Tues 24th May, 2022 Hidden Valley Holiday Park, Berrimah, NT

Up early. I got the washing on as there was a line up for the machines yesterday.

Jon rang/videoed from his room on the mine site so we had a wonderful chat. Lovely to see his face and check out his accommodation. He is looking forward to being home again this afternoon for two weeks off.

Steve measured up for another solar panel as he wants more power for winter when the sun is lower in the sky so you don’t get enough exposure on the flat panels on the roof. Otherwise he is very happy with his battery set up.

I cleaned the camper to get rid of all the little black bugs. Nice to have it fresh and clean before we head off again. 

Steve went off in the truck to look for a new start battery as this one is getting old and it will be cheaper to replace it now than on the road in the bush! 

He wasn’t gone for long as he had only gone up the road when he heard a poof, hiss and then black smoke. He looked for blown pipes then limped back to camp. On further investigation he found it was the turbo - Oh No. First the common rail, then the fridge and now the turbo so that’s 3 so we should be right from now on! It looks like the nut has come off the front turbine wheel and gone into the turbine and snapped the shaft taking a few blades with it. We rang Eclipse Turbo Systems as it was only 13 months old. They were very helpful and will air-freight us a new one so we should get it Thursday. 

Sometimes it is frustrating when things break but I look for the positive in the situation - at least we were in the middle of the Gibb River Track!

We let reception know that we needed a few more days. She said she will mark us till Monday and we can just fix them up when we are ready to go. She said NT stands for Not Today or Tomorrow when it comes to deliveries. The staff here are so helpful.

We put the awnings up as we will be here a few more days and the afternoon sun still has a bite to it.

We sit out the front in the afternoon in the shade of the camper and chat with our neighbours. A NSW couple across from us were having troubles putting up their awning so Steve leant a hand. They had a poultry farm and I mentioned Mum’s cousins, the Inghams. They only supplied Steggles with their chooks.

Tony, next to us, was heading over to the camp kitchen with his guitar. He played us a song from a Clint Eastwood movie ‘The Mule’ which was great.

We were having dinner when Tony came back and said he and Hilary and another couple were having a BBQ tomorrow arvo if we wished to join them. Sounds great.

Jon sent through a photo - home with his darling again.