Now that the big driving is over for now, that means the holiday has begun.

For us, that meant a day of doing not much of anything, starting with a sleep in until lunchtime then heading down after a cooked “brunch” to the thermal pool for some serious soaking.

A lot of our noisy weekend neighbours had packed up and it also the meant that the pool was not as busy as yesterday. We later found out that most were Bitter Springs. Lucky we are not doing them until Monday.

It was a great relaxation time with 4 ½ hours of soaking before finally getting back to the Taj in time to watch the sunset over some beverages.

We have another day here before we head to Darwin for the Supercars.

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We woke up at Renner Springs this morning with some strong winds. This would normally mean not a good day for towing but they were tending to be tail winds so that was going to save some fuel.

It was only a 400km journey today from Renner Springs through to Mataranka Homestead. Only one stop for fuel at Elliott and sat between 100 to 110 kph with the tail wind.

Again, only light traffic on the road with some caravans and road trains making up the most of it.

On arrival at Mataranka Homestead we were expecting it to be empty but it was chockers. It turns out that it is a long weekend in the Northern Territory and most of Darwin seemed to have come down to Mataranka for the weekend.

So, we missed out on one of the shady spots closer to the Thermal Pool but settled for a spot on the old WW2 Runway. Even though it was in full sun, the awning and shade cloth kept the van cool. It is a powered site so the A/C was on as well.

After setting up the Taj, we walked down to the Thermal Pool. We have never seen it so packed. So much for social distancing. The signs said to keep a crocodile distance between yourself and the next person. There was no chance of that. It looked more like the Ganges today.

We kept our distance as best we could soaking for around 3 hours. The pool emptied out towards 530pm with all the kids being taken back to camp for the evening meal.

After some quiet time in the near empty pool it was back to the van for a lamb roast before heading down to the Homestead for the Nathan “Whippy” Griggs whip cracking show. This must be about the 15^th time I have seen it and it hasn’t changed. It is still entertaining all the same.

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Not a real rush to get going today with another relatively easy drive of 680kms. We were originally going to stop at Banka Banka Station but kept going to Renner Springs Tourist Inn to catchup with Robin and Louise who would be staying there tonight.

As we passed Banka Banka, it would normally be packed by this time but there were once again only around 6 vans.

Once again not a lot of traffic on the way with stops at Wycliffe Well and Tennant Creek for fuel.

We arrived at Renner Springs around 4pm and was greeted with 30C. Now we are talking.

Only 5 vans at Renner Springs. I wonder if they are all parked up at Mataranka. I guess we will find out tomorrow. Only 400kms to go.

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It was still warm enough for shorts this morning and the thongs were on as well. You can get used to this.

A smaller drive today with only 690kms to Alice Springs. We left around 9am again after filling up at Bulls Garage (cheapest fuel in Coober Pedy).

Once again traffic was light with more traffic heading south than north. Hope these aren’t people that have been turned back at the Northern Territory Border.

Arriving at the Border, it was a little different to the usual with the tourist area all blocked up and lanes setup for checking by the NT Police and ADF personnel.

As we stopped the cop with a smile said, “Welcome to Victoria”. They are obviously getting bored out here but at least they have a sense of humour. Either that or I have been driving for 2 days in the wrong direction. LOL.

We had done the online border forms and printed them out so the process was all done in 2 minutes and we were on our way again and in the Northern Territory.

A couple of stops at Kulgera and Erldunda had us arriving in Alice Springs at 5pm.
The big thing noticed on the way in is the aircraft parking lot that has been set-up at Alice Springs Airport with mothballed planes from all around the world with the standouts being some A380’s from Singapore Airlines.

We were going to stay at the Big4 but they wanted a minimum of 2 nights so it was Alice Springs Tourist Park for us tonight.

After setting up, we hit the town meeting up with some Geocaching friends, Vanessa and Nic (who moved up here almost 2 years ago), for a meal at the Casino restaurant, the Juicy Rump.
A good meal with some good company and it was back to the Taj for an early night. This travelling gig can get tiring.

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In a couple of days’ time we were supposed to be on our way to Alaska, British Columbia and Washington State, but COVID-19 put an end to that idea.

A good alternative was to head to Northern Territory and Queensland provided the borders remained open.

The Taj was packed and we hit the road around 9am with a big drive of 861kms to Coober Pedy. There was a little bit of traffic through the city but once we made it to the Northern Connector is was plain sailing all the way.

A couple of quick stops for fuel and sitting on cruise control at 100 kph and we arrived at the Big4 Stuart Range Outback Resort 10 hours later.

It was still warmish, well about 18C but that was a win after a 2C start this morning. Time to take the jeans off and shorts on.

Travel restrictions are having their impact with only about 6 other vans in the Park which is normally packed. Even traffic on the Stuart Highway was light.

Don’t forget your 20c coins for the showers here.

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