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 And just like that its all done and dusted.

Looking at our road map, it looks like we may have had a few too many, as it weaves here and there.

We covered 24750km in 31 weeks, averaged 16.35l/100km

Drove over 268 grids, saw 2 camels, only a handful of kangaroos and emus, and 1000s of goats.

Can't really say what my favourite spot was, catching up with family and friends will definitely be the highlight, but I did enjoy the 3 weeks travelling around SE Qld and Northern NSW, maybe because it was an area we had never done before so it was all new.

Camping along the Murray and the amazing campsites along there were something I think we will do again as is the Yorke Peninsula and Flinder's Ranges.

So what next?  W.A. we hope later this year.

But first things first, we need to find some work to top up those travelling accounts, so until next time

Thank you for coming along with us and see you on our next adventure.

 We made it into Mt Surprise on Christmas Eve and set up here for a few days of celebration.

Wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas.

                                                                       And Santa found us.

But hang on, how did we get here??????

Rewind 10 days before............

Daly Waters, the iconic Aussie Outback Pub.

A very quirky little town, and little it is, 

But they fit so much into it

Even a flushing dunny for its dump point

Also at Daly Waters is a WWII airstrip

But after a couple of days we needed to brave the heat and head on, actually East, the road home truly starts now,

First Stop Heartbreak Hotel, called so due to the heartbreaking effort to build and get things done in this part of Australia, but a very welcome oasis now.

Now South down to Barkly Homestead, another oasis, and a little quirky, but first oh My Goodness, the road down was a shocker. There has been quite a bit of rain around and this road has only recently re-opened (one of the few), but the Tablelands Hwy was slow going

The Smokers area, an old cattle wagon

Guinea fowl roaming the park

And then the next day...........Back into Qld

Reality was starting to set in, the trip nearly over and truly with not a night below 30 degrees, a bedroom with aircon was beckoning

The days have been hitting around 43 and we would only travel through the morning as not to stress the car too much, towing a 3T van over bitumen probably reading 50+, cant be great.

So with this in mind a quick overnighter at Camooweal, and then into Mt Isa.

                                                   And more afternoon summer storms

Ended up staying for a couple of nights at the Argylla Park, it was actually hard to leave as they had an air con camp kitchen that I literally moved into for 48 hours.  It worked out well as I did a huge cook up so once we were on the road again we wouldn't need to cook anything and heat up the van, Roast chicken, Fried rice, spaghetti bolognaise, anything that could be eaten cold or re heated using the microwave was on the menu.

The late storms had cooled everything off by a few degrees, so once we left the Isa we risked another bush camp, this one at the Terry Smith lookout on the Burke Developmental Road, 

a beautiful view and stunning sunset, but it wasn't much of a reprieve, back on the road the next day and into Normanton for one night before heading east again. 

Had an amazing sight pass us on leaving Normanton and after having a joke with the driver over the UHF he offered to pull over so we could get some photos

No Flux capacitor in this model

And no he wasn't going to the future, just Croydon, which is where we also stopped for a night, and such a pity I didn't get any photos from here as this would have to be one of the best parks we have stayed in, the town was beautiful and people friendly.

North West Qld has definitely had some rain, all the rivers were full coming across the Gulf Developmental Road, and everything so green. It was beautiful to see.

From here it is pretty much over as the next day, Christmas Eve we stopped in Mt Surprise and stayed for Christmas and Boxing Day, but we couldn't do it, one more road side stop at Ravenshoe's Archer Creek was our final stop before coming down the range and back home.

A bit sad it is over but happy to be able to catch up with friends again.

Now for all the facts, but not quite ready to face that yet. give me a week to get all the washing and cleaning done, then I may be ready to sit down and work out the milage etc

Thank you to Cheryl for looking after our home and for everyone who has taken the time to follow our travels..

Until next time ......

Back into Qld

 Very late this week with publishing and no photos yet,

so, stay tuned for a 🎄Christmas 🎄special on Wednesday

Dealing with the "Severe Heat Wave"

With temps in the low 40s, which is actually probably normal out here for this time of year, we are trying to keep cool with lots of cold showers and we have been stopping in van parks with pools more often than not.

We start this week by leaving Alice Springs and heading North along the Stuart Hwy

Interesting art at Aileron along the way

Then onto our one roadside stop before getting to Tennant Creek.

A WWII Staging Camp just outside Barrow Creek, could have been an interesting stop, however the tiny black ants were everywhere and as soon as you went outside you were live bait for them, horrible, horrible ants, and wouldn't stay here again because of them.

                                              

                                                       Camped on the old Mess Slab

                       

                                              

                                                                                          

Onto Tennant today as we pass a few interesting sites

Abandoned Wycliffe Well, abducted from the aliens maybe????????

                                                             Wauchope Hotel, go line

                                And of course a quick stop at the Bunch of rocks, Devil's Marbles

And yay, into Tennant and a cold swimming pool.

                             

An awesome BBQ, Yum Brekky, without heating up the van

                       

A friendly local

One of the reasons we stop at Tennant is to take a look at the mines where Les used to work, and live

Unfortunately all locked off to the public now, you used to be able to bypass these gates and explore the abandoned sites, but with the price of gold and new mining processing  techniques we suspect they have reopened and maybe reclaiming the tailing dams.

This one was alarmed, and I had a bit of fun setting that off, was hoping someone would come out to approach us, but no avail.

We did visit "Mad Mick's Mine, one that is open to public, you can even camp out there, but with so many storms around, maybe next time

A drive out to Mary Ann Dam before parting our ways with Tennant Creek

Roadside stops on the way North

1st one Churchill's Head

                                                        Can't see Churchill, a lion maybe?

And then just a couple of off the road pull offs for camps, hidden by a few trees, and the natural landscape

Beautiful sunsets and sun rises

And then into an iconic Australian Pub - Daly Waters, shady sites and a swimming pool again.