I left everyone else to a fried b'fast whilst I sat and read my book before being asked if I wanted to go for another snorkel........ mmmm not today thanks

The others got dressed in the stinger suits before heading off again, most of them to the beach for a play around whilst Toby, Clare and Beau went for a snorkel again in the area that George lived in hoping to get a look. They came back 30mins later all excited as they had swam with the great fish and swam with a turtle which was wonderful.

After everyone was back on board we set off again back to Airlie beach on the most horrific water I have ever bloody seen. The boat was constantly on it's side under the water so it was a case of hanging on to the rails and ropes for dear life, the sky turned black and the waves got up to 15ft high. I shit myself for the whole journey back and swore I wouldn't do anything like this again!

I nearly kissed the ground when we parked up and couldn't get off the boat quick enough!!!! we then went and dropped the camera film in and went and had a coffee and relax before heading back to the campsite. We met up with everyone later for prearranged dinner and drinks, so at 7ish we headed down to the bar for some nosh and jugs of beer. Matt came down but Laurie never made it unfortunately, but we still had a blood good time! We eventually ended up in an Irish bar which had a really good live band playing, Clare went home quite early leaving the rest of us to get immensely drunk. Beau, Toby, Matt and myself ended up drinking tequila shots and getting slaughtered. Toby did some fantastic dancing which even attracted a small crowd to circle around him as he did the funniest moves I have ever seen. Beau and I were just jumping up and down for Britain for ages and we all had a really great time.

Toby and myself decided to leave at about 2ish and tried to drag Beau with us but he wasn't having any of it!

Beau came back at about 4ish to a not so happy Clare Bear who gave him a bit of a hard time about it. Toby and I crawled out of bed relatively early considering whereas Beau stayed exactly where he was due to feeling very very ill! Clare was very quiet for the rest of the day as she felt bad about giving her husband a hard time so she offered to drive first. We stopped off to do a few things before heading on our way to Townsville which was about 250km away and little Clare Bear drove the whole way whilst Beau laid on the bed the whole time moaning at how ill he felt whilst we just stayed quiet in the front.

Clare cooked a wonderful chilli for dinner that Beau managed to crawl off of his bed to eat, before Toby tried to ring Mark and Thorn who weren't in.

Long day of driving but the good news was, Beau was feeling better today and was able to join in with the days goings on.

We booked into a huge 'Big 4' caravan park called the Coconut Resort which is 5star..... very swanky. I then went shopping for the evening meal and rustled up a wonderful concoction for us all to dine on.

I stayed at the campsite for most of the day whilst the other lot went into Cairns to do some bits and pieces ( I suspect b'day pressy shopping) I had a good wonder around the site which is a fantastic place if not a little plastic for me, but has everything you could need.

When the others got back I took the van into one of the shopping malls so that I could have a look around - bla bla

Didn't do much in the evening but have a BBQ and some wine and just spent some quality time with Clare Bear, it's not long before we go our separate ways........

We found a wonderful swimming pool that I practised my new founded swimming ability thanks to Beau - still not very good at front crawl but great at breast stroke.

Later on in the day I went back to the shopping Mall to buy some supplies for the food box and to also see the puppies in the pet shop. They have the pet shops that have the glass cages up against the windows so that you can see all the babies, needless to say I wanted them all!!

Weather is still crap and hasn't stopped raining

We all went to the video room in the evening and watched 'The Others' we were armed with popcorn and pick a mix and felt extremely sick afterwards. Clare was very impressed with the fact I worked out the plot not long into the film..........

Oh my goodness it is still raining!

I went and had a shower and when I got back to our van they were all sat there waiting for me with grins on there little faces and camera's in hand....... Toby then got down on one knee and I just panicked!! he then produced my so called lost camera and took a picture of me looking very shocked.

The little bugger had had the camera in his day pack for about 5 months and didn't bloody realise, he said he had looked all through his bags whilst we were in Goa and I had supposedly lost it or it had been nicked. I new I hadn't put the thing down anywhere as I'm quite anal about anything like that!! I chased him around the tent for a while before shouting at him for a little longer. I was then desperate for the film to be developed to have a look at the pictures of Everest that were still in the camera. The funny thing though was that Toby had bought me a new camera for my looming b'day and had to take the thing back - plonker

We all then went down to the campsite swimming pool even though it was raining and not as good as the other one we had found, but this one had a kids slide!! Toby Clare and I had a fantastic time going down the slide in lots of different positions - backwards being the scariest. We then all ended up having rolly polly competions and shoulder fights, then racing from one end of the pool to the other with someone sat on our shoulders, all of which were hilarious.

The 4 of us trundled into Cairns a little later so that Clare and I could use the Internet and Toby could get the photo's developed. The pictures were bloody fab and even better since I thought I would never see them again.

Later that evening we went out to a curry house for dinner to celebrate our time together and to say our goodbyes. We all got dressed up as best we could in our travelling gear that headed out for the best curry I have had in a bloody long time. We opened the Champaign given to us from Damo and lots of white wine ( well the girls did) before I handed over a card and pressy as a goodbye thingy. We then went over to a very empty pub and listened to a really good singer before heading back.

Well it was goodbye today and very sad I was feeling.....

We packed Betty up and headed into town to drop Clare and Beau off and collect there new hire van. It seemed to take ages but we soon stopped not far from a bike hire place which I did remark on, only to be dragged out of the van and into the bike place by a happy Toby wishing me a happy B'day !!!!! fanbloodytastic

Toby had arranged for us to hire out a couple of road bikes for 2 days, he then pointed to the bikes and asked me which one I would like - well the nicest one I could see that wasn't too big was a Triumph 600 TT in a beautiful blue colour, I couldn't stop shaking as was really excited but shitting a brick at the same time due to not having ridden a bike since leaving England and not since passing my test!! I sat on the bike and it seemed huge for me but this was the one I wanted.

Beau and Clare stood there grinning all the while and then said we were all going to Cape Tribulation together and weren't splitting up just yet - blinkin tinkers. We left them to sort out the van situation whilst we sorted out the bike stuff before getting on our lovely speed machines. I started off a bit wobbly and Toby was a bit over exuberant ! but we made it to a bike place and bought some BMX gloves each and headed off to meet Beau and Clare. We sorted out all the van bits and pieces and they loaded up all of their gear into there shiny new power steering, air conditioned van WITH FRIDGE as Beau kept telling us..... we then dropped Betty off at the caravan park and started on our journey to Cape Trib with them in the van and us on our bikes.

The weather was perfect for a change and the ride was just amazing !! We soon got the confidence to ride a little faster and were whizzing past the other two at every opportunity. We stopped of in Port Douglass an hour and a half later for some lunch at a little cafe near the beach and had a chance to show off our bikes to outside eaters - felt good being a girl on a big fast bike. Only problem was we both couldn't walk and collapsed as soon as we tried to walk - not very impressive then.......

Off we went again - had to catch a little ferry across a crocodile infested river which was a bit scary for me trying to get the bike across the steep ramps, but being the pro I am, I succeeded very well. I would have to say that the bike is far too heavy for me and I could not walk the thing anywhere or catch it if it were to fall, I could only just about get the thing off of it's stand!! so that was a bit nerve racking for me knowing if I dropped it, it would cost allot of money....

Anyway with that in mind we were soon weaving down some very bendy and exciting roads before finding a lovely place to stay. Clare and Beau slept in the van whilst Toby booked us into a wonderful cabin in the rain forest. The place is extremely beautiful and reminded me of Nepal with all the lush vegetation, even had the HUGE spiders like Nepal which poor old Clare nearly had a fit at.

It was wonderful to have a proper bed and even a toilet in the same vicinity instead of having to find the toilet block half a mile away in the night like usual. We went down to the restaurant which again was built into the forest in the trees and near the beach, had an extremely expensive meal before hitting our wonderful proper beds.

Got up early and had a continental B'fast which was amazing then went and found the other two. We had a cuppa with them and I moaned about the weather which was raining again!! hate riding in the rain as the helmet gets wet and my glasses steam up. The roads were really quite slippery so we both rode with caution back on the very windy roads, hopped back on the ferry and then stopped on the other side to say our farewells to Beau and Clare who had been following, couldn't believe this was it and got really upset. I gave them both really big hugs and told them to go before I cried. They scooted off and I stood and cried in front of all the people waiting to get on the ferry! After a little while we got back on the bikes and made our way back to Cairns, and the Big 4 caravan park. We then spent a few hours washing the bed sheets and drooling over the bikes both feeling very sad at having to give them back. At 4ish we donned our helmets and mounted our machine much to the delight of our caravan and tent neighbours who had been eyeing up our babies all afternoon! we were very naughty and just drove around in just T-shirts ( obviously with bottoms as well) but it felt very good riding through the traffic and feeling the wind on your skin, very liberating.

We handed the bikes back very unhappily and got a lift back to our Betty and had a very good nights sleep.

What a fantastic B'day pressie - thanks Toby xxx

Spent the whole day cleaning out the van and sorting out all our stuff then headed down to the video room and watched a really good film ( well I thought it was)

Got up quite early and packed up Betty for our fist day on our own for a while, we were headed for the lava caves in Undara, 400km away which took 6 hours to get to. We just about made it in time as the last tour was at 3.30 so we hopped on the bus with the rest of them and made our way to these fascinating tunnels in the middle of nowhere. She dropped us off in the middle of these vast plains where in the middle grew a lush green oasis which we were told was the tops of trees? When we got closer we could see that there was a vast hollow in the ground that we all climbed down and was full of tree's we then walked a little further and found these massive lava tunnels.We had a fantastic guide who knew everything about everything and was very funny.

We decided to stay the night, as the place also had a campsite so after a dinner of stag chilli and rice we headed down to the campfire for a listen to a local lad playing his guitar and singing. All very nice especially with a large cold pint in one's hand.......

Got up quite early and drove to Charters Towers which was about 7hrs worth of driving - not very easy in this heat. Very strange ole place...... we found a dodgy campsite with some power so we could charge up the computer then had some dinner and headed into town to find a phone and say hello to a few people. The place was deserted on a Sat night! not like at home where people all go out at weekends, they don't seem to come out of there houses after dark in the suburbs.

Drove to Julia Creek which took about 8hrs, we stopped off on the way in a little town to have some lunch out of the back of the van - the place was deserted again, the only thing open was the bottle shop. When we were sat on the bench eating our tuna rolls an old man and his dog came over and told us of when a man and his wife who were travelling through got shot by a couple of bikers....... they shoved the bodies onto the side of the road and then drove off. He then just said have a nice day and walked off!! We decided to treat ourselves to a couple of very cold beers and then head on our way. We arrived in Julia Creek only to find they didn't have any Super Petrol - OOPS

We didn't panic but just decided to camp up for the night in a very run down old campsite run by a very mad old lady who thought she was in charge of a 5 star luxury site and insisted on showing us round. We also had the pleasure of a bath - that's if you didn't mind having it outside in front of all the other sad campers and sharing it with half the insect population that had made home in it. After we had got ourselves sorted our and had some dinner ( whatever was in the box) the lovely lady came over again and said we could watch TV which was also outside under a little tent set up next to the bath! all very strange..

Well I had a case of very bad diorreah which completely wasted me for the evening so I left Toby watching TV with a couple of other travellers who had turned up. Tip of the day - don' t eat rice that is more that a day old and sat in the back of a very hot van. Mum did tell me when I was back in the UK that rice is the worst thing for carrying bacteria - I can now prove that is true.

Got up at 5.00am as the weather is very cool (almost cold) at this time of the day then left for another gruelling drive of about 500miles this time. We did stop a couple of times on the way, one of them being when after leaving a petrol station an hour previous, I happened to mention the strong smell of petrol. He then gasped and asked me to stop the van, he got out and told me he had forgotten to put the petrol cap back on.............. now this hadn't been the first time in the last few days but he had remembered just as we were driving off before, but not this time.

We decided to carry on as it was another hour to the next place where we stopped again to find a new petrol cap.

Fantastic we went over the border and are now in Northern Territory

We didn't arrive at the road house until 5ish that evening and I was absolutely knackered - I thought Barkley Homestead was a town but it was just a roadhouse with petrol pumps - the only thing around in miles. We had a cold beer which tasted bloody fantastic and then fought the bastard fly for our dinner before I gave up and sat in a very hot van so the fly's didn't give me a nervous break down........ still wasn't feeling very well and I think it could be just heat exhaustion - very very hot. The scenery on the way can only be described as non-eventful or piss boring really, flat bleached white grass fields that stretch as far as the eye can see on either side of you and just one long poker straight road going through the middle. If you were really lucky you would see a tree in the distance but because of the heat you weren't to sure if it was a mirage. The good thing though was the amount of eagles everywhere eating all the road kills, massive amounts of Wedge Tails but we also saw some others which were blinkin ginormous, wing span of the van easy. Tried to get a couple of photo's but they were cunning buggers that new Devina Baily was ready with her camera - oh and missed again.

Got up early again feeling a little better today and not like I was pooing Liquid Nitrogen - always a bonus....

Set off at 6.30am in the dark again which is not a good idea really cause the kangaroos etc tend to just stand in the middle of the road first thing in the morning and late at night - purely as a fun thing for them, due to the lack of anything else remotely interesting to do the rest of the day - problem is the road trains that travel these roads, imagine an artic lorry with 4 other artic lorries attached to the back travelling at a godforsaken speed. When this thing hits a 6ft Kangaroo - it's goodnight skippy, but a wonderful distraction for yourself figuring out what part of what blood soaked piece of body goes where on another tedious day of travelling - defiantly recommend it myself apart from the smell of a decomposing animal whilst eating lunch. We travelled through a couple of bush fires which was exciting and some of the flames were licking the side of the road as we were spreading through, we were that close!

Anyway........... after a neon of hours looking at jack shite I decided for a lay down in the back of the van whilst Toby was on shift. I must have dosed off for a bit, Toby stopped the van and said something had fallen off. When I got outside though Beau and Clare were parked behind us - little tinkers! we had been passing eac on the road which was bloody lucky so we had some cuddles and catch up's. Mostly Clare and I yapping at 10 to the dozen trying to find out what the other had been up to. I think Beau told us half a dozen times that they had a fridge and we didn't and that it was bloody wonderful - it makes him happy. We said our goodbyes after 20 mins and had some more hugs before setting off again waving all the way down the road.

A few hours later we arrived in Alice Springs and found the Info place to guide us in the right direction of a good campsite. We found the site and found a little spot for Betty then settled down for a few hours of reading then went to the local pub for a couple.

We went down to a local garage to book Betty in for a service as she had been running a little rough for the last couple of days, we then headed into town. We found a shop that had a great hat in the sale which Toby bought for my birthday which was lovely then I left Toby to get my birthday card whilst I walked around the town having a look at the shops etc when I came across a book shop selling some 'Clive Cussler' novels that Toby likes to read, so I purchased one of them then headed back to the van to meet my man before heading back to base. We spent the afternoon just chilling out and reading, whilst doing this I noticed a strange man in his underpants and T-shirt dancing to some of his music. In the evening we bought some beers and loads of ice for the Eski before hitting the sack.

Noticed today that the man whom had been dancing in his underpants was now massaging a half naked woman on his fold up table, I walked past and noticed a sign hanging from is car advertising himself as a professional masseur and healer. Quite fancied that myself! must treat myself for my birthday

Spent the rest of the day reading and talking to a lovely man who had pitched his tent up next to ours called, Ian. In the evening we invited a few people from around the campsite to join us and have a beer, we made friends with a man called John and of course our next door neighbour, Ian. a lady called Susan and her Daughter then the masseur man came over and he was called, Van. He turned out to be a really very great bloke who chatted easily all evening, I booked up a massage with him for the following day then we hit the sack again.

Can you believe it, I finally turned 30 after all that fuss is didn't feel too bad!!

Toby sang happy birthday to me then we headed over to the phones and called mum, she sang happy birthday to me as well Mum is going into hospital on Wednesday the 22nd to have her really big arm operation and once again I am on the other side of the world and can't help her. She now has no one at home to look after her so is relying on friends to help out as much as possible. I worry about her I really do.

Anyway we had a good chat and then I headed over for a shower before heading into town to drop Betty off at the garage. We walked into town and sat down for a wonderful cooked b'fast and then opened up my pressies and cards from people. Clare and Beau had got lots of funny things one of them being a seatbelt cover in the form of, Tigger!! it was to prevent the belt chaffing on the neck and it had a sqeaky tummy just to annoy Toby. I had lots of lovely things, Toby got me a bird book so I could spot and name all the wonderful birds over here, I had a lovely scarf from my cousin and some money from my family.

Thanks to everyone!! and also thanks to all the birthday emails I received from lots of people it meant an awful lots to me.

Toby then took me to the cinema he had bought tickets for the day previously to see Star Wars, have to say - pants. Just too many special effects and no soul. We then went to the Internet place and sent loads of emails before heading back to the garage and pick up Betty, all is well with our van thankgoodness and she should now drive like a dream. The only thing is the rust in the back is extremely bad and he warned us about not going on any rough roads and not laying in the back as we travel along cause the exhaust fumes will come up through the rust holes and probably kill us, oops we had have travelling like that for months with Beau and Clare!!!!! We also have a resident mouse who he found wondering around which wasn't that good, might not have a backpack left after a couple of weeks.

We went back to the campsite and I got changed for my massage session with Van, didn't worry when he said just to wear knickers - full stop! Oh well I know he wasn't interested in the female form so I didn't feel worried about anything. I put my sarong on and walked over to his site and settled down on his proper massage bed for the most wonderful hour and a half session I have ever had. I did feel a bit inhibited about it at first as I was just led naked (with pants) in the middle of the campsite whilst people just wander past either on foot or in a vehicle. It was nothing like the massage I had in China when they nearly tried to kill me!! Anyway after that we became firm friends and decided to go out for a drink in the evening. We had also invited John out for a drink but he wasn't feeling very well so declined saying if he felt better he would join us .

I put on my new white (very impractical ) skirt that I had bought a while back and my lovely brown lacy top, stuck my hair up and stuck a bit of lippy on ready for my birthday night out. Feels nice to make the effort and feel a little bit feminine sometimes so I felt very nice for a change! Toby and I went out to a lovely restaurant that was really expensive and had a special called 'The Blow-out' which consisted of eating 4 courses, one of them was a platter of meat - crocodile, Emu, Kangaroo, Camel. mmmmmmm lovely. I had a lovely dinner which only consisted of 2 courses thank god as it was extremely filling, Poor old Toby felt very ill by the time his apple pie arrived and was trying to force feed me half of it, but I declined. We also had a bottle of champagne which was beautiful and went down very nicely - thanks to my birthday money.

We met up with Van later on in the evening and John also turned up feeling a little better, we all went to Bo Jangles which turned out to be heaving and had a live band and real cowboys!! seems the boys come off the homesteads every few months of working hard then go out and enjoy themselves, even danced like cowboys with thumbs firmly jammed into their jeans and hats on. Van and I wouldn't get off the dance floor jumping around madly with him eyeing up all the local young men - very funny. What a fantastic birthday with some fantastic people - cheers

Woke up feeling a little hungover ....... and decided to stay around the campsite for the day instead of going to Ayres Rock etc as the drive would have been far too hard. I popped into town and bought food to last a week and then spent the evening with Van sitting under the stars and drunk 3 bottles of red wine. He gave us loads of contact numbers, his parents and friends in New Zealand whom we have to stay with or he would be offended, and a friend in Perth who he phoned there and them and asked if we could stay with him - of course was the answer! he also gave us the number of a friend who lived underground in Coober Pedy. People live in all the old mine shafts where they mine Opals, it is also the place where they filmed Mad Max. I have seen a few pictures of the area and it looks a very strange place so actually staying in someone's house was a fantastic opportunity. Huge thanks to Van and his generosity and kind friends.

Got up early and set on our way to Ayres Rock which was a 6hr drive, another mind numbing day of driving. We had a look around the campsite and park which they have a few miles away from the rock where everyone has to stay at - had hotels and shops, restaurants etc so we grabbed some potato wedges (a favourite of mine) then headed down to have a closer look at the Red Rock - very impressive and beautiful. We set ourselves up at the sunset car park and settled down to wait for the sun to fall and watch the changing colours of this fascinatingformation. We thought we would have the car park to ourselves as the place was empty when we arrived but no such luck! we had a van load of adults and kids with deck chairs and beers who set up next to us on one side, then a VIP van drew up on the other side with tables and champagne set up for another VIP van which turned up and contained a gaggle of Japanese - oh joy oh joy.....

Anyway after that we went down to the campsite (the only one) everyone has to camp in this site. We just parked up inside and didn't pay, the 24 dollars fee which we felt very smug about and settled down for another freezing cold night.

We got up early again and headed down to Ayres Rock again so we could watch the dawn, only problem is we were parked next to the VIP van with all the Japanese again and were totally engrossed in watching the antics and strange ways of these people - even a German couple who were parked up near us were more interested in watching the VIPs rather than seeing the rock turn into the most brilliant red.

We then parked up and did the 2hr walk around the base which was really interesting but quite hot in some parts. I was a bit pissed off about the about of people who were clim ing it though. The Aborigines politely asked you not to climb it as this is a holy place for them and people should respect this - instead they just trapes on up and disregard the peoples wishes. We then drove onto another big site seeing stop - the Olgas Which is basically another big rock or a collection of rocks this time which you could walk between. I left Toby to get on with the 3hr trek around the base whilst I nursed my monthly bad stomach and read a fab book that Clare had given me. Toby made it back in 1hr and 30mins so he must have run around the whole thing! then we went back to the campsite for a shower and a good nights sleep.

Headed off to Kings Canyon, this took about 4 hours to get there, parked up and prepared ourselves for a 3-4hr walk around the top rim of the canyon. Sun screened up and donning our hats we set off for a wonderful walk which started off quite hard (for me ) as I have now become very unfit again. The climb was steep and the sun was hot but after we had got to the top it soon plateaued out into a a fantastic walk, it was extremely high and had great views so I was quite disappointed when we arrived back down the bottom 2hrs later. As I was sat down waiting for Toby to refill the water bottle who should walk towards me but my Uncle Brian and his wife Julie!! I just said hello and fancy seeing you here, they didn't recognise me at first and were shocked to see me just sat there. We stood around and chatted for half and hour, they told me what they had been doing etc and then made arrangements to meet up back at Alice Springs if possible. How bloody weird is that.....

We then went and found a roadside stop and had some dinner and slept there for the night.

Right - another long drive today to Coober Pedy !! we first drove for 2hrs to the nearest phone box to speak to mum and tell her we were thinking of her - she was going into Hospital on the Wednesday for her op. She sounded very low and was worried about going in and having the Anaesthetic ( she is allergic) she also felt very much on her own, I could only tell her I loved her. We grabbed a coffee then headed off for another few hours of straight roads and boredom -7 hrs with one hr lunch stop later we arrived in Coober Pedy. What a fascinating place, you drive through the country that is just loads and loads of white mole hills and digging machines - nothing else, no trees or anything green and pretty. We drove into the centre of town and this is what you call a working town! - nothing but Opal shops and dust with plenty of worn and rugged men walking around all looking knackered. We found a phone box and called Eddie (Vans friend) who seemed pleased to hear from us and said he would be in town in 10mins. I had a little look in the Opal shops to see what all the fuss was about and had a look at necklaces and earings etc - Opals just don't do it for me I'm afraid, pretty but I just don't like them that much. Anyway Eddie turned up and said hello, came across like he hadn't seen a female in a while at the remarks and eyeing up and down I got .....mmmm I slipped off and bought some red wine and bits for dinner noting that all the men here seemed to openly gawp at a female. We followed Eddie back to his house where he then showed us around and settled us in for the evening. After a few glasses of red we all seemed to relax and realised what a nice bloke he is - Eddie is 59 but doesn't look it due to being very fit and looking after himself, I was surprised when he told me he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, I didn't tell him anything about my stepfather having just died with the same thing obviously.

The house is just bloody amazing! all built into a big cliff and has lots of tunnels and empty rooms that he hasn't used as yet all over the place. The part of the house that he does use is like a big cave with a great atmosphere, not claustrophobic at all although quite dark, I could live in it. I cooked dinner for all of us then we settled down to a couple bottles of red and a few games of pool whilst he told us stories, he originally comes from Lymington and still has a strong Hampshire accent.

We drank quite allot and before long it was time to go to bed, our room was pitch black without the light on which felt a little weird but thanks to the wine I was soon in the land of the nod. Rocky his dog kept guard outside our door for the whole night - lovely dog but don't mess with him!

Didn't get up untill 9.00am, really late for us and wondered around for a bit before having some b'fast and wait for Eddie to come back as he had left earlier that morning to go and sort a few things. He came back at about 11.30am with a couple of mates, we had a chat and then they left whilst I finished off my diary. Toby and Eddie then spent the afternoon mining some Opals in the surrounding tunnels around his house. I went into town and bought some food for a veggie curry I was doing for dinner.

Staying today as well - thankgod........ another late night of red wine.

Toby spent most of the day with Eddie wandering around doing his own thing whilst I went and had a look around the town and read my boo.

Spent the evening with a bottle of Vino again

Had a look around the 'Old Timers' museum in the morning which turned out to be a lot more interesting than I thought it would be. It took us down into one of the first mines in Coober Pedy and also one of the first underground houses - all took about an hour. Toby wanted to go and see the 'Big Wynch'......... I'm not going to sat anything about that - weirdo

After giving Eddie a quick phone call to say goodbye we finally left CP and headed back to Alice Springs stopping off in a little car park for the night.

Shite I had some bad dreams last night - dreamt 2 blokes were trying to get into Betty in the night and there was myself and Toby and my brother, Nicky asleep inside. I was trying to tell Toby that I had heard something but he told me I was dreaming... the van started shaking then and the blokes started banging on the sides. I tried to call out to the other caravans parked in the car park but I didn't have any voice left, and anyway when I looked they had all been burnt out and demolished by the blokes. I couldn't find the van keys etc, and was scared for my brother knowing he wouldn' t be able to defend himself if they got in and as I got into the drivers seat and was telling Toby to get Nicky on the floor when I looked out of the window and saw one of the blokes swinging at the drivers window with a crow bar and a terrible look on his face and I knew we were doomed - that's when I awoke covered in sweat and shaking all over. I then got up and locked all the doors looked outside and it took me a good few hours before I got back to sleep.

I drove for 4 hrs back into Alice Springs and went straight into the campsite where we found Van and John sat in the same old spot. I parked up and gave them a big hug and we caught up with all the goss etc. I collected our painting we had bought earlier in the week and arranged to go out for a few beers with John over the local pub where they were holding an evening of digiridoo playing and all you could eat roast dinner - very very good.

We stayed there for a couple of hours then went back to the campsite and sat with Van before saying our goodbye's to John, he was off to see his new lady friend then go into a very cold bed.

Didn't sleep well because of the cold - I had a sleeping bag liner, sleeping bag and quilt but was still cold because of my little head and face sticking out of the top. I consequently suffocated about 7 times in the night by burrowing myself into my sleeping bag to try and get warm.........

We had a coffee with Van in the morning then made arrangements to meet up in town at 10.30am for some b'fast at 'Red Rock Cafe' - a big cooked one.

Off into Alice Springs, where we posted our picture back to the UK then to the cafe and a wonderful b'fast with Van. We then went down to the Internet place where we said goodbye to Van and made tentative arrangements to meet in NZ for Christmas.

I went off and did some shopping for our trip to Darwin then waited in the van for Toby who took ages to find an Internet place to update the website.

Toby drove for the afternoon stopping at the roadside early evening to make some dinner, which I like to get cooked and put away before dark. I didn't feel very comfortable at the side of the road, and felt very vulnerable. Toby could see I was uneasy especially after a young man stopped in his van asking if we wanted to buy some drugs........ this was the first time this had happened but because of my blinkin dream I had had I wanted to move on ASAP.

After another dinner of stag chilli we packed up and moved on to the nearest campsite but after10mins of being on the road Toby told me that the area we had stopped in was the area the 2 English people had been kidnapped. I don't know if people remember the incident when the UK guy was never found and the girlfriend was suspected........ well maybe I just had the bad vibes?

Anyway we found a 'Big 4' place that was next to a Roadhouse covered in pictures of Aliens and UFO's. Seems there had been a sighting here a while ago and was now using this as a gimmick. We camped up next to a 6ft Incredible Hulk plastic model and were surrounded by green model Aliens....... anything to make a buck!

Didn't sleep so well again....

Started driving at about 7.00am and then stopped for some b'fast at about 10.00 before heading off again on another long and arduous journey which took us past some good bush fires and huge eagles.

We arrived in Mataranka at 3.30pm so it was a long days driving again - 500miles!! we parked up in a lovely spot and investigated our camp, it was where they have some natural thermal springs. So on with the cossy and off we jolly well went through a forest of Palm Trees which opened onto a open glade with the most beautiful pool I have ever seen. We cautiously stepped into the water only to find the temperature to be about 31degrees as just like walking into a bath.......... mmmmmm lovely. It was completely translucent and I was amazed this was a natural pool because of the clarity and warmth, the only draw back was the amount of spiders and webs surrounding us in the tree's.

After a quick swim and a walk to the river which seemed to be the same temperature ( no Crocs to be seen) we went and had some of our favourites - potato wedges then went and had a shower and then went down to the bar area and watched a live band and have a beer. I phoned mum and my sister to wish her a belated happy birthday.

Toby woke quite early which meant me having to wake up early as well, he likes to fidget and talk when he wakes up bless him......

We had some b'fast using the toasting devise I had bought a couple of days previous, Toby was most impressed with his marmite on toast. After b'fast I fed some of the local wildlife with the few crumbs then took some photo's of the thermal pool before heading on the road to Darwin. Within 5mins we had to stop again though as my bikini flew off the roof where I shouldn't have left it! then within 5mins again after setting off Toby very calmly said ' Oooo look at the size of that bugger' and then promptly parked up. The spider was extremely big even for a big spider, very very thick bodied thing and very hairy - sort of tarantula type of look. Clare would remember the one we saw on the Bibbulmen trek we went on in the outside toilet - well it was bigger than that!

Well I couldn't miss this photo opportunity and ran around to the drivers side to take a piccie. Toby was trying very hard to get the thing off with a bit of paper but I was in the way as usual and the spider ran up underneath the dash board........oh dear Toby not a happy boy. Oh well now we have another pet. a mouse and a spider whom I have named, Romeo and he looked like a full blooded male!! Christ I hope he is otherwise we might become adoptive parents for lots of little Romeo's.

Toby drove for the first few hours until lunchtime where we stopped off at a little place for our daily tuna roll and apple then it was my turn for the rest of the afternoon. I actually think I fall asleep with my eyes open as I have the most bizarre day dreams and scenarios running in my head whilst driving. The other day I rescued Beau and Clare from a deep jungle somewhere using the money we had to bye a helicopter and 4wheel drive. The government wouldn't help us so Toby and I bought some guns and stuff then killed all the guards and cut Beau and Clare loose and then dragged them through the jungle onto the 4wheel drive then onto the helicopter and back to Whitchurch in the UK. They even held a press release with all of us on it and a hero's welcome in the local Pub!!!!!!!

Now all of this is the kind of stuff I think of whilst driving for hours on end down straight roads ( if your lucky you might come across a slight bend to make it a bit more interesting) I have shared this with Toby and he thinks I am actually asleep which is a little worrying.......

We made it into Darwin at about 3.30ish and had a look around quickly before getting some info about local campsites etc. I wanted to stay for a bit longer than a day as I thought it looked really very nice and they also had the Sunset Market on Thursday evenings, Clare's email said it was really good. We then went and found ourselves the closest campsite to town and just collapsed, the weather is very hot and humid now completely different from Alice Springs. Saw a fantastic green tree frog later on in the evening as we were reading - very pretty

What a lovely day!

Toby once again woke up first then decided to annoy me until I woke up..... we then had some b'fast did some washing and headed into town. On our way in Romeo ran up the windscreen infront of me - the van went black due to the shear size of the thing blocking out the sun!! Anyway I yelled to Toby to get the thing away from me whilst I negotiate the van so he goaded it over to his side whilst I headed for a lay-by. We said our farewells and I videod Toby and Romeo for a while as he ejected him from Betty, then were soon on our way into town. Toby wanted to see the East Coast Reserve which is basically a Peninsular, for a look around. Really very beautiful, aqua marine water and palm tree's - all very picture postcard. We walked around and took some photo's then went and sat down to write 10 postcards before heading down to the local 50metre pool for my 20laps - Beau and Clare will be proud of me!

Enjoyed that! and felt extremely relaxed so after a tuna roll we headed into the centre for a look around. Toby went on the Internet whilst I went and bought some b'day cards (I'm prepared this time) I have to be the worst person in the world for remembering b'day's......

We headed down to the Sunset Market which was really busy and full of different food stalls - Oh dilemma which one to have, I will just try a few of them!! Couldn't move for a while but after Toby finished off my Vindaloo for me we headed down onto the beach to watch the sunset. Bloody hundreds of people sitting on the beach all drinking and eating, basically chilling and having a good time. People of all ages just come down with tables and chairs, beer and wine etc then just settle down to listen to live music and catch up with friends and family - such a lovely way of life. We watched the sun fall into the millpondsea amongst the most beautiful oranges and purples before heading back to our Betty and back to the campsite. Really really like Darwin and could easily stay for a lot longer.

When we got back to the site we put all our clean bedding back on then sat down and read for a while whilst 'Rolo' the green tree frog came and joined us again sitting on the electricity box.

Toby woke up early and drove to Lichfield National Park whilst I still slept in the back of the van - Toby's idea, I think he is still trying to kill me off as the garage man did tell us not to that as the fumes would be bad if laying in the back............

We had decided against Kakadu Park even though it's the most popular due to lack of time but had heard from Declan that Lichfield although smaller is just as beautiful. So 2hrs later we arrived in a carpark at the far end of the National Park it was only 8.00am so we had some b'fast and sat down to watch the wondrous birds all around us whilst I tried to find them in my birdbook - unsuccessfully.

After we packed up Betty we walked down to Wangi falls - bloody fantastic!! a huge pool of crystal clear water with a tumbling waterfall, surrounded by rain forest which had loads of huge bats hanging in the tree's. We did the 50min walk which took us up and over the waterfall then down the other side, all through palms and huge plants. We then headed off to another waterfall, this time seeing it from the top of a huge cliff, the view was spectacular and then off to some termite mounds Toby wanted to see - I stayed in the van for that one! After that we went to see some rockpools then went to a butterfly and bird sanctuary, something I was really looking forward to. It turned out to be a really big sort of chilled out Restaurant surrounded by beautiful gardens, we walked in and were greeted by a large man with a Yorkshire accent!! seems he had lived over there for 8yrs and had picked up the accent, didn't sound Ozzy at all. He showed us around his place which had accommodation and massive Avery's containing birds and butterfly's which we had a good look at before going back to the large veranda and having a free cup of tea. Chris the owner had worked on the oil rigs all over the world and had once in his life been a rich man but he decided to give up the high living and fast women for a life of paradise running a wonderful place and keeping butterfly's and birds which he loves.

I then drove for the next couple of hours to Katherine which was a bit of a troubled journey because Betty is playing up again. We had her fixed in Alice Springs but has since gone back to playing up again, so the journey was a bit fraught. We made it into Katherine at about 4.40ish and tried to find a garage to see if we could get her fixed the following day which unfortunately turns out to be a Saturday and means nothing will be open. So we found a campsite and Toby had a swim in the hot springs whilst I did some dinner then we had and early night both feeling really tired and drained - I think we have had enough being on the road now, travelling the equivalent of driving to Scotland and further on most days is becoming tiring especially if Betty's not well.

AUSTRALIA JUN 2002 >