With the caravan on tour on the slopes and gravel paths in the outback. We have put together a few snapshots of our long journey across Australia.
North of Cairns, the roads become dirt roads. Further north, the dirt roads become gravel roads. We have a stone chip grille in front of the windshield, but the drive gets slower and slower, not only because of the danger of broken windows. Sudden potholes, in which the front wheels would disappear completely, remind us to drive slowly.
Our hourly average drops to around 30 kmh. In between, we take a break more and more often. Concentration decreases noticeably. In Cairns we bought a small-caliber rifle (22 Magnum). The first shooting exercises on empty beer bottles are a bit meager……. The signs on the roadsides are gnawed by large-caliber weapons of the cowboys. The rangers fly the flag in the rear windows of their pickups. Their rifles are hung across the rear windows. A few days ago we had an unpleasant encounter with some rioting and obviously drunk teenage cowboys at night at a lonely rest area not far from the road. At dusk, they shot wildly with their rifles, just a few meters from our camper. They soon left, but the night was over for us. For camouflage and deterrence, we now also hang our small-caliber (which you can’t see from the outside) rifle in our window. We never had problems of this kind again.
At the roadsides, the carcasses of dead and obviously run over animals are piling up. The further north we travel, the less traffic we encounter. Sometimes we drive for hours without seeing a car or a soul.
We use a small shop on the road to refresh our supplies for the last time. We were told that behind Mossman we would no longer find a way to shop. At a fireplace, Jürgen first cuts wood. A good fitness balance after the long drive. This makes dinner taste all the better. Here, everyone is on their own. We get a taste of life as a hermit. But that smells like adventure and is also fun. The steaks roasted on an open fire taste delicious. Jürgen decides to spend the night outside in his sleeping bag. The temperatures in the car are almost unbearable.
The next morning we don’t get far, the water pump of our shower has failed. Now Jürgen’s craftsmanship is in demand. It takes a few hours until we get the problem halfway under control. The pump only lasts one day, then cat washing is the order of the day. We don’t let ourselves be deterred and drive a good distance and two days up the Cape York Peninsula. But then the sand path narrows more and more and becomes a pure off-road track that can only be used by off-road vehicles. The risk of being stranded here in the wilderness is getting bigger and bigger. Finally, we consult each other and after a short discussion we turn back. We still have to cover the whole way back to Sydney with a few thousand kilometers (with a detour inland).
