Week 55
(East Timor - Australia)

Dili - Darwin (Australia)

Week 56
(Australia)

Darwin - Tennant Creek

As the "wife" hadn't had any swimming lessons, a ship was thought to be the best option for the Dili-Darwin part of the trip.

Sticking out a thumb in Dili's port, this thing pulled up. It just happened to be off to Darwin.

Lady Luck turns up in the most unusual of places!

Knocking on the door of the destination country, Australia let me in. Foolish people!

A week on the bike in the town of Darwin had me feeling as if I had lived there forever. Darwin was to be a place to find some vehicle parts (new batteries, fan belts, etc), so in the days while the "wife" was floating, the industrial/business zones of Darwin suffered my attention.

Timing has never been the wife's strong point. She arrived in port at 7am on the Saturday morning of a long weekend. She was therefore 3 days resting in the customs shed on the port. On second thoughts, maybe she's cleverer than credited.

After the weekend, customs was cleared, quarantine cleared, mechanical inspection passed, insurance sorted and batteries (etc) fitted. Fully now in Australia, it was time to worry the local traffic on the road to Alice Springs, the Stuart Highway.

A day at the races.

On Holiday Monday, while the truck was sweating in a customs shed at the port, the bike and I went to the Darwin Cup.