Day 38 Monday 24th July

Here I am sitting in the tent at Gregory Downs, reporting on today’s happenings. It’s been a most exciting day……too exciting for me. We left our caravan in Mt Isa and headed out to Gregory. It was about 280km from Mt Isa and the route we took involved quite a bit of dirt road driving and unfortunately we got a flat tyre about 20kms from Gregory. Rob did a great job changing the tyre managing to get himself covered in red dust. When we arrived at Gregory we quickly had a bite to eat and then erected the tent. Originally we were going to spend 2 nights here because I was hoping to do some kayaking in the Gregory River but after going down to check the spring-fed river out I realised that it was flowing way too fast for my liking so I said I would wait till we were at Lawn Hill National Park. The free-camp on the riverbanks would have had about 40 vans all packed in there. We chatted to a couple who told us that they hadn’t seen anyone kayaking in the river but plenty of people float down it on a noodle and then get out and walk back. Back at the tent Rob had a close look at the tyre and was not happy to see that the centre of the tyre was worn away and we had a puncture in that part. Try as he might it was not repairable. There is only one other couple in the caravan park and they have a van. They tried to help but to no avail so we will continue on tomorrow (about 80kms on dirt) with our fingers crossed. We are hoping the people at our next stop might be able to help us as they do have a person that can do minor mechanical and tyre repairs…...though we need a new tyre.

All Photos on Thursday Blob Entry 

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