Martins BUSTA Move: 2014

It Getting Hot in Here!

We have been slack yes, but here is the next part to our journey, we hope you have all had a good break and 2014 is looking good for you all.

As we headed east from NW western Australia, we didn't ever think we were ever going to out run the heat, and we were right. After blowing three trailer tyres between Franklin River and Adelaide river, and then having the hole wheel and stub axel fall off as we pulled into the caravan park in Darwin, we thought it was time to get the trailer sorted and fix the bent axels. Conveniently this also happened to be when Dad was scheduled for a visit (the fly in, fly out mechanic highly recommended and very cheap). Both Mum and Dad were suppose to come for a visit but unfortunately mums sister became very sick so she rushed over to see her in Perth and Dad ventured north to spend his holidays with us. We were all very excited to see Poppy.

Poppy became the official tour guide/bus driver for Litchfield and Kakadu which was nice for Inx and myself to get a reprieve from the kids and Poppy to get his top up of the grandkids. Caravan parks were a necessity as we required power for our air conditioner and waterparks and the pool were frequented to escape the humidity of Darwin. We caught up with our good friends Cindy, Killen and Kelan who had recently moved up there for work which was lovely.

The kids really enjoyed Litchfield, as the accessibility was much easier then all the gorges we made them walk into when in the Kimberleys. I don’t think we could ever get sick of the crystal clear waterfalls and plunge pools.

From here we looped up into Kakadu, being the end of the dry season not all of the waterfalls had water going over them but they were still spectacular. A little daunting to know that a lot of the swimming holes that I had swam in 20 years ago are now closed because of crocs! But it all has remained relatively unchanged over the years, the only difference was that I was more appreciative of the raw rugged beauty of this area.

Back in Darwin we did all the must do’s for the area, the Mindil markets, fish feeding at Docs gully etc, but I was also treated to a birthday surprise from Mum and Dad and that was “THE CAGE OF DEATH”!!!! Houdini was our croc along with his girlfriend Tess who was very accommodating with us being in their territory, something I will remember for a long time.

After a sad farewell to Poppy, we headed south to Mataranka springs and then parked up the bus at Tennant Creek whilst we took the 4WD down to Alice Springs and did the loop out through the west Macdonnell ranges and into Uluru. Unfortunately “the Rock” was shut for 5 days as it was to windy but still a great experience, and something else ticked off Sonny’s list.

So it continues, next stop “the mighty QLD”.