Heading into the Outback..... where do we begin. Well on Sunday (July 15th) we picked up our campervan from Britz except it wasn’t really what we expected. Instead of a campervan we got a 4wd Toyota Land Cruiser truck with a fold out tent on the roof. So the adventure begins!! We loaded up and headed on the road down the coast about 4 hours to Townsville where we got a nice campsite for the night as we didn’t want to set up the first time in the dark. Monday morning at sunrise we headed inland across Queensland into the Outback. Stopping at a couple little towns along the way for coffee, gas and to make lunch the farther we went into the outback the smaller the towns got, the less the cars on the road and the more road kill we saw. We saw probably 40 dead wallabies on the side of the road the most wallabies we’ve seen our whole trip. The other thing that we noticed is that when we passed another vehicle on the road the driver would wave at us. At first Casey thought that everyone was mistaking us for someone they knew. Later we realized that the wave was so people felt less lonely out on the open road. We really loved this friendly gesture and began to wave to every car we passed. Just outside of Mount Isa we stopped on the side of the road to make dinner and watch the sunset which was breathtaking then into Mount Isa for the night. At sunrise we were off again with nothing but the open road ahead of us. Crossing the border of Queensland into the Northern Territory the number of dead wallabies decreased which lead us to believe the wallabies were smarter her but number of dead cows increased. The towns that we drove through or stopped for gas I wouldn’t even categorize as a town. They consisted of an overpriced gas station, caravan park/motel and an outback salon and that was it.....literally! We were originally planning to make it as far as Dunmarra to set up camp for the night before sunset but upon arriving realized it was one of the outback “towns”. We decided to make dinner then head for Katherine about 4 hours away. As we head back on the road we realized why it was recommended not to drive at night and why there was so much road kill. At night the road comes alive with so many wallabies that we needed a team effort to avoid having wallaby for dinner. We stopped in one “town” before we arrived in Katherine for a potty break that was out of the twilight zone. The gas pumps were out of order but the station was open probably for the dust covered snacks or to view the caged baby crocodile or snakes in the dinner. Casey said the bathroom looked as if it had never been cleaned with so many cobwebs and red dirt covering the floor & walls while I hung out with the old dog on the tattered chair who was watching the small antenna TV. Continuing into the night we stopped on the side of the road to gaze at the most beautiful night sky we have ever seen. The milkway was so clear and distinct and the amount of stars in the sky words couldn’t describe. Upon arriving in Katherine at about 11 pm we found all the caravan parks & motels closed except for a sketchy one on top of a local drinking hole. Wanting that to be our last resort we stopped at an open gas station to get some info on where we could go. While Casey was inside talking with the gas attendant I was trying to politely ignore the drunken aboriginal man knocking on my window asking me to open the door. Thank God Casey came out when he did. We found a caravan park that wasn’t gated and pulled in for some well deserved sleep. Thursday we took it easy and in the early afternoon ventured to the Litchfield National Park just a few hours out of Darwin on the scenic route.
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