Submitted: Sunday, Sep 28, 2008 at 15:46

We awoke once again to no alarm at 6:20 am Western Australian time. I still have not changed the clocks to NT time which I must get around to.

We didn’t have a long drive today, just the final part of the Great Central Road into Kata Tjuta National Park and then another 80 kms or so to Curtain Springs, our campsite for the next 3 nights. Having such a short day, we though that we would just grab something from the roadhouse at Docker River. We drove into the community only to find it closed and not open till 11:00 am. We should have known better, having lived in WA for 2 years now. Such is life. On the way out of the community we stopped while Tracy went over and introduced herself to a local mob who were bottle feeding a baby camel in their front yard. We all soon followed her out as well for a look and a chat. They were a ncie friendly mob which showed the kids that not all Aboriginals need to be feared.

On we went along the Great Central Road which by now had become rougher, with large stretches of sand and bull dust to navigate through. It was on this stretch of road that I noticed my temperature gauge had risen almost to boiling. I pulled over to check the situation out. I was unable to find any leaks or evidence of water loss at all. As soon as I eased back to 60 or 70 kms / hour or stopped the temperature would drop. Perhaps it’s a water flow problem, so I will have to check it out further once we reach Curtin Springs.



It was interesting to see the Olga’s and the Rock travelling in from the West, as we had always previously arrived from the East. We stopped quite a few times for photos and filming and finally arrived at Yulara resort at about 2:00 pm NT time. I checked phone messages, called home as well as Tracy’s mum to let everyone know that we had made it safely across the Gunbarrel Highway. We bought some burgers for lunch, picked up a few items at the supermarket and then headed off for Curtin Springs.

Once again the car was tending to overheat, so I have put it down to possible a stuck thermostat of water flow problem of some sort. I must get it checked.

We arrived at Curtin Springs at about 4:30 pm to be greeted by Dennis and Sue. I had a well deserved beer or two or three, before finally making the effort to set up camp.

Dinner was provided by Dennis and Sue tonight, a nice very hot Vindaloo and stew for the kids. We sat around the small camp fire and became very well lubricated on red wine and Vermouth before finally heading to bed at about 11:00 pm.

Tags: 4WD, Camper Trailer, Camping, Travel Journal, Travelling with Kids, Family
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