Friday saw us leaving Alice and heading for Tilmouth Wells along the Tanami Road. It was bitumen all the way and the plan is to go out and visit Ruth and Malcolm (Lawrie's nephew) at Yuendumu the next day. This section of the road is a mix of bitumen and dirt so leaving Destiny behind seemed the sensible thing. The electricity here at the van park is a little touchy so boiling the jug was out of the question as it kept throwing the safety switch but the park itself is beautiful. Grassed, with camp fire pits, showers and toilets and beautiful trees to offer shade in the hotter times made it a pleasant spot to set up camp. The other problem however was that the gas hot water system was not working so there were no hot showers available without asking the staff for assistance and showering at their quarters.
Our trip out to Yuendumu was interesting. We had sections of dirt with dust and then bitumen sections as well. There were some sections that had corrugation but it was not as bad as we had expected. We enjoyed the visit and catching up with family and they agreed to come into Tilmouth for dinner and a campfire. This of course meant damper twisties with syrup and that was our dessert for the evening meal. What a great time we had around the campfire. During the day we had discussed travelling out to Yuendumu with the van and staying for a while to help out with the business that Malcolm is managing. Next day (Sunday) that is what we did. Taking it slowly we brought Destiny along the dirt sections and arrived safely at lunchtime. Our trip has again taken a slight detour but what a wonderful opportunity to experience living ‘right out’ in the centre. Lawrie will be helping Malcolm with different tasks and I will be helping with the office work connected to the Social Club shop which supplies the community.
No phone coverage but the internet is there so don't feel too isolated.
We will probably be out here for a few weeks so will be interesting and will just slow our trip to Darwin down a bit. Not to worry, we hope to still catch up with some wonderful people we have already met during our time on the road.
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