What can go wrong

(written by Ulli)

It was clear from the beginning that something could go wrong on such a long journey. That it happened quite a lot was not so clear.

The journey there went smoothly, but then:

In Kakadu National Park, we drove our first RV. We kept driving... and driving, and eventually it became necessary to find a gas station. Unfortunately, the only gas station on the route was closed. With a worried look at the fuel gauge, we continued driving and were relieved to finally reach a campground. For a hefty price, we bought the five liters that got us to the next gas station. In return, we got to see a group of wallabies grazing on a meadow, blinded by our headlights.

We continued to Alice Springs. There, we didn't get the 4WD that we had booked. Apparently, a kangaroo had jumped in. Not so bad, we were offered a bus as a replacement, with about 8 extra unnecessary seats, and we drove through Alice Springs in that. The next day, we went back to the airport to pick up the actual car. So far, so good.

Then came the disaster: On the off-road stretch from Glen Helen to King's Canyon, I lost my beloved cell phone. At least we honored it by searching for it in the desert, but unfortunately it remained lost. Luckily, I had brought my gifted tablet. So to all those wondering why I haven't been in touch: My contact list is buried somewhere under red sand in the center of Australia. Sorry!

Then I left my beloved cuddle pillow in a hotel. After losing my cell phone, it was a minor loss, but still not nice. On the same day, we flew to Cairns. The nice flight attendant gave us wonderful cozy pillows for the journey. I officially stole it, she told me to put it under my jacketJ

In Cairns, we then picked up our RV. On the first day, some idiot with a Britz-RV knocked off our side mirror. Very, very annoying, because he just kept driving. Thomas fixed it, we drove to Apollo, they took it lightly, fiddled with it a bit more, and sent us on our way. What no one noticed until then was that he apparently also hit our fender. That will have to be negotiated, I'm afraid.

In short: A lot can go wrong, but somehow everything has always turned out for the best.