From 19 August to 19 November 2022 - 6'442 km
Warning: this is a LONG drive, there are MANY pictures...
This section of the trip will be filled with mechanical problems, delays and frustrations that came with those recurring issues...
Keep Reading and Stay Calm !
Back in Darwin from a trip to Switzerland, it was nice to see that my Land Roamer was waiting patiently for me at a friend's residence.
Before starting my trip, I stayed a few weeks there to make some much needed improvements on the Land Roamer.
In due time, I started my trip, heading towards Kakadu National park, so nice to be on the road again!
Kakadu National Park is a protected area in the Northern Territory of Australia, 171 km southeast of Darwin. It is a World Heritage Site.
Kakadu National Park is currently located within the Alligator Rivers Region of the Northern Territory, it covers an area of 19,804 km2, extending nearly 200 kilometres from north to south and over 100 kilometres from east to west.
Most of the area is owned by the Aboriginal traditional owners, who have occupied the land for around 60,000 years, who manage the park jointly with Parks Australia.
It is ecologically and biologically diverse, with a wide range of flora and fauna, and is protected by the EPBC Act. It also includes a rich heritage of Aboriginal rock art, including highly significant sites such as Ubirr.
The Ranger Uranium Mine, one of the most productive uranium mines in the world, is surrounded by the park.
I then started to drive South of Kakadu towards Alice Springs with the objective to cross the Simpson desert (West to East, which is the easier way to cross it) before heading back North towards Cap-York. Crossing the Simpson Desert and going to Cap-York were very high on my "bucket list" for Australia...
Alas, disaster strikes just a few kilometers passed the town of Catherine (which I had already visited on my way North to Darwin). As I change gears, I realize that my clutch is broken as no more engine power is transfered to the wheels...
Luckily, I'm (faintly) within telephone range of Catherine and I can call a tow truck to come to my rescue.
It's hot, time for a cold beer!
...It will take me 2 weeks to locally source a used clutch
and fit it to the Roamer...
=> For more technical details about this repair (and my successives broken clutch issues) click here
...Scroll down to see the continuation of my trip...
Having "wasted" so much time, regretfully I had to give up the idea of crossing the Simpson Desert as the rainy season was inexorably approching and headed via the shortest route towards Cap-York.
This meant driving to Borroloola located near the Gulf of Carpentaria and then heading to Burketown (in Queensland) taking a very small dirt track, which I knew would have little traffic...
Where is the Land Roamer?
Who said that my Land Roamer was a Big Truck?
SO nice to have my LED light bar to drive at night!
I stayed overnight in a decent campsite before heading on that small dirt track the next morning
After almost 200 kilometers, my clutch brakes down AGAIN !
... It lasted less than 1000 kilometers...
I pull over on the side of the road and as there is absolutely no phone coverage, with the first passing vehicle I send a hand written note asking for a tow truck.
This will be the start of a LONG, 6 days wait on the side of the track until a tow truck arrived to take me and the Roamer back to the same campsite at Borroloola...
=> MUST READ : For more details about this epic 6 lonely days on the side of a dirt track, click here
...Scroll down to see the continuation of my trip...
Facts: My Land Roamer is no longer driveable in a remote small town of the "Outback", there are NO spare parts in Australia.
Analysis: I need to order parts from Europe that will take a few weeks to arrive.
Solution : Take a bus to Darwin (almost 1000 kilometers in one long day), order the parts and while waiting for the parts to arrive, fly to Timor-Leste and visit the country!
A few pictures of Darwin, its the 3rd time I am in this town!
While staying at this "backpacker's hostel" I buy my ticket to Timor-Leste (I will go there for 2 weeks) and rent online a motorcycle for 10 days.
=> For more details and pictures about this side trip
to Timor-Leste, click here
...Scroll down to see the continuation of my trip...
In due time (like after 00 weeks), the parcel finally arrived at my Backpacker's hostel and I took another LONG bus drive back to Borroloola to my campsite and fitted the clutch during the next few days. Details of this is on my first "technical" appendix page (after the first breakdown in Catherine) that you may have opened...
It's very NICE to have my mini motorcycle to go around when my Roamer is broken down!
In due time, the Land Roamer is fixed, I can start driving again.
Having lost 6 weeks in Borroloola, my desire to reach Cap-York must now forgotten (the rainy season is fast approching) and I head towards Cairns.
However, I do NOT dare driving on this lonely track and for safety reasons make a detour via Normanton in order to stay on main roads!
... Typical food that you can buy in a Road house...
Continuing, closer to the Coast!
The Daintree River Ferry is a cable ferry across the Daintree River in Queensland, Australia. The ferry is situated some 50 kilometres north of Port Douglas, and gives access to the northern section of the Daintree National Park and to Cape Tribulation. The ferry provides the only sealed road access to this area.
The 43.2m ferry carries a maximum of 27 vehicles, and takes about 5 minutes to cross the river. It operates from early morning until midnight, seven days a week, with limited hours on Christmas Day.
The UNESCO Wet Tropics World Heritage Area lies between Townsville and Cooktown on the north-east coast of Queensland and covers an area of approximately 8,940 km2
The Moosman Gorge is the gateway to the valley which is a tourist attraction with a suspension bridge providing access to a 2.4-kilometre (1.5 mi) loop walk through the rainforest of the National Park. It is part of the traditional homeland of the indigenous Kuku Yalanji people
Port Douglas is a coastal town and approximately 60 km north of Cairns. The town is named in honour of a former Premier of Queensland, John Douglas. Port Douglas developed quickly based on the mining industry. Other parts of the area were established with timber cutting in the area surrounding the Daintree River and with settlement starting on lots around the Mossman River by 1880.
Port Douglas was No. 3 on Australian Traveller magazine's list of 100 Best Towns in Australia.
Cairns is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The city was founded in 1876 and named after Sir William Wellington Cairns, following the discovery of gold in the Hodgkinson river. Throughout the late 19th century, Cairns prospered from the settlement of Chinese immigrants who helped develop the region's agriculture. Cairns also served as a port for blackbirding ships, which crews transported slaves and indentured labourers to the sugar plantations of Innisfail.
During World War II, the city became a staging ground for the Allied Forces in the Battle of the Coral Sea. By the late 20th century the city had become a centre of international tourism. In the early 21st century it has developed into a major metropolitan city.
Cairns is a popular tourist destination because of its tropical climate and access to tropical rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef, one of the seven natural wonders of the world.
=> If you want to see more DIFFERENT pictures of this region, click here
=> If you want to go staight to the next part of the trip, click ....
