I'd heard it had messed up engines so I asked the attendant before I put any petrol in the van and she said it was exactly like unleaded without the smell.

20 minutes after putting opal unleaded in the van, I couldn't take my foot of the accelerator or it would conk out.

I was trying to slow down at roundabouts and the van would conk out. At junctions and traffic lights I'd take my foot off the gas to apply the break and the van conked out. I could restart her again each time but something was badly wrong. Add to this that we couldn't find a camp site because it was a public holiday and we were not happy campers. After we conked out for the 53rd time outside the 5th campsite. we decided to phone the RAC again. They sent out a tow truck and the guy had a look at the engine. I told him about the opal unleaded and he laughed like he'd heard that a few times before and he confirmed that it did mess up engines, particularly in older vehicles. He told us we'd need to get her to a mechanic but it was already 7pm and the next day, Friday, was a bank holiday. Fortunately he knew someone who opened saturdays. We phoned the RAC and told them our predicament and they told us that under our cover we could be put up in a hotel for up to 5 days while our van got fixed. Hurray! we checked in the diplomat motel for 2 blissful days. I took the van to the mechanic on the saturday after it completely conked out at roundabout and I had to call the RAC again to come and tow me this time. The mechanic had a look at the van and it needed a new fuel pump and the carby rebuilt. It ended up not being ready until Tuesday so we maximised our hotel allowance in Alice Springs and it gave us time to sample life in the middle of Australia.

Alice Springs is Abo-mania. It's like Dawn of the Dead. Droves of Aboriginals walking about like zombies day and night. Unbelievable. Like Darwin, a lot of them seem to just live on the streets and outside K Mart. On the saturday afternoon I had the misfortune of glimpsing an aboriginal woman taking a piss standing up practically outside a very busy shop entrance. Awful.

Alice is a fairly small town but it has a fair few shops in it and a couple of shopping precincts so Emma was able to stock up on her winter wear. She bought a pair of those ugg boots and she has hardly had them off her since she got them. There is a bar called Bojangles and it's really cool. It's like a saloon in the wild west with cowboy paraphernalia all over the walls and monkey nut shells on the ground. You can get handfuls of mokey nuts from inside a coffin just inside the door. Emma put her shells in the ashtray and got told off for not throwing them on the floor! We also treated ourselves to steaks in the overlander steakhouse one night.

We hadn't intended to stay more than 2 days in Alice Springs and if the van had have been going we might not even have stayed that long. Eventually on Tuesday we left Alice and headed for Ayers Rock, another 500km round trip off the main road. From about 140kms out we could see a big red plateau in the distance which i thought must be Ayers Rock but Emma thought it wasn't it. And it wasn't. 100kms later we saw the real thing and also another group of rocks called the olgas that from our perspective looked like Homer Simpson lying down. We spent a night at the Ayers Rock resort camp site and the temperature got down to 1 degree. The next morning of course the van wouldn't start and we phoned the RAC again. The tow truck would take an hour or so to get to us and give us a jump start. 5 minutes after we phoned them I tried the van again and it started. we cancelled the tow truck and headed the final 20kms to Ayers Rock. It is a spectacular site. You can climb it but the aboriginal people don't want you to but there were loads of people climbing it. We walked around it instead. It's nearly 10kms and you can't take photos for much of the way round either. it cost $25 and we had to walk round it to get our moneys worth.

At this stage were completely fed up of camping in the cold. We'd had 60 days in the van and we were at the end of our tether. We'd met a couple in in their late 50's in Broome and they were from Adelaide. They told us if we ever come through there to give them a call and they would put us up for the night. We were a bit embarrassed texting them but they were delighted that we'd contacted them and told us they'd put us up. This spurred us on and helped us deal with the cold night we spent in Coober Pedy, an opal mining town where a lot of people live underground because of the extreme weather. It's also were Mad Max was filmed. I was waiting in the van for Emma outside the supermarket just before we left the next morning. I heard something behind me, turned round to see this big ,black, old, aboriginal womans face with her mouth open and 3 rotten teeth pressed up against the window. when she tried to open the door I had to get out and to stop her. She was obviously very drunk and took a minute see me and then she said "Take me to the hospital". I told her to get away from the van.

We arrived in Adelaide on the Saturday and stayed with Monica and Kym (a man with a woman name) for 2 nights. On the staurdy night we went up to a house of friends of theirs and they made us pizzas ands we watched the aussie rules. Its' clear that if Western Australia and the East Coast hate each other, South Australians hate everybody. We travelled down to Victors Harbour and walked around Granite Island then headed back to the city for an indian. We tried to leave at reasonable time on monday but we couldn't get the van started and had to get the RAC out again to jump start us and again on Tuesday. That was the best $116 we ever spent. The problem seems to be the automatic choke on these L300 vans. Once she starts she'll go all day but the problem is getting her started.

We decided to take the scenic route into melbourne along the Great Ocean Road but because we didn't get going til late we didn't have time to do it all because it got dark. What we did see of it was great if you like driving up and down steep windy roads through forests with mere glimpses of ocean periodically. Apparently the part between Anglesea and Apollo Bay is the best but we came from the other direction. What should have been a relatively short journey of 455kms ended up taking us longer than any other day. We arrived in Melbourne on Tuesday night and we've been staying with Dylans bother Ronan in St. Albans. We've been down in St.KIlda looking for an appartment for ourselves and we will hopefully hear something today then we can start to look for jobs. The plan is to stay here for 3-4 months.

The road trip is over. From Perth to Melbourne via Darwin. It could be the equivalent of driving from San Diego to Florida via Detroit. It took us 2 and a half months though we had 5 weeks in Darwin, 7 days in Broome, 5 days in Alice Springs, 2 days in Coral Bay, Adelaide and Tennant Creek. We travelled over 12,000kms through Western Australia, Northern Territory, South Australia and Victoria. We couldn't see it all but we got to see almost everything we wanted to. Campsites ranged from $5 to $42 per night but most were around $30 per night. Petrol ranged from $1.45 in Perth to $2.10 a litre in the Northern Territory. We had 64 nights in the van, 7 nights in hotels, 2 nights with friends and a van that was still going yesterday but might not go today.