... and everything seemed to be going so well.
Amid all the phenomenal scenery, exquisite sunsets, and intense
feelings of battle weary but satisfied bodies, there were shadows on the
horizon that we hadn’t foreseen. The first such shadow crept towards us while
we were drinking in the splendour of Uluru and the Olgas. News came from home
that Nat’s grandmother, Frankie, had taken ill.
I remember, in our early days of travelling around Europe
and Africa, Nat had always said that if anything happened to her grandparents
while we were living abroad, she would be on the first plane home. And so, it
was a no brainer, that when the news came through that Frankie had left her
tired body to start a new adventure of her own, we all knew Nat needed to be
home for a few days – to help celebrate the life of the matriarch of the Tolhurst
family with her parents, siblings and extended family. However, for Nat, getting
there would be an adventure in itself – and one that required fast action to
organise. Using a painfully slow internet, we managed to eke out just enough
connection for long enough to book plane and bus tickets to get her home and
back to us again. As luck would have it, we were moving into a relatively
metropolitan area (by Northern Territory standards) of Alice Springs in a few days’
time – where she could catch a plane to Adelaide and a connecting flight to
Melbourne. But until then, there were many hundreds of kilometres to cross and
Kings’ Canyon to explore (see the last blog post for a psychologically scaring
tale of highly emotion charged drama at the top of the enormously high walls in
King’s Canyon). So, despite the initial flurry of activity, once plane tickets
had been booked and bus rides organised, there was (what seemed like) a long
period of simply waiting patiently before these plans could come to fruition.
As such, Nat’s tale would have to wait a few days to be
told…
So, pressing onwards with our own family adventure, having
thoroughly explored King’s Canyon, we set off bright and early on the 13th
April to head to our Easter destination of Alice Springs (aka ‘The Alice’, as
locals call it). However, being a little distracted by the goings on of the
past few days, it was not surprising that a thing or two got overlooked along
the way. This primarily came in the form of the cable connecting the trailer
lights and electric brakes to be car not properly being attached.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t until we were about half way between King’s Canyon and
Alice Springs that we realised the mistake… By then, the 12-pin plug had well
and truly been ground into minuscule particles and consumed whole heartedly by
the desert. Until that point though, we had been merrily tootling along,
listening to the ‘Short and
Curly’ ethics for kids podcast from the ABC (check it out, it’s very
good!).
The site of our discovery…
Alas, in the middle of the outback, there were few auto-electricians
to be found… least of all in the days leading up to Easter weekend. Besides,
even if there were any outback sparkies floating around, we didn’t have
reception on our phones with which to give one a buzz and have him or her ‘pop
out’ and fix the plug. And so, we limped (as carefully as we dared) the last
few hundred kilometres to Alice Springs. Along the way, we had patches of phone
signal and were fortunately able to contact a rather helpful young mechanic (…the
first two we called hadn’t been particularly interested in our plight –
particularly as most had already shut up shop for Easter Weekend). While this
chap couldn’t help us that day, he was able to book us in for first thing on
Saturday morning. Since we planned to stay in Alice Spring for 6 nights, that
worked out brilliantly!
Luckily, our Pajero was able to provide the breaks for
both itself and the caravan (something, I’m sure, the Ford Mondeo would have
failed spectacularly to do). And so, with a few arms waving out of the window, signalling
to other bemused motorists where we were going, we managed to arrive safe and
sound in Alice Springs. Our new found mechanical friend was true to his word
and turned up as planned on Saturday. After adding himself what seemed like a
‘wee Easter bonus’ on to the bill, we were all fixed up and ready to roll again…
…that is until we decided to test out our four-wheel
drive and see how it would handle a little off-road trip to palm valley. But,
with six days to cover in Alice, I think I’ll leave that nail biting tale for
another day.
Off Road Adventure... (coming soon!)
Bye ‘d bye,
Gregg
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