Although we liked the Lazy Lizard, we can feel the heat and want to move on. We have some business in Katherine and then want to turn West.
The early sun and quick heat makes that by 8 am we’re washed and fed outside to start packing up, feeding the dogs, walking the dogs, dumping the black water and filling the fresh water. So before 9 we’re on the move.
We drive over known roads again, the 300 km back from Litchfield to Katherine and at around 10 am, just before the Katherine campus of the Charles Darwin University the same problem occurs. The alternator drops off. Several hot moments, curses, black smears later we are on the road again, 20 km from Katherine. We pull into the vet that we saw the last time we were in Katherine to get repeat prescriptions for Dotti and then they had to check with our Sydney vet. They still hadn’t done that by now so Marjo put a little pressure on and within an hour we had what we needed. Somehow when it involves pets, the medical professionals seem to be much more strict (and/or chasing money) than with humans. But hey. We have what we needed so we move on. Some shopping at Woolies and new wine for Marjo. Oh no, it is before 2 pm and someone in their wisdom has decided that drinking before 2 pm is not good so no wine. Then the next stop is fuel and new gas. We had to split that in two stops because the first fuel station had no full swap gas bottle. The second only refilled but by now the attendant was gone out for lunch so the cash lady took our money and asked to wait till he returned. Meanwhile we were cooking ourselves in the 36 degrees. That out of the way we returned to the mechanic that serviced our car. When he serviced it before I asked him to check for all loose bolts. He said he did so I wondered how the alternator could have fallen off again. He didn’t know and said, book it in for tomorrow and we’ll have a look. I didn’t want to wait though so asked Tom, the owner. He put the bus in the garage and together we put new bolts in with locktite. Also tensioned some other bolts.
By then Marjo and the dogs were almost melted while waiting outside. So we decided to drive back to the east of Katherine to go to Knotts Crossing where I was a few days before. We all had a nice time and cooled down.
Then we drove back to Katherine for wine (by now it was 3.30 pm) an ice cream from McDonalds and then on, finally west. We had not gone west since we left Barkly Homestead after Marjo’s birthday, a bit over 2 weeks ago.
We did 60 km’s and then pulled over at a road stop for the night, next to a couple who had been traveling in their Nissan bus 6 years. After dinner he came over and asked “can I look at your rear, Axel?” at which Marjo looked puzzled. I had no qualms though and said: “sure, do you need a light?” and proceeded to look with him under the bus. He needed new shocks for his bus and could only get Toyota shocks and wanted to see how they were mounted on the back axle. Later on Marjo wondered how the guy knew my name. I puzzled what she meant as I hadn’t told them my name. The next morning it dawned on me that he had said “axle” instead of “axel” 🙂
Posted from Baines, Northern Territory, Australia.
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