Leaving Darwin, we needed to stop back into the Caravan repairer and get our breaks re-adjusted as they were not gripping correctly when driving. After spending 2 hours there, we were finally on the road again and heading for Litchfield National Park. We were tossing up whether to make a stop into Berry Springs first, when suddenly the car just turned off.

Pulling over on the Stuart Highway, Joe realised that the temperature gauge was showing that the car had overheated. Strange considering it had a service 3 days earlier. Opening the bonnet, we discovered coolant spewing out. A few people, including a mechanic pulled over to offer assistance. 2 families also pulled over and offered to drive Mel and the kids into Berry Springs. They also recommended a mechanic in Berry Springs. As Mel and the kids left with the 2 families, Joe and Steve worked on getting the car cooled down. We all met back up in Berry Springs as the mechanic took a look at the car, cleaning out the e only to break down 4km out from the mechanic. We dare not drive it again and so contacted our roadside assistance. They set about organising transport (car, van and six people) into Palmerston, the next major town. 

 After waiting another 2 hours in 38 degree weather (and eating all the watermelon!), we had a family stop and offer to tow Mel, kids and the van into the Palmerston van park that NRMA had booked for us. Our angels had all the set up needed for towing us, as we being able to fit Mel and the kids in. As they were getting set up to leave, another couple stopped and offered to tow the car, along with Joe and Steve, into the Pamerston mechanic. So we all head off in one big convoy, relieved to be getting out of the impending dark. Upon arriving at the ‘van park’, we soon discovered that NRMA had booked us into a BnB! The van was parked and set up in the driveway and Steve enjoyed his own room for the next 3 nights!

We are ever grateful for our road side angels and all the people that stopped and helped us. We even had another man drop off some cold drinks.

To try and cut a long and tiresome story short, Palmerston mechanics couldn’t do anything, so the car was sent into Darwin. After a few mechanics looked at, it was finally decided that the thermostat didn’t need changing as originally thought (would have taken a week!). There was a knock in the engine which had now developed and there was concern this would eventually blow up the engine. Calls were made to look into transporting the car back to Sydney to fix it as no one in Darwin was qualified to do the job. As this was quite costly and time-consuming, we decided to keep going on our planned route and hoped to at least make it to Broome, where our friend Steve could pick up his connecting flight.

As we had a hire car, we did make some use of our time in Palmerston. We still managed to spend an afternoon exploring Litchfield National Park. Our first stop was the Magnetic Termite Mounds. No- these aren’t some wonderful little creature that attracts everything metal. The term in fact refers to the termite which builds it’s mound to create a perfectly flat surface, facing east. The incredible architecture of these little creatures creates a perfect stable environment to ensure survival. In fact, we were quite amazed as we look upon these mounds- all in every direction looked like a field of tombstones.

Continuing on into Litchfield, we headed out to Wangi Falls. We stopped for a quick lunch at the nearby cafe (the only one in Litchfield) before heading into the falls area. The falls is only a short 200m walk from the carpark and was a gorgeous site in the 40 degree heat! We all jumped in the water and swam the short length out to both falls. There were quite a few crevices made by the left fall and we all took a leap of faith by jumping into the falls from the cliff faces. There were a number of visitors to the falls and we felt perfectly safe while we were there. Indeed, the surrounding picnic area, complete with BBQ’s, would have made a wonderful complete day spent at Wangi Falls.

However, the afternoon was getting on and so we left Wangi Falls, heading back towards the park entrance for a stop at Buley Rock Holes. This was a wonderful place of adventure as we all slid down the cascades and jumped (somewhat cautiously!) into the small water crevices. At one point, Steve even disappeared- until we discovered he had jumped into a tiny water hole that was actually taller than his 2m frame! The kids particularly enjoyed hunting down the miniature frogs that were jumping around the rock holes.

We hoped to visit Florence falls, also in the same area as Buley Rock Holes, but due to impending darkness, as well as a storm, we thought it best to leave and make the 100+km journey back to Palmerston. On the way back, we did stop at the town of Batchelor (our intended stay for Litchfield) and marvelled at the gorgeous mini-castle built at the towns entrance. We were also surprised at  how flooded the town was after the storm had past and wondered how wet it would really get once the wet season set in.

Whilst in Palmerston, we also visited the Palmerston markets, where we once again enjoyed some lovely food, as well as purchasing some delicious fresh produce. This market had a great atmosphere, with live music, though had a limited range of souvenirs. A trip to the famed Palmerston Tavern was quite interesting when Mel’s Spaghetti Carbonara topped with chicken came out as Spaghetti Bolognaise topped with chicken! Interesting mix! The trivia night kept us entertained, though!

We also managed another trip back into Leanyer recreation park, with the boys (much to their delight) introducing Steve to the waterslides!

Getting the all-clear to go ahead, we left for Katherine just after lunch on October 7^th.