Coast to coast and more - Roadtrip!!!!!

Myke said:

Great read!

You must be driving around with lots of quick detailer on hand. Give us a front shot of the bug kills.

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I ploughed thru a horde of locusts on the way out of Kunanarra and its was the killing fields on the front grille - I used a pressure spray to remove most of them as soon as i arrived in Darwin.

Day 5 Kununarra to Darwin - 830kms

Was a later start to the day with a 715 am departure from Kununarra as this leg was the shortest distance by far. Yet again I had a kangaroo bounce in front of me as I was driving through Town so good to get that daily suprise outta the way. The drive out to the WA border was a relatively quick and the roads were comfortable at about 140km/h though the floodways were a little more rough though not an issue for the back end of this car and she was very well behaved.

There is some great scenery of the Ord River out this way and at this time of the year with the rains the river was looking a treat - could quite happily spend a few hours out this way sight seeing. With all the rain were also clouds of locusts and big overfed ones at that - by the time I stopped at Victoria River roadhouse the front of the car was plastered in shredded locusts - a majority were stopped at the grill though some had found their way onto the radiator.

Just as I was about to head out I had a fella come up to the car - let me know that 3 kms out on a blind curve there was a rock in the road that had rolled down from its adjacent hill - good advice as it turns out this rock was fair square in the left lane and was high enough to do some serious damage - would have been very little warning at 120km/h due to the winding curve of the road. All I could think about was what would of happened if I had decided to push on to the next roadhouse - could have been game over. If I could find this bloke I would happily shout him rounds of beers.

The rest of the drive into Katherine was very non-eventful though I did cause some excitiment driving down main street - yet again more pointing, waving, photo taking by the locals and backpackers.

Driving North up the Stuart highway is very easy - nice large highway with plenty of overtaking opportunities and very little wildlife. By far this one stretch where you could dial up the cruise control to 140KM/h and kick back, there are very few bends or winding roads. A nice finale to a great day of driving. First stop in Darwin was a the local car wash to hose of the remains of the killing fields that was the front grill of the mustang, followed by beer/food supplies then off to catch up friends.

Expecting to spend the next four nights here with friends as its been a while since Ive been back up here in Darwin (used to live here 15 years ago). Once I finish this post Im going to spend a couple of hours washing and detailing the Pony back up to her finest then out to show her the sights of Darwin.

So far, at this stage of the trip the car has performed fantastically and except for her electronic hiccup on Day two there hasn't been a single issue. I was thinking back to the doco - A faster horse and I can now see that all the focus on ride handling and performance on country roads has really paid off - the mustang sits so well on the road that if you release the steering wheel 0 deviation left or right - amazing stuff. Additionally the inclusion of IRS has certainly tamed the rear end over the rough stuff.

Till then enjoy the weekend and cheers from the Top End



This stone was right on the NT/WA border

Awesome!!! Would love to see pics of your car with Darwin city sites...never been there but I believe it is really nice! I saw a picture once of a real long jetty somewhere in Darwin, that would be a cool backdrop :eyebulge:

Love you latest chapter..... Keep em comming!!!

CasperGT said:

Awesome!!! Would love to see pics of your car with Darwin city sites...never been there but I believe it is really nice! I saw a picture once of a real long jetty somewhere in Darwin, that would be a cool backdrop :eyebulge:

Love you latest chapter..... Keep em comming!!!

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That will be the next stop this arvo - just finished cleaning the car and need a dip in pool, ahhh the joys of the wet season

here is post wash pic

Yeah Darwin is beautiful - thinking of retiring there or Broome.

LFCRulesOK said:

Yeah Darwin is beautiful - thinking of retiring there or Broome.

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I must say im a bit biased towards Darwin, Broome certainly has come along way in the last decade and the availability of fresh food but I reckon there is a lot more on offer in Darwin.

Day 6 Darwin - this afternoon I spent out and about getting some further pics around town, and finally found a 98ULP bowser. Car performance is a little sluggish in this warm humid weather but the 98 seemed to help. Cleaned out the catch can today and there was several mills of oil

jumby said:

Day 6 Darwin - this afternoon I spent out and about getting some further pics around town, and finally found a 98ULP bowser. Car performance is a little sluggish in this warm humid weather but the 98 seemed to help. Cleaned out the catch can today and there was several mills of oil

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The clear/white tail lights work well on your car.

They match the pin stripping of the strips and the number plate, etc, too.

Will keep an eye out for you around Darwin! Might see my baby getting around. How many days here?

I've only just stumbled across this thread now, talk about epic! Don't be a stranger when you get to Sydney, let me know and we'll organise a meet up with some of the Sydney folk too.

Also how is it going for stone chips? I can't see any in the photo's but you usually can't

Day 9 Darwin to Daly Waters Pub 589km

Apologies for the delay but there was bugger all phone or wifi resources at Daly Waters Pub last night and I was unable to log on.

Was a leisurely start for the day as this was a relatively short leg - mainly for placement for the next leg to Mount Isa. Nice exit from the city with very little traffic and stopped at Sattler Airfield (ww2) for a couple of pics.



It was then on to Adelaide river then a quick stop at Pine Creek - was stopped by a couple of older gents, one who owns a couple of mustangs, and we had a chat while I showed the the car.



From there is was a quick leg down to Katherine and made some good time - went out to get pics at Katherine gorge but mother nature decided to make up for the lack of rain for my time in Darwin and all plans were dashed. Dropped in at Katherine shopping centre and stocked up on fresh goods and snacks for the next couple of days.

The rest of the trip to Daly Waters was a wet one with some really heavy downpours but arrived on time at 1530 so I dropped by the Daly Waters Airfield - ex WW2 airfield that has been kept semi - active with original hangers and some remains of an ex WW2 RAAF Aircraft.





http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x341/jillnglynn/IMG_1742.jpg

3Kms further down the road was the historic Daly Waters Hotel - a place that I have been to before and have had some fantastic nights there. Its pretty much a big tin shed with fans, bar and beer garden but the staff are friendly, the beer very cold and the food is pretty damn good. Spent the best part of the night there chin-wagging with a variety of visitors and locals - if you are going out this way its a must do stopover.

phil545 said:

I've only just stumbled across this thread now, talk about epic! Don't be a stranger when you get to Sydney, let me know and we'll organise a meet up with some of the Sydney folk too.

Also how is it going for stone chips? I can't see any in the photo's but you usually can't

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Thanks mate, so far no extra stone chips - its been pretty good for that.

Day 10 Daly Waters to Mount Isa 1019km

Cracked on at 6am after a very comfortable sleep and headed south for several hours to Tenant Creek for a fuel stop - its 30km past the Barkley Highway turnoff but the fuel is cheaper in town and you can get 98ULP. Weather was overcast and nice and cool - a plus for the tyres. Very little on the road except for one kangaroo.



As I was parked out from a servo a fella pulled up and introduced himself - turns out that he and two other blokes in tenant creek own the S250 mustangs - he was keen to check out the roof wrap and stripes.

Heading out onto the Barkley was very good - its very wide and straight and easy to cruise along at a reasonable speed. This leg was very uneventful till reaching Barkley homestead - a great stop with good fuel and nice meals. Bumped into a poor old driver who had developed a rather nasty tooth abscess so I offered her some of my supplies of Ibuprofan to hopefully provide some relief - ive been caught before with a toothache whilst driving interstate so I tend to carry supplies of pain relief. The bugs out of here were phenomenal - used up my windscreen washer suppies in record time and had to resort to stopping and manually cleaning - no doubt as a result of recent heavy rains.



The next leg to Camooweal was also very uneventful with a quick stop at the NT/QLD border - good thing I had slowed down as there was a mobile radar trap (suprised he was out that far).



Dialed back the cruise control and toddled into Mount Isa to go hunting for my booked accommodation - Ive tried to like this place but I still cant help but wish I was somewhere else. Not a fan of the expenses associated with this place and I find it very unappealing as a place to visit or stay. Once I was checked in it was off to the car wash to remove the killing fields that was the front of my car, then time to find food and cold beer.

Nice early night then up at crackers for the run to townsville - Very excited about reaching the East Coast and have a first time look at this place.