May 15th: Darwin to Noonamah – 49 km
Day 214
Eager to get on the road we woke up early. Not that we could have slept in. We spent the night in a pool of sweat with the temperature becoming slightly cooler at 3am and rising again sharply at sun rise.
We headed into Darwin Town Center and found a Woolworths with surprisingly low prices. Still, it was very expensive comparing to prices in Asia. Peanut butter and jelly, oatmeal, pasta and sauce, sunscreen and an adapter for the Australian Plugs, rang up to a total that would have lasted a month in Indonesia. Still getting used to the prices here. On the main street we found a camping supply store and picked up a bottle of Shellite, also known as naptha, white gas or Coleman fuel, depending on which country you are in. We’ve been using gasoline to cook in Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand, and it was a dirty fuel. Our stove has become a bit clogged and a bottle of white gas will help clear out the fuel lines. I was happier than one might expect at finding fuel and returned with a smile on my face and a strut in my step. My dreams of bean burritos, and sausages were now much closer. In less than an hour we had everything that we would need for the coming months and were heading towards cooler weather.
Darwin is hot and humid. With temperatures around 34 and humidity at 90% we were motivated to move south. My research had shown that after about 900 km, temperatures at night would dip into the teens, and the climate, although still warm, would be arid. Every day for the last 3 months we have been soaked with sweat from start til finish, and any change would be welcome.
Cher is not keen on the upcoming cold temperatures. We are products of our climates. Cher’s hometown Kunming, also known as the town of “eternal spring” has perfect dry cool weather year round. I on the other hand from the North Eastern US, prefer change and variety. I stand a better chance of being happy with the weather and Cher will have fleeting happiness in the transitional seasons. Regardless she adjusts quickly and with our down bags, living out of a tent, cool nights will be a change that we both look forward to.
We followed a bicycle path for the majority of the day. Soon after we get on the highway, a police car pulled next to us and warned us that “a house is coming” and asked us to pull over. Not fully adapted to the Australian accent, we were puzzled by the warning. As soon as we pulled onto the side, a truck loaded with a full size house drove by, the front porch missing Cher’s head by 1 foot. Cher found the incidence amusing but I was horrified. We will be keeping a close watch for the large vehicles on the road.
We made it to our first RV park by 3pm. Noonamah is basically a flat patch of grass behind a gas station with a bar and restaurant. At reception the hostess told us not to be shy or ashamed to enjoy the “geriatric strip show” at the bar tonight. We were curious but without at least a dozen cold beers in the budget we passed and did our laundry, cooked dinner and showered instead.
Our neighbour was from the Netherlands on a holiday working visa. He was living out of a tent because his earlier roommate was a drunk and this was an affordable solution. His tent was more like a small shed, with a screened in front porch, a full inflatable bed, t.v. and a little refrigerator out front. Our neighbour on the right was a horder. Her little RV was nearly invisible inside a pile of odds and ends and tarps. Her 12-year-old girl who swore like a sailor, but who was also incredibly polite and asked us to let them know if they were too loud.
We were then visited by sweaty 60 something tattooed man on a bike who asked if I was from Texas, but was disappointed and walked away when I told him New York. He later returned and warned us about road trains, a tractor-trailer with up to four trailers on the back. He advised us that our trikes looked like a couple of boars and that the drivers “don’t care about killing pigs cause it won’t harm their truck none.” I thanked him, and promised we would continue to pull off the road when they pass.
Although quirky, everyone was very friendly. It seems that these wide open spaces attract a variety of free thinking individuals, and maybe that’s why we are here.