Australia day 24 – Batchelor NT

Oh what a day! The battery is flat in the camper and we have to jump start it. We have an fan in the van which runs off the cigarette lighter and was assured by the man in the shop that it could be run all night from the car battery without any adverse affect. Perhaps leaving the aircon on all night as well was a step too far? Anyway we have decided to take the van into the local mechanic to get it checked as it still continues to screech intermittently. It turns out that it needs a new fan belt and a air conditioning belt, both have to be ordered for delivery late today, which means we will need to bring the van back tomorrow for repair. And that’s not all. We checked the oil last night and again this morning only to find that it is hardly registering on the dipstick. Either the van wasn’t checked and serviced before it was released for hire, or there’s a leak. The former is probably more likely given the shambles at the depot when we picked it up. The good news is that Wicked have agreed to pay for the repairs and the oil (believe it or not, they initially wanted us to pick up the cost of the latter!), the bad news is that the mechanic has advised us not to travel to Perth in it! What’s the likelihood of getting our money back, I wonder?

To cap it all the mechanic loses our hire agreemen; according to records in the van it is overdue a service; and a conversation with Wicked to complain about the state of the van is inconclusive – at the moment they’re not interested in doing anything other than covering the immediate repair. Conclusion: don’t rent from Wicked – they appear to have no compunction about sending people on a 5000 km journey across the outback in unchecked and unserviced vans that aren’t fit for purpose.

The van is drivable for the time being at least and we spend the afternoon in Litchfield National Park swimming first at Florence Falls and then at Buley Rock Pools. Florence Falls has a fabulous plunge pool surrounded by high cliffs over which tumble two falls. It’s a popular spot to cool off and there is quite a crowd by Australian outback standards. The water is wonderfully refreshing and the shallows are full of large black fish. There is a very quiet and shady alternative walk back to the car park which follows a small creek as it gurgles and tinkles through a monsoon rainforest.. Then as we climb we emerge suddenly into savannah woodland of sparsely spaced trees and thick tall grass.

Buley Falls is much less crowded and all the better for it. Not as dramatic in terms of height; a small creek cascades over angular sandstone ledgess into a series of deep pools which are perfect for swimming and just cooling down.