days go by

okay - so, as i have said in the last blog entry - we have made it. only this time it IS actually the end of our journey. we have reached our final destination of broome and it feels amazing. so many people have warned us from coming here - stating that we wouldn't like it, there's nothing to do here and that broome is only known to be a "party city" in which it will drain your bank account quicker than a gas guzzling wicked campervan. but as it stands - we love it. it's gorgeous. it's everything we hoped it would be and more. and we haven't even left our little spot by the beach yet. fortunately we still have a few more days to explore broome and the area around it before we say goodbye to bertha (the campervan) forever. anyway - continuing on where we left off, the last few days have been rather eventful.

april 6/10 . after completing our "catching up" with buying groceries, updating emails and pictures and such, we set out to make camp at our parking spot by the ferry docks. this was the only place we could find within darwin of which had no signs indicating we could not park there overnight. plus, it was well lit and many other people were parked there as well - we took it as a sign that we would sleep safely for the night.

we didn't even get to sleep before we heard a knock on our door. as it was ridiculously hot in our van we had stripped down to our undies and i didn't feel the particular need to promptly whip open the door to expose us to whomever was on the other side. so we waited quietly to see what would happen. the person knocked again. and again. and then started to yell stuff at us such as "i know you're in there." "you can't park here." "you want a ticket?" etc. etc. when he finally stated that he would call the cops on us if we wouldn't leave, i figured this was as good time as any to finally open the door and face the person on the other side.

so i did. and came face to face with an angry man (it was difficult to tell who he belonged to as he was standing behind his utility/gardening/something truck and it was dark) who immediately stated that i could not camp there. i replied that we were unaware of this "rule" as there were no signs posted anywhere saying that we couldn't and that we weren't "camping" - we were only parking overnight and wanted a couple hours of sleep. he huffed that he didn't care and that we would have to leave. i was left smelling the rubber he burned as he peeled out of the parking lot.

so anika and i discussed the matter and decided we weren't too happy with being just told to leave like that. i had recognised this guy driving past us earlier in the evening and he could have discussed the matter with us then. but he didn't. he waited untill it was late in the evening to bring forth his arguement. at this point everything was dark. campgrounds were closed for the night (we called them). we, according to our contract with wicked campervans, are not allowed to even be driving at night. we did not fully explore the city of darwin during the day and had no other ideas of where we could park for the night that we would feel safe.

when the guy came back to see if we had left, i waved him down and told him our situation. i figured i would be banging my head against a brick wall, but surprisingly enough the man responded in saying he knew a place we could go and park where we would not get a fine from the council and would be safe as he it is on his route as he makes his rounds during the night. so we hopped back in the van and followed him to a secluded park that overlooked the ocean and there we were sheltered by trees and bushes so that no one would even notice us there. it was perfect. we thanked the mystery man and he left us completely flabbergasted at his niceness.


april 7/10 . we woke up the next morning, greeted with a sunrise and gazed out over our perfect view of the ocean. we decided to spend the day at the east point reserve where we had driven by the day before. a beach, safe swimming lake, washrooms and showers - we couldn't ask for anything else. that being said, shortly into our morning of hanging out under the palm trees, it began to pour rain. anika and i hurried back to the van and decided our best course of action would be to positon the van so we could sit under the back hatch and watch the world go by. rain or not. as we proceeded to do this, i found a camping chair leaning against a tree. no one claimed it. i fixed the one arm of it with duck tape and was stoked at the fact that we now had a chair for each of us to relax in for the day. and relax we did. we let the world pass by us as we sat like vegetables in our camping chairs. it was bliss.

as the day went on, we met an aboriginal man by the name of sambo. he introduced himself by saying that he was "sambo, not rambo." we chatted it up with him - asking about his asian-style hat and he asked us about how we liked darwin. he informed us that darwin was the "last frontier" of australia, that he's the boss of it and that the rest of australia is f*cked. he amused us so much that we managed to convince him to take photos with us.

later on some cops drove by on the cycling path in front of us. they started the conversation by stopping there and saying "hi." we said "hi" back and then we waited there for what seemed like an eternity as we stared at them and they stared at us. finally anika asked if everything was okay and they said it was. we then sat there for a moment longer before they asked if we were camping for the night in darwin. they then proceeded to show us via map where they would "prefer" to have us park for the night as they have a better ability to ensure safety there. we thanked them and they went on their way, but no before the one invited us over to park at his place, swap stories and have a real bed to sleep in for the night. and just so we're clear - this was a middle-aged single father of the darwin policeforce. as they left we marvelled at how we seemed to continue running into amazingly nice people in darwin.

as it were - we skipped the cop's dinner invitation and set out back to our cliff-faced, ocean-view camping spot for the night and spent the evening watching a lightening storm from the comforts of our not-so-real bed in the van.


april 8/10 . first thing in the morning we set out on our journey to get to our final destination of broome. but first we intended to spend the day at kakadu national park. unfortnately, after driving nearly 200 km to just get to the entrance of it we discovered that it would cost us $25/person for a 14-day pass. we didn't have 14 days to spend there and they didn't have just a day pass. we didn't think it was worth it and so we drove all the way back out to the main highway and made our way to litchfield national park of which was free. after all of this we calculated we had used up almost a full tank of gas just to get only 100 km from where we started in darwin. ouch.

as it were, we managed to find a nice campspot of which had a fire pit. we immediately took to making a fire for our dinner - pancakes. we topped them with all we had - jam, peanut butter and melted chocolate from our easter bunnies and ate so much we thought we would explode. we never clued in that we could have saved some for the next day. as it were - with such full tummies we slept pretty soundly.


april 9/10 . anika and i started off our day with exploring the many water falls in litchfield. the water was soon forgotten when at one point we came up some stairs to find a rather large snake (we think it was a python) curled up in the corner. i was so focused on getting up the stairs i completely by-passed it and it wasn't untill anika came up behind me and said something about it that i even noticed it. i blamed it on their ability to blend in with the stair color.

after the waterfall exploration we drove our way to policeman's point - a few kilometres from the town of timber creek. at policeman's point we had a gorgeous view overlooking the valley where a river ran through it. we immediately set up camp for the night, but later on when a car drove through the area we got creeped out and drove back to timber creek where we parked outside the caravan park and slept under the bright lights of the local gas station.


april 10/10 . we woke up this morning to find that we looked a good couple kilos smaller than when we had gone to bed the night before. we blamed it on the fact that we spent most of the night restless and sweaty due to the fact that our side door of the van had decided to stop sliding open and closed and we had had it closed. nothing like sleeping in a steam room to help out on one's shape.

as it were - we decided to get ourselves organized for the day at timber creek. i stopped in to get some WD40 for the door and inquired about the showers they had in the washrooms. the lady (jess) said she didn't care if we had the showers for free. i was stoked. usually showers at a gas station could cost us up to $5 each. we had our showers and then i went back in and borrowed a screwdriver from jess to open our flashlights to change the batteries. back outside, when i had sprayed the WD40 on the door, i managed to find out that one of the barrings had come off and that was the real reason as to why our door wasn't working. i informed jess who summoned keith to come see if he could help us out. he could.

the next few hours consisted of anika and i helping to remove the door from our van and then holding it so that keith could get in to fix the barring. he did it all for free and we thanked him profusely as it would have cost us a great deal to go to the mechanic. as it were - the local mechanic was closed for the day as it was saturday. once the door was back on and working properly, we set out to put air in our tires, wash the windows and buy a few supplies that we needed. the entire morning at timber creek cost us a total of $26 for everything. we left promising to send a postcard of our thanks to the staff at timber creek.

the rest of the day proved to be rather uneventful as we drove our way untill the sun was setting and then we found a spot to sleep for the night and we did just that. sleep.


april 11/10 . setting out early in the morning we managed to make it all the way to broome by early afternoon. we immediately parked at cable beach and took a dip in the warm torquoise waters before showering it up in the washrooms. later on we drove down onto the beach to have supper and join everyone else who was out to see the sunset as it went down over the watery horizon. absolutely gorgeous. we had made it.


*****

now. i have had many people writing to me to find out more of what life is like driving in the outback of australia. it's difficult to describe. it's difficult to understand unless you have once had such a similar experience. but the more i have thought about it - the more i realize that it is important for those who may never have this experince to at least have the ability to imagine to some extent of what it is like. so - i write to you now - to those who have never and may never find themself hurtling down a highway in the middle of nowhere. happy reading.

. YOUR SEAT . find your local dentist and borrow one of the chairs (or something of similar material and set-up). there is no footrest and you may not, at any point, recline the chair past a 110 degree angle. as you read on, keep in mind that the material you are sitting on for the next hours, days, weeks is one that does not do well once your skin has decided to adhere to the surface.

. SEATBELT . any normal seatbelt will do though the position is that of an angle that threatens to cut of all circulation of bloodflow to your brain and during most days you have a red mark across your neck as it rubs you to the point that you wonder if you will finish the trip with no head. fortunately you still have enough oxygen in your brain for it to tell you to hold the seatbelt as far away from your body as you drive. this is your regular seating position - that of which can become more complicated should you desperately want to take a spontaneous picture of the next dead cow you see on the side of the road as you go whiping past at 130km/hr.

. CLOTHING . next to nothing, but try to limit yourself from any thong-related bottoms. it doesn't do well when your butt cheeks have to be peeled from the seat. sunglasses are a must. to get the full effect, ensure that they are scratched on the lenses - this makes driving more interesting as you try to see through the marks in front of your eyes. a hairband is also useful to avoid all your hair being in your eyes - one can only drive with so many distractions.

. SWEAT . one part oil, one part salt, one part water. should you need something to do as a passenger - occassionally wipe off your sweat and count the seconds down to when you are completely soaked again. as well, it would be a good idea to lather yourself with vaseline and warm water in your nether regions as you will get the full effect of the ride. when doing this try to keep in mind that you are only putting enough on to trick yourself into thing you are in a constant state of wondering if you just wet yourself.

. EXFOLIATE . this is something to do as a passenger when bored. simply rub your skin in any area you wish - the sweat mixture makes for a cheap exfoliation product. simply continue to rub until residue resembling eraser remains form on your skin. NOTE: do not confuse this as being an actual cleansing process.

. AIRFLOW . position a hair drying approximately 3 inches from your face and turn on at the hottest and highest settings. NOTE: do not try to move away from the hot air blowing in your face. the airflow is inescapable. should you stop the "vehicle," proceed by trading in your hair drying for a prime seat in a sauna room.

. WATER SUPPLY . boil water (as much as you think you should need for the day) and fill some in your water bottle. wait 5 min and then guzzle it down - you WANT this water as it elimitates the fact that you have had a roll of paper towel stuffed in your mouth up untill this point and the hot water tastes better than the paper-dry feeling of your tongue.

. MUSIC . any type you choose. an ipod works well - but make sure only one of your speakers works and that all musical sound exists only after the speaker has been buried in a mudhole 2ft deep. none of your songs should come out clear - that would take all the fun out of it.

. SCENERY . find the most deserted road. sit on it for 8hrs/day, 3 days straight. on then can you change positions to maybe a slightly different road. repeat. in order to REALLY mix it up - find a dead animal or two and randomly scatter them both on the sides and middle of the road.



..... and that's about it. oh yeah - don't forget your camera. this is about the only form of entertainment one can have. hense all the pictures of dirt roads i keep posting for everyone to view. ENJOY!!