Surprise visit
N 23°19'43.3" E 148°47'06.9"
Day: 238-239 Stage three / total expedition days 628-630
Sunrise:
05:28
Sunset:
18:56
Total kilometers:
6594 km
Temperature - Day (maximum):
37°-40° degrees, sun approx. 57°-60°
Temperature - Night:
22°-25° degrees
Latitude:
23°19'43.3"
Longitude:
148°47'06.9"
Cooroorah-Camp – 09.01.2003 – 10.01.2003
Unfortunately, we have to move out of the beautiful house today. Quite unexpectedly, the owner of the station has registered for a visit. He will stay with his family for a few days. Tanja and get a small guest house which stands on wooden stilts right next to the lagoon. It’s not as comfortable as the big house, but it’s also a lot of fun.
Cowboy John visits us quite unexpectedly. We had met John two years ago at 80 Mile Beach on the Indian Ocean (Diary overview from 19.11.00, day 192, stage one) and we were also in radio contact with him on the current stage. He delivered our food supplies to Marion Downs, kept our Ford that Barbara drove from New Haven to the Pacific Ocean and is our address on the East Coast. In short, John and his wife Judith are an important base station for us and have become good friends over the years. “Hello mate!” John, always smiling, greets us excitedly. “I told Ian not to tell you about our visit. It was supposed to be a surprise.” “Well, you’ve managed that. We really didn’t expect you!” I shout happily too.
Due to the unexpected presence of the owner of Cooroorah, John and Judith are unfortunately not allowed to spend the night on the station grounds. They have to set up camp in a place about nine kilometers from here. We are all disappointed. As we do not know the background to this decision, we do not wish to criticize it. We have no choice but to accept them. As compensation, we offer John and Judith to accompany us on Sunday and spend a night with us in the camel camp. They happily accept.
In addition to writing, we plan how to stay as far away from the highway as possible for the next 250 kilometers. We also don’t yet know how to cross the wide Fitzroy River at Rockhamton. We will probably need a police escort to cross the busy bridge. The challenges over the next few weeks will be enormous. We are aware that we encounter many people. In the meantime, more and more radio stations and daily newspapers are reporting on our expedition, which means that countless people want to see it. After many, many months in isolation, during which we have only met a few people, we don’t know how we will cope. It will be another learning task for us. But whatever the future holds, the most important thing is to get through everything without an accident, in one piece and preferably with a lot of joy…
