A leisurely get up (730) and a leisurely breakfast this morning.  So decadent 🙂 .  The boys set about checking torque on wheels and other boring (but necessary) stuff.

Today is 12 weeks since we said goodbye to our nearest and dearest, and what a simply amazing 12 weeks it has been.  Almost all of it done with a smile on our faces (except the week where I was dragging my bottom lip with no sunshine, no exploring, no battery charging and a broken generator,  and no idea if the Gibb would be open in time for us).  It’s pretty impressive being able to share this experience with Karen and Kieran.  There aren’t many people that could live this closely for so long and still reflect on our fortune at the end of every day.  We are exactly 2/3 of the way through our trip.

3 month stats: We have travelled 12570 km and are slowly heading east now.  We have spent 52 nights off grid and the most expensive fuel is still sitting at 2.95/L at a number of places.   It’s possible we won’t hit the $3/L as we head back to more civilised areas.  Lost sunnies = 2.  Karen has added her tally to mine from Litchfield while riding the currents at Mitchell Falls.  Snapped UHF whip antennas is now 3 and all of them us.  No clue what we are doing.  The last one lasted less than 24 hours, so we are running with just the butt of the aerial now which seems to be working on the dirt roads.  We’ll put a new one on when we hit the tar again.

And the important stat: Minties – SOS Please send more.  We’ve had to throw out a bag that seemed to disintegrate into a sloppy mess….. driving is about to be Mintie-free for the first time in 3 months.

Another ever so slight admin error means we have an extra night before our booking at Ellenbrae begins.  So still another 2 nights here.  Karen and Kieran took the opportunity to go for a kayak up the Drysdale River.  It was too windy and too strong a current for us so we stayed at the van and set up a little home for the next couple of days.  We hung the tv outside and streamed the ABC news to catch up on what is happening in the world and just generally enjoyed some down time.  I have started my next craft project – not sure where it will fit in the van once it is done.

Karen and Kieran arrived back to the van in time for a late lunch with a washed car!  They took a bucket to the river and gave it a tub before heading back.  We are definitely feeling like we have the dirty sibling now.

This afternoon we headed to the bar for a couple of drinks and a new game of Canasta.  Boys vs Girls.  It was all done and dusted before our meal arrived with the boys victors….I wonder who the losing common factor is here?

Back to the vans for an outdoor movie night.  Tomorrow we do it all again.