Hi Guys, We are now in Katherine and the temperature has increased significantly since we crossed the border. Mum, Dad, Hughie and I are travelling well together and there is lots of laughing. Hugh is actually starting to give a bit back to dad, it's very funny to see dad a little lost for words.

Like I said to JJ this morning, my stress levels have dramatically decreased and the knot in my right shoulder is now gone but when I am looking for a good coffee, look out. That is my mission for the day and indeed each town we stop at. Everything else is the bonus of being so free. WOW we are lucky!

We didn't do a lot in Kununurra; we left there the day before yesterday. I think we saw what there was to see. Les, we went and took a pic of woollybutt place - looking fairly tired now I think. Hughie did his fishing trip and also did some fishing at Ivanhoe crossing with not a lot of success. Dad cooked up the Barra for dinner to say good bye to some friends they have made during this trip. It was beautiful! Matt, you would have loved it!

We crossed the border and it was a bitter sweet moment as we realised that we have finally and officially left WA. The house is now rented (by a QLDer) so, we are officially homeless, jobless but thank god not friendless. The speed limit is now set at 130ks. Have you thought about coming up against a raod train doing just that - frightening!The river names are getting interesting, Big horse, little horse and dead horse creeks are but a few. I wonder what their inspiration was for the names. The landscape has changed dramatically. I don't know what it is but the trees are bigger, denser and greener. There are actually fences along the road so there is not as much chance of running into a Brahman. Still there is lots of road kill on the way, when we get low on funds we may have to think about some 'road shopping'.

We managed to stay in a lovely spot called Victoria river. We were going to stop at Timber creek but when we stopped for a wee while we decided against it. Not only were our noses abused but so was our eyesight and our wallets. The petrol was $2.30 and the small bag of toobs that I had to have was $2.80. The toilets were so foul; there was no way we were going to give them money for the privilege of staying there. Whilst we were also giving the girls a wee stop a single girl came up behind us, music blaring and obviously in a rush. She stopped behind us and was awaiting us to move. I don't know where to but she was not happy that we were stopped for so long. She ended up scooting off but that was not to the last of her.....noooo. We got to Victoria River and were greeted by that same loud, blaring music again. Not only was she entertaining everyone at the camp site with her very selective choice in music but she must have been hoping some talent scouts might just happen to be in the park and discover her!?!? She was dancing and jiving away, having a great time for one! Someone ended up asking her to turn the music down which she did but the next morning the show was on again. Packing up her tent, dancing away to the beat of her little green Hyundai sound system. A sight to behold.

We arrived in Katherine yesterday and it is nice to have green grass under foot and foliage above. We are in a park that is situated above the Katherine River. What the river means to me is that I can get in it without flinching. It is HEATED!!!!! YEAH!!!!! The water is bubbling up from a spring toasty and hot! They have cemented and paved one side of the river to protect against erosion, it is a bit of a shame but it is such a popular spot it must be done so it can be enjoyed for a long time. The water is so warm and incredibly clear. Kymma, you would love to have a cave dive here. It is funny, there are so many older people here it looks like a scene from cocoon when they are all in the water, bobbing around. This is what I was really looking forward to; doing this sort of stuff.

Today we did some sightseeing as tomorrow we are going on a tour up the Katherine Gorge (yep another one). We visited Jurassic Park; it is a Cycad garden with 10 of the 11 known species identified in the world. One of the plants they have has not got a name as it appears nowhere in the world apart from here. We were very smart; we went in the middle of the midday sun, no wind to cool us down, walking in a tropical environment with a stinking hot coffee in our hands. We were bloody sweltering! Poor Carrie was dying until we soaked her under the tap then she got a new lease on life. Pip didn't care where she was, just as long as dad was near and Heidi was nearly having an asthma attack. Poor b*****, she broke out in hives, she was that hot and bothered. The next stop was a good suggestion by Pc. We went to the Knotts crossing. It is a dog friendly spot that had including us 8 people there. It was so beautiful, have a look at t he pics, the puppies had a ball. We also went to Springfield house which is the oldest house in the north of Australia; man our ancestors did it tough!Enough said about those ancestors of ours, Hughie and I have our own mountains to climb and ravines to cross albeit with guides and comfortable shoes, it's hard too!

Bye for now XXpcnh