Honda, Humpty Doo and Creedence Clearwater Revival

After Sandra's “near death” (sort of) experience on our rather warm walk at Edith Falls we debated whether to have a rest day to recuperate and get the body fluids back to normal or just to head off - we headed off. We were only a few hundred k's short of Sandra's sister Gill's place in Humpty Doo near Darwin so we hit the road early and arrived not long after lunchtime.

Gill and Lawrie live on a five acre block about 1k off the Arnhem Highway. The house and grounds tend towards the tropical exotic particularly around the house and spa which are surrounded by various types of palm tree. The weather in Humpty Doo can be summed up in one word - “hot” although that is a bit misleading as it can be “hot dry” or “hot wet”. It is currently “hot dry” which basically means sunny, cloudless days when the temperature seldom falls below 32C – thus the importance of the spa. When the heat gets too much you jump into the water to cool down then go on to ice cold beer therapy – it's the only way to survive!

Cooling off in Gill's garden

We have now been here a week and have been joined by Johann and Stretch, so now the three Thomson Girls – Johann, Sandra and Gillian – are together again for the first time in four years. I will refrain from my usual comment that their coming together reminds me of the opening scene from Shakespeare's Macbeth! Coincidentally it was Sandra's birthday so we had a combined reunion-cum-birthday party then it was out with the photo album for a reminiscence session.

The Birthday Girl with Big Sister

The Thomson Girls reviewing their past

As well as a bit of well earned R & R we are starting to prepare for the next leg of the trip. The car needed a service and I was still not happy about the suspension, so I put it into the Honda main dealer in Darwin. I was rather floored to be hit with a bill for over $1000 plus the unwelcome news that there was still over $700 worth of work which also needed to be done. I have owned quite a few cars over the years and have never had to replace a shock absorber, now in the four months we have been using the Honda, I have replaced SEVEN shock absorbers. I think dirt roads will have to be avoided in future – although, to be honest, we haven't really done any even moderately severe four wheel driving. We are now dumping much of our heavier gear and, where possible, replacing it with lighter versions in order to put less strain on the Honda.

Driving back along the Stuart Highway, having just been parted from $1000, I encountered a further car problem as I was being overtaken by a Road Train. For those who don't know, Road Trains are large trucks which tow up to four even larger trailers often running on 80 or so massive tyres – they are very common in this part of the world and you mess with them at your peril. The road was very busy as one of these monsters overtook me to my right when suddenly there appeared to be an explosion and I was showered with glass. I assume that the Road Train had kicked up a rock and it had shattered the drivers window. More by luck than skill I managed to control the car and pulled up off the edge of the highway – then it was off again to look for someone to repair the car – is this never ending? Luckily it was covered by the insurance, unluckily the up/down switch controlling the window was damaged and the windscreen place didn't have the spare part – so now, several days later, I can't use the window as I wait to hear if the part has arrived.

Talking of cars, and luckily this time not mine, yesterday I got a call from Gill's next door neighbour Carol asking if we had heard anything the night before - apparently a car had crashed into her property. Being a nosey bugger I hot-footed across the road with a camera where I met Carol sifting through a burnt out wreck and wondering how we, and particularly she, had not heard the crash nor seen the ensuing 20 foot high inferno. Still, good things can come from bad. Carol is an artist with a gallery in Darwin and, probably like all artists, is a little bit crazy and off-beat and she was collecting pieces of molten windscreen and aluminium to be incorporated in future artistic creations – I doubt if the car owner will object.

...and no-one heard the crash of saw the flames!

Carol salvaging wreckage for future art works

Last night Laurie, Stretch, Sandra and I went to the World Famous Humpty Doo Pub (Google it if you don't believe me) for a Creedence Clearwater Revival night performed by a group from Melbourne called Creedence Clearwater Recycled – I am not making this up! And, surprise! surprise! it was all good fun with a selection of CCR songs and other weel kent songs mainly from the 60's and 70's. The clientèle provided as much interest as the band with dress of the day being a combination of singlets, thongs, straggly beards and tattoos – and the men weren't much better! Stretch did comment that the crowd probably wouldn't have gone down too well in Sydney but, no problem, this was Humpty Doo.

Creedence Clearwater Recycled - old enough to be the originals - but good with it

And the band played on

Sandra and the girls in the Humpty Doo Pub

A "selfie" in the Humpty Doo Pub

The clientele of the Humpty Doo Pub

Sandra and I are planning a break from touring round Australia and on Friday 13 June are flying to Bali for a holiday. We have book flights and initially a few nights accommodation in The Watergarden Hotel which has been voted one of Asia's best hotels and one of the top ten romantic hotels in Bali – we shall see.