Monday Sept 3rd we headed out on the beginning of our 3000 kilometre road trip with Joel & Roxanne. We went as far as Katherine where we stayed for two nights to relax a bit after our eventful Kakadu trip. The four of us enjoyed sleeping in a bit, lots of time reading, chatting and getting organized to head out on the long drive through the outback. The Wednesday morning (Sept 5) we started our drive with our first stop at the Cutta Cutta caves. Cutta Cutta means Starry Starry as the rocks inside the cave sparkle like they are covered in glitter. Wandering through these amazing caves we only saw a few spiders and snake skins but nothing that freaked us out. Joel preferred not to see snakes and I preferred not to see the spiders. Later that afternoon we stopped at a famous homestead called WE OF THE NEVER NEVER we looked around and felt better about hostel living and camping after seeing the accommodations back then. Right next to the homestead was Elsey National Park which had some amazing hot springs, so the four of us went for a refreshing dip. We figured these pools must be “the fountains of youth” as it looked like everyone else in the pools were over 60. Back on the road we headed off and stopped in a town called Larrimah. This town is the same one we had stopped at during our first trip to Darwin in the middle of the night and felt like we were in the twilight zone. We pulled over to show Joel this strange little “town”. The gas pumps were still out of order and when Casey took Joel in to show him the strange “store” there was a big biker looking guy sitting on the old chair watching TV with his dog at his feet and a Joey beside him. Casey asked the guy about the Joey and not taking his eyes off the TV in front of him he told them they pulled it out of a kangaroo that got hit nearby. Casey pointed to the crocodile in the dining room in an aquarium and asked the guy about it, while the guy said he had two more out back one 3 feet another 4 ½ feet. The guys jumped back in the car and we continued on our way glad we never had to stay at Larrimah. Almost running out of gas and just making it to Daly Waters we found a gas pump that had a sign saying “Fuel ask at the pub”. So we walked into the pub across the street that was packed full of people and had its walls full of driver’s licences, passports, foreign money, t-shirts, flags, bras, underwear & flip flops that travelers had left there. It definitely was a different place. The little tiny town was full of people with crazy cars all travelling together for a charity function with the Variety Club so we headed on wards to Dunmarra. When we arrived Dunmarra we were greeted by a little boy who was 5 years old and as friendly as could be. His family was in Australia from Africa and this little guy had a smile like I have never seen before. The next morning when the four of us were reading we saw our new little friend sitting outside on the steps of his motel room waiting for someone to play with him. Casey headed over with a soccer ball and Joel, Casey and this little guy played soccer for about 45 minutes. The three of them had a blast. Just before we left Casey gave him the soccer ball and the little guys face little up so much we thought he was going to burst with excitement. As we were leaving we saw him knocking on every motel door to show people his new soccer ball. It was pretty cool to bless that little guy and brought so much joy to our hearts to see him so happy. That day we drove all day and stopped at Barkley Homestead which was in the middle of no were and had more flies then a cow farm. Both Roxanne and myself put on our sexy fly nets to make dinner as we were going insane with them dive bombing our ears. Friday morning (Sept 7th) we drove all day again till we arrived in Mount Isa where we found a McCafe to grab a good cup of coffee before heading to the grocery store to get supplies for dinner. As we have been travelling with a couple English it became a great tradition to have a cup of tea after our dinner meals. Well with Casey’s influence Joel was starting to switch over to coffee after dinner instead of the tea. Joel’s excuse was that you can’t find a good cup of tea like back home. Saturday morning we headed to Charter Towers where we pulled into town in the early evening and decided to eat out for a change as we were all exhausted. Saturday morning we headed to Mission Beach where we decided to stay a few nights as it was breathtaking. Casey got up at sunrise each morning and went for a walk along the beach. On Monday morning Joel & Roxanne headed off to do their White Water Rafting trip while Casey & I relaxed at the beach. Joel and Roxanne came and shared how they got a free upgrade to the Extreme version of it and had a crazy time. Casey’s thing but definitely not mine. Tuesday (Sept 11th) we finally arrived in Cairns ready to have a break from all our driving.