Woot woot! 5 days and I’m still not eaten by a croc!
Yesterday we were headed for Katherine, but we found a somewhat nice free camp ground about 50km south of Katherine. We found an alright spot with some flat ground and set up camp, that’s when dad and I heard a strange sound coming from the engine bay… A little inconsistent clicking scraping sound, something on the fan belt. Dad had a suspicion that it was the alternator’s sprag clutch; before we left he replaced the standard 90 Amp Hour alternator with an aftermarket Denso (same brand as original) alternator, putting out 130 Amp Hours. He noticed that the bearing for the new one was beginning to show signs of seizing, but thought that it wouldn’t be detrimental for another couple of thousand kilometres. Nothing to worry about for this trip, but brought the original alternator anyway.
We’re lucky that he did bring that original alternator; we removed the fan belt and checked the new alternator. Its sprag clutch was almost completely seized but it would be alright if we left it alone. He says that if we packed it with grease it would probably have been fine, but we will replace it with the original anyway. We did this then started up the engine and the sound was gone! Success; the problem has been solved and everything would continue as normal.
After all of that we all had a nice drink and sat down next to the fire. Tonight’s dinner menu consisted of roast lamb with roasted potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes, onion, squash and gravy. It was absolutely delicious, most of the credit going to my uncle for supplying the meat and tending to the cooking process. All five of us cramped around a table that was much too small (designed for 2 people at most) and enjoyed a good meal.
The morning consisted of a quick clean up and pack up as we had a goal to achieve: swim in the natural hot springs at Katherine! We set off at about 8:30 am (AEST) from the camp site plainly called “King”. About half an hour later we arrived in Katherine and grabbed some groceries, a pie and fuel. Then we drove down to the hot springs and walked down to find a crystal clear river of slowly moving body temperature water. It was absolutely beautiful! Unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures of the springs, so I can’t share them with you here (oops!). I swam all the way to the spring itself; the water was flowing slowly and calmly up from the ground, quite amazing to behold.
We finished up at the spring and ventured on our way out of town. The mobile phones were all out and text messages were flying everywhere! This was the last chance we all had to say goodbye for a few days; we are headed into Kununurra. More adventure is yet to be uncovered in the great outback of Australia as we drive further and further into this surprisingly colourful country.
Pictures!
Thanks for Reading,
Trav.
