Photo East Point Darwin

On the road again

So, car: all new tyres, new swivel bearings in the front hubs, new handbrake cables, renovated rear drums, new universal joints on the rear drive shaft, new dual battery monitoring system (thankyou Opposite Lock Darwin for replacing our broken one with no quibbles or charge ($480!!), winch overhauled and now working again properly, brakes and load proportioning valve (I know I know, I had no idea what it was until the Haynes manual explained) all bled and car underside sprayed with protective coat. We've also bought a new water container and a bit more serious recovery kit. Next is Litchfield park then on to Kunanarra then the serious bit the Gibb River track. Four wheel drive only and closed during the wet season because the rivers are too deep to cross. We think it is now open so time for some serious adventure. I think we're as prepared as we can be but we've joined the AA just in case!! Perth is 4859KM away and we want to be there by my Birthday if poss. It's going to be remote so if you don't here from us for a while don't panic and we've also got a text messaging system set up with Matt and Max letting them know our itinerary and making contact when we can.

Hippity flippin hooray we're youngtrippers again!!!!!!

Photo Local kids East Point

Photo Make a wish

Photo Kym's Birthday

Photo Us

Photo Concentrate

Photo Corporal Eirinn

Photo Brigadier Kym

Photo Sgt Major Max

Wooler's

Without the company of Matt, Max and Eirinn there's little doubt we would have torn each others throats out and or withered and died under a huge pile of forms. We've been sharing the same campsite as them and hopefully have been helpful to them when their shifts cross and we can look after Eirinn. They've been having a bit of a stressful time recently aswell with a dodgy motor and a dodgy garage but between us all I think we've just about kept our sanity. Eirinn certainly can't help but cheer you up with her incessant chatter and 4 year old's lust for answers to everything. Now we're on the move again we will certainly miss them but thankyou guys for keeping it real.

Photo Bower bird nest

They build this amazing structure then decorate it with shiny objects which you can just make out lying in front of the nest.

Photo Woolers

Darwin.....still.

Six weeks later and we're still in Darwin. Now Darwin's not a bad place, it's hot, sunny, vaguely cosmopolitan in a sort of "this is what we think cosmopolitan is and we're happy with it" way, maybe innocently contrived best describes it. It has history! It was the only city in Australia bombed during the WW2 and don't you know it. There are the remains of the old town hall fenced off and pride of place near the water front but difficult to get excited about when the house your tenants live in in Taunton is older. And of course there are the indigenous people, the Larrikea aboriginals. I'm not in the mood for a rant right now but the topic will come up sooner or later, it can't fail not to.

Anyhow six weeks later and we're still in Darwin. Welcome back to the 1st world and all it's associated bureaucracy. The department of vehicle import approval with who we lodged our application in March 2009 have finally got it right just this week. We now have the paperwork we need and the car is now registered and road legal in Australia without our Carnet. The Carnet can now be returned to the RAC in the UK and our bond against our house can be released.To say we've been banging our heads against the wall would be an understatement. At one point one of their advisors told us we would have to take the car out of the country and bring it back in again! Fortunately we found one voice of reason who could see that the catalogue of errors was down to them, and finally granted our approval certificate which arrived last week (and had to be sent back 'cos they'd got the chassis number wrong!!!).

Photo Eastpoint Darwin

We've done it.

The scary part was next. We had to arrange with customs and quarantine to meet us at the container when it was opened and have our car inspected. This was the bit Troy had already told us about. It costs au$120 for the booking fee which includes the first half hour of the inspection, ever half hour thereafter is $90 and most inspections take two hours!! We all arrived at the containers at the same time (Sveinn, Adam and Nicky and ouselves) and the first thing we did is pop up the lap tops and show them the photo's of the vehicles in various stages of undress. They were impressed.. good start. Exactly one and a half hours later they'd finshed all three vehicles. The yard marshall said he'd never seen three vehicles all cleared in one day let alone 1 1/2 hours, testement to Troy's good name and Kym and the others fastidious cleaning skills I'd say. Brilliant. We have our home back again and on Australian soil which I guess kinda means

WE MADE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Photo Wendy, Eirinn, Dave, Me and Matt

Photo only a little one

Photo Nazarrena

Photo Shutting up