Our camper van was about 50 metres from where this pic was taken at a camp spot near Normanton in the gulf of Queensland. The sunset was absolutely amazing, the place was teeming with wildlife. 16.7.10

Well Hello again friends, Louise here, we are currently parked up in a proper Caravan park at the Ti-Tree Roadhouse in the Northern Territory; (i.e we paid to stay here). Why you ask? I was desperate to wash my hair! Our shower is a bit feeble in the van and a long hot shower was required: Believe it or not its quite cold here today, it was about 9c this morning. And I was wearing a skirt - go figure...

We parked up last night at a freebie camp spot just outside Tennant Creek, then drove for lunch to the Wycliff Well Roadhouse, which is the UFO hotspot of these parts, if not the whole country... Wycliff only comprised the roadhouse and a bit of a paying campsite out the back of same;;; population about 10 I would think; no wonder our Sat Nav could not find it when we tried to enter it in this morning...

We are off in the morning to Alice Springs to have a look around, then spend the night in a free camp site nearby and then off further west to look at Ayers Rock/Uluru; something I have been wanting to see since I came here to Australia in 1979; yeah, slack I know but at least I am out here doing it now; Matt has never seen 'the rock' either, so it will be a thrill for both of us. Today 21/7/10 we got to see one of the things on our list; the Devils Marbles, just outside of Wauchope NT, and worth a look. I must say parts of the country here remind me of the Grand Canyon which we saw in 06 when we got married in Vegas... Very red/ochre coloured rocks weathered away by time.

C'mon big boy I like a big ride! this is a life size replica of a crock that was shot over 20 years ago near the town of Normanton in the gulf of Queensland; 16.7.10; Shot by a local in 1957; this is meant to be a replica of the dead beastie...

A typical sign you see in the crock infested waters of the top end. This photo was taken at Karumba in the gulf of Queensland, a spot well known for its seafood particularly prawns and barramundi.

The only picture worth taking of Mount Isa, there was not a great deal going for the place, given you could no longer take a tour in their mines, apart from going into a mock mine 40 metres deep, costing you $40 each!

A typical road train you see on the road in the west. when they drive past you laden full of cattle, the smell of them wafts into the camper van (which is unbearable) and sometimes if you are lucky, a lovely piece of a cow pat might land on your windscreen.

Just before entering NT we had to fill up with fuel ($1.80 a litre) and in the truck stop was these massive buckets being transported to a mine somewhere. I can only imagine how big the truck is that carries them? Monsters or what?

Entering the Northern Territory for the first time. And it was cold, hence the fleecy top.

'WOW' look at the size of my marble! Matt at the Devils Marbles, 21.7.10

Lovely Louise with a marble; these rocks are from a volcano 170 Million yrs ago, the soft rock wore away leaving the harder stuff under, causing the 'marbles' effect.

Had to get this photo of a split marble; Matt inside, it honestly looks like it has just been chopped in half!

A monster road train, that was parked outside the Wycliff Well roadhouse. they are over 53 metres long with over 100 tyres. I asked the driver, how he goes about reversing these suckers, and he replied "you can't"!

When you see these babies come towards you, you just pull over and slow right down, otherwise the draft of wind that follows them just blows you off the road. Very scary, esp as today it was really windy driving along the Stuart Highway. And a very cold wind I have to add.

Matt outside the Wycliff Well road house, this a known hot spot for UFO activity, not that we saw any!

So dear readers, we are off to 'the Alice' tomorrow, and if the dongle (wi fi receiver) can pick up a wi fi signal we shall tell you all about it, we have been well disappointed with the crap Telstra coverage of the wi fi and mobile phone; so much for 'complete coverage of the country', its a joke, but all that is on offer unfortunately...

please feel free to leave comments, and please pass our blog address around, we are happy to share our adventures.

Matt has just opened a lovely bottle of wine; made with mangos, called Mango Magic, and made here in Ti Tree; grab a bottle if you see it in the bottle shop, its great!

regards to all, louise & matt (loma)